Back at the Ranch

Introducing Avery

2010-01-14T10:57:00.000-08:00

Wow has life changed! Our kids are half grown, Ally is 10 and Dylan is 8 now and we decide, what the hell, lets start over and have a baby! It is much easier this time around. I don't think the baby is any different than her older siblings, but I think I am 10 years older and used to not sleeping, and more mellow in my old age.

I also have one perk I didn't have a decade ago, a live in nanny! Ally has decided that Avery is her baby too. She loves to change her diapers, hold her, change her clothes, bring diapers and coo at her. Dylan, well, he is a wild boy, so he provides for more entertainment for the baby than anything. But Ally, she should be on the payroll. If only I weren't breastfeeding, i am pretty sure Ally would raise her herself. I hope these two sisters have a lifelong bond. If only Avery knew how much Ally adores her. In time I am sure she will.

NEW FALL BABIES

2009-10-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year, the new babies are arriving. They are so shiny, new and cute. They bawl, chase the truck, are pretty clueless to us humans the first few times the see us. They are such curious creatures.

Ideas needed!

2009-09-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

I am in desperate need of ideas for the babies room. I think I have the bones done, its the decorating and placement that I am drawing a blank on. I am obviously doing it with a western theme, but don't want the room to be too themey or done, if that makes any sense.

I redid this dresser. I cant find the before photo, but it was brown wood with brown wood nobs. I will have Brandon hang the mirror on the wall, for now it is just propped. I plan to put a changing pad on top of the dresser.

I think the painting above the bookcase will go elsewhere, although it is pretty cute, me and my niece Miranda when we were about 5 painted by my stepdad.

The only ideas I have for art are framing some old b&w cowgirl photos of my grandma in black frames with white matting. I also bought the letters for her name, but not sure how to use them. I know the ol' paint them and tie ribbons to them, but and trying to think more outside the box.

I will also be getting a black and tan glider rocker. I am thinking I need a medium sized area rug. I have a cute crystal/brushed nickel lamp for the bookshelf.

Help!

2nd trimester

2009-07-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

random stuff

2009-07-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July I made this awesome strawberry pizza! I was so proud of my finished product... which is usually sloppy and looks like a kid made it.

make one huge sugar cookie.
let it cool.
mix 12 oz cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 c. sugar and spread on cookie.
top cream cheese with store bought strawberry glaze.
Mix strawberries with a few tbs sugar.
top glaze with strawberries and blueberries.
Pipe on leftover cream cheese to finish!

Rattlesnake!

2009-04-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the ranch, wee were busy loading debris in the trailer. There were nails, tin, a barrel, etc and we were loading it to haul to the dump. We'd been sifting around in the pile for 20 minutes when Dylan screamed, "SNAKE, TWO OF THEM!"

I am so lucky no one got bit. Brandon grabbed the post hole diggers and gave me a shovel. Funny, my shovel was much shorter than his post hole diggers! I killed one and he killed the other. Its creepy how they still move and rattle without a head.

We dug a hole and buried the heads. The kids learned a lot about where snakes hide and why I am always telling them not to play in this post pile or rock pile. They each took one decapitated snake to school today. I'll bet their teachers love me!

How does your garden grow?

2009-04-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Now that we are moved in and somewhat (LOL) settled, we decided to start the garden. I always had a garden at our old house, but we didn't have one last year as we were in the throws of a remodel and move. So this year we went for it and even decided to make it a communal garden with our cousins who live next door. My husband built raised beds because I hate weeding, pretty much. I had a raised bed a few years ago in an old fiberglass Loomis trough and it worked great. Of course this year we went 4x as big in the raised beds. We started the garden about a month ago, some with seeds some from plants we bought.

You can see the little strawberries already!

We decided to put all the zucchini, squash and melons on the ground though, so we dug rounds for them, this way they can spread out. It is the only part I am questioning, but I think once their roots take hold we can water in these little ditch circles around them.

Finally, the heat has arrived. Many of the plants have been stagnate hunkering down through the wind and cold.... until... it officially got hot this weekend. It was 90+ all weekend and boy how the plants are starting to grow. So far we have only lost one tomato plant and a couple zucchinis. Those things will grow like weeds though now that it is hot.

Let me know if you want some tomatoes, we went a little crazy... Brandywine, Roma, Cherry, Beefsteak, Earlygirl, pink stripe and a few more. If they do well, we will have more tomatoes than we know what to do with!

Oh and here is a shot of my front yard, just because. Apparently purples do well here. I am not even a big fan of purple, but somehow 90% of the front of my house is purple. Better than dead! Everyone should have a cow skull in their flower beds, I have two. If you need one, let me know, I have plenty.

My porch... an eclectic mix of things. The bench was a gift from my good friend on my birthday last year.

Country living is never dull

2009-04-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was about to shower, I heard the dogs in the back yard barking and going nuts. I figure the horse or horses are in the back yard or something... its happened. So I go out and one lab is soaking wet from a refreshing swim in the 40 degree morning air and the other two labs are barking at the pool.

