Mutual Gift

There is one gift that everyone in Battle Mtn and surrounding areas recieved on Christmas-snow!! I'm sure that it was not appreciated by all, however the girls and I enjoyed it(Bryan had to work) and the moisture is definitly needed. I remind myself of this fact now because it has since warmed up a bit and we now have a lot of MUD.

Here is our woodshed and a bunch of the firewood that was dry. Thankfully there is a bunch in the back that was just fine.

The driveway

Trees in the driveway-I think the snow on the sides of the trunks just looks neat-maybe I'm weird

Snow up close-it just looks really cold in this picture.

Our juniper bushes were about as half as tall as they usually are.

Christmas Morning

Well, its a few days late but here are a few pics of out morning. Things were nice and warm inside but it was snowing like crazy outside. I got done feeding the horses just in time before the storm really hit. Anyhow, we had a good day. We spent the morning together and opened presents and then Granny and Grandpa Cox came over with their gifts for the girls. That aternoon, Bryan had to go to work and the girls and I headed over to my moms where we spent the rest of the afternoon. That evening, we went over to Granny's house and had dinner and visited with more friends and family. It was a good day and definitly a white Chritmas.


Bryan's new gun, repair kit.

Is it just me or do they still lok like they are waking up in these pictures.

Winter Characters

The clouds finally started to clear out the other day. It was so nice to get some sunshine but extremely bright too. The snows reflection is almost blinding. Feeding the horses and the goats is a bit more of a chore with all of the snow but thanks to the 4-wheeler and a trailer its not to bad. However, with all of the snow, everything looks so clean but I am dreading when it all melts and I get to see all of the manure that has piled up for the past couple of weeks-ugh-then the chore really begins. I'm always looking for volunteers that are interested in a good work out! Any volunteers, any at all...?


Here is the path down to all of the horses.

Riata is always happy to see you.

Lena happy to see you too.

Apparently the sunshine felt good enough to lay down and take a nap in the snow.

Peek-a-boo!

The goats really don't like deep snow. It takes a little coaxing to get them out of their shed at first. They then stick to their little paths that they have made to the water, hay and back to the shed.

There's no snow in here!

Do not deviate from this path.

Sisquo here is not to concerned about the snow-just his hay. Are you saving that for later? You should chew with your mouth closed-where are your manners?

Felix

Felix is our only boy kitty. He came to us, actually we went and got him, about 3 yrs ago. He was a wild, 12wk old kitten that had really never been handled. I figured that after we had this cat neutered, vaccinated and put outside we would never see him again. However, thanks to Jessie, things are the total opposite-he won't leave,(don't get me wrong-I don't want him gone gone), especially since it has gotten cold and there is about 6" of snow on the ground and there is a particular dog, Hank, that loves to play chase with him. He has quite the personality, he'll actually "cock" his head when you talk to him-makes you think he just might understand you(i seriously doubt this). He does like to talk back to you though, hmmm..... He is a good mouser too.


Anyhow, here he is making his way out of the pump house to come say hi; actually he was on a rescue mission. He was certian that he was the victim of a snow assualt and he was coming to me to be rescued from the dreaded, white, icey powder that chilled his little toes and would give his tongue an extra work out on his thick coat. (have I mentioned that the pump house is complete with a heat lamp and elevated, padded bed just for the cats)

Ahh.. he made it to me and has decided that my leg would be good to use as a brace to stretch his cold muscles. He really wanted me to pick him up and bring him in-after all he had to jump from footprint to footprint to get this far.

Well, I gave in....... sucker

He wasted know time in making himself comfortable on my lap. I'm sure he just knew that I was getting cold and needed a lap warmer and it was his way of saying thanks-- not. I think it was probably the other way around-he was cold and was looking for a warm lap to use.

Look into my eyes.......you are getting sleepy.......you will go open me a can of tuna.........

Hypnosis didn't work- I kept taking pictures and wiggling around so he decided that he had had enough and left to go find a more suitable place for his nap.

Update: Felix does not learn after the first time. Last year, during the winter, he jumped down form the scratching tower right onto the hot wood stove. Thankfully, his toes weren't to badly burned. He had a couple blisters and a really BAD attitude for a few days but all in all was fine. However, guess what he did last night-yep-he did it again. This time the stove wasn't as hot so no blisters and the BAD attitude was taken out on the dog, poor Hank, but he seems fine today. He is the only cat that I have had that has ever tried this. The others seem to know. Insane?-trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. "Curiosity killed the cat"-" satisfaction brought it back?"(I wonder how many lives he has left?) Hmmmm

Christmas Eve

The Lord has truly blessed us this year in so many ways; our health, friends and family, our jobs, a warm house, our church and I could go on and on but especially the true "reason for the season", our Lord. I have always known, (almost always) the true meaning of Christmas but this year it hit home a bit more. I've put a lot more thought into it and have come to realize that it is so easy to forget why this holiday is celebrated and what it is that we should be celebrating-the birth of our Lord and Savior. He had to come so that we could be forgiven, so that we could be saved. Now, that's a gift! Its better than any other gift that could be given or received-it lasts forever. With this in mind, I think that we need to live in celebration of this fact every day of the year, don't let this thankful attitude end after the "season".

