An Anniversary Wish

Here's to my amazing parents, on their 27th Wedding Anniversary! Thank You for what all you do for us, and for being such great role models throughout life. Happy Anniversary! We love you!

Lil' Buckaroo

With Grandma visiting last weekend, she brought along a new outfit for Gunnar..go figure! I got it washed up for him to wear on Monday, it is A-dorable. I snapped a few pictures that got passed around in an email, but for those of you who haven't seen these pictures, enjoy! He is our little buckaroo, and I am counting down the days until we can put a saddle under him...

Here's Gunnar checking out his new buckaroo spur straps that Vessel, Painters hired man from South Africa, made him! They are so awesome, and I can't wait to tell him when he's older, who they came from! Thanks again Vessel!!

A Buffalo hunt & Weekend Visitors

On Friday, Nathan's dad and brother came to visit, along with my mom! Mom had driven to Tom's and then they drove out from Pierre! I had spent Friday cooking up a yummy supper of fried chicken, home made buns, potatoes, and apple cake with brown sugar sauce--ooh yeah! It was all a success, which says a lot, because usually with me in the kitchen, something ends up going bad! Saturday was supposed to be a day of bird hunting, but with Painters buffalo herd breaking out for the last 2 1/2 weeks, the head of the buffalo break out gang had to be shot. SO, off went the boys, except for Gunnar, he stayed back with mom and I! After a pretty interesting morning of finding the right bull, and the experience getting "a little western" as the boys claimed, the buffalo was down and ready to be gutted, skinned, and processed. Mom, Gunnar, and I drove out to see the big dead bull buffalo, which is pretty amazing! We all had a fun weekend, and I was sad to see them go on Sunday. Before the weekend could end, I was hosting Dresser Club, which is girls night! With Mom and Tom's help earlier, and Nathan's help later in the day, the house was spic and span, along with a baked potato bar and dessert all ready to go! It was a fun time, but with all the sickness going around, only half were able to make it. We still had a fun time, ate goodies, and painted on pumpkins! After everyone left, the house was quiet again.
As you can see, this weekend was full of fun and family visiting, which caused Gunnar to crash! He was tuckered out on Monday and Tuesday still!

Nathan, Cullen, & Tom with the big buffalo!

Here's the whole gang..Vessel from South Africa, Max from Germany, which are Painters two hired men, along with Cullen, Tom, & Nathan!

This weekend is up in the air still..with Halloween I would like to get Gunnar dressed in his Monkey or Puppy costume and take him around, but with Nathan and I being paranoid germaphobes, it wouldn't kill me to keep him home with us too! With the weather being unpredictable with snow, we are still hoping to get to Rapid City for some shopping and a day with all 3 of us together!

Cows & Buffalo

This last week was to say the least, pretty uneventful. Fine by me! Gunnar and I got to hang out and when things got done, they got done. I love living life in the slow lane, enjoying the sunrise and sunset every day, counting how many deer run through the trees, and watching our very wild cat, named "ghost kitty" for her white coat, teach her kitten how to mouse. Now this week, will be on the hectic side. Not for me so much, but for Painters, my husband, and Vessel, a busy few days of shipping calves!

On Friday afternoon we went to the Hills. Our cupboards were empty, our milk was gone, and we were eeking by with a small amount of drinking water left! SO yes, we were getting creative with what food we did have-ha! We did our shopping, then met Kit and Kayla and Kayla mom and sister, at Applebees for some yummy food and great company! We got home late, left everything on the counters for me to unpack in the morning, and went to bed. Gunnar has been pulling a "let's get up every 2 hours to eat" skit, and I'm not enjoying it too much! I've been spoiled by my precious little guy sleeping through the night since 3 months old, and before that, he would only get up 1-2 times to eat, NOTHING like this! So what the heck is going on? Growth spurt? I have no clue. If he gets up tonight every two hours, it will be my 5th night of hardly any sleep, and I'm feeling it!

Yesterday we helped Nathan cake cows and the buffalo. Of course, we didn't do much but ride with, but at least going from pasture to pasture, Nathan had company and we taught Gunnar all about cows! It was a fun time! Usually the cows wouldn't be this tame, but they know when the cake is there, they come a running, which makes it fun! These girls were quite fond of Nathan-haha!

