Brrrrrrr

I feel like Nanook of the North. We don't usually have this cold of weather this early. It got down to 20 below last night and it didn't get above -5 all day. The snow is still on the ground. Being from California, there are many things to discover about the snow and the cold. First off, you don't go out the front door barefooted with no sweater or jacket. That's a biggie. The first thing the ol Coyote noticed (now this may be gross to some of you, others will just consider the source and laugh)BUT....I guess you just have to go with the "redneck" - you can tell how cold it is by how fast your nose hairs freeze...no comment.

The snow up here is gorgeous. It is very dry, so it actually looks like styrofoam but sparkles. Today I was looking out the window and it looked like sparkle dust flying thru the air. It's beautiful. Also, because it's so cold and dry, when you walk on the snow it sounds like you are walking on broken glass. And if you walk on a "welcome mat" it feels like you are walking on wood, not something that is soft. It's really neat to find new things. The lakes are all frozen over; we were surprised that there were no ice fisherman out. That's another site I had not seen before we moved up here. It's funny to see little tents sitting on top of a frozen lake.

Well, now for the not so happy things. The Ol Coyote had put up with Dish Network long enough. (It goes out constantly and we have all sorts of problems since they took away the east and west feeds and gave us the Billings stations, grrrrr, what a disaster). Soooo, since Direct TV was running a special, I caved and said ok to changing the companies. WELL...we had our Direct put in on Friday and Saturday morning we lost the signal...no tv...until... the soonest they can get someone out here will be this Thursday....AND, not only that, we don't get any of the network stations, i.e. ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CW, PBS...are you ready for that????? And this is supposed to be better??? What is wrong with his brain....I'm convinced he is losing it. Sometimes he is such a loveable guy, but sometimes!!!! Now we are stuck in a two year contract with these people....I'm doomed. More movies, that's all....more movies. sheeesh! Today, the Ol Coyote went up on top of the shop roof to take the TWO dish network dishes down, so Thursday, when Direct shows up again, we can have the guy put the dish down lower so it is not sticking up at the roof top catching all the wind and snow....they grow them different out here...

Christmas in ten days, wow...how the time flies, I don't know where November went and soon we will be changing the year's calendar. We have been practicing for the Ward Christmas party, we have to sing the opening song, then we have to sing a little later in the program, after we have a nice ham dinner, then Santa will come....We are also practicing diligently for the Sunday Christmas program. So, we have been busy. I didn't make the cookie exchange or the ornament exchange, I just couldn't get into it this year. We won't be doing Christmas cards this year either, cutting back with the money situation. Being on a fixed income and hoping our retirement doesn't run out before we do can get really exciting.

Daysee got in trouble today, she broke her hook on her cable and ran out in front of a car (there was only one for miles) so Coyote got really upset with her. Then there's nosee, the cat. Daysee can't stand for her to be in the room without chasing her until she leaves the area for her safe house. With all the running over furniture, yelling, "Get off the table" "sit, Daysee" "I said, sit!" Oh it's so much fun around here. Sometimes I wish I was the deaf one...well, on that note, I guess I will sign off, we are going to see "The Day the Earth Stood Still" tonight, so gotta get ready...stay warm and happy....

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!

It's been a while since I have posted and not much has gone on. I was sick for 3 1/2 weeks and am finally feeling better. Out of the forest, but not in the clearing. I still have that hacky cough and sore throat. Yes...I did go to the doctor and was on antibiotics, thank you for your concern.

Night before last it snowed and the land is still covered with the snow. That is very unusual here as it is usually blowing so hard that our dry snow is gone the next day. It's really beautiful. It really gives you a sense of Christmas. The shoppers are all bundled up and carrying their packages and bustling to the next shop. It's so fun to watch. The lights are all up in the city and the homes are decorating one by one. I love Christmas time. The lights are so bright, they sparkle and remind me of all the stars in the sky. Can't you just imagine at the time of Jesus' birth, with no smog and no huge buildings to block the sky how bright the stars were....living in the country (well, maybe desert) where it's so dark, it is really beautiful seeing all the stars. I even got to see the Trident Triangle the other night, it was great.

This is also one of the busiest times of the year. Our church has so many things going on, you hardly have time to breathe. We have a womens Holiday luncheon/Ornament exchange, then we have a Christmas Cookie exchange, then we have the Ward Christmas party for the youth and the adults...this year they will even have a visit from Santa. Normally, we concentrate on the real Christmas values, with the birth of Christ. This activities chairwoman has decided that we will share both at the same party. This will be interesting, but fun for the children. Then there is the Christmas choir, we practice for the December 21st performance...whew, I hardly have time to vaccuum...

