*Wild Weekend: Fam Reunion Up In The Trees*

I am so sad, we had a wonderful family reunion with Joey's family up in Island Park and these are the only 2 pictures I got...

 My Father-in-Law Monty with 2 of his 11(soon to be 12... no, not ours haha) granddaughters (Oaklee W. & Kesli B.)

Dolly & I waiting for "Dad" to get there

Every year during the last week in June is when the ranch is the least busy and we actually have some time to breathe, all the pairs are tucked away in their summer range and getting fat and happy, the hay is growing, and everything is in order (this year they were pushing it pretty close!), so that's when we have Joey's family's reunion!

It was a fun time. I got up there Thursday afternoon and it was Joey & I's night to do the food so I bought some Papa Murphy's pizzas to take up there... I mean, I slaved and slaved over the dough and pizza sauce and made 5 delicious pizzas :) :) I had been staying at my parents house while Joey was shipping pairs and since my family has a cabin in Island Park it was easy for me to find(with a couple phone calls to my Daddy and to my sis-in-law after I had decided I was lost haha) the gorgeous, enormous cabin we rented for this reunion... complete with hot tub {fist pump}. Joey finally got up there that night around 11:30pm.

My parents limited their pet-sitting to one pet, so we left Oprah with them and brought Doc, Dolly & Coatsy. They had a blast. We went on long walks, swimming in the frigid reservoir, and playing fetch with them when we weren't hanging out with the family, playing with our nieces and nephews, sitting in the hot tub, stuffing our faces, dinking around on the boat, or just relaxing in one of the many rooms in the cabin. It was a blast and so fun to hang out with Joey's family. We love them all lots and lots!

*Quotes That Stick*

"It's[a baby's] small features and oversized eyes trigger a hormonal response in humans, it's autonomic, it's what keeps us from eating them"

- Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) in Grey's Anatomy season 7 referring to babies

*Happenings In My Neck Of The Woods*

Summer is here! I mean Spring, I mean Summer... whatever, it's semi-warm and there's beeb no snow... lately... so, let's just say it's Summer. That's what is says on the calender anyway.

So... Summer is here! And along with our "summer" comes floods, farming and lots of plants!

And when I say flooding I mean it. A few weeks ago Joey & I were heading home one way on our dirt road, at night, and all of a sudden the road just ended, I slammed on the brakes, stuck my head out the window and realized that it didn't end but it was "moving". The road was a river... or, the river took over the road. Either way, we had to turn around and take a 20 minute detour to get home. Now, it's the other way to our house that's hangin' on to being a "flood free" zone. Just barely hangin' on I might at. Check it out...

And check out some other pictures of where we live. Kinda pretty :)

 The other thing that has come from our newfound Summer time is some yummy smelling herbs... and strawberries... and peppers! I went wild with the planter herbs at the store. I am excited. I already used my chives to make Sour Cream & Chive dip to go along with my canned Homemade Salsa and Cheese Quesadillas we had for dinner the other night (delicious!). I took a few minutes one evening to plant my new plants and enjoy the mosquitos sun. I can't wait to use my Peppers, 2 kinds of Basil leaves, Cilantro, Rosemary & Lavender(for potpourri)

And our kittens are growing, eating hard food and ready to go! Cute little babies. I'll miss these little guys.

Joey has been busy getting all the pairs shipped to our summer grazing and keeping the pivot running smoothly (pretty much a daily battle). I've been missing the winter months of having him home by dinner time and not spending nights away from him. But, he's livin' his dream and who am I to complain right!? ;)

*Doggie Update*

Just got back from town and the vet. Doc had to get his blood tested because his temperature was fine and they didn't know what it could be. The results came back and said he had a major infection in his stomach. So the vet thinks it's a severe case of food poisoning most likely from eating bad deer meat. Left untreated he would eventually crap himself to death... So he is on regular antibiotics and antibiotics specifically for the G.I. track. Poor baby.

As for Coatsy's ears, they are un-savable :( They no longer have blood circulation in the ends possibly from either being burnt real bad or most likely from neglect and having to be in his own feces for too long so his ears got infected :( Hopefully they won't get any worse! If they do they will have to be docked, if all of his ear loses circulation he will have to have the amputated...

