shooting

Keith's family loved to shoot and we had a few fun moments eradicating some pests. Colton and Austin did well shooting shots under 100 yds. They learned the "thump" and the "thaaawk" sounds and what they mean. Whacking prairie dogs now will have a new meaning for them. Racoons now a have a different memory, as well.

Susan inherited a Glock pistol and wanted to learn how to shoot. The pile in the back yard was a great backstop for all the shots. At first the pile was good to stop all the shots and after a while she hit the plates and bottles. They shot my 2 Brownings well, but did not like my 357. They loved Mikie's 45 long Colt. Austin and Colton saw my can dance when I used Ranell's .22, but had a hard time copying it. If I had the nylon that I let my nephew, Andrew, borrow, they would have had a real lesson on can dancing.

Horse

Sometimes the outside of a horse is the best thing for the inside of Man! If you are a horse person this makes perfect sense. If you are not, you can only wonder and try to understand. When the family came to Uncle Mike's, of course they wanted to be on horses. So we brought a few over and had some great rides. Roux rode Hook-up while Pappa led him and then he wanted another ride bareback between kids.

This is Emmi's first ride on a horse. Tessi is a good mare to have novices riders on if you are trail riding. She takes care of the rider very well. Ranell and Hook are slowly reaching an understanding. Hook is learning that Ranell will get her way! So he is doing it more often on the first request. Ranell loves her Aussie saddle. The fit makes her secure and it does not hurt her knees. This is the second ride of the year for Appointment. We still do not have 25 rides on her yet, but she is coming along great!

David, Susan and Emmi going for a short ride in the front yard.

Emmi is on Appointment and doing well.

Nicole wanted to ride the pretty yellow horse so we tried and put her on bareback. She did very well. MacKenzie rode Hook bareback. She is a natural rider and has a good seat. She and Austin rode double on Hook and did well, until one got off balance and in slow motion pulled the other off. They landed in a heap and were laughing all the way down. As they were going over Hook just put his head down to eat!

Appointment getting another good lesson from MacKenzie.

Rachel is teaching Hook a thing or two and having fun. If these two nieces lived with me they would be training and working lots of horses. They have good seats and soft hands.

Fishing with Opa

The Upper Stillwater ponds are one of Opa's favorite fishing spots. Today it was hard fishing and we only caught small planters. It was still a great day!

Deegan was all over us to go fishing too. So Opa cast out and turned around while Deegan was bringing the fly in and BAM! It was the biggest fish of the morning, it must have been Pappa's lucky fishing hat!!!! Sy was cheering her brother on until the fish came flopping up on the bank and then it was an all out scream! A few minutes in Pappa's arms and everything was great!

Of course Sy and Pappa had to compare their stylin' sun glasses.

Matt Warner was great for fishing! The fish were big and thick. We had to work harder than usual due to the algae and the wind, but it was an awesome day! The fish were great! Clean-up, we had help of course! With my new waders that the kids got me, (thanks) I got wetter preparing the fish with Deegan, than in the float tube!

We had a great and fun week!!!!! The Bramwells came to visit!!!!

We had fun! Tapicoa pudding , which is a Bramwell staple. Fishing at Matt Warner and Upper Stillwater ponds, which means a great fish fry! Motorcycling, shooting, horses and cards!! We had a great time just getting to know each other again. We are still the fun bunch, however, the kids have grown up!

L to R

Ranell, Coree, Keith, David

Front Opa, Oma

Ranell did not get scoped! It was a lid to the roaster pan that got her nose! She did it to match Johnny's.

Spouses with the family

Mike did an awesome job of organizing people to participate in the family pictures.

Without his leadership, the pictures would most likely not have been taken. This Bramwell bunch is not known for cooperating in photo-shoots. Josh, Lauren, Cherisa and Austin thanks for the help with the picts, but y'all snuck out of most of the shots! We will try to correct that in the future!

Lost and Found

Homemade wheat bread!!! What more can I say? It has been over four years since I have been able to grind wheat into flour and make bread. Four years the bread was lost, and now, it has found its way into our kitchen again.

The aroma as the bread baked and then was pulled from the oven was heavenly. It reminded me of home, comfort, safety, and a mother's love.

My mom always had homemade bread for us--I didn't always appreciate it back then, but now realize just what a treat it was.

Two weeks have passed since making the bread and I figured it was time to find another favorite--homemade granola. Heidi initiated this one. She is in charge of a Relief Society evening focusing on using food storage items from the dry-pack cannery. I pulled out my recipe book (one my mom gave to me) and made two batches of granola--some for her, and the rest for us. This is the absolute, very best granola you could possibly dream of.

Since the wheat mill was out, I went ahead and made bread, too, and took a couple of loaves to our adopted parents, John and Louise. This could become a habit--an enjoyable habit!!!

So, so glad to have found some of the pleasures that were temporarily lost. Bon apetit!

green river road trip

Ranell and I took off for a fun road trip through Flaming Gorge to Green River Wyo. to watch a fun rodeo. We came back on Saturday through Rock Springs and Dutch John. It was a fun quiet ride. We are looking forward to our next road trip. I do not know if we will head for Colorado or Idaho???? Both sound fun! With a great road partner it will be a blast!

We stopped here for a minute cuz the view was WOW! Behind Ranell are some antelope coming up to see what we are doing. It was very chilly, so I shared my silk scarf with her and it really made a difference. We went really light on this trip and found we need to bring a few more things, like toothpaste, both scarves, and a few more little things that will make the ride even sweeter.

I do not know what is up with bees, but last year I had on different trips, bees, wasps and hornets fly inside my leathers and start biting and stinging. This year the same story! I did not have wrist cuffs on and a green hornet(bee) got stuck under my watch and nailed me three times. Ranell knew what the story was cuz she has seen the dance before. So when she pulled up along side of me she said laughing, " A bee again????" Ranell is turning in to a good biker! who would have thought.....