Speaking of which, I got a new vaccuum....I LOVE IT!!! I always thought the dyson guy was a bunch of hype and never considered it. We had a Hoover Wind Tunnel and it was crap. The belts kept sliding off and burning, uck, terrible smell, plus it was heavy and loud. We went vaccuum shopping (under duress from the ol' coyote) and we spent 2 hours looking at vaccuums...I hate shopping. Anyway, the sales lady convinced Mr. Coyote that the dyson was the best. She had - are you ready for this- 18 cats, all living inside the house...and a husband! Anyway, she just raved about this machine and how it sucked not only the carpet, but clear down thru the pad. Ok, Ok...fine, spend the money (gulp) get the stupid machine, let's just go...so of course we got "the animal" and brought it home. The Ol' coyote had to try it. so we had just vaccuumed with the wind tunnel, so now we put this thing together and start. We started in the bedroom, the path from the bathroom (where the cat has all her stuff) and went to the end of the bed. It was unbeliveable. It filled the canister!!! and, it's a big canister. Talk about amazing, I would definetly recommend the Dyson to anyone. We filled (ok, I'm embarrased to say) 6 canisters by time we were done with the house. Totally unbeliveable...

Ok, I guess I have bored you long enough, I'm starving, time for lunch...gotta go, hope your day is bright and shiney...TTFN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

today being November 1st, it's my birthday. Guess what I got...something I have been wanting for a long time....a new kitty!
she's 8 weeks old a tabby long hair (not the ideal situation with my asthma, but I will live with it) She's such a lover. Today we bonded for about 2/3 hours. We named her Tabatha and we call her Tabee....I know, not very original, but with my brain, it works.
Tonight, we are going to dinner with our friends, Fred & gail. We have a lot of laughs with them. He is so funny and she is such a lady. But a fun down to earth lady...if you know what I mean. Living here in Cody, there aren't a lot of choices for a "nice" meal...but there is a Ribs & Chops restaurant that is pretty nice, so we have reservations. I guess I will leave this for now, I still have to tell you about our disappointing Halloween party, but no time now. Enjoy the pictures of Tabee.

BYU WON IT!

hI TO ALL, THIS HAS BEEN A REALLY SLOW DAY. tHE WEATHER OUTSIDE CAN'T DECIDE WHAT TO DO EXCEPT BLOW! IT'S CLOUDY LIKE RAIN, TOO WARM TO SNOW (50'S) I think we should be getting all the rain that the wind keeps blowing away. we could use the moisture.

Saturday is my football day and it's been an exciting one. of course the ol' coyote doesn't like watching football or baseball, so he took a nap. The BYU game was really a nail biter. So was the Penn state win....there were also some other exciting ones. I think I'm worse than a lot of the guys, I flip between games and watch 3 or 4 at a time. Then, third game of the world series, being delayed over an hour and a half, due to rain, and boy, was it coming down! sheesh, the poor people on the east coast, it's gonna be a long night for them. i know i'm hoping against hope, but i would love to see tampa bay win, it would be so cool.

coyote's nap was not because he was bored, uh huh, he says it was because the flu shot got to him. hmmm, ok, i know it was because he was bored and it was cold in the house. Usually when we get up he starts a fire to take the chill off the house, but since we left early today to get our flu shots from the hospital, there was no fire. we are holding off as long as possible to use the gas for heat. Since we have the wood, it's cost effective to use that until it gets so cold we need the gas. it's 9:30 at night and the temp outside is still 54 degrees (that's really warm for this time of night.) Inside it's 63, so it's a little cool, but not bad.

this post seems to be a little boring, too, so, i guess i will sign off. Tomorrow is church, so i need to get ready for that...and finish watching the baseball game, dang, the rays just got out for the end of the fourth...hopefully they will get some more runs tonight...

Oh, i have to bring your attention to the quilt i posted to the right. the picture really doesn't do it justice. it is just gorgeous. the way colleen did it-it just pops. the colors really come out. she has such a knack for creating quilt patterns out of nothing. i gave her the stars and the rest of the material they were made from and bam! she created something out of nothing...gotta love her and her talent. i would have never gotten it done.

