We're Back!

We're Back! I fell off the blogging wagon somehow-ha-and am finally back! We have plenty of news, pictures, and updates, so stick with me as I skip around! Where to start, that is the hard part! We left home last Tuesday morning at 4:30 for Iowa and got back home around 5:00 tonight! What a wonderful time we had, now only if we lived closer to Mom and Dad's!

When we got to my parents, the new blonde in the family greeted us with kisses and I immediately cuddled her until we left this morning! My brother, Evan got his new puppy, a yellow lab named Josie! She came from the same place we got our girls in SD, and boy is she spoiled! We worked on the word NO, potty training, and going up and down stairs, she is such a smart little girl! Since we all are dog lovers, especially labs, we went to Marley and Me on Christmas in Sioux City. What a movie! We all had tears, and I know I was trying not to sob out loud! We couldn't wait to get home so we could give our girls all the kisses and biscuits that they wanted! I can't wait until that comes out on DVD, it's one of my favs, and if you are a dog lover or not, you should see it! Here we are with Miss Josie and Ev! The other big change is my belly! I finally got a belly started, which is about time since as of today I'm a week and a half from being 6 months along! Which leads me into the next subject...On Monday December 15th we went to Spearfish for my monthly checkup and BIG ultrasound. We had said all along that we weren't finding out what we were having, but guess what...we found out! I wanted to scan the ultrasound picture the day we got home, but also wanted to tell Mom and Dad in person, so last Tuesday after getting settled in, we had a package for Mom and Dad to open with the ultrasound pictures on top (which aren't that good) and all BLUE clothes in the box! IT'S A BOY the card said, and many tears, smiles, and explaining of pictures went on! Our little guy does have a name already, hello I am the girl who had the girls' names picked out years before they were born! So yes, he has a name, but we're keeping that the secret until he is born! As of 2 weeks ago, he was weighing in at 14 oz and measuring right on track! He is a wiggle worm, and didn't want us taking pictures of him..hmmm..that will have to change pretty fast as his dad found out! He was sucking his fingers, hiding his face, and kicking and pushing like crazy. I finally get to feel his movements on a daily basis, and last night was the first time Nathan got to feel him kicking me, oh the amazing things we are experiencing together. I can't quite get it through my head that he's here in 3 months or so, some day it will set in I'm sure! I love this picture, because my mom is loving that outfit, and so is Dad, he put the hat on! Not only that, but Nathan is in the back, and my belly got in the shot too! My mom and others were in love with my new belly, so this picture captured her talking to him! :)

On Christmas Eve Day we had the Andresen Christmas with a total of around 20 family members! We had our gift exchange, ate WAYY to much, had Grandma and Grandpa Foreman over to open gifts that night, and then went to candlelight service at 10:30 over in Galva. Christmas morning came and we had a little bit of fun playing with a new gift, the Wii that Mom and Dad got! After some of got the hang of it, and some of us not so much, we played each other. Little did we know how many muscles we were using that hadn't been used in a long time! Geez, I know ALL of us were whining the next morning! On Saturday, the Bollard family came and we had our Foreman Christmas! More playing of the addicting Wii happened, along with eating too much again! We also got to visit Lorenzens in town, my Else family, and the Modrell family! It's always so wonderful to see friends of the family! After our running around and wearing ourselves out, we went to bed on Saturday night with the intentions of leaving on Sunday morning. Well, the alarm went off on Sunday morning, and we decided we wanted one more day with Mom, Dad, Ev, and Josie! So, yesterday was a nice and slow day that let us relax so we could leave early this morning! We both caught colds while in Iowa, so tonight is an early bedtime, especially since the wind and snow are howling again!

We wish you all a very healthy and blessed 2009! I'll end with this picture of the girls, Libby and Jade, along with the new addition, Josie! Thanks for another memorable and loving Christmas Mom, Dad, and Evan, we love you all!

A Weekend of Goose Hunting

We are still recovering from a weekend of goosehunting! The geese didn't work like they were supposed to, but the weather was decent, and some birds were shot, so we can't complain TOO much! We stayed at the beautiful lodge at Shadehill. It was so much fun getting to be there with friends, and waking up to geese honking on the lake was awesome too! The early mornings and chilly air got to us though, because we are still looking forward to 8:30 bedtime! We did some pheasant hunting too, and Jade worked great. Here's the boys! All West River Game Wardens-Kit, Nathan, & Keith

Here we are! I was very proud to be out there hunting with the boys at 5 months pregnant. I don't know that many girls who would be out there while pregnant! And even though I didn't admit to them that it was getting harder and harder to sit up and shoot, I don't think I could've done it another day in a row! We're just preparing this baby early for goose season since it's Mom and Dad's favorite! :)
A nice decoy shot in the morning from my blind! Hopefully I am getting our point across that we maybe enjoy goosehunting, just a little bit! Enjoy!

TIMBER...

Our 3rd Annual Christmas Tree Hunt and Cutting went on yesterday in the Hills on a VERY cold and windy afternoon! We are used to cutting one with my parents right after Thanksgiving, but things didn't work this year, and for once I was made to be flexible! Something I need to get used to after this baby is born, I do realize. So we made a flying trip to the Hills, and not knowing that we were going into a winter wonderland ended up taking a little longer than anticipated!

The place we go to is around the same area in the Hills every year, so while slowly watching the sun go farther west, and time ticking, we found a spot with a bunch of medium trees, let the girls out, and ventured down a trail of DEEP snow! We didn't realize how deep it was until Libby was the first one to run a ways and she pretty much disappeared into the snow! It was knee high and higher in spots on Nathan! The girls went nuts, and we were laughing so hard that the tears coming out of my eyes were freezing to my rosy red cheeks! I will add a bunch of pictures from yesterday, but in this first one we're standing on a trail, and Libby and Nathan look just alike! He was eyeing our tree that was a ways out there!

