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.....

Snakes, Snakes, and more snakes!

In our little rental house, snakes were one method of pest control. Not that we chose the option, it came with the house! Every fall the snakes slither under the house to spend the winter. They never came into the house, thank goodness, but we knew they were beneath our feet. The good part--lots of snakes, very few mice!

Spring, sunshine, and warmer weather brings these little creatures out into the open. They stay in the flower beds, or peer from under the house, basking in the warm sunshine. Naturally, when the snakes come into view, the grandkids (and Poppa) spring into action. Deegan caught all these snakes to play with. (There were more, but we had to be mean and tell him not to catch any more snakes.)

Does he look a little happy with his new friend?

Sy had to check out these new little discoveries. At first she didn't mind touching them, then the inherited "girliness" kicked in and she wouldn't hold the snakes again.

Roux had mixed emotions. He kept wanting Deegan to catch the snakes and for Poppa to hold them, but Roux was a little hesitant to do the catching and holding. After several exposures to the snakes, some coaxing and cheering, he touched, played with, and finally held a snake.

It won't be long until the snakes leave for their summer slithering grounds, and it won't be long until we leave this little house. It is tempting, after seeing how much the boys loved the snakes, to take some snakes with us and find a nesting spot for them-as long as it isn't under the house.

Septic System

The last step before getting our final inspection for moving in was to install the septic system. Now, for you folks living in the city who don't have a clue about where waste water goes when you can't tie into a city sewer line, that is what a septic system is for. The waste water, and other stuff, drains into an onsite septic tank and drain field. It is a little gross if you stop to think about it, so just don't think about it!!

The system is designed by a specialist, reviewed by the local branch of the state environmental agency, and if all is according to code, approved for installation. This is done before you even get a building permit. Some people believe the system is just a big tank that is dropped into a hole in the ground. Not so!!! There is a tank, but so much more!

One of the six trenches for the drain field. We had to wait until the ground was workable enough to dig before tackling this project. Once the tank was in, the trenches were dug and drain/filter pipe was set in place. (Notice all the rocks? We have an abundant supply of them!)

More trenches--and rocks!

The tank that the trenches branch off from.

Kind of a mess! Once everything is in place, the county environmental inspector comes to give the final word. Luckily, we passed without having to make any adjustments or modifications. We were actually very relieved since the water level is higher now than it was when we had the original drainage testing. Now that it is official, everything gets covered back up and we schedule a final inspection for a letter of occupancy.