Winter fun

Randen wanted to get outside and have some winter fun. While he was at Grandpa and Grandma's he decided to put his artistic talent to use. He created snowmen replicas of Grandpa and Grandma.

He portrayed grandma wearing a bikini top and sporting some ruby-red lipstick. A cigar-smoking Grandpa appeared to be ready to net the big one while patting grandma on the back.

He took a brief sledding break.

And admired his handiwork.

A day in the life of...

One lazy Sunday morning Zach and Annie went coyote hunting...Ris, Randen, and I loaded up to follow our dad around to document his morning. It went something like this...

We drove around in dad's pickup and listened to his box set of CD's entitled 70's Love Songs. We opened gates for him while he fed hay. He fed bales at Clarence's.

He fed bales on the creek...

He fed more bales on the other side of the creek...

Dad got Bell's Palsy recently. Evidently, it is a virus that causes one side of the face to fall.

He had to wear an eyepatch for a while because he couldn't blink one eye. He seems to be getting better. However, his face looks rough. He doesn't want to go into public until it heals. Luckily, this crowd of cows don't count as "public."

His dog's name is Rosie. One of the neighbors gave him(?) to Dad. Rosie is quite a companion. He (?) likes to ride in the tractor and listen to 810 AM radio with dad.

Dad is actually smiling for this picture. One of these days the Bell's Palsy will go away and he will have his grin back.

Power Down – Fun Factor Up?

Note: Many people have asked us how Larissa and Joe were doing during the storms. We asked Ris to compile a short diary of the events that happened during that time as well as her reflections. The following is a verbatim recollection of the events.

When she refers to the Cabin she means the new, under-construction house. When she refers to the Shack, she means the old house that they have been living in.

Dear Diary:

January 20^th –Power down. Went down to cabin (Rissa’s thoughts: How fun, I get to stay in the cabin)

January 21^st -The power briefly came on today, but then went dead again until February 6^th. (Rissa’s thoughts: I am going to get so much done to this cabin with the boys staying here!)

January 22^nd - Matt brought a generator out. Cooking on the wood stove, it took 30 minutes to fry one egg (Rissa’s thought: I am hungry right NOW! But this is still pretty fun, except for getting stuck and the frigid temperatures)

January 23^rd - We got a 2^nd generator, boys got the toilet in so we melted snow to flush. Obviously, no wells would work w/o power so we moved cows to a spring that a kind neighbor let us use! Other bunches also drank out of springs. (Rissa’s thoughts: It’s pretty awesome going to the bathroom and not getting frostbit!)

January 24^th - Been stuck with all pickups at least 6 times already. Tried to hook up a PTO generator to the old shack, didn’t work as it was -30 wind-chill. Looked in the old house and the toilet had frozen and broke. Joe was at the very top of the tractor bucket, in the dark, trying to fix the electric wires at the top of the pole, with me shining a crappy flashlight at him. (Rissa’s thoughts~ I am cold, but you know what? This WILL get better!) Tried to pry hand off of flashlight.

January 25^th - Randen went to his Grammy’s house. Exchanged him for a propane camp stove. We are at the cabin eating well!!! Huddling in front of the wood stove with the doors wide open watching a DVD that is plugged into the generator! We are real pioneers! We all are feeling SEVERAL drafts that need to be plugged in the cabin! That night huddled next to Joe in sweatpants, long johns, stocking cap and 6 quilts and wondering if it is possible to know that I am freezing in my sleep. (Rissa’s thoughts~ I HATE WINTER, really when will this blizzard end??)

January 26^th -Some other neighbors called and said we could come take showers (propane water heater!!) BEST NEWS ALL MONTH! That night their electricity was restored so we “moved” in with them. (Rissa’s thoughts~ I am okay now, I got the grease out of my hair I feel revived, refreshed and full of awesome food)

January 26^th- the end of January - Wondering how long we should invade the neighbor’s house. Should we move to the next neighbor’s house??? Do I scrub her floors? Do I buy food? What are the rules on squatting?

Somewhere around January 29^th - Had a minor breakdown that involved feeling of doom that the temp will NEVER get over zero again, hysterical crying, a wish that I lived in the desert, I hate ranching etc. you get the picture) One hour and a headache later I am okay we will be fine, don’t be a baby.