Poor baby, I don't want him to lose those ears :( 

Good grief, I'm tired of vet visits

*Wild Weekend*

Friday:

GIRL'S NIGHT! I had been needing one of these, so Joey's awesome cousin Sammie & I decided we should head to the big town and eat at Don Pedros (uber-yummy Mexican joint) and the movies!  Our gorgeous friends Heather & Marcey came with us! We ended up seeing X-Men: First Class, I really liked it. The whole time I was turning to Heather and (about the guy who plays the young Magneto) saying; "Man, he's hot!". Hahaha it was pretty funny. It was so nice to get out with the girls and have some fun. Even though Heather & I talked about our boys the whole time :)

Saturday:

Saturday morning I headed over the mountain to the big city and met up with my bestest Cami and headed to the farmer's market... AND... I got to met her gorgeous new little girl Blaikley! So baby hungry right now ;) Joey says I probably should steer clear of them for a while hahaha. No such luck babe. At the market we met up with my brother & his beautiful little family (McCall: loved your outfit by the way, I forgot to tell you that! And Ethan really isn't helping my baby hungriness all too much with his heart-breaker smile). I am in love with farmers markets. One of my guilty pleasers in life is walking around markets from booth to booth getting ideas, trying samples, finding awesome deals, buying fresh bread & produce, gawking at cute handmade baby items, and buying planter herbs and flowers. The day was perfect too. I was a little scared because back at home it was stormy and raining but, as soon as I got through that canyon it was sunny and warm! I ended up buying some fresh Italian Basil & Cilantro to plant in pots in my kitchen, a loaf of delish wheat bread, a homemade wooden honey dipper for decor in my kitchen, a cup of fresh squeezed lemonade, and a beautiful hand crafted necklace (I am going to use it in some maternity pictures someday when I have a prego belly)!

I didn't get any picture while I was there so I will have to take a picture of my purchases and add them on here later!

I then was able to pamper myself! I went and got gel nails done because I have been sick of trying to find time to take care of my nails, they were a lost cause by this time. And I went and got a much needed deep condition and hair trim. I had about 4 inches of hair left that was not 100% natural, so I was brave and had her take almost 2 inches off! It it so nice not to have super tangly, dry, brittle hair anymore! Just 2 more inches and my hair will be 100% natural, no dye, no layers, no trash can full of fried blonde locks {shivers}. My hair dresser is awesome, she has helped me over the past 3 years to get my hair healthy again, we joking while I was there about how she's known me longer than Joey has haha. I am so proud of myself for finally taking good care of my hair. And let me tell you, it's so nice to have money that would have been spent on highlights, touch ups, dyes, super strong conditioners and "leave-in" products, and use it for so something else! (Like the occasional set of gel nails or a fancy straightener). I might not like my natural color but it is a huge load off my shoulders to not have to baby my hair and go to a hair salon twice a month! 

Joey finally was able to drag himself away from moving cows and make it over for a BBQ with Jed & Cami and Dalan & Timari. It was nice to be able to relax and talk and eat yummy food with our friends! All in all a successful day!

Sunday:

Around 7:00pm I started putting together Hobo dinners (Heather: You got me craving them after you told me you made some for you & Frank haha), half way through I got the hair-brained idea that we should go camping and cook the dinners in the fire. I asked Joey if he wanted to and he was game so we grabbed everything we needed, borrowed a tent from his brother Monty B. (we really need to save up and buy our own sometime soon, and a lantern), went to grab the dogs and we couldn't find Doc... We looked and looked and finally I found him sprawled out flat behind the house. I noticed he wasn't looking too good that morning on our way out for church but didn't think too much of it, so when I saw him laying there and couldn't see him breathing I just knew he was dead. I ran in the house and told Joey through tears that I think he might be dead. Joey went to him and was able to get Doc to raise his head, we felt all over him and I finally realized that his stomach was rock hard. So we ended up kenneling him up and left Dolly with him. We drove about 10 minutes to a spot on the other side of the hills by our house. It was perfect, the stream was right next to us and the moon was nice and bright. But, it was freezing. We had lots of fun spending time with each other though just chatting around the fire and eating our, well, pretty darn good Hobo dinners if I might say so myself. I love my boy and I love that we can be spontaneous together. And I love that we live where we can just up and drive 10 minutes and end up being in a beautiful middle-of-no-where spot and camp!

