Happy New Year To All......

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Toast To Tuesday's......

Toast to Tuesdays was created by Heidi over at Adventure Girl Wanna Be. Tuesdays are another day in our lives that we can stop, reflect and count our blessings. Today I Toast:

The year 2008......it is coming to an end and it has been a good one!

My Hayman as he makes a journey today to see college friends and to spend New Year's with them.

Snow....for when it snows you have two choices, shovel or make snow angels. I will make snow angels first and shovel later.

2009....may it bring peace, love, happiness, health, prosperity and joy to us all!

What Will You Toast To Today?

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

Yesterday, we were invited to go inner-tubing with Mr. B, his family and another large group of friends. We dressed warmly in layers, packed up goodies and extra clothes and headed out. We had to travel a good 30 miles to the spot where all of the action was to take place.

As we neared the spot, I snapped this photo....the inner-tubing was to take place near the base of this mountain.

We followed another truck in and as we got closer, we could see everyone was already gathered and the fun was underway.

A large fire was built for us to stand around and keep ourselves warm. This really came in handy after many trips down the hill on the tubes and getting covered in snow. There was plenty of warm food and drink to go around. One of the gals made a batch of Hot Buttered Rum for us to try....now that was good stuff!

We arrived around noon, so a lunch break was under way. Everyone filled up on beans, hot dogs, salads and other goodies. Then it was time to load up the truck with people and kids for the journey back up the hill. The truck and driver would take us all to the top, pulling the tubes behind. Here Countrychick is helping Mr. and Mrs. B's little ones into the truck. Mrs. B. is headed up the hill as well. I stayed behind this trip to take photos......

Off they go, up the hill........

All you could see from the bottom of the hill were the tops of heads bobbing around while they readied the tubes for the ride down.

Countrychick and little B. were the second to come down. I had no clue how fast they were going at this point...but they were moving right along. There were screams and laughter as they sailed down the hill.

The ride down is fast! I bet they were hitting speeds of 35 mph or better.

Once they hit the bottom, the would have to get off quickly, grab their tube and get out of the way as they next group was headed down.

The next group would usually be all adults on the big tube. They would grab onto the side and hang on for dear life......This was a riot to watch! Let's just say there were a few wipe-outs before they reached the bottom!


Yours truly had a blast....I went up and down several times on the tubes with the kids. Countrychick and I shared a tube with one of the little B.'s.....it was a blast. The kids loved hearing me scream....I had no clue how fast everyone was really going until I went on my first trip down....the world was whizzing by and I was screaming my full head off!!! We did have a small wipe-out once, nothing to serious......but there are a few sore bodies in our house today!

Countrychick had a minor mishap with her pants and someone had to loan her a pair of wool coveralls to wear. She decided that the wool pants were the way to go as she wasn't cold or wet after putting them on.

In the early afternoon, the snow got to soft for tubing, so out came the snowmobiles. Countrychick and Little B. had a blast riding on the thing. Countrychick had never rode on one alone before, but it didn't take her long to get the hang of it. I have a video of them, but I just have to figure out how to get it uploaded. We finally headed for home as it was getting dark. There were chores to do and dinner to prepare. Hayman fixed dinner when we got home, so that was nice. Everyone was so tired that we were all in bed very, very early! An afternoon of fun was had by all!

Evening Journey Home.....

I had to work yesterday, which meant I had to drive in to work and home again on snowy, icy roads. Hayman led the way early yesterday morning in his truck and I followed him out of the valley. When heading home from work, I was on my own, but by then the county road grader had made it to our road and graded the road all the way into the valley, which made driving a bit easier. As I turned off the highway yesterday evening onto our gravel road, these large gentleman were in my way. Several of these large bulls were crossing my path, so I stopped to let them make their way across the road. (my camera was very cold from being in the car all day.....so it really gave me fits when I started taking photos.) They were so commanding, standing there in the cold and snow!

On the other side of the hill, I encountered these lovely young ladies. They were making their way to the rest of the herd which was up the road further ahead of them.......these gals were in a hurry and would not stop long enough to pose for a photo.......

The sunset was beautiful!

I was about to put my camera away when I rounded the next little bend in the road and noticed these lovely creatures in our hay field. I slowed way down and tried my best to sneak up on them...they spotted me and started to flee. I turned off the engine and sat for a bit waiting for them to settle down again. Then I climbed out of the car and stood on the running-board to snap a few photos. (when the camera hit the cold air, it started acting up again, so the photos are not very clear, but I wanted to share them anyway.)

The herd of deer was pretty good size...lots of does and yearlings and two bucks that I could count. I tried to get a photo of the buck, but between the camera giving me fits and him not standing still long enough to shoot a photo, I became frustrated and gave up.