A half grown American Coot. I thought it was a duck, but apparently Coots don't have webbed feet, they have these weird feet.

She (or he) was sticking close to our Mallard pool chlorinator. Apparently they were in love.

After a quick call to the neighborhood animal rescuer and bird expert, Steph, we caught her with the pool net and she was relocated to the pond. Never a dull moment around here.

Random thoughts and pictures

2009-04-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Of all the days I did not bring my camera to the ranch with me, I came across the most amazing sight last week. All I had was my iPhone, which takes terrible pictures. If I had my Canon with my big lens, this would have been an awesome shot. Kicking myself now.

This is a bald eagle in flight with a large mouth bass in its tallons. He swooped by the barn and got my attention, then landed on the power pole. I saw that he was clutching and chewing on a fish! When he flew off, I clearly saw it was a bass about 1-2 pounds. If I had my good camera, this would be clear and up close. I am pissed.

Here is Ally with her steer Curly. He is such a big pet... aren't they a cute team?

Does this dress make my boobs look big?

2009-03-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Curly

2009-03-09T06:12:00.000-07:00

Curly is Allys market steer for the spring fair. He has to be one of the sweetest steers, which is perfect for Ally for her first fair, especially when she weighs 80 pounds and needs to lead around an animal that weighs 1200 pounds. My first steer was an evil beast I aptly named Dragon.

Isn't his face funny? He really enjoys burping and sliming you with his sand paper tongue.

Curly is almost always in slow gear, except when he escapes. Do you know how comical it is to watch a big fat big bellied steer run and buck?

Ally was practicing showing Curly and he started snoring while she set him up.

Ally took him for a walk today and Curly taught her a lesson I had tried to explain to her, but she didn't 'get' it, so he thought it would be a good idea to show her what I meant when I said keep two hands on the rope because he will try to jerk his head away from you and yank the rope out of your hands. Thanks Curly for demonstrating this to Ally. He proceeded to run back to the corrals like a convict who just escaped prison. No need to worry though, we slowly walked back to the corrals where Curly was waiting for us so he could have his mid afternoon snack.

Spring showers

2009-03-04T17:44:00.000-08:00

Spring is here and the grass is green. The trees are in bloom and today we had showers. As I was making dinner, this is what I see from the backyard! It was the most vivid spectacular rainbow I have seen in ages.

A day in the mountains

2009-03-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

We had lots of snow at the ranch last month! It doesnt last long, but it sure is neat when we get it. By the next afternoon the water was flooding down the creeks and roads and off the table mountain waterfall.
Who do you think she is eyeing with that snowball?

Ahaaa!!
We are California cows! We demand sunshine and green meadows. What the heck is this white stuff?

Nothing beats the new babies, especially this one. This heifer is spectacular.

Spring is here

2009-02-27T09:19:00.000-08:00

Well, not officially, but spring is definately in bloom. My lawn grew about four inches in less than a week and is already in desparate need of a mowing. With todays high almost 70, its time to get a garden going and plant flowers.

This morning I heard the most unusal chatter and looked up and it was a massive flock of Sandhill Crane (i think). The landed in the wheat field and are just hanging out.

The almond trees are in bloom.

The wheat fields are green and growing.

The cows have new calves.

In the next few weeks I will be photographing and documenting the spring flowers up at the ranch. The vernal pools will be in full glory come April.

2009-01-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

Old Shannon home

2009-01-29T05:25:00.000-08:00

Built around 1930 by George and Mae Shannon off River Road (Road 400) in Madera County below Hensley Lake.

The house was bought and moved closer to Madera to the Van Alen Ranch where Mary Van Alen lived until her death.

A day at the ranch

2009-01-19T17:58:00.000-08:00

I am soooo looking forward to summer now!

2009-01-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

Its a brand new (to us) boat! My husband and I have long wanted a boat. One of our favorite things to do in the summer is go to one of the nearby lakes for the day with friends and family. We set up camp on a beach and take turns going out skiing, tubing and knee boarding. We have never had our own boat, just rented one or went with friends who had one.

We have long agreed though that we didn't want to spend much money on a boat, since it would be used a dozen or two times a year. We live within 15 minutes of two great boating lakes and 5 minutes from a resovoir. We have long had a set price but we knew that what we wanted would never fall into that price range. Well, then the recession happened. When I found this boat, I almost fell over in my chair.

It is exactly what we wanted with a newly rebuilt V8 motor that can pull skis. It is so clean and well maintained.. better than I will do, seeing that I wont park it in a garage. We will keep it covered, it came with cover, tube and tons of other goodies. Until then she will sit for a few months until it warms up. We may take her out in the cold to fish or test her out.

Why do I assume its a her? Well, ol' Betsy needs a name. She is going to be my bestest friend this summer and my reason for shedding 10 pounds and getting all tone. Well, I can dream anyhow.

Meet Curly

2009-01-13T18:26:00.001-08:00

For some reason, these are funny to me. It doesn't take much to amuse me, I guess. This is Curly. He is Ally's market steer for the fair in May. He will be shown and then be turned in to beef for some buyer at the fair. If we do a really good job at feeding and caring for him, giving him a happy, relaxing, well fed life, he will be really good beef. Sorry to all you vegan/vegetarians, but we are cattle ranchers and just keepin' it honest.