February 6^th - We finally got power and the fuel oil furnace unthawed to the old shack and the only thing busted was the toilet!! Felt we were pretty lucky! Moved BACK into the shack, although when the power first went out I said I never would move back in… oh well.

February 5^th and 6^th- Tried to unthaw waters and replaced pressure switches etc… no luck (Rissa’s thoughts: Man, ranching sucks)

February 7^th- Cows finally got water. The temperature got to, like, 10. (Rissa’s thoughts: Awesome, ranching isn’t so bad!! I love it, it is totally a lifestyle!!)

February 13^th- Another blizzard, moved cows home from Bills (5 or so miles) Rissa got stuck 3 times in a matter of an hour and wasn’t even helping with the “drive”… very cold (Rissa’s thoughts: You know when I said that ranching wasn’t so bad? Never mind. I must have been out of my mind)

List of expenses and things that had to be replaced during the storm

15 flat tires…. Yes 15

4 brand new tires

7 broken u-joints

2 ruined pumps for the feed trailer

3 dead batteries

One new headlight and casing for the pickup

$4500 bull at the bottom of a dam

$4,000 in fuel oil and Ag diesel

1 new generator

1 new toilet

4 new brake lines

3 new pressure switches

2 sets of pickup chains

1 scoop shovel handle

1 axe at the bottom of a different dam

Dead Animals:

1 horse

2 cows

8 calves

1 bull

And a frozen partridge in a pear tree

Blast from the Past

When we were growing up, we played a LOT of board games. We had a closet full of games that we chose from. Among our favorites was Sorry!, however, someone always ended up in tears while playing that game. So we usually picked other games that didn't cause emotional outbursts. One of our favorite standbys was Sweet Valley High.


Some of you ladies may remember reading the series of Sweet Valley High books by Francine Pascal. The books were about twins Jessica and Elizabeth who resided in sunny California. The books chronicled their high-school endeavors and experiences including fights with their friends, clothes, and boyfriend drama. We read a good portion of this huge series of books, so we were elated when we got the game.


We used to play the game a lot back in the days of pink, stone-washed Rockies and banana clips. It also became an Easter tradition among the girl cousins. We played hours of this game during the celebration of our Lord's Resurection.


Ris and Annie dug the old girl out the other night at mom's to relive the good times.

The only difference between playing now and playing back in the old days is that now you can drink a Corona while playing.


The game board is a replica of a high school with classroms. The characters in the book, Jessica and Elizabeth, along with their friends Enid and Lila, must find all the necessary objects for their upcoming big date.

So, for Elizabeth's weekend bike tour, she must find the her teacher, clothes, bike, gear, and her boyfriend. Yes, this is a game that teaches big, life lessons.

So you roll the die and scurry around the halls of the school looking in classrooms for your needed items including your boyfriend. There are setbacks, like one player might have a conflict with her boyfriend and have to put him back in one of the classrooms. High school drama revealed.

Ris (or Enid) was having bad luck. Tears might fall yet.

Good times!

Birthday Girl

In celebration of Larissa's birthday, we sat down with her and asked for her reflections.

How old are you today?

Twenty-five again! Har har. Twenty-nine.

Give us some statistics from the year of your birth.

Dolly Parton's song "9 to 5" was a number one hit.

A stamp cost $0.15

A gallon of gas cost $1.38

A dozon eggs cost $0.90

A gallon of milk cost $2.22

Ronald Regan just took office

If you could have anybody, either past or present, sing you happy birthday, who would it be?

Minnie Pearl and the HeeHaw Band or

Joe in a high-pitched soprano with air-guitar

When you blow out the candles this year, what will be your wish? (It will still come true if you tell us)

That my house would be done by the end of the month!!!!!! Okay, that is not realistic. A more realistic wish would be that my garden is bountiful this summer.

Name the single most notable positive thing that happened to you this past year.

When I got to take a shower after 6 days. It was hot to boot!