Nathan yelled "TIMBER" and down came the tree! To most of you, like MY DAD, the trees in the Hills look like Charlie Brown trees, but we absolutely love them year after year!

There goes the sun! We had to be out at the coldest point of the day. We got in the Explorer and it said 10 degrees, but with windchill it had to be in the negative. The wind was howling through that canyon like crazy! Well worth it though!

Here's the trail we walked! Libby and I decided that we want to live in a cabin in the Hills some day, it is so beautiful during the winter.

I love this picture because it shows how cold we are!! My eyes are like frozen shut, it was so hard to open with the wind! It's a fun tradition though!

Here is the finished project! We love our Charlie Brown trees, they are so us and so real! I got new Martha Stewart sparkle bulbs last year on sale, so this is the first year I get to use them! They are brown and gold, and then we made the garland last year, and the stars I got on sale at Cabelas. Simple but cute with all white lights!

We are leaving tomorrow for a goosehunting weekend 100 miles East of here at Shadehill! It's a kids hunt that Nathan and our friend Keith put together, but so far only 3-4 kids have signed up, so it's going to be an adult hunt also! Tom and Cullen are coming from Pierre, and we're all staying the the lodge over there. We're pretty excited, all the talk around here is goosehunting! The temps are really cold, which sounds like the rest of the Midwest is the same. I've hunted in some cold negative degree days before, but this time around being a week from 5 months pregnant, I need to remember to take it a little easy! Stay warm and have a good weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours!
We are getting ready for my parents that are heading here from Iowa, and Tom, Caitie, and Cullen coming from Pierre! We wish everyone a wonderful day with family and friends!

The Buck Stops Here--Uncle Tim's 2008 Harding County Mule Deer Hunt

Here is my Uncle Tim, Nathan, and I along with his pig of a mule deer that he shot on Tuesday November 18th, the first day he hunted on the Painter Ranch! Uncle Tim & Mom got here Monday the 17th around 2:00 and early Tuesday morning Nathan and Tim got up to go hunt. Nathan got pretty frustrated with himself, knowing that there were some nice deer at the area they hunted, and didn't see anything. SO, Nathan got back to the house around noon to take Mom and I to Spearfish for our Dr. appt and Uncle Tim went right back out to hunt. The weather was amazing yesterday, with 75 degree temps in Spearfish, and a nice warm wind that eventually put Uncle Tim to sleep for a bit!

The so called fairytale continues...and after Tim wakes up around 200 head of deer are in sight, and all of a sudden, here stands mr. mule deer. Keep in mind, his rifle is a few yds away from him, and not yet loaded! So after he gets his rifle, and gets loaded, this deer is standing 200 yds from him. He said that the white on his face and neck stood out, and then he saw the nice rack on the big guy!

Here's a peek at the nice rack in the back of the pickup! Anyway, I guess when Tim shot, which he put a nice shot on this buck, he kicked out his back legs, his rack went right into the ground, causing him to flip over and tumble down a draw. He could've went a lot farther than he did, but to drag this deer out was a job in itself. While all of this was going on, we were in Spearfish. The dr was running late, go figure, and we had a lot of groceries and things to get at Walmart, along with eating supper, so Mom decided to call Uncle Tim to check in. So she called, and started explaining that it was going to be awhile, and all of a sudden says, "Oh..just wait..here..talk to Nathan" Mom played it off real well, I must say! So, the expression on Nathan's face was priceless when Uncle Tim told him that he had a nice buck to get pulled out! We got worried right away about coyotes getting to it, called Painters to see if we could drive out to retrieve the deer, and then continued on a fast and furious Walmart trip! After Walmart, we flew home to get back by 9:00, got all bundled up, and jumped on two fourwheelers. Uncle Tim and Mom on one, and Nathan and I on the other. We went through plenty of mud, snow, puddles, and prairie, and finally got to where we wanted to be! After shutting the fourwheelers off, turning flashlights on, and hearing coyotes yipping, I was ready to go...BUT...I sucked it up, enjoyed the moment under the millions of stars, and was so excited to see the buck when they found him! We had a haul ahead of us, but we made it! We got the buck in the barn, fourwheelers put away, and got into the house at 5 to Midnight! All of us jetted to our beds, it had been a BIG and exciting day!

Today we went out to get the deer cleaned up to take some pictures! It started snowing a little bit, and the air was a chilly 30 degrees, a huge difference from the day before!! Mom has learned quite a bit this trip, and even watched the guys skin the deer! I was pretty proud of her, she was a trooper!

Here's the buck all hung up before they skinned him. Uncle Tim is a big guy, standing at 6'5 this buck dwarfs him!! He's waited 40 years to shoot a mule deer, and now he's done it! The smiles on everyone's faces, and the story of the Harding County hunt are sure to be ones that last forever!

Yesterday was a great day, not only for the hunt and spring like weather, but for our doctor appt! The babe's heartbeat is at it's normal 160 beats/minute, my blood pressure is on track, and I lost 5 lbs! So, so far no weight gain, but I do have a little belly starting to show! We have our 20 week ultrasound on Monday December 15th! We go to the hospital for the ultrasound, which will be exciting, and then we'll have our normal checkup! Usually this would be when we would find out the sex of the baby, but since we're not, we're just excited to see the changes since the 9 week ultrasound, and to be at the halfway point!

We also want to say Congratulations to my Uncle Tim and his great hunt! It has been a fun, and memorable time so far, one that we'll never forget! Nice shot ;)

Shake Your Tail Feather

Look at those tail feathers! Measuring in at 26 inches! Our longest ones before were 22" and these make those look little! The girls were just begging to play with it!

Yesterday Nathan had the day off, and since the sun was out, the snow was melting, and the wind wasn't blowing too hard, we needed to get things done that were supposed to be done BEFORE the blizzard hit last week. I think we had a bit of cabin fever too, because the second we got outside, we wanted to hunt! haha.