I sat and watched the herd until I saw headlights in my rear view mirror, then I decided it was time to head on home. Good thing too as Hayman was starting to wonder where I was. Sometimes I get caught up in the beauty around me and simply forgot about the time.


As I started the car and pulled away, the deer started running off.....I snapped one last shot, then headed on to my nice warm home and family.

Christmas Snow!

It started snowing very early on Christmas Eve day and it didn't stop until sometime around mid morning today. We woke up to this! The power went out shortly after we got up this morning. Usually the power will give a good "bump" and then it will come back on. That is not what it did this morning. So, we opened a few gifts...after we removed the cat from the top of them.

Hayman brought in the camp stove so I could cook breakfast. We were informed that the power would not be back on for hours. I was supposed to cook dinner at our house today....my parents and Cowboy M. were to join us.........plans changed and we had to go to plan B.

Chores were done in the blowing wind and snow....I must say, the chickens are less then impressed with the foot of snow we have on the ground.

We gathered up the presents for my folks and Cowboy M....loaded them in the care and braved the road leading out of our valley.

Everything was covered in a beautiful blanket of white!

This is the view from my parents front yard......snow, lots of very deep snow!

This is the drift that built up in the field in front of the their house.....the goats are baffled by all of the snow. They came out to see what we were doing, then retreated back into their little goat house.
We opened gifts with my parents and Cowboy M. (I will post those photos later as I'm sticking with the snow theme for now.) Like I said earlier, I was supposed to cook our Christmas meal out at our place...but that is hard to do with no power. So we opted for dinner out.....a first for all of us. It was a very nice meal and we were able to visit, laugh and enjoy each other to the fullest. My mom and I agreed that it was a very good idea as there was nothing for us to clean up after the meal. We headed on home after our meal.....before the roads got any worse then they already were. It was a beautiful drive home..........

The photo below was taken just outside of town...I made Hayman pull over so I could take it.


Without these capable hands at the wheel today.......we would not have made the trip to town. The road leading out of our valley was covered in snow...between 10 inches and over a foot in places. The wind had caused drifts that piled up and made driving not so fun! These hands are loving, kind, dependable and strong......and I love them!

As we topped the rise and dropped down into our valley on the way home, this is the sight that awaited us. Usually you would see sand dunes and sagebrush.......today, all you could see was snow.

We continued our journey home....there were chores to do and a house to check on. The power was back on when we got home. Hayman made a nice fire for us and we watched a movie and relaxed. This was a Christmas to remember....one that didn't go as planned, but turned out far better then expected.
Good Night to all.....tomorrow morning will come far to early.

Wonderful Wednesday.....

Well I didn't get my Toast to Tuesday posted, so I'm switching it to a Toast to a Wonderful Wednesday.....Toast to Tuesday's is hosted by Heidi over at Adventure Girl Wanna Be......All of the goodies are baked, packaged and mailed.....Hooray!! What was leftover....we are eating! I made four kinds of fudge, chocolate, chocolate pecan toffee, peanut butter and butterscotch. The cookies were chocolate crinkles and peppermint meltaways. I have one more batch of cookies to make and those are the gingersnaps......hopefully I will get those done this evening.

The plate that I won a few weeks back from Adventure Girl's contest is filled with peanut butter fudge. The plate is so cute and it will be filled with goodies for days to come. There is story about the peanut butter fudge and I will share it.....The year I was born, my mom had to have surgery when I was 6 months old, which fell around Christmas time. Mom was not able to do any baking, etc..that year, so my dad found this peanut butter fudge recipe in the newspaper and he made it. And it turned out really well......and someone has been making it every year since than. I have been making this fudge for many years now and mailing it to my siblings and family members. My Dad didn't know it then.......but he started a tradition 39 years ago that carries on today.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve day.....we are expecting a storm later today. So maybe, just maybe we will have a white Christmas.

Holiday Funnies........

I am up to my eyeballs making fudge and cookies. Since yesterday, I have made five batches of fudge and six dozen cookies. Normally I would have had all of my holiday baking done weeks ago, but since going back to work.....well, I just don't know where all of my free time has gone...he, he, he. I will post photos later of all of the goodies, but in the meantime I will share a couple of holiday funnies with you............ (Please excuse the profanity in the first one....I did think the photo was hilarious)

Now I must get back to the kitchen.......

The Big City Trip......

It has taken me a week to get the photos downloaded off my camera from our trip to the "Big City" last weekend. We had a nice stay at a very nice hotel, compliments of my parents...thank you mom and dad. The photo below was taken from our hotel window. The hotel across the way had a beautiful holiday light pattern........ This sign and lights really caught my eye.....this little place is a very nice restaurant and lounge. We didn't go there for dinner......we had "man food" ribs and beer at a Micro-Brew restaurant.

