Friday, July 31, 2009

Westward Bound

I'm taking a short break from packing, laundry, etc. to post this. Tomorrow Luke is taking me across Iowa to meet Lynmarie (who is also driving across Iowa). Lynmarie & Mariah are in Northwest Iowa for a wedding on Saturday. So, I will ride there with Lynmarie and will be a wedding crasher. Then on Sunday we're driving to Billings and on Monday we'll be in Kalispell--woohoo!! It's going to be 3 long days in the car but it will be fun to be traveling with the girls! I haven't been home since Thanksgiving so I am really excited!!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Haying Season

The 2009 haying season went much smoother than 2008. Luke's dad gave him a round baler that worked great and saved us so much time and labor. We still made some square bales to have on hand for the horses, etc. Luke's brother Matt & his girlfriend Emily came and helped us pick up & stack square bales. It was a huge help.


We finished up haying a couple weeks ago and ended up with about 70 round bales & 200 square bales.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Changing Fast!

When we were in Montana for Erik & Courtney's wedding we got to stay with our good friends Mandy & Tim and their baby boy, Tucker. I hadn't seen him since last October and it was hard to tell he was even the same little baby. He is just the cutest and it's so fun to see the things he has learned.

This is Mandy & Tucker while we were watching the fireworks in Billings on the 4th of July:

Tucker was pretty good at entertaining Luke:

It's so hard to believe that this was him only 10 months ago:One thing has not changed--he has always been just about the cutest baby ever!

The New Batch

Turns out Mama Kitty is very prolific. Not only did she have 4 kittens in January...she had another batch in June. I went outside one morning and noticed Kelly standing in the back of Luke's old pickup--which was parked in the shed. Thinking this was a bit strange, I walked over there and realized the back window had been left open and Kelly was peering inside. Papa Kitty sat on the seat & a newly skinny Mama Kitty was sitting on the floorboard. I got to looking around and noticed she had crawled under the driver's seat, tore out the underside of the cushion and had kittens in there. Lets just say Luke was not impressed!

Needless to say, we didn't drive that pickup anywhere for about a week. After that, we were headed to Montana and wanted to move the kittens before we left. We boxed them up and took them to the haystack:


Notice Mama Kitty had two dark colored kittens...ya, I think she's been running around on Papa Kitty because he is orange also and every kitten she's had since we've lived here has been orange--suspicious huh?

Mama Kitty was not too fond of the haystack and after about a week she moved the kittens to a much safer place:

Yes, that's a square baler and no Mama Kitty, it's not a safe place for kittens when it is haying season!

The kittens are now 6 weeks old and really playful. I tried to take some pictures but they never stay still long enough! Here is the kitten we called skunk (because of the stripe) and Pinky Jr. (in honor of Pinky from the last litter because they look really similar. Skunk is a girl and Pinky Jr. is a boy.

This is my favorite of the batch, Stripes. Stripes is a girl and she is just the sweetest kitten.


So, once again, we have kittens to give away if anyone wants one. I may have to keep Stripes though :) but the other two are very friendly also. As of yesterday, Mama Kitty is now spayed so this is the last litter we will have.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Erik & Courtney's Wedding

Luke & I flew into Billings and roadtripped it to Wisdom with the Kaczmareks & Mariah for Erik & Courtney's wedding on July 3rd. It was absolutely gorgeous weather & we had such a great time--I'm so glad we were able to make the trip!



The reception site--their ranch is gorgeous:The happy couple:
Lynmarie, Mandy, Mariah & I picked wildflowers for the centerpieces & I think they turned out pretty darn good:
Good times with Big Trev!


The whole group--we continue to expand!

Monday, July 27, 2009

I'm Back!

Well, it's about time for a new post! I guess this means my blogging break is over. It's been kind of a crazy last couple months but things are starting to straighten out and are looking up. Here's an update of some of the things that have been going on since I posted.

The Berry Family Reunion, Branson, June 2009
Luke fishing for trout at Lake Taneycomo:


Feeding the fish at the hatchery:

Huge trout at the fishery:
Overlooking Lake Taneycomo:

Table Rock Lake, some huge carp hanging out by the docks waiting for people to feed them--the ducks have the same idea:
I'll continue to play catch up the next couple days. I've been spending quite a bit of time inside lately because Luke got his wisdom teeth taken out last Thursday & I've been trying to take care of him & watch movies so he'll be more likely to rest up. It's been a rough go for him :(