On his trip home from the ranch we bought him at to our ranch, we had to take a pit stop for diesel and food (and a pee break for me, because I can't go more than an hour without peeing, much to my husbands dismay). We were at Arby's and Curly, despite his calm and mellow demeanor was all in a tizzy. Apparently he does not care for Arby's.

Coincidence? I did order 4 roast beef sandwiches for $5. Maybe that put him over the edge?

Here is Curly last summer when he wasn't so Curly and wasn't so big. He was so cute and clean and clipped back then. He is now shaggy, dirty and big.... 900 pouds big to be exact When May comes he will weigh in close to 1300 pounds. We will give him a bath here when it warms up and then spend the next 4 months fighting his white coat trying to keep it from being dingy and stained. If he was a typical black steer, this would be a much easier job. But I don't take the easy road, and because she is my child and subjected to my decisions, neither does Ally.

Ads from the 1930s

2008-12-13T10:08:00.001-08:00

Finally, beers were easier to open!

Screw diet and exercise! Tapeworm anyone?

Who remembers grandmas tub of lard in the pantry?

Doctors orders! Light up!

Fag anyone?

FINALLY... ladies some helpful 1930s advice.

Sorry if this ad is small, but I will paraphrase for you. Ladies, listen up! Her husband was indifferent to her so she saw her doctor about her personal hygiene and he told her to douche with Lysol! What a difference, she and Tom found love and closeness again! Use Lysol instead of those homemade concoctions!

Happy Birthday Dylan

2008-11-30T07:11:00.000-08:00

Seven years ago! Where does the time go? Happy birthday Dylan.

Super Dog!

2008-11-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

We have been doing some puppy training with ol' Cooper. Come Cooper! In another life I want to be a dog. Cooper just does everything to the max. If he is in a chill out mode, it is hard to get him to move. If he is running and fetching, he does it with wild abandon.

We were working on sit/stay here. He has the sit down pretty well, but stay is so hard to do when you are a 3 month old puppy. Our big lab Morgan is best at stay. She will stay all day long. I think that has more to do with her not wanting to move and burn calories than listening to me though.

A boy and his dog. They like to wrestle with each other and roll around like crazy animals. Quite similar these two: wild and crazy.

Down. Good boy.

He still wants to climb in your lap and play and does not realize at 40 pounds this doesn't work too well. I think he believes he is a little chihuahua. He did get in big trouble this week for chewing on the door frame on the back porch. It is now coated in Pam and chili powder, I am waiting to see him chew on the frame.

Life is good!

Roadrunner

2008-10-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

HIDEAWAY RANCH ROADRUNNER

Back in the spring I bought a package of purebred Angus cows, heifers and bulls. I moved the three heifer calves to a pasture at our new home and the rest to our ranch in the mountains. Within 5 minutes the gelding chased the heifers, causing one to break out of the pen. We spent hours that evening in the dark trying to track down a wild, scared heifer who had no clue where she belonged! We gave up our search and went to bed for the night, hoping she wouldnt end up as roadkill on the highway.

Daybreak the next morning, we get a call from our uncle who lives about a mile from us. He has a cow outside his house. I saddle up and ride down. The next two hours were spent racing back and forth across an almond orchard trying to get the heifer back to her sisters. Being alone and scared is the worst combo for a cow. Hours later with farm workers, family and friends helping in the efforts, we scared her out where she heard her sisters mooooo and broke back in with them.

The following day, I came up with the name for this heifer. Roadrunner. My kid may looks weird at the fair with her heifer with the odd name. Who names their cow Roadrunner? I do. If I have to chase you for three hours over 2 square miles horseback, I get to name you something fitting.

This would be my introduction of cattle to the ranch. I am sure everyone around this ranch, which does not raise livestock, but rather almonds, corn, wheat & cotton, wondered what the hell was going on. I set out to gentle the heifers down. Obviously they had not been handled much by people. I brought them grain and hay, made them eat grain out of a bucket with me standing right there and even pet them while they eat.

Now I still need to halter break them. I like a challenge and while the sensible thing to do would have been halter break them when they weighed 500 pounds, that would be waaayyy too easy for me. I have now waited until they are close to a thousand pounds, so this should be fun. (just kidding, i was just irresponsible and didnt get the job done and now my punishment for my own mistake will be being drug around a pen by a big heifer).

The heifers now know who their sugar momma is. They got out a few weeks ago when a post rotted and they hit the corn field. I called them twice and they came running. They love me and follow me around the pen mooing at me. A far cry from their first day here.

Ally's Birthday Party!

2008-10-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

I am pretty impressed with myself. Today I made a decision and followed through! We planned Allys party, I made these super cool invitations and already pre-paid for movie tickets through Fandango. Even though its a few weeks before her birthday, it seemed like the easiest (for me) and most fun (for them) birthday party! Pretty cool invites huh?