We took a nice walk around the house with the girls. I took Jade with me, and Nathan took Libby. Nathan sent me down South of a tree belt to block with Jade, and boy did we have those birds figured out..finally! Now, if only I was watching a little better, I would've had a bird or two. Geez! It's always fun to watch the girls work, Jade did amazing yesterday.

After walking that tree belt, we walked along the sticky and muddy creek. Both girls worked really good, and enjoyed sliding all over the frozen creek bottom. We just stood back and laughed, they are so funny to watch. We thought since we were that far out, to go walk some more trees. I was getting tired at this point, the snow in spots was deep and that chilly wind was getting the best of me so I sent Nathan with the girls. Libby got birdy fast, and then Jade caught scent. All of a sudden little Libby almost has a rooster in her mouth, she is so quick and light on that snow, she had no problem finding the pheasant. I can't wait to get a camcorder, because it was so neat to watch from distance. Libby flushed it, or jumped on it, Nathan shot, and Jade retrieved, partially. We think that if not for Libby running out and trying to retrieve it with Jade, she would've brought it right to Nathan. Anyway, when Nathan held it up I screamed and cheered so loud because those tail feathers were so long, and the bird was big and beautiful! We called it a day and walked on home.

I wanted pictures, and we wanted to get the feathers measured. Well Jade had a different idea, that was HER bird, and no one was to touch it! We've never heard a dog growl and put her hair up over a bird! We finally had to get after her, because she was being so mean to Libby. Poor Libby just looked sad, and she was the one who flushed it!

So after pictures, and cleaning it, Nathan got the dummy out and put the wings on the dummy so the girls could retrieve. Since the days are so short, we played with the girls for awhile and then started getting things done. All in all, it was a fun few hours spent outside with the girlies! This morning we woke up LOTS of wind, and a dusting of snow.

On Sunday or Monday my mom and uncle Tim are coming up. Mom to visit, and Uncle Tim to hunt his rifle mule deer! Who knows, maybe we WILL get mom out there too..haha. On Sunday I am going to a Christmas Fair, and on Tuesday we have a doctors appt in Spearfish at 4:30. I am now 4 months pregnant, and everything is going good still! The newest thing is that my belly is starting to poke out a bit, which is making it more real every day. In 4 weeks we get to see the 20 week ultrasound, and even though we aren't finding out what we're having, a lot has changed since our 9 week ultrasound!

Hopefully everyone is keeping warm, seems like our Fall is done for now!

Let There Be Light!

Today around 2:30 we got our electricity back on!! On Wednesday, a blizzard decided to come through, bringing 70 & 80 mph winds with it. I must say, I was really doubting this storm would produce much, and that's the last time I do that! Around 8:00 Wednesday night, there went the lights. I figured, heck, we got through 10 days without power from the May blizzard, I can do this! But this time around it was a little colder out, with a lot more wind. Nathan pulled Painters generator out on Thursday morning, and we got the little space heater plugged in. I immediately put it on my feet and had a ton of blankets wrapped around me, I just couldn't get warm. We tried going to town yesterday so that I could get a warm shower, and since West River Deer unfortunately opens tomorrow, Nathan needed to get to his office to check messages, email, office stuff! Well, we made it to town after a long haul, just to get buried on the west side of the courthouse! How embarrassing, and a bad deal! Luckily, the county guys were out and pulled us out after Nathan had dug for 20 minutes! Needless to say, we went to Cenex to grab water, ice, gas, and skittles and headed home. It took about an hour to get home, and I honestly wanted to stay in the pickup! It was warmer and more cozy in there! haha.
So now onto today...Nathan went to work by 9, and I managed to boil enough water for a sink full of dishes to do. I read my book, all wrapped in my fleece blanket, with my long underwear and lots of layers on! I was never so happy to hear that furnace turn on!! Nathan had just gotten home to grab more warm and dry clothes, so that he could get a snowmobile since some rude, and dumb people who tried going up into the Slim Buttes got stranded. They wanted to get up there to hunt tomorrow, and were almost out of propane. I'm sorry, but if you're stupid enough to do that, you should find your own way out! What a way to start out the weekend, that's for sure!
We ended up with 10 inches of snow, which isn't much compared to the Hills, but the drifts around our house are insane! The girls are LOVING this snow! They run the drifts back and forth, acting like puppies, it's so cute!
That's the update for now! We survived, and the power is back!

Duck Duck Goose!

We went goose hunting this morning! We had so much fun, I wish the limit was more than 3! Last night after cleaning Continental I saw where about 150 geese were landing, got home and told Nathan to run up North to figure out whose land it was. We looked it up in the plat book, called the landowners, and they gave us permission! So around 3 this morning I woke up SO extremely excited that I couldn't sleep! The alarm did wake me up at 5:20, and boy did I jump outta bed! Nathan on the other hand slowly rolled out, but I know he was just as excited! haha

We went North of the house 5 miles, got set up, and from the first bird down to the last bird, it took a total of 10 minutes at most! We had some ducks trying to come in too, but didn't take any of them. We agreed it was probably one of our most favorite and fun hunts! We were back to the house at 8 and I left to go clean a house, and got back home at 11! The girls and I helped Nathan clean the birds, and now on the beautiful FALL day, we are just enjoying it together!

Happy 26th Anniversary to the two most wonderful and loving people! We know that they are in the field today working hard, but we are thinking of you on your special day! We love you Mom & Dad!! And by the way...WHO gets married in October anyway?? Everyone knows that you'll ALWAYS be in the field harvesting! ha ha!

