Matthew's Elk

Well today was opening day of hunting season and Matthew was chompin' at the bit. He's been just like a little boy with these elk out here and this year he had a good reason to go hunting . . . we need the meat!! This is Matthew's very first elk, and he did good. She's about 600-800lbs. Not bad at all. He got a good close up look at the bull of the bunch, and said he is HUGE. Now I hope that he startled them enough that they head back in the hills and stay put for awhile, it really would be a shame to see that bull to die.

Tater was pretty disappointed that he wasn't able to go on the hunt, but he is very proud of his daddy (and the elk) none the less.

New Neighbors

We recently noticed a small herd of elk hanging out just down the creek from us. There are 2 BIG bulls, 2 cows, and 2 calves. They have taken a liking to the green lush alfalfa right off the county road, so they have developed a tolerance for cars driving by and people stopping to look.

It has been nice watching them for awhile, but hunting season opens tomorrow, so they'll probably be on the move soon. I hope that big bull gets to see another year.... he is incredible. It's just breathtaking to watch him.

Pay no attention to the power lines. It's the only shot I could get! (where's Tabor Craig when I need him?!?)

Sleds and Snowmen

We all decided that we needed to get all bundled up this afternoon and take advantage of the fresh powder. The kids started up the hill with the sled in tow, although for Riley Jo the trek up the hill proved to be a challenge. It's hard to climb a fairly steep hill when the snow is past your knees. Tater got the sled to the top and went down and then hauled the sled back up again, just as Riley Jo was reaching the launch point. She decided that she would go down once and that would be enough for her.

Taking a short rest while waiting for brother .

Aahh... made the uphill hike worth it!!!

Dustin got tired of waiting for Riley tyring to trudge her way through the deep snow, so being the good brother that he is, offered to push her through the field.

After the much exhausting attempt at sledding, we figured we would try our hands at building a snowman. Dustin was to busy moving snow and making roads with his dump trucks, but Riley really enjoyed our task at hand. He's a 'snowcowboy'. (note the cowboy hat)

I found this picture to be a little comical due to the fact of the trees in the background, full of nice green leaves.

Still Snowing

Well here it is day 3 and we have A LOT of snow. My guess is 2.5 feet, maybe even a little more. I really didn't get a good picture of the amount of snow. This is the deck off the back but as of yesterday afternoon the kids cleaned all the snow off, so what's there now just came over night and this morning.



This picture might show how deep the snow is a little better. . .

Not so much fun in the snow

To keep cabin fever at bay, we all loaded up with Matthew and went to feed a bale to the cows. Wouldn't of been so bad except for the really big hill that we had to tackle. We made it up about 3/4 of the way and then we got STUCK. Luckily, the tractor wasn't but a short hike up the hill, so away went Matthew. . . .
In case you can't tell, this is a picture of the back wheel of the pickup buried in the snow. Even 4 wheel drive couldn't save us this time.



My hero!! The one good thing about getting stuck so bad that we needed the tractor to get us out, is that he cleared the road too. Made for a much easier trip down the hill. Yeah Matthew!!!

Fun in the snow

The kids thought they would bundle up and tackle the great white outdoors this afternoon. After they got a trail made, it was great sledding.

Riley Jo wasn't too keen on getting the sled to the top of the hill, but she sure enjoyed the ride down. Tater was a good big brother and pulled the sled to the top for her.

Okay, my best guess is that we have over a foot of snow easy, as of Saturday afternoon. I was surprised how deep it was out in the field without any drifts. Here's Matt's pup, Butch. You can get an idea of how deep the snow is from this picture.

MORE Snow....

Day 2... I took this picture this morning. I'm not exactly sure on the amount as of then, just know that it was alot.


This is right out my back door. I'm starting to think that I'm going to need some sort of measuring device. A stick, or kid, or something. It's still snowing. The wind is really blowing this morning. We can't even the hill that's about 700 yards from us.

It's been a very wet and heavy snow. The ground is still pretty warm so at this point it will be a muddy mess soon.

People keep telling me that this is a preview of what is to come this winter. We haven't had a real winter in so long, I think that I would rather do without. I'm not looking forward to winter.

Winter already?!?

This was the view out my back door this morning. The weather guys are saying to expect 9 or more inches by Monday, so my plan is to take a few pictures throughout the weekend to show the progress. This photo shows day #1. Stay tuned....

A big night for Uncle Pig

It's been a long time coming, but Uncle finally had his "surgery". Uncle has been Riley Jo's faithful sidekick for years now and has lost all of his stuffing, so the other night he received "botox".

Always watchful, Riley Jo never left his side.

After awhile Riley figured that she might even be some help.

All went well. Time to stitch him up. We heard a big sigh of relief from Riley Jo.

The final result... One happy little girl and one fat pig.