ok, speaking of done...ciao

CONFUSING STUFF

The Ol' Coyote is up to it again...He has this very good friend who needed a new air compressor. Coyote wants a different kind of air compressor, so he tells John that he would sell him his and then they would both be happy because John would have a (practically) new one and coyote could go get the one he wants. S*N*A*G...the Coyote is known for "buying high; give away"...
so goes the story. Now the coyote needs over twice as much money as he got for his perfectly good air compressor, to replace it with the one he wants. welcome to my world!
Another fly in the ointment. Last night coyote was coming home from a meeting and the lights on his "car" went black. The Tach stopped working and he barely made it home. He had to have a friend follow him just to make sure. Well, the alternator died....so...before he can get his air compressor, he must get - and install- a new alternator...Luckily, in his journeys today, he was able to find and buy the alternator, so, tomorrow will probably be a "fixit" day.
Changing the subject...There was a large article in our newspaper about this gal who is getting married and moving to Canada. She is a rescuer of cats. She needs to find homes for 43 cats. the coyote knows how badly I want a new kitty, so he had me call and find out about them. We may be getting two instead of one. She has two siamese that are really bonded...if I were to take only one, I would be dealing with depression (as if I don't have enough of that on my own) and possibly other difficulties. So, we will have to see what happens. We will either go tonight to see them or tomorrow. I'm really apprehensive because I get so emotional over this kind of stuff, so we will have to see what happens. Well, we went last night and OMG, I have never seen so many cats all at one time in one place. I was overwhelmed. Anyway, I would have loved to take the one siamese, but I couldn't have taken them both because "Katie" had longer hair and shed sooooooooo badly that my asthma was terrible, just holding her. My eyes became swollen and itchy, it was awful. So, needless to say, we walked away with no one, I just couldn't split them up, they were so close. Another time, It will happen someday, I will get a new kitty...
And, now, I have saved the best for last. I have the most fun and beautiful grandchildren!!! I keep begging for pictures so I can brag about them, but the pictures are hard to come by. So, this is what I've got for now. Our oldest grandaughter, Alyssia got to go to her first Homecoming this year. Aren't they cute, Daniel is her date. Then we have Em, ABbs and Kate. They went to a "trunk or treat" party for church and I have a picture of them there (also, I sneeked in one of our daughter; I know she is gonna kill me, but, she has to get a hold of me first.) and a picture from the Arizona fair. They are changing too. Emily is really becoming a beautiful young lady. She still has her braces, only to enhance her beauty...and...now she has contacts, so no more glasses. You can actually see her pretty face. Abbs and Kate..we refer to as the "little girls" but they aren't being so little anymore. They are really growing and showing their own personalities. We have an adopted grandchild (adopted by love, not by law) who lives in Oklahoma, we don't get to see her anymore than we get to see the others. Actually, we get to see her more than our oldest. Anyway, Kaitlyn (whose picture is with the grandchildren) is also becoming a beautiful young woman. She has also been able to loose the glasses and is now wearing contacts. She was going to a wedding, so she got to get her hair done...I love the curls, it's really pretty. Somehow, I don't see the curls on the back of an ATV...lol

SNOW SATURDAY

WaHoo....it's snowing. There is one thing you can bet on when you live in Wyoming. That is, sometime in the first week of October it will be snowing. At least, in the last seven years that we have been here, that has been the case. It's 25 degrees and the snow has been sideways for a while. The little table and chairs are on our rear deck. It looks like a big cake on the table, I just love it when the snow does that. The forcast in Billings, MT is 25 inches by the end of tomorrow. We are only supposed to get 9", but I will really be surprised if we get that. They always over exaggerate for Cody. The Park gets most of it. We will see what tomorrow will bring.
Tonight we are going to Don and Sid's place for stew. We are bringing the apple pie and ice cream. There is just nothing like eating ice cream while it is snowing outside....lol
Other than that, I guess the afternoon (what's left of it) will just be left to watching football. Weber State and Montana State are playing in Bozeman ... in the snow...now that's messy! But it is a good game for the first half. Hope your day is going well, stay happy!