Wagner Update

Well I wish I had new pictures to add, but this week I don't!
We had our Dr. appt last Monday, the 20th, and it went okay. We got to meet our 2nd OB and she was pretty concerned about my high blood pressure at a young age, and set up an appt in Rapid on Thursday. We weren't too happy, but after getting to hear the heartbeat again, it made our day! The heartbeat was at 160 beats/minute and I'll be 14 weeks on Thursday!
Nathan stayed in the Hills to Elk hunt from Mon-Thursday. They saw quite a few, and if they would've had a Bull tag, they probably would've had success. But since both guys had cow tags, they didn't get one. The tag opens back up in December, so Nathan is hoping to get back out then.
I met Nathan early Thursday morning so that we could go to the hospital in Rapid to have my appt. We got there, it took an hour from start to finish, and so far no news. I think that if something was wrong, they would've called by now.
Friday was supposed to be a day for me to catch up on things, but that didn't happen! I don't even really know where Friday went, it just was here and gone!
I did take Jade out pheasant hunting with me Friday afternoon. Oh what a time we had! We started out East of the house, walking through some taller grass. Well, Jade loves to heel up all the time, and so I finally got her to leave my side and I see that she caught scent. So I took my gun off safe and got ready...and all of a sudden I hear the worst growling snarling sound ever! So I start yelling at Jade "no bird no bird" and then I see it...Jade and a Coon rolling and rolling and rolling. Well Nathan scared me last year by telling me that a big grown coon could kill a dog, so I am always scared for the girls to get in a fight with one now! So you can about imagine how bad I was screaming! Anyway, I finally got the guts up to get closer, and the coon saw me and ran to the fencepost a few foot away, and ran to the top of it. So...before I knew it, I had shot and it was a dead coon! So that was the start! Then, we walked some more trees, and found nothing, so I had seen 2 grouse in the distance fly to a spot, so I thought we'd go that direction. Well, there has been a buffalo calf out for weeks. We put it in over and over, and the stinker gets out. Well, like I said, usually Jade heels up until you beg her to go, and this night, she took after the calf! It was not good...I was screaming at her once again, and after her chasing this calf, it got so mad, snorted and pounded her into the ground with his tough little head and then kicked her! I just laughed, called her over to me, and then beat her! She was a hurting unit, but I was glad that calf hurt her! She got over it fast, and on our way back to the house after NOT getting those grouse, she looked at the calf, looked at me, and cowered down. I think she got the point! haha...SO, Jade and I had a nice walk, and I ended up getting one of those pesky coons!
Saturday got here, we slept in for the first time in a long time, and since we're in between antelope and deer, it felt great to not have to worry about hunters! We decided to take the day to pheasant hunt and went NE of Buffalo. I was surprised at the number of people out, since Harding County isn't known for great pheasant hunting, but a lot of Rapid City/Sturgis people out and about. We walked a few spots, and Nathan got the first bird. Libby had her A game going, and Jade did okay. Libby flushed the bird, Nathan shot, and Jade retrieved, so I guess they had a good system! I was on the other side of the draw cheering them on and waiting for MY turn to come! We drove to another spot, found a friend of ours also out hunting, and he took us to some prime spots to hunt! The wind had really picked up, and a front was moving through, but we still tried hard! Nathan ended up with 2 birds, Justin with 2 birds, and me with none. It just felt good to get out and watch the girls work, and getting a few shots and birds didn't hurt either! We were definatly tuckered out, from the wind, walking, and the cold. It sure took me awhile, I got pretty chilled and was ready to be in the warm house.
Today has been the day to play catch up! Nathan went out and helped skin out another buffalo, this time a cow, and I stayed in to get housework done. The wind is insane, and I heard there were some gusts measured over 60 mph!
Tomorrow is the dreaded Monday. We are leaving on Friday to go to the Hills for the weekend. Nathan has to work Black Hills Deer hunters and since the state is getting him a hotel room, I'm driving seperate so I can go shopping while he is working, and then we'll stay over night Friday and Saturday! It should work out good!
The next visitor we'll be having is my Uncle Tim the week before Thanksgiving. He will be here to hunt rifle mule deer! We don't have all the details worked out yet, but we're excited to have him come stay and to get a deer. With the weather this chilly, and having snow a few weeks ago already, it feels like Thanksgiving should be closer than it is, either that or I'm just excited for my family to come visit! :)
Have a good week!

Where does the time go?

Has the time just been flying right on by or is it just me?? For a pregnant woman, that's always a good thing, but it just seems like I can't get caught up. The month of September flew right by, and now we're already looking towards the end of October!

I guess I will start off with Wednesday October 15th. I took the day off so that I could get my house all caught up since I was having a "girls night" of carving pumpkins and eating way to much food! Nathan's boss was here antelope hunting, so they were busy hunting that day. Wednesday night came, the girls showed up, and in the meantime a guy from Florida was here hunting a buffalo from Painters with his bow, can we say crazy?? It took him 12 hours of hunting to finally get a shot, and around 7 or 8 shots, with the help of a rifle too, he was down. It was a huge old bull buffalo! So, me being the non-girlie girl I am, wanted my "girls night" girls, who are girlie, to see this incredible animal! Well, they all got an eye full and were ready to keep on carving their pumpkins! Needless to say, they weren't too impressed! haha..

The guys stayed out in the barn and helped skin this buffalo out. It took about 6 people, a lot of sharp knives, and a lot of muscle and time!

He only ended up wanting to take the cape to make a rug out of, and the head to mount. So he left ALL of that meat for anyone else to take! We were all pretty surprised, and Joe and Cindy said that if we cut it up and packaged it, that we could have 1/2 the buffalo! We definitely took them up on that offer, forgetting we were running out of time and energy, fast!

On Thursday morning, we were all up by 5:00 and out the door to antelope hunt. Jim, Nathan's boss, had already gotten his buck the day before, so he was after a doe. I was after either one of them, just as long as I got one! We ended up walking our butts off that day, belly crawling WAY to much (for my opinion)and had a few chances that just didn't pan out. We were very frustrated, and Jim took off that afternoon without a doe also.

Friday came along, and we were out the door early again. My stomach was so sore from the day before, we could only joke about how that little one growing inside me had to be feeling from all that belly crawling!