Now I am am just waiting until 12:30pm so I can take Doc to the vet and see what's wrong with him, hopefully nothing serious {fingers crossed}. He also just turned 1 on saturday so he needs his shots as well. And I'm taking Coatsy along to see if there is anything we can do about his poor ears that are ruined from freaking neglect. Some people should just steer clear of animals period, especially a sweet, tiny little thing like Coatsy! 

Wish us luck!

*Pretty Yummy Idea*

I was starved one night but didn't want to cook and to top it all off I had basically nothing in my kitchen to eat. So I found some chicken nuggets in the freezer and had a fun idea. So I scrounged up some pizza sauce (homemade by yours truly) and some mozzarella cheese and made....

Ta Da! Mini Chicken Parmigiana! 

They were so easy to make! I just:

- Cooked the nuggets in the oven by following the instructions on the bag

- Removed the nuggets about 5 minutes before the recommended time was up

- Topped each nugget with a dollop of pizza sauce and then a pinch of mozzarella cheese

- Replaced the nuggets in the oven for the remaining 5 minutes

- Wah la! Super easy and super fast and super good mini yumminess that Joey loves!

*Busy Beavers*

Well, hello there. I have missed writing on here. I actually have a moment to breathe and decided that I should make a trip to the ranch to use the internet on my computer, not my phone, so I could actually do things like: check my mail, reply to e-mails, do some online shopping, catch up on people's blogs and yes... add to my long forgotten blog, instead of just jumping on my phone and getting frustrated with the slow internet and touch screen and eventually giving up. This last month has been so busy for us, between branding calves, shipping pairs, moving into new pastures, taking care of the dogs, and the cats(NEW KITTENS!), trying and failing to keep my house in order, my baby sister's wedding(it was GORGEOUS), doctors appointments, grocery shopping, working between 30-40 hours a week at the station(my new home away from home), and trying to squeeze in some "us" time... Well, there's been no time for anything else! I played with the idea of not blogging anymore, because I feel bad and like I'm missing out on so many things to write about when I don't have time to go somewhere with internet and after I'm done paying bills, reading other's blogs and returning e-mails I don't feel like writing anymore. But, I decided that it is my #1 way to keep my family in touch with our comings and goings and my blog has been such a good outlet and support when this crazy kind of life gets the better of me. And, it still is my diary, a little bit of me I can pass on. So.... with that all said and done here are a few pictures of what has been going on lately:

The Graduate at his "embarrassing" dinner :) Wearing his graduation present (the hat). He's such a hunk... WOW

We had one... only one... beautiful, semi-warm day on Sunday so we decided to get the kittens out and let them play in the grass for the first time. They are about 3 weeks old now and all the eyes are open!

Don't mind how nasty/drunk I look. Or my legs... Just don't look at me all together. The kittens... The kittens are cute...

 My favorite... He was the fighter who almost didn't make it

Then we decided to take a trip to the lake and play on the beach for a few hours. It was the perfect idea! It was absolutely breathtaking (Cheesy wording? So what, that's the best way to describe it!) The dogs had a blast... well, Coatsy did for .5 seconds and then froze his little tush off :) I love how the snow is still on the mountains but the weather was just right.

 There wasn't another person around. We had the beach all to ourselves

 I had to put this picture on here... I am just in love with his tiny, shrimpy legs! Too cute

 Okay... AND this one. Look at those ears! 

 And of course Doc, our handsome Hagen look-a-like. He was so concerned because Joey was wading in the deep water without him

 Dolly, the pregnant(Yes... pregnant. No comment), prissy girl who could care less what "Dad" was up to. Love this picture of her with her tongue out

 3 of my loves. Joey getting some much needed sun :) I have no room to talk though I guess haha

 Me at my "other" home, the station. I wanted to show off how long my hair is getting!