Puppyhood

2008-10-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

Oh to be a puppy. Life is so grand, everything is so exciting and when you are tired, you just crash in whatever position and place you feel the need.

He has made good friends with his labrador cohorts, Morgan and Grace. Grace is the more fun, rough house and play friend and Morgan is the matronly, bossy, leave me alone unless you want to cuddle in the dog bed and let me lick your ears, friend.

This is the whirlwind at which puppies travel. Its either all or nothing. Cooper is three months old now and such a good puppy . We have made it a month without any major damage and not too many accidents. My new floors have survived.

He LOVES to retrieve. I know, hes a 'retriever' but he really does love to go get the ball and bring it back. He's working on releasing, but I just ignore him until he gives me the ball and then he gets tons of 'good boy' praise!

Good boy Coop!

Moooooooooo

2008-09-17T05:02:00.000-07:00

So I am sleeping, as all creatures should at 130 in the morning. The air is cooler at night finally, so I have the windows open.

"Mooooooooooo"

"Mooooooooooooo"

"Mooooooooo Mooooooo Moooooo"

and I awake finally hearing this odd moo. So I listen and she continues to moooooooo.

This is weird, I think to myself. Why aren't they all mooing? Or better yet, why aren't they chewing their cud in the quiet of night?

So I get up to pee and I look out my bathroom window into their pasture. I see one heifer... but where are her sisters?

"mooooooo"

So I put on some velour beater sweats and make the choice to go bra-less. It is 1:40 in the morning, I pray I wont run into anyone other than the animal kind. I toss on some vans, 'cause that's what all cattle rancher folk look like: blue velour sweats, black skull Vans and a white wife beater tank without a bra. never-mind the hair!

Out I go into the night, thanking God the moon is bright enough for me to see.

AHA! Two asshole heifers have toppled a post in their pen and they are now out in the just chopped corn field. Thankfully, they relate ME to FOOD and they moo at me, causing the lone good abandoned heifer to moo (hence the mooing, she had been ditched). I show them hay and they come running to the gate.

I utter some expletives, like 'you f*cking whores' and let them back in their pen. I then reward their behavior with three flakes of hay. This shuts them up so I can go repair the fence. I realize this is not something I can properly fix in the middle of the night, so I spend 20 minutes fixing the fence good enough to contain the bitches until dh can put new posts in in the morning.

Sweaty and tired I wander back into the house about 2:15 and I lay there awake. I finally put the TV on and watch two episodes of House Hunters... love that show.... and finally decide at 3:30 to get up, get a Diet Pepsi and tinker on the computer. I haven't heard anymore mysterious mooing from Rooster, Roadrunner or Robin, so I hope they are in their pasture.

Wild boars

2008-09-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

A Sow with her piglets

Our ranch is abundant with wildlife. One thing the environmentalists and many city dwellers do not understand about ranchers, is we are one of the largest conservators of rangeland. The cattle ranchers are the caretakers of millions of acres of oak woodlands, rolling hills and grasslands that are home to all the various species of wildlife across this nation.

Sow & piglets

Any given trip to the ranch, I try to bring my camera and have it ready to shoot. I have seen mountain lions, bears (rarely thankfully), bobcats, deer, bald eagles and wild pigs to name a few.

The wild pigs are a problem because they root up the pastures and it looks like someone took a disc to the field. They also populate like crazy! They can be bred by 12 months of age and have 2-3 litters of piglets a year. Typically they can have 8-10 piglets, but due to nature, I usually see 3 or 4 piglets per sow. I am guessing there is a high piglet mortality rate. This is the one animal we have to 'thin' out on the ranch routinely.

This year is particularly bad because of the draught. There have been news articles in our local papers about them coming into rural residential areas and destroying landscape, sprinklers. They can even be mean if provoked. Lately I have seen dozens of wild pigs. They are usually night animals, but this time they just looked for a minute before heading into the brush . People in subdivisions are having to call in help to control the populations.

On our most recent trip, we came across a dozen in the middle of the day. While I have always seen some pigs on occasion or seen evidence of them, they are so overpopulated now I have seen no less than 10 on every visit to the ranch! We have been working to 'thin out' some of the pigs. Such is life on a ranch.

Cows

2008-09-08T08:58:00.001-07:00

We love our cows. They are so funny, sweet and predictable. I drive a deisel truck to the ranch to check on them, and I always bring two bales of hay (or more) to feed them.

The reason I do this is two fold (or four fold). First, its the best way I can get them together and check on everyone. The other is so when I have to gather them, my job is easy. You see, instead of having to chase cows across the land, through brush and rocky hillsides, they are spoiled and want hay. We just honk the horn, toss out a little hay and they come following into the corrals. Usually we only need a horse or two or a quad to follow up the straglers in the rear. You see this also alows me to be lazier and not work as hard. Lastly, the cows need a little extra supplement this time of year.

Somehow this calf has eluded the brandings and castration, as well as weaning!

We are in a draught and the grass is lean this year, so I typically give them hay once or twice a week to supplement. The lake is low, so this time they decided to take a 'short cut!'