Here's comes the Buffalo!

Here's the Buffalo eating their cake.Yesterday was pheasant opener, so with Nathan at home in the afternoon, he watched Gunnar while Jade and I walked some trees. And no, I didn't get a bird, but yes, I should have. While I was lolly gagging around, trying to find a spot to cross the fence, while having a conversation with our yellow lab, Jade, a nice pretty rooster Ca-Cocked at me, and preceded to fly. I shot, and missed. Wonderful feeling-ha! After wiping my forehead of sweat, I could smell the diaper rash cream on my hand that I had just applied to Gunnar's beautiful soft little behind, and then remembered that it didn't matter if I got a bird or not, it just mattered that I was out on my own, with one of my girls, hunting birds, on a beautiful Fall day. And that was that, we walked for aways longer, and I called it a day. I was ready to spend time with my hubby and kiddo!
Today Gunnar and I got loaded in the pickup, with cake in the back, and helped move 70 head of cows and calves with Nathan. It all went well, and we enjoyed our 2 hours of moving cows together as a family. Here's Gunnar waiting in the pickup to go move cows-ha!
Following Gunnar & I in the truck! Nathan was on the four wheeler.

As I come to a close for this last week, a BIG Congratulations goes out to Justin & Megan Vostad, on the birth of their beautiful son, Lane. Congrats you guys, and Welcome to the wonderful world of parenthood! We can't wait to meet Lane!

Anniversary & Antelope Weekend

Gunnar was cuddly and ready to go to the Hills on a cold and snowy day!

On Wednesday, like I wrote before, Gunnar and I headed to the Hills with Nathan in the semi! It was a fast but fun trip, and everything went as planned! We bought some yummy steaks so that we could grill on Thursday night for our Anniversary! Thursday came, Nathan worked, and was done at 4:00, which was nice for a change! We had to go clean Continental-yuck-but then got home to grill, eat potatoes, veggies, and a yummy strawberry jello cake that I made. All in all, a wonderful 4th Anniversary! I am very blessed to be married to such a wonderful guy, and I know the feelings he has towards me are mutual-HA!

Friday came, and Kit and Kayla Bramblee showed up for an antelope hunt! Kayla, Gunnar, and I stayed at home and even managed to cook up some potato soup and roast-yum! A nice hot meal for our guys who had went on a death march for antelope! All in all, they ended up with 2 nice bucks, and Nathan's reputation is feeling better now that he's gotten to shoot an antelope! :) Kit and Kayla left Sunday, which left us with a quiet home. It's so fun having people stay!

On Saturday, we also had some friends Jim Adkins, and his son Weston, along with 2 others in their party, stop in and say Hi before they went out to hunt! It was great to see both of them, but sad to find out that the other guy in their party had a heart attack while out hunting, and had to be taken to Bowman, and then on to Bismark, ND! Scary deal! Jim, his son, and friend, ended up with 3 antelope, so at least some fun came out of their trip from Brookings!

Here's a few pictures from the Hills trip and the boys' antelope...Enjoy!

Nathan taking Gunnar in the carseat out to the truck! It was so cute watching him load Gunnar up there!

Nathan and Kit's nice Antelope Bucks! 10.10.09 Good job guys!

Gunnar's 1st Snow Day

On Monday October 5th, we got our first snow since uh...April. Nice break huh? Hah. With a below normal summer for temps, and only a couple hot days, it felt as though spring got cheated with snow, and summer never did last that long. Now with the month of October here, FALL should be here, but instead Mother Nature gave us a blanket of white heavy moisture. So on a better note, this was Gunnar's FIRST day of snow! Picture time! So here with our with our little punkie out in the snow!

Today, Gunnar and I are riding down to Belle Fourche with Nathan, to take some heifers down to the sale barn, and so we'll be riding in the semi with him! We've only gotten to ride in the rough hay fields during haying, so I'm excited to get to go somewhere in the nice semi. The hay semi is nice too, but this one is better!

Yesterday we got a pleasant surprise with 2 visitors from Belle! Kit and Kayla got to come up for Kit's work, he needed to talk to Painters, and Kayla got to visit Gunnar and I! It was a fun afternoon, and a nice change to have someone to visit with! THANKS to the Bramblees for coming up and visiting! Kit will be here again on Friday for Antelope hunting this weekend! More pictures to come from today's road trip...

