Meet Pedro & Coffee

Pedro & Coffee. Coffee & Pedro. They go together like....well like all the good things in life.

Pedro & Coffee

Pedro

Pedro was bought as a colt in hopes she would grow up to match one of grandpa's red road percheon cross mares that we had been driving. She grew up, but not enough. She was broke to ride and then sent to our house. We rode her for awhile, and she just got ornerier and crankier. I was ready to give up on her, so we sent her to the Amish to get broke to drive. And she is great!


Coffee

Coffee is out of one of grandpa's mares and is such a sweetheart. Big D and I spent one winter taming her, halter breaking her, picking her feet up and saddling her. She was then sent to the Amish to break to drive. She also is great!



The wagon awaits, at Andi & Jason's Wedding

After many years Dad finally has a team again. He is proud of them, enjoys driving them, and brags about them to anyone who will listen. They outwalk any team, gentle as all get out and are scared of anything.



After Bucking Horse Sale Parade 2009

We have had them in Bucking Horse Sale parade. 125th Montana Stockgrowers Association Parade. Several wagon trains. Andi & Jason's Wedding. Wagon rides during the winter. Wagon rides for the heck of it. They are kid broke. The are beer broke. Heck, Dad's even let Grandpa drive, whom has only really good working arm.

Dad driving his team


Madion is becoming quite the teamster

Dad & flower girls waiting for the wedding party.

Brucellosis

Brucellosis has wreaked havic on Montana's cattle industry the last few years. Everything from marketing, breeding stock, and exporting beef from and around Montana has been affected. It's been the topic of many discussions all over the state and surrounding states.

Right now the Montana Department of Livestock is holding meetings across the state and taking public comment on their proposal of a statewide Official Statewide Vaccination (OCV) for brucellosis. This proposal calls for statewide requirement of OCV for all sexually intact female cattel and bison that will not be slaughtered, but used for breeding.

Currently the state only requires OCV four Montana counties, Beaverhead, Gallatin, Madison and Park. These counties are all part of the brucellosis Designated Surveillance Area. Part of the push for OCV is that it will show Montana is doing all they can to help prevent spreading of brucellosis.

Here is the link to read the full proposal and the address where producers can send in there comments about this proposal.

Oh, Snap!

I have been blessed with a daughter whos language, speech and understanding is beyond her 3 years. Some people are quite amazed at her speech, and can't imagine where she gets it from. I know where and how she gets it. Her gift of gab comes from all parts of her family tree. Her dad. Her mom. Her grandma. Her papa. Her great-grandpa. Her aunties. The list goes on. Second of all, we never 'baby talked' to her. Third, she has been around adults since she was born, and we have great friends that talk to her, make her mind and play with her. And I don't think there is a shy bone in her body.

She remembers peoples names better than I do. She wants to know everyones name and she has never met a stranger. Instead of asking me who people are she now walks up to them and says "What's your name? " and after you tell her your name she sticks her hand(sometimes the left hand, sometimes the right hand) and says "Mine name's Tally. Nice ta meet ya"

So this brings me to the other night. I was in the kitchen making supper and she came walking up to me and said: "Mama, I just said 'damn it' and that's naughty. What other word can I say thats not naughty so I don't get in trouble." I agreed with her that that word is naughty while making a mental note to watch my language. She thought for a moment and said "I have a great idea, how 'bout I say 'oh, snap' and not 'damn it' and that won't be naughty and I won't get a spanking, k?" I told her that was a great idea. She then spent the next four minutes repeating 'oh, snap. oh, snap' many times!

One would think it would be safe to say, that when she is sleeping, she finally quits talking.

But now she has taken to talking in her sleep. Just like her mom. Her grandma. Her daddy.

What's a Gal to Do?

Big D left for the weekend. He is attending some fire board training (or so he says) on the other end of the state. I am so excited I wanna get up and do a happy dance!



Don't go a'hating on me. I am just looking forward to a girls weekend. T & I have plans of baking cookies, a few heated games of Hungry Hungry Hippo. Don't feel sorry for her. She is very serious hippo player and takes no prisoners.



We're gonna hang in our comfy clothes. Get some cleaning done. Play in the snow.



Watch what we want. Eat what we want.



Have a picnic in our living room.



We're gonna take a trip to the quilt store with Auntie J. Well, T says we are taking a trip to get ice cream and a balloon. A girl can dream, right?



NO. BOYS. ALLOWED.

Can you go back home again?

It's almost funny how things come full circle. How old stomping grounds become new. How forgotten memories come flooding back it's almost scary. How old friends become new neighbors. How time and distance doesn't change much between good friends.

My parents moved again last week. It's been a hell of a year for moving. We should be pros at it by now, but I don't think it quite works that way. They moved back to North Dakota. Back to the ranch that we first lived on when we first moved to North Dakota. I was in first grade. My little sister celebrated her first birthday there. Even though we moved from that particular ranch a few years later, it was just fifteen miles up the road and it was the same community, same friends. It's the community that my sisters and I grew up in. The friends we grew up with. The school we graduated from. Which, is now closed. We may have moved from there for a few years, but we never left our friends or community. We would go back for weddings. For rodeos. For parties. And now I will go back for a whole lot more. Brandings. Christmas. Or just to get away for the weekend.

It's exciting. It's weird. It's crazy. But I am sure it's all good.

Halters For Healing

I recieved an email this morning from my friend Glo, asking to check out a website of a friend of hers that makes halters. But there is something special about this guy and these halters. He is a cancer survicor. His mother has been battling cancer for years. He was looking for a way to give back and support research, and so Halters For Healing was born. The idea is simple. As most know, most cancers have a color associated with them to bring awareness. The customer chooses which color of halter they want and a portion of the profit will be sent to organization that supports choosen cancer. Here are the choices:

Cancer Awareness Color Chart
Yellow - Bladder cancer
Grey - Brain cancer
Pink - Breast cancer
White - Cervical cancer
Gold - Childhood cancers
Dark blue - Colon cancer
Burgundy & Ivory - Head & Neck cancer
Lavender - Genera cancer
Kelly Green - Kidney cancer
Orange - Leukemia
Lime Green - Lymphoma
Black - Melanoma
Burgundy - Multiple Myeloma
Teal - Ovarian cancer
Purple - Pancreatic cancer
Blue - Prostate cancer
Light Yellow - Sarcoma/Bone


Check out the website http://ropentime.com/default.aspx and read his story and check out the Halters for Healing.

HSUS Ranks States

The HSUS has a new list out. They examined state animal protection laws in 65 potential categories and then ranked the states.

You can read the whole thing here Billings Gazettes HSUS story

Here are a few hilights of this story:

*California recieved top score
*Montana was ranked 35th, and tied with Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming
* North Dakota was ranked 47th and tied with Mississippi
*South Dakota was ranked 50th

There categories are something else. Take a moment and read this insane list compiled by the ever crazy HSUS.