A face only a mother could love!

You see their faces and ear tags are blackish and dirty? The yellow flowers you see are not beautiful flowers, but rather obnoxious weed we call 'tar weed,' I dont know the exact name of it, thats my husbands department. We are looking into ways of eradicating it. Anyhow, the cows dont eat it, but it is everywhere they do eat, so the sticky tar on the plant sticks to their faces and every late summer the cows look like this. It has a pungent smell as well that stays on the truck and follows me wherever I go. I get out at the grocery store and smell tar weed.

Somehow her pretty fance has managed to stay clean, or can you just not see it?

MMMmmmmmmm hay!

Decorating

2008-09-08T06:52:00.001-07:00

We are finally getting settled into the house. We are now into month 11 of the remodel. Most of the interior is done except for the 4th bathroom which make be years before we have the energy to rip out tile and tackle it. Its a 4th bathroom, it doesnt really matter as much. It serves its function of bathroom off the laundry room and bathroom for the pool.

Here is our dining room. I am pretty happy with it and it is finished. I used the sage color from my adjacent couches on the wall and picked a rug with some rusty oranges in it. I wish I had found a bigger rug in that pattern, but oh well.

Here is the front living room. Its cozy and serves as the tv (inside the armoire) with the Wii, all Wii games and the pool table is next to this living room area. You can see the corner of the pool table in the below photo. I wish dh had hung the picture above the couch a little lower, but again, oh well. I need something for the big blank wall next to the armoire.

Here is the entry. It is barron and I am far from being happy with it. Any thoughts? I love the art and the console table, but otherwise it is boring and drab.

Here is my messing living room. Can you tell I was doing laundry, vaccuuming and the puppy bed and toys are here? This is my reality. I love this rug and couch though. I need to add another couch in here and have been strugging to find one that 'goes' with the couch and rug. I think I found this one I think will work.

Here is the all important TV and bar area. I can see this tv from the kitchen, which I love. My old kitchen was in an old house isolated with swing doors on both ends of the kitchen to keep me in my place. I love that I can be making dinner and watching Oprah or House Hunters or something equally important! As you can see, yesterday it was the Bears beating Dallas.

This has been my biggest headache. I can not figure out how to decorate this monter without it looking cluttered. On the very top I am going to put my antique saddles (once I clean them). I am pretty happy with the top shelf. Thank you Target for your 75% off clearance items. The rest seems like a cluttered mess to me. Any thoughts?

Finally, for today, here is our kitchenette. This table is pushed against the wall with a bench underneath. I can pull it out and put 8 kids there if need be. If I were insane, that is.

Cooper

2008-09-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

Skyfires Hall of Fame "COOPER"

We finally gave in and added a pup to our family. Cooper arrived yesterday and he is the sweetest pup. He slept in his crate all night long without a whimper except for the first minute. He just hung with us in the house all day with a dozen or more trips outside to make sure we avoid any and all accidents on the new floors!

I am a big believer in being proactive in puppy training. If you can avoid the accidents by keeping a close eye on the pup and taking them out (carrying!) as soon as you get them out of the crate in the morning, after every meal and every hour or so all day long, you can avoid the accidents all together. I also put the pup in the crate for a nap midday and whenever I can not keep a close eye. This keeps them from doing 'puppy' things and developing bad 'im bored' habits like eating a shoe. The crate is not a punishment nor does he spend much time in there besides night time, but it is the pups and my best friend.

I also believe that the rules for the dog start now. If you dont want an 80 pound big hairy black lab with muddy paws jumping on you, then dont allow a 10 pound puppy to. If they know from the get go that it isnt allowed, then it doesnt take headaches and tons of training. Teach the manners from the beginning. No snapping for food, no getting on things you dont want them to. I love positive distraction. If the pup starts after something I dont want him to chew on, I give him his chewie.

More to come with my trials in puppyhood.

August 2008

2008-09-03T04:59:00.000-07:00

Before school began we took our annual vacation to Bass Lake. We enjoyed hours in the pool and lake and spent a whole day on the boat.

Dylan, what a ham he is!

The kids spent hours tubing.

First day of school! Ally is going into 3rd grade, Dylan into 1st.

10 year anniversary

2008-08-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

My husband and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary back at the scene of the crime, South Lake Tahoe in July. Our actual anniversary was in June, but I was off traipsing around Europe with our oldest daughter and Brandon was stuck home working and caring for our son. Sucked to be him.

So in July, I owed him a real vacation. Thanks to my mom and dad, who kept the kids, we ventured off to Tahoe for 4 days and 3 nights. We stayed at the Let me just tell you I love the Embassy Suites. I love all the ones I have stayed in, but especially the Tahoe one. It is next door to the major casinos, but offers a hot cooked to order breakfast and a 2 hour happy hour, which we utilized nightly.

Brandon and I reflected while we were there on how much Tahoe has changed since we wed. Back then, I bought my wedding dress off the rack at Clothestime, a store I don't even know exists anymore. Tahoe back in 98 had an old outlet shopping center, a Kmart and a Millers Outpost as its major shopping choices. Restaurant choices were mainly in the casinos. Fast forward to 2008 and there are the Shops at Heavenly, dining choices out the wazoo and a more upscale vibe.