VISIT FROM THE KID

Yeah!!! "The Kid" came to visit!! (we call our son, "The Kid" as a term of endearment) He came from Florida to visit for a week. It was so good to be able to be with him...it's a long time between visits. the only fly in the ointment was that he flew into Billings, MT and we picked him up there but instead of coming to Cody, we had to go to Logan, UT to see his biological father who is suffering with prostate and bone cancer. Not knowing what lies in store, we felt the need to visit. So, we got to Logan that night, spent the night in the motel and visited with him the next morning before he had to go to chemo. After we left his home, we got on I-15 toward West Yellowstone when all of a sudden, I remembered this "short cut" from Ashton, ID to the south entrance of the Park. Soooooo, we took it. It's not your "normal" road. Well, it's not even close, more like a "4-wheelin' road" We had a great time, slow, very rocky, and a lot of ruts, but really fun. We got onto the hiway at dark, so we had to enter Yellowstone, south entrance, at dark and drive up to West Thumb and Fishing Bridge, all in the dark....it was hillarious, Russ had dad's GPS and he was calling out every turn (as if we couldn't see what was right in front of us)...then we were all on the look out for the animals...saw lots of deer, fortunately we left them all alive. By time we got home, it was 2330 hrs. We were all tired and went right to bed. The next morning, "the Kid" decided that dad and he should paint Dad's POS....well, two are better than one, so dad took him up on it. We all went to walmart and got paint and brushes...that didn't work well, so back to walmart for spray cans....worked great! Unfortunately, they weren't able to finish it before the Kid left, but Dad got 'er done. Daysee was so excited...her car got finished and today we all (minus "the Kid" who left last week) went for a long ride in the mountains. We went to a place that was identified on the GPS as Aldrich Creek. It was really beautiful. High in the pines with all the trees in their fall colors with a creek running waaaaaayyy down below the cliff we were standing on. Oh, one other thing on our ride. We stopped to eat some chicken for lunch and while I was peeling off the skin, Daysee decided that that should be her piece and grabbed it out of my hand. I said, "hey! that's my chicken" and pulled it back out of her mouth.....my chicken! Anyway, we had a great time and it was beautiful....oh, and the "New Paint POS" worked really well...Gotta run for now...

FAMILY REUNION VIRGINIA

September 9 thru the 16th we flew to Virginia for the ol' coyote's family reunion. The house (picture) is really nice and so great since his sister and brother-in-law have lived in a mobile home all their married life. They were able to buy a piece of land from a cousin in Schuyler (pronouonced sky-ler) VA. The first time they have been able to have a brand new "stick-built" home. We had a great time getting to see the area where coyote's dad, granddad and aunts and uncles grew up. The area is filled with a lot of family history. The other picture (of the church) was one built by coyote's uncle Sailor. He built the church and then was the preacher there. The side yard of the church was the cemetary where grandad, grandma, aunts and uncles were all buried. It was kinda neat to see all that, kinda strange too. The ol' coyote was super excited to get all the geneology while we were back there. His Uncle Grover lived across the way and they got together and shared pictures and old stories. Coyote's brother and three sisters were there and some of the neices and nephews got to come as well. His sister had so much food for the ordeal, we had hamburgers one nnight, then the next night we had hamburgers and by the time the tird night of hamburgers, we were ready for something different, so we drove into Charlottesville and had a buffet dinner. It was a great time for all. The time went by so fast that we really didn't get to go to DC or anywhere else. We flew in and out of Richmond and their place was 2 hours from the airport. One place we did visit that was along the side of the road was a plaque that told about Hurricane Camelle back in 1969. There was a city that got swallowed up by the rockfish river. The hurricane caused 25 inches of rain to fall in 5 hours and the river couldn't hold all of it, plus the land around was underwater. I can't remember how many people died but it was really bad. Or plane for home left at 6am, so we had to get up at 3am and then we got lost on the way, but thank heaven we made the plane and got home and found all was well. Daysee was sure glad to see us...as were we glad to see her. The bunnies were all here to greet us as well. A good time was had by all!

HAPPY LABOR DAY

Since it is close, and I usualy am late for Holidays, I thought I would wish you all a Happy Labor Day. This year Labor Day falls on my granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday Alyssia!!!

This past week has had it's ups and downs. It started off really good with a First annual Homeowners BBQ. It was all done by One family and it was sooooooooo good. First they did all the usual appetizers and then the food came. OMG, what a spread. She had fixed everything from brisket to chicken and all the in-be-tweens...Everyone had a great time. The weather even behaved...it was a great time.

the rest of the week went by and I don't remember what we did...pretty boring, I guess. Anyway, I've been having a problem with my back, could be from all the coughing from the smoke, but it is just really hurting. So, Skipper decided that I needed to "shake it up a bit" meaning, we were taking the ATVs out for a "quick" ride. Well, we went out back, that is behind our complex, where there is nothing but hills and sagebrush. We went over a water crossing and started out toward the ridge. I felt ok, it was warm, but my back was handling it so-so. We kept riding toward the ridge and then, when we got to the beginning...it started getting rather steep. Kinda scary...actually, it got really scary...I'm not a "seasoned" ATV rider, I just do it for fun....except today. Today, I did it to stay alive. I rode up a rocky hill, kinda scary. Then, the ol' coyote came and gave me some pointers on how to do this....safely.... OK, so we start riding up toward the ridge and the ATV started slipping. I can do this....so I gave it a little more power and up on the ridge we came. Now...I'm up on the ridge and scared to death to go down. It was so steep, I told coyote he could drive my ATV down and I would walk (or fall on my face. But at least I wouldn't have so far to fall and I wouldn't roll over the cliff.) Well, needless to say we had another discussion. "I will guide you down." OMG...I decided right there and then that I was a woose...I still elected to walk down and he could drive my ATV down for me. He asked me if I would drive him back up to get his....hummmmm, this wasn't going well. After a deeeeeep breath, my back wasn't hurting anymore, I was too afraid I was going to die. We climed back on our respective ATVs and he went in front...Looking straight down is not something I would recommend, but to drive straight down I had to look. I put my machine in 4 wheel drive, in low and kept my hand on the brake for emergencies. the whole trip down the mountain was an emergency....I started sliding in the rocks. I squeezed that brake so tight and it wouldn't stop the machine, I knew I was going to die.....I am just too bloody old to be so scared!!!!