Just outside of Roxy is this water fountain.......the horses are very cool. The fountain is very large and my photos do not do it justice.

The hotel had these beautiful trees placed all around. They were so pretty with all of their festive lights.

Saturday was spent shopping.....I was forced to endure THREE "Man Land" stores.......we stopped at Cabela's, Sportsman's Warehouse and Scheel's........I did get a bit of girlie shopping in, but not much. We had a nice dinner at Olive Garden....Hayman's first ever visit to that particular restaurant. I DID NOT enjoy the crowds, grumpy people and the rudeness that seemed to be everywhere. I did manage to get a bit of holiday shopping done.

I forgot to take my camera with me to the various stores we went to....which was probably a good thing since I might have used it as a weapon on some of those rude people!!

I must concentrate now on finishing up my shopping....very little left to do. Getting stuff baked, packed and mailed.....and I must get the Christmas cards done or people will think we have fallen off the face of the earth. I don't think I have missed a year of sending cards in the nineteen years we have been married....better not break the tradition now.

Secret Santa Surprise

Way back in November....I think it was November, the days, weeks and months are starting to run together now....I put my name in over at Redhoodoos for a Secret Santa blogging buddy. It was so much fun to get a name, then visit this blog for several weeks. Then we were to do a little shopping and mail our gifts the week of December 8th. Last week was very busy for me and I never made it to the post office. I mailed my secret Santa box off this week, but forgot to check for packages for our mail box. Today Countrychick went to the post office with my mom to get the mail....she placed a large package in the back seat of the car. When I got off work, I spotted the package....I was so excited, but had to drive home first before I could open it. By the way, it was minus 4 degrees on the drive home! We got the car unloaded when we got home, then I had to start dinner, then we had to eat dinner, then....oh, you get the idea. I was finally able to sit down after dinner and open my package.......Guess what.........My Secret Santa was Ms. Redhoodoos herself.......I was SO surprised!! I could hardly contain my excitement as I opened my box........look at the lovely green box everything came in.........

And just look at all of the wonderful goodies that I got......there are chocolates, (yummie) the cutest little cats I have ever seen, a very, very soft cozy blanket, a book that I have not read, ( yippie ), four darling soup bowls that I will fill over and over again this winter with yummy homemade soups and a Christmas Stocking....which I was in need of. The stocking that I have been using all of these years is from my childhood and it is starting to wear thin. So now I have a new stocking to use and my childhood one can retire...and be placed in a special spot each year. So without further ado I would like to thank Jodi from Redhoodoos for the wonderful idea of the Secret Blogging Santa's and for her wonderful gifts to me. THANK YOU SO MUCH....YOU ARE A WONDERFUL, DEAR, SWEET, BLOGGING BUDDY.......(((((HUGS))) TO YOU AND MAY YOU HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.
I'm off now to go snuggle with my new blanket and maybe start reading that book.....oh and I just might sneak a few of those yummy chocolates..........BIG SMILE!!!! THANK YOU AGAIN MY FRIEND...........

Toast To Tuesday.....Snow!

Toast To Tuesdays was created by Adventure Girl.........Today I am toasting to SNOW! Remember awhile back when I posted about wanting snow.......well be careful what you wish for. The snow started late Sunday night and we woke up to about five inches on the ground Monday morning. The roads were very bad yesterday morning, so Hayman drove me to work and then drove back again in the evening to pick me up. He was worried about the icy conditions of the roads and all of the crazy drivers out there. I love him more then words can say!! This morning, I drove myself to work and the roads were still very icy and slick.

This is what it looked like yesterday morning on the way to work.....
Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow........

The Christmas Fly.....

Countrychick and I decorated on Tuesday evening......we were giddy and giggling the entire time. I think I was overly tired...but once I got into the decorating swing, I had fun.

( I have no clue why these photos are so small???? I can't seem to make them any larger either! )

At one point, I turned around and Countrychick was going buzzzz......buzzzz. I burst out laughing because she looked just like a fly!

We had a heck of a time getting the angel to stay on top of the tree....I was afraid Countrychick was going to fall into the tree while trying to get the angel to stay in one place.

Countrychick's cat, Goliath or Mooke Man as we like to call him, found a nice spot next to the Christmas pillows and made himself comfortable. I made the red pillow back in the early 90's and the white pillows behind it with the mice on them are from the early 1970's. I love those pillows.

We are officially decorated for the Holidays......but I still have so much more to do!



This weekend, we are heading to the Big City for some shopping. I will have my camera in tow, so stay tuned............Have a Happy Weekend Everyone!