MORE OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

On Monday we took the boys crawdad fishing and Caleb brought a friend.  We hiked to the edge of the canyon looking for a trail down to the water but decided it was too steep for little ones, and big ones for that matter, so we hiked back to the truck that we parked next to the pond and sunk the trap into the pond.  Ryan enjoyed the scenery.

The boys had the most fun climbing up and sliding down the huge pile of dirt they found.  They spent pretty much the entire time doing that and having a great time getting very very dirty.

We didn't catch any crawdads but we did see this little guy hanging out and warming up in the sun since it was only 68 degrees out at 1 pm.  Anyway, it was lots of fun but next time we are going to some reservoir where apparently the crawdads are the size of lobster.  Maybe next week.  For now stay tuned for more adventures.

COWBOY UP

We are up early these days, feeding the horses before we eat and yesterday this is how AJ went outside. I had to laugh when I saw him walking toward the house from the barn for breakfast. Then he went right past me to see the horses and the only way he would stop and turn around for a pic was when Caleb posed with him. He reminds me of those old cowboy movies where the cowboys come out in their long johns and boots, all he's missing is a hat, but his hat has seen better days and we are waiting for the sale at D&B to buy him another one.

They have taken to the horses like old friends, no surprise there.

Neptune got stepped on this am for the first time and I'm pretty surprised he wasn't limping afterward. Both dogs get really upset when I'm in the corral with the horses and now they have found a gate they can go under so they do.

The boys, that's what I call them when I go see them, hey that's funny, I just realized that Jazz and I are still the only girls around. Anyway they are both very affectionate and come to the fence for some lovin' everytime they hear me. We looked at a couple of mares yesterday but decided against them and I was reminded again why I don't care for mares. I guess I'm happy being the queen bee around here. We are considering some angus heifers due to calve in spring but have more investigating to do first. Stay tuned for updates on that. Anyhow, that's what's happening around here these days.

MEET RENO

Meet Reno... R's new horse. He is a 15.1 hand 8 year old quarter horse/tennessee walker gelding. Ain't he purty! And he's super sweet to boot. We went to look at him on Wed night and R rode him and immediately fell in love, then ALL the boys rode him, one at a time of course, and there was no way we weren't going to buy him. He was and continues to be a perfect gentleman, although he kicked at my Tiger this am during their breakfast.

They are both pretty passive horses so we put them together and they went together like they'd always known each other. One of them will be the dominant one but it remains to be seen which one. For now, we are just getting to know them before we ride them and getting the barn and arena into shape. No shortage of work to do that's for sure. Speaking of work I had better go

HELLO TIGER!

This week has been a busy week around here. On Monday after seeing 4 1/2 mice in the pasture and droppings in the pantry again... we decided some abandoned cats would serve us well as mousers outside and then we got some traps for the pantry. We caught 2 mice inside on Tuesday. R is in charge of disposing of the bodies and killing them when they aren't dead yet...Anyhow... he shot one with the bb gun when it wasn't dead yet but suffering so he tried to put it out of it's misery but it took MANY shots. Anyhow the cats are looking like good mousers from watching Tig stalking and catching grasshoppers today, we'll see how they grow, they are still pretty young now. The boys named them Tig and Belle. Yesterday the boys started scouts and loved it... they both went on fieldtrips and made some more friends. Then last night we went out to Paul and bought a gelding for me. We are going tonight and looking at another one for R and maybe one for the boys too, depending on how long it takes in Twin. Anyway Tiger is a massive specimen and the first thing AJ said when he saw him was, "dad I'm not getting on that horse." We are thinking a pony may be better for him and Levi.

FIRE!

So we woke this am to the boys screaming and running through the house, "FIRE FIRE FIRE!" The whole house was filled with smoke. Have no fear, it wasn't our house on fire. The whole area is blanketed with smoke, the worst of it is to the North and West of us. Levi woke up a bunch during the night and I smelled the smoke then but all the radio stations we found are on a pre recorded or syndicate show so there is no news and we have no idea how bad or how far or if it's a controlled burn or not, I doubt it since I smelled it in the middle of the night and not earlier. It's not too bad since when the wind blows, and it has been alot, most of the smoke clears from around us, we can see a few miles now. I pray for anyone closer and those who are handling it. Another new experience of country living.

SHOSHONE FALLS

BEWARE... LOTS OF PICS AHEAD. I wanted to work around the property. Ryan wanted to go to Shoshone Falls. I decided his was more important and since he obviously agreed, we went. I'm glad we did. We are heading into the canyon and see this long line of traffic but since we were stuck in this long line we had a chance to look around and the boys spotted a large group of bull elk on top of the ridge. I have learned that they are much better than I am at spotting the wildlife but anyway... My pic doesn't do it justice, they are huge and there were at least 10-15 of them. As we got farther we discovered the reason for this highly unusual sighting... an elk farm.

Anyhow, next we saw tons of waterfalls, little ones, big ones some with rainbows and tons of spray. It's well worth seeing.

We played in the water.

The boys went crawdad fishing and caught more than they were expecting.

They found a snake, a frog (but he blends in quite well and I can't see him in the pic even though I know where he is), lots of small fish and lots of bugs. Their all day fave discovery/catch was the crawdad that R chased me around with.

All in all it was a great day! Lots of fun and some excellent time with R.

JAKE'S BEAR

He looks thrilled doesn't he? Jake earned his Bear before we left and thank goodness there was a pack meeting a couple of days before we left so he actually got the awards he earned from the summer program and all of his arrow points and his bear! YEAH!!!! We are so proud of you Jake!!! Of course we also had fun painting his face and despite the sour look on his face, he wasn't suffering, just impatient with the photographer.

FINALLY!

We finally made it to our new home in Kimberly, ID. I understand now why noone we talked to knew where the house we rented was. It's set back about half mile off the road behind trees and brush and stuff and you literally can't even see our fence from the road. You drive down a dirt road then through a white rail fence and then you can see the house and shop and front corrals. Another minute and you can see the house behind more huge trees and the barn and back corrals and yard. The view is awesome. The first 5 days we were here the boys got up every morning and got dressed and went outside to do some boy thing like hang the swing in the tree or build a fort or something like that. It's awesome. R has been off the whole week and that has slowed me down getting things done around here since we are spending our time together not working as much as possible which also means it's been an expensive week but I'm trying not to freak out about that. So far we found out that the last people who lived here had a llama attacked by a mountain lion, we've seen the biggest coyote I've ever seen and two buck deer in the brush around our house and found a large family of quail, that Jazz chased, and a rabbit that live close to the house in the yard. I hear the wind in the trees almost constantly and I'm loving it. There are a couple of issues with the house/management company but they'll work themselves out I'm sure and everything will be good. Anyhow, it's been a very busy week to say the least.