Which birthday gift would you pick out of the following list:

a) Hot pink stone-washed jeans and a banana clip

b) A two-year subscription to Cat Fancy magazine

c) A Scooby-Doo Chia pet

Since you already wrapped the pink stone-washed Rockies up for me last Christmas, I would have to say the I would like the Cat Fancy magazine subscription. My thought is that if the mice see pictures of cats lying around then they will get scared and run off!

Happy Valentines Day!

Randen's horses

Randen has several horses in his string. He has a paint bouncy horse that is crippled right now (the springs are off).

He has a buckskin named Cisco that he has broke pretty good.

And he has one named Mom that always tries to buck him off!

It's a girl!

Matt and I are having a baby girl! She is due June 30th.

We cannot wait!!!!!

Random work on the house

These are scenes from this weekend. We got a lot done, sometimes progress just doesn't show!

Annie and Ris hanging sheetrock in the bathroom.

A view of the future kitchen. Right now it looks like a war zone. The couch is there because of the campout during the power outage. Note the cookstove on top of the tablesaw.

Here is an after-shot of the kitchen ceiling with sheetrock and one layer of wet mud on it.

Here are the guys hanging the sheetrock.

I am mudding the ceiling. I did not get a single drop of mud on me during this process. (wink)

Here is a joint effort of hanging rock in Randen's bedroom.

Annie and Ris put yet ANOTHER coat of poly on the walls. Annie is feeling the effects of the poly here!

I am cutting and hanging sheetrock for the short walls upstairs.

Ris is taping the ceiling in the master bedroom.

Annie was all geared up to tile the bathroom floor this weekend. Luckily, she laid out the tile before she put a coat of thin-set down because we were severely short on tile! Before that was determined, she had to put the subfloor down in the bathroom. Unfortunately, that was on the bottom of the trailer. Her and Ris unloaded a TON of sheetrock to get to the OSB.

There are some perks to being pregnant. I only had to open the door for them. Good job girls!

Annie did her fair share of mudding also.

Matt was catching a breather here.

More mudding for Annie. She didn't get any on her either.

Obviously, there is plenty more to do. We got a lot done this weekend!

Finally Home Again

It is Monday night and we just got home from Wishards. There is so much more snow up north. We got up there on Sat. morning and got busy.

Annie and Ris loaded feed in the tractor and fed some calves.

It was overcast out, but we had big plans for the day.

While the girls were doing that, the guys quickly fixed a U joint in this pickup. I watched.

Then we headed down to the new house to spend the rest of the day working on it. Here Ris and Annie break the trail down to the new house.

The fog was heavy and tons of snow made it hard to see the trail sometimes.


















There is sooo much snow in that country.

So we worked on the house all day Saturday and Sunday. We had heard there would be a blizzard on Sunday night, so we intended to leave earlier so we could drive while it was still light. We were all so busy that we forgot about that plan and left after dark.

When we finally got onto the highway, the roads were slick in spots, the wind was horrible.

And the visibility was pretty poor. Okay, the visibility was about 10 feet.

By the time we turned south of Faith, I had to stick my head out the passenger side window to find an approach that we could use to turn around on as we had the horsetrailer too. We slid past two approaches and got pulled into the third.




We decided to go back to Wishard's that night. Randen was happy to see us again!

Today we called work and told them that we weren't going to make it. There was a couple more inches of snow. The wind was howling, the pickup wouldn't start, and the wind chill was -30 degrees. So we ate pancakes and spaghetti, watched movies, and played with Big R. Annie and Randen did a little cleaning.

We finally got the pickup started and we made our second attempt to leave. We made it about 10 yards down the driveway and got majorly stuck in a big drift.

Here, Annie is digging out.




After we got out of that drift, we hit the main road. It is a couple miles to the highway and we busted huge drifts the entire way. We hit one particular drift with the full onion; it was about bumper-high. We got through it, but it messed things up.

We got to the highway and pulled over. The serpentine belt had come off. Matt got it put back on, but the batteries in the pickup are old and it wouldn't restart. A guy in Lantry tried to jump-start the pickup, but it wouldn't turn over. Joe showed up and he was able to get it jump-started. We were on our way again. The rest of the trip was nice and uneventful.

We can't wait for summer!