We headed down South to Painters relatives ranch, and once again, had some opportunities that just couldn't pan out. I was so sore from the day before that my patience level was wearing out. We ended up going one more place, and as luck would have it, found some does in a hay field. We got a spot in the nearby stack yard picked out, and slowly crawled our way there. We got situated, ranged her at 140 yds and I shot. A nice shot too if I do say so myself! We ended up laying in some cactus, which I had all over me. In my knees, elbows, hands, belly. They hurt SO bad to pull out, and I just started bawling. I think it was out of extreme happiness that I got my antelope, tiredness from 2 BIG days, and hurt, from just the cactus sticking me! I got myself pulled together, and the picture below shows how excited I was!

We got her gutted, went back and got the cart, and then brought her back to the pickup! It was getting warm that day, so I was glad to be done hunting. We headed to town to run some errands, and then headed home. When we got home, we soon realized that Saturday was the next day, and that meant a big day of work for Nathan since it was opener of pheasant season! So at 3:00 on Friday we started cutting up meat, and 10:00 that night, finally got to come in! We had the roasts all packaged and labeled, and it was up to me on Saturday to grind up all the burger!

Today, Saturday, is here now and I've spent from 9:45 this morn to 4:45 grinding burger. We ended up with 40 quart size bags of ground buffalo! That sure was a lot of griding, and I ended up taking the tip of my left thumb off! Nathan's thumb is just healing from two weeks ago, and him taking the tip off from a potato peeler, and now I took a little off, but nothing like Nathan's job!

Nathan had a big day of checking pheasant hunters in the next county East, Perkins county, and now just got home and brought pizza! While he was on his way home, I needed to make two pies for the church bazaar tomorrow. Well, since we all know I'm not the best in the kitchen, I bought two frozen pies yesterday. I started the oven, read the simple directions, and when it says to "remove the carton" from the pie, I think of the damn carton being the PIE TIN..nope..Sara Lee figures that "carton" means BOX! Comon, why would anyone put the pie in the oven WITH the BOX on it?? Well, so I took off the pie tin, which comes off easy. If they didn't want it taken off, they should connect it better! Anyway, baked this yummy apple pie for an hour at 400 degrees, timer goes off, I go to take it out of the oven and yeah...yummy apple filling all over the cookie sheet, and it's black and burnt! Oh yes, another good one to laugh about in the future, but for now....tears. And more tears. Nathan was laughing so hard that he got me to stop crying and to laugh. We put it back into the tin, and after it breaking into pieces, decided that apple pie did sound pretty good for dessert! I'm so challenged in the kitchen it's not even funny! So tomorrow, I will be taking ONE peach pie and helping out at the drinks table! It will be fun to see neighbors from our community all come together for a fun fall day!

Monday October 20th we will both be driving to the Hills. At 2:00 we have a Doctor appt. it's just a checkup, so we're not sure what that all entails since this will be our first "checkup". We'll give a baby update after Monday. But after the appt I will be coming home, and Nathan will be staying in the Hills in a camper. I will be spending next week alone, since Nathan will be in the Hills Elk hunting. He'll be home by Thursday, hopefully with a cow Elk. So if anyone wants to come visit me, I'll be here waiting!! haha...

Well, I'm glad that tomorrow is a new day..because from cutting my thumb, to ruining an easy pie, I'm done for the day!

This last picture was taken on Friday, South of Buffalo on the "Jump Off". It was a bunch of bachelor mule deer hanging out on a ledge! There are two decent bucks, and it was a neat site to see!

Our Wednesday October 8th Anniversary!

This was the victory picture we took after an awesome early morning goose hunt on our Anniversary! That's all the plans we had made, so the rest of the day we watched a movie, ate a yummy brunch, ran to town to run errands, layed out in the yard and played with the girls, and now..getting ready to eat some Steaks, homemade bread (sort of, it was frozen!) and potatoes! It's been a great day spent together! After awhile, we'll watch our wedding video, like we've done on past Anniversaries!

Today I actually had more energy! I don't know if it's because I knew I didn't have to work today or not, BUT..it still felt good to have energy finally! Tomorrow is 11 weeks, which means in 7 days, I'll be out of this first trimester stuff! THEN, I might start buying a few things! It's been a rule around here that we weren't buying any baby stuff until I hit the 2nd trimester, so we're almost there! I think I had to talk myself into it more than Nathan, but hey, it was a good goal!

So here is how the morning started out...

We got out to the sorghum field that is a couple miles SE of our house around 6:15, we were totally set up with our 18 full body decoys, two blinds to lay in, and our two guns, by 6:45ish! Nathan took the pickup over the hill, and we layed with the wind at our back. It was a chilly morning, but since I had seen the birds in this field yesterday at 7:30, we were pretty sure they would be coming back. Well, as our luck would have it for today, the first group saw us and came honking on in! Well usually Nathan calls the shot and says to "Take Em" well, this morning I was a little (or a lot) ancy to shoot a goose, and decided since the birds were right in our face, to shoot! SO, I pulled up and shot one...down. Then shot again...down. Oh my gosh, I had just gotten my first double and Nathan still hadn't shot. SO I pull my trigger again, and nothing! Well, my shell had jammed, which means my gun needs cleaning. I look over at Nathan, and he had shot, thought he hit one, and nothing came down. So there we were, two birds on the ground, from ME shooting! I love goose hunting, it is our favorite, so of course I screamed in excitement! My wonderful teacher of how many years, didn't get a bird, and I got 2!! Needless to say, I was super excited and Nathan was pretty proud, but disappointed in himself.

We decided that since a few other groups had flown over, but not came in, that we would pick up and go home. So that's what we did, and while we had the pickup out in the field, and getting decoys picked up and taking pictures, a pair of geese flew right in, and I yelled at Nathan to take a shot! Well, it probably wasn't the best of moves, but Nathan shot this goose at 90 yards and down it came!! It was an amazing shot, and we all felt better since HE got a bird too! The limit on geese is 3 a person, so we had gotten one limit's worth, and had a great 2 hours, from set up to tear down together! We got home, cleaned birds, and got comfy to watch a movie and warm up! It couldn't have worked out any better really! So, the picture above is me with my two BIG geese, and I plan on writing a Thank-You to the landowner, since it wasn't on Painters, and sending him this picture of me. After thinking about it, we came up that we got 3 birds, on our 3rd Anniversary, with me being (almost) 3 months pregnant! I guess it was the day of 3's!