Our Grroowwing Little Gunnar

Here's our 5 month old lil' punkin, Gunnar Sage!

On Wednesday we had Gunnar's checkup in Spearfish. We left here around 12:30, ate yummy sandwiches on the way down, and then stopped into the Belle Fourche Dairy Queen for a quick treat on the road. We then went to our photographers studio to pick up Gunnar's 3 month pictures!! They turned out adorable, she did such a great job! We're trying to figure out a date for family pictures within the next week or so, I'm SO excited! After getting our pictures we headed to a Farmer's Market in Spearfish. They have 3 or 4 of them, and I could spend all day there! I love Farmer's Markets! Well, we were on a mission...to find 3 pumpkins...but not just any ol' 3 punkins. One needed to look like Nathan, one needed to look like me, and a baby one for Gunnar. It was a fun task, giggling like little kids while picking out each others. This one is really round, like Nathan's face, or this one is really odd shaped like Erica..ha..nice I know! We did find 3 perfect pumpkins, and I finally got them in the perfect spot outside, next to my beautiful orange Mums! If it wasn't so darn cold and windy, Gunnar would be sitting in his Bumbo chair next to my beautiful arrangement! I love Fall, it makes me so cheery! Since we have a little more baby gear around, I didn't get as gun hoe with my Fall decor, but I did get a lot of it out.

Back to the appt...it went great. We have a real trooper on our hands, he does SO great. Gunnar was in such a great mood, with lots of giggles and smiles for the nurse, until she became the meanest girl ever, and gave him his shots. Poor kiddo! He screamed hard for about 30 seconds, and then after getting dressed just wanted to cuddle, and then he was asleep. He is right on target for weight, weighing in at 16 lbs! He's doubled since he was born, he certainly doesn't feel that heavy! He is 27" long! Such a long and lean baby boy! He is LONG for his age, which he should be with his tall parents! :) We got the go ahead to start rice cereal and some fruits and vegetables. It seems so early for all of that, and I'm glad we've waited until the 5 month mark to start. Some parents start them way too early, in my mind, on cereals and foods. Thursday was our first day for rice cereal and he did pretty good! The first feeding was messy, but second go around was better. Friday, Saturday, and this morning he did great eating his rice cereal too, so we'll stay on this for a few days to a week, and then try some baby food. I'm most likely going to make my own, then I'll know exactly what is going into his system and eliminate some sugars and other yucky stuff. For now we bought some at Walmart, but I'm excited to start making some on my own!

Gunnar's yummy rice cereal face! :)

After the appt we did our usual Walmart trip, and then headed home. We ended up getting home around 8:00 that night, such a long day and trip. Thursday was a trying day. Gunnar was grumpy, which I don't blame him, but with the help of Tylenol, we made it through! The weather was yucky, with the tops of the Black Hills being white, but us only seeing rain and sleet Thank Goodness! None the less, we were cooped up in the house, not fun! Thursday and Friday were so windy and chilly, we spent our afternoons inside! I was busy cleaning and organizing things all day Friday. A couple Game Wardens came out to our house for supper. Saturday was antelope rifle opener here, and I was not looking forward to it. With the low numbers of goats around it has been interesting to see how dedicated (or not) some guys have been.

BIG boy, sitting up so strong in his Bumbo chair!

This weekend has been a home-bound weekend, Thank Goodness! We have a lot of catch up work to do, and the girls are dying to go bird hunting for grouse. It's been a cold couple of days, and sitting on the couch in jammies has been the best! Next weekend our friend Kit is coming to antelope hunt with Nathan. They both got tags, but for the first time I didn't put in for one. I've gotten 2 antelope, and Nathan hasn't gotten any, so it's time for him to go out (I guess) haha. Then next Sunday I'll be hosting Dresser Club at our house. I'm thinking we're going to carve pumpkins again, it was a lot of fun last year.

Anyway, that's the update for now. I was just so excited to see how much Gunnar had grown! A happy and healthy boy, all from me feeding him, what a wonderful feeling as a Mom! We are truly blessed with a wonderful boy!