Needless to say, I made it!!!! I don't think I'm anymore "seasoned"...just very happy to be alive. Did I say that right...VERY HAPPY TO BE ALIVE!!! The ol coyote said he could hear a faint "Help...Help....heeeeelp" as we were going down thru the rocks to get off the mountain. I was trying to be brave, it didn't work very well, but at least I'm alive...Once we got home and everything put away, he was sweet, he said he was proud of me, I didn't woose out...I did it (whew).

After We got home, I made a great dinner to celebrate that I was still alive. The coyote was very happy I made it because he got to eat another meal....all that being said, and done, I am closing now....oh, by the way, did I say my back is now hurting more than ever?????

TOO MUCH SMOKE

Hi there! It's been a while, but things have been moving along. I have been playing around with the looks of my blog (well, I should really say, several of us have been playing with the looks of the blog, thank you connie) and i hope you enjoy the new look. i wish i were more creative, things don't always work the way i want them to, but it is a work in progress and also "subject to change without notice". But it's good for now. if only i could get the pictures in the right place. We have this fire that has been burning since the 26th of July and it isn't going away. i'm going to try to add a few pictures and here's hoping they go in the right place. our skies have been so smoky and breathing is not quite as bad as living in la, but it is too smelly and smoky. the weather has been a little warmer than usual too. now i know that hot in most places is around 100. well, here hot is in the high 80's and 90's...laughing. it has been hot here. when you are used to 30's and 40's the above stated is hot. anyway, today we got lucky and it's only in the low 70's so it's a beautiful day with a slight breeze....life is good.
we have been having some fun lately. we went to the rodeo and had a great time watching everything from barrel racers to bull riders, roping and just good ol' fun.
then, my gf gail and i went to see mama mia, what a hoot. the show was sooooooo goood. however, pierce brosnen cannot sing. he's good to look at but he needs to keep his day job...
we haven't been riding the atv's because of the smoke and that also inhibits the shooting...it's a good thing the olympics have been on or i would have felt like a prisoner. yeah for the americans!!! i'm so glad there haven't been anymore "isolated incidents" since the first stabbing. that was so sad.
guess it's time to close, we are going to go for mexican food tonight, ole'

MOVIN' ON

Things are movin'...we had another couple from California come and visit for a couple days and we had a lot of fun catching up with their life and sharing good times. We also got to go out to dinner at "ribs and chops" one of our nicer restaurants. It was yummy!! They were on their way to North Dakota, al will be taking a job teaching at the university in their aviation dept. The university has over 2,000 students in their aviation program. Imagine, North Dakota...who woulda thunk... We have another trip planned. We are going to visit the coyote's sister and brother-in-law in Schuyler, VA...bet you don't know where that is. Neither do we. It's somewhere in the mountains around Charlottesville, by Afton. We will fly into Richmond and they are about 2 hours from there. It will be an adventure. I'm hoping we can get to dc for a day to see the World War II memorial and some of the other sites. When I asked my brother-in-law if he would take us over there, he said (teasingly) "I'd rather put a gun to my head"...needless to say, he hates driving in the area as it is sooooooo crowded and wild with people. Midge and Bill have just built their dream home in those VA mountains and this will be the first time we will see it. Everyone is excited. They used to live in Jessup, MD and that is basically where the rest of the siblings live. Midge is planning a family get together for us; since who knows when we will get back again. We usually get back there every 5 years or so. But, with everything getting so expensive, it's anyone’s guess. And, with the family past history, no one will be coming to Cody to visit us. They don't seem to get passed the Mason Dixon line. We will be flying on Delta and so far, they aren't charging for the first bag of luggage, so we should be able to have some clean underwear at least. We might end up washing every night to have clean clothes...we'll see. We are excited, it will be a fun visit. The only thing I will miss is our usual crab feast we have. I had never had soft shelled crabs until the ol' coyote took me back to meet the family and we went out to eat at this old shack. It was great. They put you at a "picnic table" with the benches and cover the whole thing with white butcher paper. Then they bring out this huge (I mean, huge) kettle of boiled crabs and pour them out on the table. Everyone digs in and legs and guts are flying everywhere to get to the soft delicious crab meat. Oh yum....it is so good. But this time since we will be in VA, no crabs, dang! Plus, the price of them has more than tripled, so oh well. A week after we get home from VA our boy will be coming to see us. It will be his first visit back to Cody in a really long time. We can hardly wait. He loves to go ATV-ing and shooting and we always have such a great time... He will be able to stay a week...can't wait for that either. As for what's been going on around here, well, the fires are still going and getting closer to inhabited areas. A lot of the campgrounds have been caught in it and now it's getting closer to Wapiti (that's pronounced like bibity, bopity, wapiti)...just for you who have never been here. The weather has cooled down some, it rained all night, which I hope helped the firefighters. It's only 63 (at 1416 hrs) which is really nice. Just a light breeze and the sky is blue with those beautiful white clouds...nice and sunny...a gorgeous day. Oh, I forgot to tell you about the show last night. If you get a chance to see a delightfully funny and entertaining show, go see Mama Mia! It's really good. Except, Pierce Brosnen can't sing. Who ever heard of James Bond singing....but he was still good in the show.
Well, I think I have brought you pretty much up to date, so I shall let you go...for a while, hope your day is smashing!