Here is Nathan's goose that he put an amazing shot on! This picture is so cute because he looks like a proud little boy with his bird! haha..

The rest of this week is pretty uneventful.

Tomorrow I have to clean a couple houses, and I think Nathan is working. He has to save up hours, since he is working most all hours on weekends for hunting season. Painters have hunters coming to stay at the trailer house on Friday, but we're not sure where they are from, or if we met them before, so hopefully it goes well!

On Friday I might be heading to Spearfish for supplies. I have a bunch of friends that are coming on Wed night to our house and we're carving pumpkins! SO, I need to get a bunch of party supplies, and just normal grocery run!

My antelope tag is valid for this Saturday, but I think a couple days next week Nathan is going to go out with me! Hopefully I get something!

This last picture is in front of our house. I got my corn shock!! No pumpkins, but they are on their way! I can't get over how yellow of leaves that tree has put out! It is just beautiful, but with these hard winds, and chance of snow for the weekend, I'm not sure how long they will last! Happy Fall!!

Anniversary Trip to the Hills!

BLACK HILLS TRIP 2008

9.28-9.29.-9.30

This is how our 3rd Anniversary Trip to the Black Hills started out! Nathan went fly fishing, but like usual, the trout outsmarted him!

On Sunday morning around 8 we loaded up the bags, fly fishing rod, camera, and of course, the girls, and headed to the Black Hills for our Anniversary!

We had made reservations in Hill City, which is SW of Rapid City, and a town we really came to enjoy! We spoiled ourselves by getting the King Suite at the Holiday Inn Express, and wanted to bring the King size bed home with us! The environment in that town was wonderful, along with the cool fall weather, and colors which helped out too! We went shopping in Rapid on Sunday, and ended up checking in around 4:00. We knew we had an early morning ahead of us, since we were heading to the Buffalo Round Up in Custer State Park on Monday.

The alarm went off at 4:45 on Monday morning, and breakfast was at 5:30 to give us just enough time to feed the girls and bathroom breaks and then to get us on the road to Custer State Park by 6:00! I should've taken a picture of ALL the crazy people and tourists, 11,000 is the estimation, of people going to watch this Round Up! I didn't think we'd ever get into the park, but after entertaining ourselves by being stupid tired, and spotting some Elk, which turns out to be one of the highlights, we made it! We got parked and our spot picked out, which made it almost 8:00. Keep in mind, the buffalo weren't running by us until 9:30! SO, as talkative as my husband is, he made friends fast, and we enjoyed ourselves by meeting a nice older couple from Michigan sitting next to us. Before we knew it, the buffalo were running, and they pushed them through the gates! We are glad that we went, but probably won't do it again. If we hadn't ever ridden before, or seen buffalo before, it would've been neat, but in December Painters will be having their own Round Up, and we'll get to be entertained and involved with that!

After the Round Up, we went into Custer, parked the car, and walked the main strip to do some looking and shopping! It was such a fun time together! We ate a quick meal at Pizza Hut, got a malt and shake at a little purple and pink barn, and then headed back to Hill City. I wanted to do some shopping in Hill City too, so we did just that. They have a cute little main street and we went into the many galleries they have there!

Now THIS was one of my favorites! I had suggested that we take a turn on a gravel road named "Slate Creek Road" to go see the Slate Creek Dam that was supposed to be 10 miles into the Hills. Well, we took this road, which was maintained fairly well for the first few miles where the cozy cute cabins that families were staying in were. Then we got farther and farther until we started doubting ourselves and this road! Finally we came upon some corrals with a couple horses saddled, and an old camper sat! I took a picture, which I'll add after this little story. Anyway, after about a half hour of driving curves, seeing meadows, turkeys, and now saddled horses, we found our dam! It was so neat, with a few beaver dams, and beautiful fall colors! We decided to continue on our trail we were beginning to like, and came to a pretty big opening with a creek running through. So we stopped and let the girls run. They had been on leashes every time we had gotton them out this trip, so they were more than thankful to us for letting them be dogs! We took a seat at the creek, and just soaked in the moment together. Our girls were in their own little world, and so were we. THAT memory is in my heart and mind forever, it is one of my most favorite places in the Hills! We stayed for quite awhile, and then I said, "how about we carve our initials in an aspen (our favorite), so that when we come back next time with the babe, we'll always know this is OUR spot!" So Nathan thought it was a great idea, grabbed the knife, and started carving on the back of "our" aspen tree! Nathan wrote "08" with a "W"! We had carved our initials before we were engaged over in Brookings, and some day I hope to go back East River with our family and look at it! Of course, I have pictures, but it's neat to see NW heart EA!

So here is our 2008 Wagner carving on Slate Creek Road! I just love it!

We headed back on the same path we came, even though if we wanted, we could've kept going! AND, we had to get the girls clean since they were muddy and wet from pretending to hunt!

On our way back I took a few snap shots of the horses in the corral, it was in a pretty neat place, but weird since no one was around! If you look close, there is a few turkeys behind the corral!

We got back to Hill City, and Nathan had heard that Alpine Inn was a great place to eat, so we decided to try it. Well, we got there and had an hour wait! That was fine, because after being in the Hills a couple days, and after asking ourselves, "what else do we have to do??" we had finally gotton ourselves trained to sit back, relax, and take it all in! So an hour wait...sure! We sat out on the big beautiful front porch, and took it all in. What an amazing fall night to spend sitting with my husband! Our names were finally called, and we find out that they only serve fillet minon at supper! So we had a choice of 6 or 9 oz. and what to drink, and we were set! It is European style, and we recommend it to anyone going to the Hills! We loved it!! The lights are set low, candles on the tables, and very romantic music. So romantic, that when the wedding song came on, that most weddings have their wedding party walk down to, I started crying my eyes out! It didn't help that Nathan had said some wonderful words to me, but then the music just sent me over the edge! Oh it was so nice, and another great memory to remember. We can't wait to go back!!