The next morning we had to wake up before the crack of dawn and went sport fishing. While we didn't catch any fish, it was a wonderful morning on the lake. Tahoe is just gorgeous, bright blue lake, green trees, the weather was as good as I could have asked for. The crazy boat we spent the morning sport fishing on. Our captains were so much fun. I definitely recommend Tahoe Sportfishing http://www.tahoesportfishing.com/. Here is a picture from our boat.

Another fun excursion was the paddle boat 3 hour lake cruise. The captain told funny stories, they cruised us about the lake to Emerald Bay, we saw osprey in the nest with babies and met many fun and friendly people.

The gondola ride was fun, especially for my husband who enjoyed my fear of heights as we made our way up the mountain. We had a private gondola which took us from about 6000 ft elevation to over 9000 ft elevation up the side of a mountain. There are two places to get off, one is a viewing area with a little snack food place, the top is the ski area with full bar and a zip line that dh wasdying to try. Book ahead if you want to try the zip line, they are booked ahead! Here is a vie of the gondola lift from the lake, See that skinny line going up the side of the mountain? It continues up past the mountain and up another mountain. I survived and partially overcame my fear of heights. Partially.

My son

2008-08-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

My son... where do I begin? He is a *special* child in so many ways. When I say special, I mean it in so many ways too. We often tease to other people that Dylan is special, as in odd, weird, different, kooky, crazy, off the hook, funny and a whole multitude of other describers.

Here he is in his little water wings. I don't know what this face is, but I think he was doing some sappy eyed thing similar to Puss N Boots in Shrek. Why is he wearing water wings? Who knows, somebody left them at our pool and he likes playing with them. He doesn't need them, the boy is a fish. In fact, swimming was one of the first times I noticed how *special* Dylan was. It was summertime and Dylan was about 18 months old. He, in his little life jacket, would cannon ball off the diving board and swim in the pool for hours like he was a pro.... except he was about 25 pounds of baby.

Another is Dylan's special talents is he can make all sorts of unusual sounds with his mouth. Not just your typical boy farting noises, he can make machine gun sounds, lasers, rifles, bombs, other weapons I haven't a clue about. He does this usually by himself playing with his 'guys' (i.e. power rangers and the like) or playing outside with a stick by himself. He can entertain himself for hours.

We realized Dylan was bright as a toddler. Just little odd things he would say or do. Like he would beat Ally to the punch on simple math at age 3 and we had never really worked with him on addition. We never really 'taught' him to read, but by 4 he was reading some and with a little bit of time with me on sight words, he was completely reading by 4 1/2. He just surprises you with the stuff he knows sometimes. Like when he was a baby, 9 months old, he had barely started crawling and was a chubby thing, he stood up and walked 4 steps out of the blue. We didn't even think he would be walking until 12 months or more because he wasn't even cruising furniture.

In every way he is a boy. Except when he wants to play with the girls. Last week the girls were doing makeup and asked if they could do his nails and makeup, "I don't cawe' (he cant say his r's still, Ill get to that in a minute). He let these two nine year olds do a total makeover on his with makeup, nail polish, the whole shebang.

He cant say his Rs, th's or sh's. He has a little lisp. He will be telling you all about dinosaurs and the factoids about some Jurassic era or a specific about a certain dinosaur, something very intellectual, and it is coming out with a lisp and a lack of ths, rs, or shs. Its comical to me. He was kicked out of speech in kindergarten because they say these are things we dont worry about until 7. He is independent.. 'did you miss me when I was gone for 2 weeks to Europe Dylan?' his reply, no, I was fine.
He is a sweet kid. He comes in some mornings and snuggles... that is until he realizes he has a Wii he can go play.

Europe

2008-08-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

We spent a wonderful two weeks touring Europe. First stop, England. We were all over London and had day trips to Stratford, Oxford, Stonehenge, Bath, Canterbury and Dover.

Your standard Brittish phone booth photo!

Shana & Ally at the Roman Baths in Bath, England.

Bath, England.

Ally at Stonehenge

Ally at the Tower of London

This armor cracks me up. I think it is Henry VIIIs armor, but my eighth grade mentality cracks up at his package armor.

Speaking of immature humor, Ally was pretending to use the 15th (?) century toilet in the Tower of London.

Here are the Cliffs of Dover as we loaded a boat for the hour ride across the English Channel into France.

Onward to Paris. We hit the Musse d' Orsay, House of Versailles, Louve, a cruise down the river Sienne and many other hot spots!

Ally & Shana at the Eiffel Tower.

Our group at the Louve

Ally at Montmarte overlooking Paris.

Now is where the real adventure begins. We board a train in Paris for a 14 hour trip to Rome. By this point, we have spent about 9 days together, so we were all pretty well bonded and comfortable with each other, which proved to be a good thing. As we lug our 50# bags onto this train, we quickly realize that 6 of us, with our huge luggage will be spending over half a day - some without air conditioning - in a 6 x 7 train car. It was a long hot night!

