Culinary School Graduate!

So in honor of our 5th anniversary, we headed to Boulder Colorado for a week so I could attend this "really cool cooking class" at the Culinary School of the Rockies. How romantic hu!? Thanks honey!! What a time I had! It was so great that Phil took over daddy duty full time so I could spend 5 full days learning a ton of things in the kitchen. It was so great to have a professional chef to learn from as well as meet some new friends. Here are a few pictures from the week.





We really enjoyed the fall colors in Colorado and even borrowed some bikes to "kruse" around in the parks.

5 GREAT years!!!!

Celebrating our 5th anniversary...

I can hardly believe it, but it's been 5 years since Phil and I said "I do" in Boise on October 18th 2003. What a whirlwind it has been. I never imagined that I would love so much, laugh so much and grow so much with this man. I thank God for this man and his tender heart everyday. I am blessed beyond measure.

Birthday Girl!

My sweet Kate turned one on October 10th. We had a small family get together with cake and food, Aunt Katie even flew out from Boise. Kate was so delicate with her cake and just picked a few bites here and there, she hardly even got sticky. Here are a few pics.

Are all these for ME!?

Online Shopping

Hey all! Being that I live out in the boonies, I'm always online shopping. I came across this site a couple of years ago and use it all the time. It give all sorts of discounts on your order or free shipping. Go to this site www.retailmenot.com and just enter the website address of the store you are shopping at and you'll get a code to enter in that space upon check out. Give it a try, hope it works as well for you as it has for me.

La dee da!

My little bag o' sweet potato!

Phil took a couple pictures of my little sweet potato bug (now 11 months) and myself last night. We thought it was so sweet that she was totally contained in her little "bag" that she's never worn before.

Isn't she just the sweetest little thing you've ever seen before!?


Why is this font underlined? Hummm.. I'll have to investigate this.

Jesus and the Lamb

I love this picture. It warms my heart every time I look at it. I first saw this picture in January of 2007 when my sister Katie was fighting for her young life. She had been life-flighted to Salt Lake City with a rare case of Pulmonary Hypertension and was not expected to live through the delivery of her un-born daughter. Some friends of friends kindly let my family stay with them while we were in Salt Lake with Katie. They had this picture on a shelf in their hallway and each night, after a long, grueling day at the hospital I'd see this picture. I can't even explain the comfort it brought to me. The day I arrived in SLC, the doctor told me that my sister, one of my closest friends would most likely not survive this condition. The chance of her heart being able to go through the stresses of delivering a baby were slim to none. I have never been so devistated in my life. But my heart held onto the hope of Jesus holding this baby lamb, protecting it's innocence and it's life. I knew my sister was in the arms of Jesus.

It was a dark, rainy gloomy day about 13 days into the ordeal. Phil and I had walked down the street to a churh to pray. There were tall, very tall stained glass windows that went high up the sides of the building. We were holding each other, praying for the Lord to spare us Katies life. In the midst of my despair, the bright sun came shining down on us through the stained glass. It was a huge church, but the sun chose to land directly on us. At that moment, I knew that Katie would be okay and that she would stay with us for a long time to come.

I thank you Lord Jesus for your faithfulness to us. For holding on to Katie and protecting her from this disease that could have taken her life way too soon.

Brady, Rowan and Katie. January 2008

Wow Donkey...

Is it just me or is this one loooooooong donkey standing behind the chicken house?



Naw! It's just Dusty, Burrito AND Mama donkey!

Cousins!

Baby Kate is so fortunate to be the youngest of 18 first cousins on Phils side. Wow! She has cousins that range in age from 13 all the way up to 28. Several of them live on ranches out here near us while others are spread all over the US in college or even married with their own kids. I love that when the cousins come home for the weekend or are passing through, they all want to stop by and visit her (who cares about Phil and I, when there is KATE to visit!?) I thought I'd share some pics of recent cousin time!
Valerie is a freshman at Cornerstone Bible College in the Black Hills. We are so proud of her!
Sarah just graduated from South Dakota State University in graphic design. She's so hip and FUN!
Marshal is a real cowboy! He even has time for Kate when he's out working cattle.
Anne is in her 2nd year of nursing school at School of Mines in Rapid City. We are so proud of her and happy to have a RN in the family soon!

Ryan is a senior in high school. He's another REAL cowboy. Check out that outfit!

Honey anyone?

It's that time of year again.... HONEY TIME! My brother in-law David and his wife Marianne raise and harvest some of the best honey around. We've had stacks of hives out on our alfalfa fields this summer just waiting for the day we get to see what those busy bees have been working on all summer. It's a cowboy operation as you can see from the pictures, but the end result is better than any honey you'd buy at the store. This is 100% pure honey, that means no fillers, stabilizers or pasteurization. Just liquid gold! Check it out for yourself!

Charlie is always in the mix!


There it is!


Marianne came over yesterday and we got out the ribbon, raffia and lables to "doll up" our jars for sale here at the B&B. (I love doing that stuff!) So far it's been flying off the shelves!

Jumping in!

Hey... so it finally happened to me! I've been so inspired and interested in you other bloggin' girls that I decided to step in and join in the fun! I'm here to let you all in on our oh so not mainstream yet so normal life out here on the ranch. Seems that there is always something interesting, funny, inspiring and exciting going on out here that this would be the perfect platform to throw it out for those who'd like to hear about it. Our life here is so precious to us. It's what we know as normal although it's most likely not very normal to most people. We are so fortunate to have space to breath and space to be us. I have to pinch myself when I stop and think of how far I've come in the past 5 years since moving to SD, meeting Phil and getting married. Yes, I said FIVE YEARS! Wow, how time has flown. Anyways, I think of what life used to mean to me and what was important and how those things have changed and evolved for me. I have found my home here in South Dakota, safe and cushioned from so many things, in the arms of my best friend, my true love. My wish for all is for you to find what I have found in life, pure joy.