Tuesday came, and after getting over the fact that in a few hours reality was going to set it, we packed up and went to Rapid to do some shopping. We also hit up Spearfish, and then headed home. Oh were the girls happy to be home! Now we are looking at Thursday tomorrow, and Tom and Cullen are heading out to visit and hunt on Friday! Tomorrow I will hit the 10 week mark too! Painters are gone, or are leaving for Ames, Iowa rodeo, and the hunters who have been here almost a week will be leaving on Friday. Come Monday, things will all be back to the same! Rifle antelope opens on Saturday for the first season, and I have second season tags, so that will be here soon! October 20-24th Nathan is Elk hunting in the Hills! OH always something going on here it seems! Trapping is right around the corner, and I have my eye on some fox, along with ALL the coons around here! We're hopefully going to make some money this fall/winter with furs!

Keep following along with us, I hear back from SO many family and friends who are enjoying this! So Thanks for checking in! We've been lucky enough to be blessed with each other for 6 years already! It IS wonderful to have your Best friend with you everyday, and we are very Thankful, especially for October 8th! :)

Our Spring Babe--Due 4.30.09

There's our peanut!! SURPRISE! We are having a baby this spring! And the rollarcoaster began over a month ago already! We are so blessed, and so excited to bring a little one into our wonderful life!
Yesterday, 9.25.08 was our 1st Ultrasound and our due date is at April 30th 2009! The other BIG question that has been asked is if we are finding out at 20 weeks, which the answer is NO, we won't be finding out the sex! Of course, I being a control person, would LOVE to know, but Nathan has a good point and says that this is a surprise from God, and that's just what is should be, a surprise!
My mom got to be here a month ago, and she pulled up the day I found out! Nathan was gone for his work to the Hills for a week, so Mom got to put up with my worried and scared attitude! Yesterday was honestly the first day I was excited. I was still doubting everything, and everyone, until I could see and hear that little heartbeat! Like Nathan put it, "I felt that high wash over me, just like the first time we kissed!" OH, I thought that was so cute!! He's right, a crazy feeling washed over both of us, and to see the little flutter of the babe's heartbeat going at 185 beats/minute, was awesome! We have said prayer over prayer for all of these moments, and God has blessed us!
On top of this high we are on, we are also getting packed to leave for the Black Hills on Sunday! We are going to the Custer State Park Buffalo RoundUp Sun-Tues for our 3rd Anniversary! We will be staying at Hill City and then going to an arts festival deal along with the RoundUp! Then after we get home, Tom and Cullen will be coming to hunt antelope! Cullen has a rifle tag, so we're hoping he gets his first antelope!
SO, lots of news happening in our little corner of the world! I am feeling great, only tired! I have had a few smells disagree with me, but havn't been sick yet! Since I'm almost done with my first trimester, my doc didn't think I would get sick at this point! My appetite has been weird, I was hungry for a few days, but usual I have to make myself eat. My bloodpressure, which was high to start with, was normal yesterday, thanks to the medication they put me on a few weeks ago! It hadn't been normal for 6 months, so that was a good feeling!
My house has suffered, I've used all my energy on everyone else's house, so today I am hoping to work on our house! I am a neat freak, but by looking around, you wouldn't know it!
All we can ask is to keep us in your prayers! What an amazing time of year, leaves are changing and the Black Hills are going to be beautiful! I will be taking plenty of pics, trust me!

3 Days of Antelope Hunting

We decided that September 17,18,&19th would be set aside for Archery Antelope. Our good friend, Kit Bramblee came from Philip and Nathan worked 10 days in a row so that he could have 3 days off to hunt! So we started our hunt early Wednesday and Thursday morning around 4:30 both days. To say the least, we all had a great experience, but came away frustrated. I should have had my antelope that first morning but missed my shot by shooting over his back, which come to find out, is pretty common, but mine was at 26 yards. The excitement and experience of getting to shoot at a buck that close was worth it, but there were a few tears shed. We started to take turns with holding the decoy, so the picture added here is Nathan holding the decoy and Kit with his bow. I was laying on the ground, getting a few cat naps in here and there. After this particular picture was taken, we decided to head back to the pickup. I usually watch pretty closely in where I'm walking since I am clumsy and roll my ankles all the time, which come to find out is a good habit to get into, because it saved me from stepping right on a rattle snake! I sure did a nice little dance over top of him, and screamed! He didn't rattle until after I screamed, but I think he was pretty cold and was trying to warm himself in the sun, since he was all coiled up. Whatever he was doing, he sure scared me!

Thursday morning we sat our blind up just South of the house, and had another great experience. We had 3 kids just 20 yards from us, we could hear them chewing and watched them blink. We also had quite a few does come right up the blind also, and that's when I decided to take a doe. Well, we found out just how small our blind is, and while I was trying to get Nathan to scoot over, I scratched my broad head on the blind, and it was just loud enough to spook the does that were only a few yards away! Once again, tears!

Kit had a nice wide buck to shoot at, and shot at 34 yards and ended up doing the same thing that I did, shot right over his back! We ended up seeing the buck later in the day, and I know Kit just wanted to scream! Poor Nathan never did get to even pull his bow back to get a shot! We still have a couple weekends left to hunt, so we're hoping to get back out there!

On Friday, Kit took off to Philip. Grouse season opened on Saturday, and he is in grouse country, so he needed to get back home to work hunters too!

We don't clean up too bad now do we?! :)

On Friday night, Nathan and I got all cleaned up from a few days of being stinky and sweaty, and went to supper in at a friend of ours, Jamie Swan, who is a teacher in Buffalo. We had a wonderful time, and glad that we got to get together! We didn't stay too late, and it felt good to go to bed early, especially when we knew the alarm would be going off early again on Saturday!