YUCKY DAY

Today is really bleak, there is still so much smoke in the air that the sun can't come through. We had to go to Walmart and while we were out, my asthma really started acting up, so we came home immediately and now I'm really having a difficult time breathing. It's definitely a stay in the house day and try to breathe. Thank heaven we have those ionic filters in the house. I really feel sorry for the people fighting the fires and those who live even closer. Last night I read in the paper that we have an organization that helps the animals. It was really interesting. They have set up corrals at the Stampede Grounds (that's where we have the rodeo) for all the horses. Then, they have separate cages to house cats, dogs, rabbits, and all other animals who are scattering because of the fires. They even place cattle. That made me feel really good that the animals have a place to go. It's got to be scary for all our furry friends out there, too. the weather says that we are supposed to get some thunder showers. That's good and bad. Good so the water will help the firefighters, but, bad if we have anymore lightening strikes. We don't need anymore fires!!! Well, gotta go for now, I hope you all are having a great day...ciao

CATCH UP-continued

Sorry about the abrupt ending last night, it just wasn't working. today, i've gotten so much done and it's only 1300, oh no, the phone, hang on...short call, discover wanting us to "use the card" no thank you!!! ok, to continue, sheessh, i'm so confused...ok, since the last "newsy blog" we have gone to Idaho Falls again, this time to pick up blue boy and while we were there we took in a session at the Idaho falls Temple and went to the museum. it was so much fun. they were having an exhibit on "the Pharohes" (sorry I can't spell) anyway, the exhibit was on them and all the Egyptian stuff. It was so interesting. but....the really important exhibit for the ol' coyote was down in the bottom of the museum. it was about the old printing of the ooooooold newspaper. did you know that before the city was called Idaho Falls it was originally known as Eagle Rock? I never knew that. Well, the old printing system that the city got in 1904 was a machine on which the coyote studied at high school. (obviously it was a more current model, but, the exact same machine) he was so excited, we spent over an hour with him explaining to me how the whole operation worked. it was really fun to see him so excited. he said that he never thought he would see one of those machines ever again....it was really neat!

Now, after we got home from Idaho, we got things in order for a friend to visit. One of the guys we worked with at GPD made the time to come and visit us. we had so much fun being old and recounting all the old police stories and catching up on some of the guys since they left the PD. we took him (or I should say, he treated us) to dinner at the Irma hotel. that's the one which was built by Buffalo Bill and named after his daughter. It has a huge cherry wood bar that was a gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill for favors i.e. bringing his wild west show to england, etc.. it's nice to look at, it really is beautiful. Dinner was fun, then we walked around the city and chatted some more. we sure had a fun time with Terry Jones.

Except for the fires, still burning out of control, destroying a lot of the camp grounds in the Shoshone National Forest. I think I'm current on the happenings. Oh, I forgot to mention we have seen the Dark Knight, really good and the Mummy. It was good, but we all decided that we liked the Egypt mummy movies better than the oriental one.