Notice the feet dangling from the top? They cram you in three high bunks. I am just glad we shared with our group, this could be a nightmare with people you don't know!! But look at us, we all wanted to huddle in one car together. A few of us jumped off the train in Switzerland at midnight just to say we had been there, but also to get 5 minutes of fresh air.

Now onto Rome! After our 14 hour, hot, crammed train ride with no showers, we hit the ground running in Rome straight to the Colosseum. Boy were we a pretty sight. Plus is was 90 degrees with about 90% humidity. Rome - the Colosseum with the girls.

Our crazy group in Rome.

Trevi Fountain - Rome - the water that pours from the aqueducts is amazing. Around every corner you just put your water bottle in and fill with fresh ice cold water! This was awesome since it was sweltering.

Need a fill up for your water bottle?

Ally with Katie & Lance in Rome

Ally, playing in the fountain after she filled up another bottle of water.

Sitting at the Forum.

Ally & Shana at the Vatican - lightning did not strike me dead.

Our fearless leader, Salvatore with his best buddy Ally.

WHOA NELLY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

2008-08-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

WHOA NELLY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
--------------------------------------------------------
4 lbs chicken breasts, skin on with rib bone
1 c. chicken stock
1 tsp vegetable or canola oil
1/2 c. finely chopped yellow onion
1 Tbs. flour
2 c. sour cream
2 c. heavy cream
2 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
8-12 burrito size tortillas
2-3 c. Mexican style shredded cheese (or Monterey Jack, Cheddar or combination)

Optional ingredients:
1 small jar pimentos
Cooked sweet corn
Roasted jalapeños
Fire roasted chilis
Sliced olives
Preheat oven to 350.

Boil chicken in large pot of water with 1 tsp salt until cooked. Reserve 1 c. chicken stock or use store bought chicken stock. Shred chicken removing bones and skin. Set aside shredded cooked chicken breasts.

I large fry pan, sauté finely chopped onion in 1 tsp of oil. When onion is clear, add chicken stock and flour and heat until slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream, heavy cream, 1 tsp salt and pepper and bring to boil. Let cream mixture cool until you can handle it.

One at a time, dip tortillas into cream mixture. I like to use a big plate to work with the mess! Down the middle of the dipped tortilla place approximately 1/2 c. chicken, a handful of cheese and optional ingredients. I like to put a row of sliced olives, jalapeños, a little corn and a few sprinkles of pimentos. Be creative, this is where you can make this dish hot and spicy or cater to those you are serving. I often make half hot and spicy and the other half more kid friendly. Roll up stuffed tortilla, tuck ends and shove to end of large, deep baking dish. Continue until you run out of pan or chicken. It depends how thick you make each tortilla, you can do 8 - 12 tortillas depending on how thick they are.
Pour remaining cream sauce over enchiladas. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Top with some sliced olives or pimentos. Serve with pico de gallo.

Kittens!

2008-06-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

The kittens are 5 weeks old and full of spunk. They are ready for their new homes next week. They have been totally manhandled by our kids, dogs and their mother! Free to very good homes.

Here is the cast of characters:

Siamese mix female with blue eyes

Black & white female

Siamese mix male with blue eyes

Black & white female

Black & white male

The Mom "Stella"

The babysitter "Morgan"

Mother and daughter

Playtime!

Remodel - month 7

2008-05-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

Seven months into this project, we are definately seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! We have three functional bathrooms. Everyone has a bed and clothes in their own room. Most rooms still have things to do, like light switches to change out, Allys shower door to hang, touchup paint, etc... but in general the bulk of the main portion of the house is done and can start to be put together. I wont even begin to decorate much until this winter when the dust settles!

MASTER BEDROOM

MASTER BATHROOM

ALLY'S BEDROOM

DYLAN'S BEDROOM
PLAYROOM

AGREGATE FLOORING

DINING ROOM
GREAT ROOM
LIVING ROOM & ENTRY

DINETTE

FAMILY BRANDS AROUND FIREPLACE

FIREPLACE
KITCHEN
FRONT

Easter 2008

2008-03-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Easter 2008 - What a great day with our friends. I could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

Back in time

2008-02-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

As I was organizing for my impending move, I came across some old photos and newspaper clippings. I love seeing the old photos and articles on my family from days long gone. Below is my great-uncle who owned the same ranch I now own. He is sitting next to our neighboring ranch owner, whose family also still owns their ranch next door. Both ranches have been in the family for over 100 years. Both ranches, except for a few housing improvements, look the same as they did back when these two men were in charge. Both ranches are also protected so 100 years from now, they will look the same.

Nature at its finest

2008-01-29T15:50:00.001-08:00

Winter is sometimes dreary and the sunny days are few and far between. With the fog and cold it is nice to have a quick escape to the ranch in hopes of finding the sun shining and the wildlife abundant.