On Saturday I went up to Bowman, ND which is 45 miles North of us, to go to Rural Woman in America convention with my friend Shawna from town. It was an all day event, and on top of early mornings for the past 4 days, I was beat Saturday night!

I can't believe we are already to September 21st! Next week we'll be down in the Hills for our 3rd Anniversary, watching the Buffalo Roundup at Custer State Park! In the meantime, there is a week full of work, and now that grouse season is open, more hunting!

Today, Nathan, Jade, and another friend, Jason are out grouse hunting! They left Libby home with me, so I'm hoping that the next post I will have some bird pictures to post! This is Jade's first time out in the field without Libby, and her first time with a shock collar! She is such a lover, and has been a natural at everything, so I'm hoping it's going great!

Hills Trip

On Friday 9.5.08 we went to the Hills to get groceries and to enjoy a day off together! We took the girls on a walk in Spearfish park, and just enjoyed the wonderful fall weather. One of the places we stopped at, is called the "Open Cut" and it's in Lead. We had never been there before, and were glad to stop and see some history. It was so nice to not have to rush around, because we were planning on staying at Painter's ranch on the river at Belle Fourche. After going to the Open Cut, we went to play a round of mini golf at Gulches of Fun in Deadwood. We were the only crazy ones there, since it was so cold! We had a blast though, and Nathan almost got beat by his wife, but ended up getting a hole in one right at the end! Trust me, he was getting a little nervous! haha. We ended our driving tour around the Northern Hills, got the oil changed and tires rotated, and then headed to the "Branding Iron", a great steakhouse by Belle. We hadn't been out to eat at a good steakhouse in a long time, so we had a wonderful time together. After that huge meal, we headed to Painters to turn in for the night. We stayed in the Cow Camp, it's a barn with living quarters in it. Shower, little kitchen, loft, and bed, decorated in barn wood, and then they have their cabing to stay in too. It's so nice, and we appreciated getting to stay there!

On Saturday we got up early to drive East to Nisland, so that I could attend the SD Bow Hunter Safety Course! You have to have this course to bow hunt, and since I am going to harvest my antelope with my bow, I needed this! Nathan wouldn't overlook it I guess, so now I am "legal"! haha. The class went from 8 a.m. to 4 in the afternoon! It was fun, and they had a huge turnout of around 40 people! It's good to see that many young kids interested in archery! We got done with the course, and headed home. Painters rent out the trailer house that is across from our house for hunters, and until Wednesday there are 3 guys staying there. Kind of turns our routine in a different direction for a little bit, but it's fun to talk with out of staters, and to get their reaction on antelope and deer hunting in Harding County.
This was also taken on Friday 9.5.08 above Terry Peak! This is another place we had never been to, but I can tell you it's a place we're going back to again! It was around 40 degrees with lots of wind WAY up there! As you can see, I was glad I packed my winter coat! They have an observation tower you climb, and then you see throughout the Hills. We could point out lots of areas being that high! We didn't stay long, because it was freezing! Friday and Saturday flew right on by, and today Nathan is working since he took Friday off. I'm so glad the fall weather is here, and I can't believe that we've already turned our heat on at night! Over on the river bottom, where Painters live, it's already froze! All the signs are pointing to an early winter, I guess we'll find out soon enough! Enjoy the wonderful weather!

Labor Day Weekend 2008

How is it possible that it's Labor Day weekend already? I remember JUST taking our Memorial Day camping trip like it was a few weekends ago! Our busy season is here, and lots of plans are starting to take place.

A week ago, Nathan left for the Hills for training, and I drove separate so I could get our groceries and Walmart trip done before Mom got here on Monday. So Sunday flew by fast! Monday got here, and Mom pulled in the driveway around noon. Painters were here working cattle, so they were in for lunch and got to say hello to Mom. We got settled in for the rest of the day, had a huge supper and fun time at Painters, and before we knew it, it was time for bed! Tuesday we got up and headed for the Hills. We were planning the BIG jewelry party for on Wed the 27th, so we got supplies for the party, and it was a nice trip together. Wednesday came here fast, and we cleaned at the REC center in town, and got set up for the jewelry party that was at 5:00. After all that, ran home to get showered and pretty, and went into town for the show! We had a wonderful time, and turn out of 21 people, which is great for Buffalo! We got home around 10 and our heads hit the pillows hard! Thursday came, and I woke up not feeling so well. My throat was really sore, and a strong head cold was starting. That was only my start to a miserable few days of a summer cold, something I've never had, or want again!
Friday came, and I kept Mom busy with finishing a painting project in our mudroom that I started during the 10 day Spring storm, and had never gotten back to it. So while I was trying to relax and get better, she painted the rest! What a great job and relief that is to me! Friday night around 9, Nathan finally got home from training! He was beat, and so were we! Saturday I was still feeling horrible, but managed to take Mom into the events going on at the rodeo grounds in town. Painters were in most of the events, and Mom had a great time taking pictures and meeting people! Nathan had to work his game warden gig all day Saturday, and then at the concession stand during the rodeo Sat. night 5-8. Afterwards we went to the bar, the #3 and had supper. There was a dance going on, which seemed like fun, but with me feeling and sounding horrible, I just wanted home! Come to find out, Mom was starting to catch what I had, along with Nathan feeling it this morning! Darn germs! The weather yesterday was in the 100's with today being in the 90's. In Montana, 300 miles West of here, it's only 50 out, so we have a nice cold front coming our way SOON!

I don't have any new pictures to post, only because there was 100's taken over the past week, except they are all on Mom's new camera! So for now, all you can do is read about our wonderful time! Oh yeah, AND Mom was supposed to take off this morning, but we talked her into staying ONE MORE NIGHT! Tomorrow it all comes to an end, and reality will hit us on Tuesday. With another busy week coming up!
We hope that everyone had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend with family and friends! FALL is right around the corner! Enjoy!