Today was shape up the food storage day. we went to walmart and bought some more for the food storage. I took all the flour, sugar etc. out of their grocery store containers and put them all in Tupperware. In case you didn't know....just a little tip...in flour, rice, Bisquick...anything that those pesty bugs can get into....put a bay leaf or two in with the stuff. It has no baring on the taste of the flour or rice or whatever, but it does keep the bugs away. Anyway, I felt good about getting more on the shelves and better organized.

I guess that's about it for now, hope all is well with you, talk with you again soon. ciao

CATCH UP

Ok..so much has been going on, I can't believe I'm so far behind. First off, the ol' coyote got his new blue machine, I think I'm naming it "blue boy" I own "big red" so now we have 2 atv's again. We love to ride, when it's not hot and there is no smoke. The fires have gotten really out of control. They have a strange way with fires out here. Being from California, where they fight fires, it's difficult because here they "monitor" fires. That is until they get so far out of control, then they decide they should do something when they have burned so much there is not much they can do, except wait for rain, or better yet, wait for winter when it will freeze it out. Just weird. Well shucks, phone call, gotta go, we'll talk a little more later...good night

SWEET SABBATH DAY

I have to tell you, church was really different today. I have never attended a Relief Society lesson on the internet. Since it was a talk given by one of the twelve apostles, it must be ok to blog about it. Anyway, it was truly inspiring. the thought of discussing the Gospel was really exciting. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and wish I could share it with everyone but, alas, I am shy. I realize people who know me would take exception to that, but really...I wouldn't want to intrude on someones own beliefs or step on someones toes, so I tend to keep quiet...another trait that people who know me would probably disagree. Anyway, I just want to say how much I do love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and try to live as he would want all of us to live.

BUSY DAY

OK...The Rodeo was great! The barrel riders and the bull riding are always our favorites. Last night, there were only two riders that stayed on the bulls for a score; those bulls were meeeeeeeen last night. The barrel riders were great. They had three classes of gals. First was the regular class, they were fast. Then the Junior class and they were pretty good as well. Then, the last class was the pee wee class. There was only one little gal and she was so cute. she was riding a mini horse and didn't knock any of the barrels over. She was slow but really cute.

Today we woke up and decided to go shooting. We got in the POS car and drove to the "outside" range. Let me explain the "outside" range. We drive out to a place about a mile from the house where there is lots of sage brush and an old makeshift shooting bench. (I use the term "shooting bench" very loosely.) Anyway, we shot our share of tin cans and got some more practice with the rifles and pistols. After a couple of hours, the sun was getting to us and our usual Cody breeze was non-existent. So we packed up and went home for a nice shower...whew, what a difference some cool water makes on the hot skin....hummm, maybe TMI, oh well, a natural occurrence.

As typical in Cody, the weather has changed and now the wind is blowing pretty good. The sun is behind the clouds and if I didn't know any better, I would think that we may be in for some thunderstorms. We like thunderstorms, as long as the lightening stays away from the park. We don't need any big fires this year. Especially since we will be going thru the park again next week. Oh, I didn't tell you. While we were in Idaho for the wedding, there just happened to be a Yamaha dealer on the road. We couldn't pass up going in to "look". the ol' coyote sold his Can Am and wanted to get a Grizzley 660 like mine. (now you realize, I have had mine (one ATV) since 2004) he has ridden mine so much that he has finally decided...duh...that it's a pretty good machine. So, if we were to buy another ATV (this would be his third) if we had the same make and model, it would be good because of using the same parts. Anyway...we stopped and went in. There it was, starring us in the face. A beautiful blue grizzley 660, the only one in the showroom. the ol' coyote said that 2007 was the last year they were made, so we expected it to be that. well......low and behold, it was a 2008, naturally, more money. that's what we thought....but, it was $1500 less than the Cody dealer wanted for the 2007...pretty good, eh? OK...we couldn't resist the great offer. Especially for two reasons. (1) the old ATV sold and (2) we need two in the family....good reasoning, right? we thought so. Well, that's why we will be going to Idaho next week, to pick it up. We didn't have the trailer with us last trip, who knew....

OK, sorry for digressing, let's see, I was talking about today. Actually, I was going to tell you that we are going out to eat tonight. we are going with our friends (affectionately called Fred and Ethel) to eat at the Irma Hotel. It's a tourist place, because it was built by Buffalo Bill and named after his first daughter. It has a beautiful huge cherry wood Bar which was a gift and came from France, back around 1910 or so. the food is good and we like the waitresses. So, all in all, we will have a great busy and fun day. Hope yours is as good....

