Monday, December 14, 2015

Hardware Ranch

When we were younger both our families took us (at different times and not together) to a place call Hardware Ranch.
It is located up Blacksmith Fork Canyon just past Hyrum, Utah.
They are a wildlfe management area for the elk during the winter.
My sister-in-law and niece met us in Brigham City and we ventured up to see the elk.
For a small fee or free, depending on you age, you can go on a horse drawn wagon out to see the elk. The elk are use to the horses and wagon coming through, but they are very leary of strange noises, sudden movement and far off sounds of gun shots.
For the most part they just sit around or eat.


The Dude is handsome. I love this pciture.

My sister-in-law and niece loved the ride and the "reindeer and melk".

This picture isn't the greatest angle, but that is a bull elk dead center. He is a 5x5, they said the really big bulls come down to eat around January.

She wasn't too sure of the "melk" and didn't want to touch it at first.

If you are looking for a fun holiday afternoon, check out harware ranch!

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Santa Came Early to Our House

The very first time we looked at our home we thought it immediately felt like home. 
We had one day to come out at look at a list of houses we had picked out. I was dead set on house in another part of town that had the cutest red front door! 
We hadn't even planned to come look at our home. After seeing some houses quicker than expected that weren't what we were looking for and not being able to go see the red doored house till the evening we decided we could run over and check it out after the owner called us back and said it was open.
Like I said, the moment we walked in we both knew this was the place for us! God had a huge blessing in store for us when he guided us to this house, this neighbor, this ward, this town we now call home. We are forever grateful.

What does this have to do with Santa coming early to our house you ask?
Let me show you.
This is the kitchen sink that our house came with. The people did a wonderful job of updating our kitchen! Except for this sink. Don't get me wrong I was glad to have a sink! It just didn't match the rest of the update though.

That is why we asked Santa for a new sink this year.
We absolutely love it!!! 
It makes our kitchen feel complete, which makes us happy.
Well maybe it will be more complete once we have a gas stove.....
We love our home!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

It's Christmas Time

How quickly time has flown! It amazes me that this is the 2nd Christmas in our home here in Idaho. Have we really been here for almost 2 years? 
I absolutely love our home, it fits our needs perfectly, is warm and cozy, and just feels like home.

We had a family Christmas party on my Mom's side and my Aunt took this picture, I think it turned out pretty cute!!

My cute Grandma, wishing us all a Merry Christmas and expressing how much she loves us all.

Thanksgiving and Gingerbread Trains

We actually got to spend Thanksgiving with family this year. Now we did go down last year too, but we were extremely late. So when I say we actually got to spend Thanksgiving with family, I mean we got to spend the whole day! And help with the prep work and eat of course!

They weren't too excited I was taking pictures....

It interrupted their eating....

We found my little brother's "beloved" helmet. With that helmet I think the ladies will draw to my older brother like a magnet!

We loaded in the car and drove south to go visit my brother at the fire station. He's pretty much the coolest.

She didn't get to drive, but we got to go for a ride around the block! That is one big rig!! My Grandma is still talking about the fire truck ride, she thought it was amazing.

We also celebrated my niece's birthday Thanksgiving weekend too. Her birthday isn't until the end of this month, but we celebrated early since we were all together. (I need to start bringing my acutal camera, my phone just doesn't take as good pictures.)
I made the cake, and I was pretty proud of how it turned out!

We did gingerbread trains this year, it was a fun change from doing houses. As usual my parents went above and beyond to keep this fun tradition. 

They are the greatest!

Check out that popcorn smoke! And of course the cute couple!

Our train, the Dude wanted to have a tanker car, mainly cause I think he just wanted to drink the soda....
I love how the trains turned out!

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Fall Festivites

Where do I begin?? It always seems like I am always playing blog catch up, but at least I am blogging, right??? Right!

The Dude built a cute little red shed in our backyard. Now there is more space in our one car garge for the car.

The chickens are alive and well, they enjoy getting to roam free in the backyard. I believe this is Winnie, and don't tell the other hens, Winnie is the best looking one.

