Top Ten Finalist

I just found out that I picture I entered in the Beef Magazine photo contest made it to the Top 10!! I'm really excited. Of course, the picture includes Kelly Jo--I just know she will be famous one of these days! Please take the time to vote for this picture (#7) if you get a chance to help us win!! Just follow the link below the picture. Thanks!




http://blog.beefmagazine.com/beef_daily/2009/12/15/top-10-finalists-cowboy-christmas-photography-contest/

Winter is Here

After it rained and was just below freezing all day yesterday, it finally turned to snow overnight. The winds picked up and we are now having gusts of 50 mph and it's below zero. We haven't had any weather close to being this cold, so it really feels bitter outside. I didn't have to go to work this morning due to the roads so I got to help Luke do chores instead.

View from the back porch this morning:

The cows looked pretty cold and were all huddled behind the grain bin. Needless to say, they were happy to see some hay this morning.

Kelly loves the snow! While Luke was feeding hay I snuck between the rows of hay bales to try to get out of the wind for a bit. Kelly was very busy running back and forth across the top of the rows of hay bales. This picture was taken as Kelly realized the cows were getting too close to Luke as he was taking the net wrap off the bale. She was gone the next instant--off to help him!

Oh Christmas Tree

We are spending Christmas in Montana this year, so we wanted to make sure to get our Christmas tree up early so we would have some time to enjoy it! The Sunday after Thanksgiving we headed out to our favorite tree farm in the middle of nowhere and picked out a good (and very bushy) tree!

That's the one! Luke came prepared with the chainsaw.

It took me about a week to finally decorate the tree and the rest of the house, but it's now looking very festive around here!

I had to throw this one in there--Luke and his "baby":

Pictures From Last Weekend

On Sunday, I finally started to get some energy & I went outside to get some fresh air. Luke was out hunting, so Kelly & I decided to check on the calves & the progress on the corral. Flash was there to help too: Since Saturday was Halloween, I finally picked the one pumpkin that grew in my garden. I never got around to carving it though:

Work on the corral is going really good. It's going to be so permanent and so sturdy that it will make working cows so much easier.

The calves got weaned this past weekend and got to be the first to use part of the corral. You can see the cows up on the hill and the calves looking longingly out at them:

This bull calf is our pride and joy of this years' calf crop. He's an AI calf out of Yield Grade and an EXT first calf heifer.

Mom is always asking me about the kittens, so here are some updated pictures of the 2 kitten we have that were born in June. Stripes is my favorite:

Here's Cinder. She's kind of elusive:

Well, that's about all for now. It's gorgeous this weekend--70 degrees today. I wish I felt more up to doing stuff outside. I bought a bunch of daffodil & tulip bulbs that I've been meaning to plant--I got 3 planted and gave up. Maybe I'll be up for it tommorrow. Luke is busy working on the last stretch of corral & Kelly is outside enjoying the sunshine & hunting.

Update

Once again, it's been a long time since I updated my blog. I've just been tired so much lately that I haven't done much of anything...especially on here.

First of all, congratulations must go out to Luke's brother Matt & his girlfriend, Emily, who got engaged last week! We are so excited for them and to have a new sister-in-law! Congrats, congrats, congrats!!

Matt & Emily walking back from the Pumpkin Festival a couple weeks ago.

Also last week, Luke turned 28. All he wanted to do for his birthday was to go bowhunting and eat chili. Unfortunately, he had to travel for work all day and wasn't able to go hunting. I wasn't up for making dinner, so he had to settle for pizza...but I did get him an icecream cake! I think he had a good birthday anyways though!

Birthday lovins' from Kelly Jo

This past weekend we stayed home. Luke worked on the corral with help from his friends Kyle & AJ (which turned into a spontaneous "guys night" in the barn) since both of their wives were our of town. The corral is almost done! Kelly hurt her paw though. She sliced one of the pads on her left front foot and its still really sore. We've been wrapping it and trying to keep it clean but she is still limping pretty bad. Poor girl.

Today it rained so much and there was so much flooding that I got to leave work early (to make sure I could actually get home). Then I got a flat tire about 1 mile from our house. Luckily Luke & Steve were here and helped me put the "donut" on so I could get home & out of the rain. I guess we'll see if I make it to work tommorrow or not...

Mariah & Lyle's Wedding

On September 19th, my good friend and college roommate, Mariah got married to Lyle! It was a gorgeous setting and a gorgeous day...even though it was 95 degrees in Billings that day. I left for Billings a week early for all the pre-wedding festivities. It was so much fun to get to spend time with the girls and catch up. Here we are at the salon the morning of the wedding.


The wedding was outdoors at a garden:


Mariah was the prettiest bride I have ever seen!

The whole group! Well, Big Trev, Ken & Kassi were missing, but Joylynn and her husband were there.

I spent the week with the Kaczmareks and had a great time hanging out with them. Tucker turned 1 year old while I was there. He is such a cutie!

Congratulations Mariah & Lyle! I really enjoyed being part of your big day & I wish you two only the best!!

After Numerous Complaints...

I'm finally updating my blog! Since I started my new job I hardly have time for anything...let alone updating my blog, but I do apologize. We've been doing good, just really busy. Hope this makes up for it!

Here are some pictures from my August trip to visit my family in Montana.

Hiking to Birch Lake with Matty:

We saw lots and lots of goats once we got up the lake. They were really tame too and we got really close. The little baby goats were SO cute!

I got to spend several days riding at the ranch. My Grandpa has a new horse named Cricket that I got to try out for him. I really liked her! The cows were everywhere...but where they were supposed to be, so we had our work cut out for us.

We finally found some cows!

Matt & I also hiked to the falls by the ranch. It's always a gorgeous trip:

My good ole' Doc is still hanging in there. Age has been kind of hard on him this last year, but it was so good to see him and know that he is doing well.

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!!

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.

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.

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!