Ok, it has always been a tradition in my family to open a gift on Christmas Eve and so we have continued that tradition with the girls. We usually have a big dinner at my mom's but that didn't happen this year do to work schedules and family that was traveling. After the girls opened there gift, Bryan had to go to work(he was so excited with all of the snow-NOT!) and we went over to my mom's to hang out and snack. The girls got to open their gifts from grandma and grandpa that evening too. They got to practice being patient since grandpa didn't get home until almost 9:00 due to the snowey roads. It was pure torcher.

Here are the girls at my moms opening their gifts.

This is a really cute devotional for kids-I'm going to use it during school.

Here are the girls opening their one gift at home before Bryan went to work. Jessie guessed what they were before they opened them.

Mom, dad, they look like sleeping bags.......

guess what.....

they are sleeping bags!

Now, how do they open?

TA-DA. Two bugs in a rug!

They both wanted to sleep in their new bags that night, surprise, surprise.

Out and about

Hey, I think we are finally going to get a bit of a break from these storms before the next ones move in so I decided to go out and get some pictures.

Here is a view of the Shoshone Mtns. out back.

Here is a view of the Sheep Creek range to the north of us.

Here is a view of my hubby using the bobcat to get some things ready for the bonfire.

Bryan: "she thinks my tractors sexy, it really turns her on, she's always starring at me as I'm chuggin along......."

Ruby was enjoying the sunshine on the south end of the house-its always quite warm here.

Finally, a picture of the elusive, beautiful Sierra. She has claimed this house as hers- she shares with nobody! She comes out to eat and drink and use the little kitty room and then is promptly back in her cozy little home.

Hank is as bad as the girls when it comes to getting a picture where he is looking at the camera with his eyes opened. I gave up after about 5 tries.

Lee is very photogenic. I love this look!

Okay, he was done posing for the camera-back to playin' ball-can't waist precious time-daylights burnin'





The horses are getting so shaggy. They really enjoyed the sunshine today.

Riata coming to say hi. She is a very social horse-that or she was hoping that the camera becomes eatable.

Nina soaking up some sun. She doesn't move unless she has to.

Lena was to concerned about the last few pieces of hay on the ground to look up. This is the equine form of a hoover vaccuum-can't blame her though-that hay is like gold this year.

It's a Laua!

We celebrated Jessie's 9th birthday this past Monday by having a Laua. We all had a lot of fun and despite the cold that was outside it was "hot" inside. ( I did have pretty good fire going in the stove since half of the kids were running around in their swimsuits) I can't believe that she is 9-time is flying.

Jessie, Marisa and Shyla all ready for the party. Sara had the opportunity to go to Hawaii a few years ago and brought back sarongs(the little skirts) for everyone. The girls loved wearing them.

Her was the cake table along with a pineapple full of fruit kabobs anda bowl of fruit punch.(the punch wasn't quite done yet)

I was quite proud of the way that the pineapple/ kabobs turned out-very colorful.

Sara made the cake-she did a great job. I think she is going to out-do herself one of these days. She should go into business.

Okay, you are probably wondering why there are two cakes now, right? Well, Jessie asked for an extra cake so that she could demonstrate...........

Getting ready......she gets the same look when she is about to go under water too.(yes, she was holding her breath)

Yep-she wanted to stick her face in a cake.

Ta-da!!!




Now the gift opening.

And of course we had a few games including limbo. Jessie found out that there are some disadvantages to being so tall.

She was doing more demonstrations-this is one on how to hula dance.

The party was a toal success thanks to all the friends and family that came. After cake and icecream, all of the girls stayed over for a sleepover-let the slumber parties begin! There were 6 girls total and they had a lot of fun. Sierra brought a dvd on how to hula dance-it was fun watching them try to do it. For dinner we had Hawaiin kabobs-they turned out so good. The girls also tried raw coconuts-nobody was that impressed-the faces were great. Thanks to Becky and the use of more game controls, they all took turns playing the game cube too not to mention all of the "princess" drama and talk that was going on. They were all great and really enjoyed each others company, and believe it or not, they were all asleep by 10:00. I really thought that it would of been 11 or even 12 before there was total silence but they must of been tired because after we got 6 beds made ,one on the couch and 5 on the floor, and then everybody got drinks, used the restroom a few times and got another drink they were ready to crash. It was a great party.