My almost baren garden, sigh.

We reaped a lot of produce this year. We canned several bottles of pickles! I left the carrots and parsnips in the ground. I also planted some garlic to come up in the spring, fingers crossed!!

Family came to visit. Love!
This guy caught the biggest fish he has ever fished for when we went dam fishing the weekend he came up. If you see him, ask him, he'd love to tell you all about it.

I bottled my Mom's homemade apple pie filling. The Dude was very pleased with this idea.

We tried our lot at hunting.

There were no deer on this mountain, or the surrounding mountains, we checked!

We did end up seeing some deer on another hunt we had, but alas we have yet to fill those tags.

No deer to fill our freezer, but I'll settle for this breathtaking view of the sun coming up over the Tetons any day!

I made homemade Russian Pelmeni, it was fantastic! The Dude said it was the best he has ever had, and he served a mission in Russia for 2 years. He knows how to score brownie points.
 I will post the recipe I promise.

We had our annual family pumpkin party.

My niece giving my older brother the stink eye cause he talked to Grandma.

The Old Man with...is it Gonzo or the Count??

My younger and ever so proud, and should be, paramedic brother. 

My sister-in-law has some serious skills people.

The Dude is a loyal Ninja Turtles fan, ask to see his lunchbox collection.

My younger brother thought I needed some sunshine in my life. It was kind of a cloudy day that day.

For my 30th birthday we sat in the nose bleeds to watch Garth Brooks in concert.

And when I say nose bleeds, I mean nose bleeds.

BEST CONCERT EVER!!!!!

Now that I am caught up I should be right on schedule for a Thanksgiving blog post......

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Those Great Mountain Faces

Last week we went on an amazing trip back to South Dakota with my parents. It has been my Dad's bucket list for years to go to the Dakotas. In the 5 days we were there we saw, Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse Monument, The Minuteman Missile Museum, Ellsworth Air & Space Museum, the Badlands, Deadwood, Sturgis and just breathtaking scenery!
The Dude and I were just along for ride as my Dad navigated where he wanted to go and what he wanted to see. It was a very fun trip!

Our first stop was the Badlands, it was immediately HOT once you got out of the car.

There's a good looking guy!

This missile display is the main thing the Dude wanted to see and learn about. Very fascinating stuff, they were scattered all over SD during the cold war.

This was amazing to see! The night show was very neat. 
On the way to get here we took some back roads, I think that was one of the prettiest drives I have ever been on!
Four very amazing Presidents. They did so much to help shape this great country.

My Dad loved these pig tail bridges on the Iron Mountain road. He liked them so much we went on this road not just once, but three times. It was fascinating every time.

These tunnels were exciting to squeeze through.

On the Needles highway, the Dude was thrilled and nervous to watch this big truck with a camper shell squeeze through the smallest tunnel on the trip.

Begging burros in Custer State Park, Dad was not impressed.....

Those black dots are Buffalo. Dad loved the rolling hills in the park.

Here you can kind of see the Buffalo better.

Devil's Tower

This was a very unique monument, it was the first monument Pres. Theodore Roosevelt set aside for the country. It is a random rock formation with nothing else of its kind around it. You should definitely read up on it!

I promised it moved....slightly.

While in Deadwood we went to where Wild Bill Hickok was shot. The town of Deadwood is set back in the hills, very pretty area! But main street was like a mini Vegas with casinos, saloons, and people smoking everywhere!

We drove through Custer State Park again and saw a herd of Rocky Mountain Sheep, just the the Dams and their new offspring.

If I remember right, this was called a Chapel in the Hills. It is a replica of a stave church that was built in Norway in 1150.

Off the freeway on the way to Sturgis from Rapid City we found this Veteran Cemetery. It was neat to get out and pay our respects to those who served our country.

They had some big planes at the Ellsworth Air & Space Museum!

In downtown Rapid City you can go on a walking tour of the Presidents, here Dad is comparing his boot size to Pres. Lincoln's. Lincoln's were bigger.