Two deer

A bald eagle (older juvenile - his white head is starting to show and his wing span was about 6')

A roadrunner

a covey of quail

gorgeous scenery

and lets not forget the cows

Ranch photos

2008-01-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

I came across a bobcat! This is called 'goat mountain'
A vernal pool
My first calf of 2008 - she needs a name!
cows grazing on the emerging grass under a canopy of oaks
Miss Braford... she is old as the hills - but a sweetheart!
Noelle with her heifer calf

KAHLUA RECIPES

2007-12-20T08:37:00.000-08:00

KAHLUA RECIPES

Slick Willy's Colorado Bulldog
2 oz. Kahlua
2 oz. Vodka
6 oz. Milk
splash of Coke
Pour Kahlua and Vodka over ice, shake. Add milk and splash of Coke and then stir and serve.

Simon and Seafort's Brandy Ice
1-1/2 C. good vanilla ice cream
2 Tbsp. brandy
2 tsp. Kahlua
2 tsp. dark crème de cacao
Combine ice cream, brandy, Kahlua and crème de cacao in a blender and whip at medium speed until smooth but still very thick.

Black Russian
1 ½ oz. Vodka
1 oz. Kahlua
Pour ingredients over ice .

White Russian
2 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Kahlua
Light Cream
Pour vodka and coffee liqueur over ice. Fill with light cream and serve.

Kahlua Hot Chocolate
1 oz Kahlua
5 oz hot cocoa
1 tbsp whipped cream
1 tsp sugar
Combine kahlua and cocoa in a coffee cup, and sweeten to taste. Top with cream, sprinkle with grated chocolate, and serve.

2007-12-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

December 2007

2007-12-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2007

2007-11-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Lyndens 4th birthday

2007-10-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

Dylan - kindergarten circus

2007-10-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

Dylan the flying trapeze artist!

Allys Gym Meet

2007-10-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Cutter

2007-10-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

First day of school

2007-08-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Dylan started kindergarten & Ally started 2nd grade

Tucker

2007-06-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

Cutter

2007-04-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Lenas foal!

2007-04-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Born on April 14th... Lena had a colt!

He has no name, so suggestions are welcome!

He is a bay paint colt.

Easter 2007

2007-04-09T09:50:00.001-07:00

Ally & Dylan in the row boat

Ally & cousin Erin

Ally and her 1 1/2 # large mouth bass

Ally & cousin Kent with another bass!

Dylan playing with his fishing pole

Ranch views

2007-04-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Student of the Month

2007-03-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

Ally - Student of the Month!

Quincys Hearbreaker

2007-03-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

"Mandy"

March 2007

2007-03-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

Ally on Lena, 10 months pregnant (March 2007)

Ally & Lena

Dylan, Bab3 & Ally - Universal Studios - March 2007

Ally, Shrek & Fiona

Dylan - March 2007

Merry Christmas

2006-12-16T06:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween

2006-11-02T18:04:00.000-08:00

How sweet

2006-10-24T10:50:00.001-07:00

Dylan made Ally a card all by himself today... wrote the words and everything.

Tails from the farm....

2006-10-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

Ally's cow Maggie with her 1 day old bull calf

Ally with her heifer Zoe - one week into halter breaking

Camping

2006-08-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

Our new kitty needs a name

2006-08-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

First Grader

2006-08-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

and brother Dylan flexing at the beach

Camping at Chiquito Creek

2006-07-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

San Francisco - June 2006

2006-06-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

Dylan swim lessons

2006-06-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten Beach Party !

2006-06-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten Gradutation

2006-06-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ally with Prinipal, Mr. Teft

Ally with her Kindergarten teacher, Miss England

Ally at her kindergarten graduation

Ally with her Big Buddy

Ally with her good friend, Destiny

This place is a zoo!

2006-05-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Ally & Dylan meet Todd & Evey

2006-04-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

Haley Catherine

2006-03-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

Haley Catherine
Born March 3, 2006

Ally - March 19 2006

2006-03-20T12:07:00.001-08:00

Ally March 2006

2006-03-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

Robby - Senior photo

2006-02-27T18:06:00.000-08:00

My brother Robby

It is a gorgeous day

2006-01-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

No rain, no rainbows

Ally and Dylan at our lake

2006-01-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

Ally before her Christmas Program

2005-12-24T07:14:00.000-08:00

Ally and Dylan with Santa

2005-12-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2005

2005-08-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

First day of school!

2005-08-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Ally sporting her Kim Possible backpack

2005-08-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

Ally with her kindergarten teacher Miss England

2005-07-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

Sunset at our house

2005-07-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Dylan June 2005

2005-07-09T08:43:00.001-07:00

Dylan at Shaver Lake 2005

2005-07-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Ally 4th of July 2005

2005-07-09T08:42:00.000-07:00

Ally June 2005

2005-03-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

Ally & Shana - Easter 2005

2005-03-27T09:45:00.001-08:00

Ally & Lauren

2005-03-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

Dylan - Easter 2005

2005-03-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

Ally - Easter 2005

2005-03-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

Ally & Hazel playing in the yard - March, 2005

2005-03-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

Ally & Dylan starting swim season early, March - 2005