New Computer!

SPRING 2008 Checking cows on Painter Ranch

These are the two horses Nathan and I have been riding since mid February. Rex & Cheryl, the two red roans. What a pair! Cheryl is very laid back and it takes a lot for her to trust you, while Rex on the other hand is a goof ball who is always messing with something! These horses and us get along like peas in a pod. We have been really lucky with Painters letting us ride these young horses all spring. We did a lot of riding to check the 200+ head of cattle we had calving at our place this spring, and when branding came around, we did a lot of gathering with them. I got to ride a lot during A.I. time, mostly gathering and pushing in the tub. We are hoping to buy the pair down the road, because we've never had horses fit us so well. Nathan has been working on roping off of Cheryl, and she's already come a long ways. Rex had already been roped off of, but can always use work on behaving. Just thought I'd post a picture from this spring of these two.

The other update is that in a week I'll have my new computer, and I'll be able to post lots and lots of new pics!! We got a wireless notebook and printer, and I couldn't be any more happier!

The weather is still it's normal hot and humid! I'll be ready for fall, but that's our favorite season, so I'm always ready for fall! Just thinking of the cool temps, and hunting seasons, gets me excited! Enjoy the new picture!

Stormy, Hot, and Humid

We survived! We are back from camping and fishing at West Bend! But, as luck would have it, a huge storm went through our campground at 1:30 Saturday morning and lasted about an hour. Talk about waking up to your tent coming down on you, WOW! We hurried and got the girls under the picnic table since they were sleeping in their kennels, and then all of us hopped into our vehicles! After a lot of rain, wind, and lightning, we finally got to sleep around 2:30. We ratchet-strapped our tent to two trees to keep from flying away, and NOW guess what we are in the market for...a pop up camper! :) After surviving more storms camping than an average person should, Nathan finally saw it my way, and gave in to shopping for an older pop up! :) Hopefully this fall we'll come across a good deal on one. The fishing was alright. I know that Vostads had a fun time, and so did we, so that's all that counts! We ended up with 10 or 11 keepers, and plenty of sunburns! We got a good start home on Sunday, stopped in Pierre to visit Nathan's family, got a bite to eat, and ended up home by 5:30 that afternoon. Monday morning was an early riser though, and reality set back in that we both had to work, and our lawn that takes 6-7 hrs to push mow, needed mowing and trimming! SO, we are slowly getting our yard back into shape this week too! The weather has been really hot and humid. Lots of thunderstorms in the Southern Hills, and lots of humidity everywhere! My Mom and Dad are both in Austin, TX right now, visiting family, and I'm praying that they are safe and sound from Hurricane Dolly that is suppose to be hitting TX today!
Nathan is busy teaching his "HuntSafe" class 3 nights this week from 5:30-8:30. Around 10 kids showed up, and will be learning how to hunt safe so they can get out there this fall with their parents. The girls are loving swimming right now, since it's so hot we run them on the four wheeler and take them swimming everyday. They def look forward to us coming home! I guess the rest of the week is very busy with me cleaning and Nathan working. This weekend is Reva Turtle Races, so Nathan will be playing softball on Saturday morning, which should be interesting! Hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend, and enjoying the news from the NW corner of SoDak!

This is our Jade! She turned ONE on May 6th! Jade is just the opposite of Libby, which is why they probably get along so well. Jade has been a natural at everything, and is just a big loving puppydog. She makes us laugh everyday! She also enjoys her bird hunting, but still isn't sure about those geese flying in the sky. Libby and Jade have 1/2 of the same bloodlines. Most times I'll refer to them as "the girls". They are our life!

This is our Libby, who most of you have met. She will be 4 on August 22nd already! She's such a lover, and most times thinks that she is a human, not even kidding. She LOVES her bird hunting, and does a great job at it.

The BIG world of blogging begins!

Wow! So this is our first time actually "blogging", which is still a word we're getting used to here! I guess the one big issue we're dealing with right now, is needing a NEW computer! Ours is to the point of bringing up a black screen when it feels like it, not letting me download pictures, and making crazy noises at random times! SO...without having up-to-date pictures, most of you will be bored with our new blog! Hang in there with us though, because I am the stubborn one in this relashonship, and sooner than later, I will have that new HP! :) Then, as we all know, I will go picture crazy!

This weekend we are getting ready to go camping at West Bend, which is 40 miles East of Pierre! We're leaving Friday morning, and hoping to be to West Bend by 3:00 to meet some friends of ours from Brookings, Justin & Megan Vostad. Lots of food, fishing, and memories will be going on at our campsite. I worked for GF&P for 2 summers, and this is where I spent most of my time. So this park has a place in my heart, and I'm so glad this is the 2nd summer we will be getting together with Vostads for a camping/fishing weekend! We'll be heading back home at a good time on Sunday, just to start the new work week again on Monday! We are praying the weather cooperates with us, since Nathan and I know it can be a long weekend if it rains! Enjoy another summer weekend with all of your family and friends! In the meantime, I'll post some pictures that are already downloaded of the girls, Libby & Jade!