SEVEN YEARS AGO

Yes, seven years ago to the date, Skipper retired and we began our move to this beautiful part of the world. Leaving the smog and the congestion was not a difficult thing to do. After seven years, I will have to admit, there are some things in California, I do miss. Let's see....the ocean, Disneyland, San Simeon, some friends, Angeles Crest...hummm, not much else that comes to mind. Over all, I think we made the correct move. I know for sure that if we hadn't moved out of California, Skipper wouldn't be the mild mannered man that he has become. (most of the time).

We had sold the house and left on the 27th of July arriving in Cody on the 30th. We are here to stay. Remember, we have room for our friends, should the occasion arise....hint, hint.

You all know we have bears in the park and in the surrounding area. Well, I spoke with Rochelle today and she was telling me about a case her husband is on. He being a doctor working in our hospital (West Park Hospital). About 3am up between Cooke City and Silver Gate, at the Crazy Woman camp ground, there was a retired Eugene Oregon Police Officer that was on his motorcycle. well, he wasn't on it at 3am, he was in his little pup tent in the campground. When.....all of a sudden, a bear ripped thru his tent and grabbed his arm. The man woke up and started beating on the bear's nose to let go when the bear started scratching back, injuring his other arm. Somehow, the bear finally let go and I don't know how he got a hold of someone who took him down to cody to the hospital. Dr. Jimmy Biles, our orthopod, got the case and fixed the fractures in the arm and hand, but Kim (dr. slight, rochelle's husband) got the case from him. He is monitoring his case because bears have one of the dirtiest mouthes around. So, they are really concerned about infection setting in.

Oops, gotta run...the Ol' coyote is on his way home from the range. we get to go to the rodeo tonight, so I have to get dressed for the occasion, where did i put those jeans and my cowboy boots, i will talk with you all later, hope you get to have a fun night, I'm going to....waaaahoooooo Hi O rodeo!!!!!

TRIP TO IDAHO

What a weekend! a family that we knew (in a galaxy far far away) was having a wedding. their boy, bret, was getting married and we didn't want to miss it. so, we left cody on friday and drove thru the park exiting thru the west entrance and then down to idaho falls. it took about 5 or 7 hours, can't really remember. anyway, we had a great time. we stayed with carl and paulie who are the parents of the parents. we enjoyed staying with them because we had our own "apartment" (their basement). we were away from all the noise and congestion of people. thaT'S THE WAY THE OL' COYOTE LIKES THINGS...NICE AND QUIET WITH A COOL PLACE TO STAY. ALSO, COYOTE SAID THAT we could keep up with CARL AND PAULIE. (THEY ARE IN THEIR 80S AND SHUFFLE ALONG RATHER SLOWLY) THAT'S THE OL' coyote's pace...

Friday night we went with carl and paulie to a church function. it was a bbq to celebrate the fourth birthday of their ward. it was fun and the people were all really friendly and nice. after the bbq we went to rick's and anita's place to add to the confusion. we met bret's intended (she's really cute/pretty, sorry, no pictures, yet). then we got to see mel, mathew and chris. it was a lot of fun to renew old friendships. plus...to see their kids, omg, it's just amazing to me how fast kids grow up...i think it's a sign of old age creeping in...hummmm, not good.

after we had been causing trouble for a while, we decided... well, carl and paulie were getting tired, so we packed up and went back to their place. coyote was happy, he could relax in the basement, while carl and paulie....are you ready for this...remember, they are in their 80s....ok, while carl and paulie stayed upstairs to watch....lawrence welk...their favorite...

Saturday was the wedding, everyone was beautiful. the guys were all in black and the bride was stunning. her attendents were in pink and black, the mothers were in black and the fathers were in grey. it was cooler than it had been, but way too hot for us, we had to sit in the sun....whew, hot!!! The wedding was great, the food was wonderful and the cake was really different. i guess the trend of wedding cakes has taken another turn. this was really cute and different. the layers were all different sizes and frosted like individual packages in a stack. i hadn't been to a wedding with the cake done that way. i have seen it done on tv, but not in person. the cake was delicious. each "package" was different. one was chocolate with cream filling, one was white with rasberry filling and i don't know what the others were. they had fresh fruit and marshmellows with the chocolate fountain...the kids loved that...what a mess the kids became. all in all, everyone had a great time. i think, maybe except for anita. she really stresses out and had done an enormous amount of work. i'm sure sunday was a very relaxing day!!!

sunday was our departure. we left around 8:30 am and drove towards the park. but we decided to take a "short cut" one of our friends here in cody told us to try. about a mile south of Ashton, Idaho, there is a cutoff to Squirl meadow ranch. we took the cutoff and started down the road. we were told the road became dirt. well, it did. it not only became dirt, it became rutted and major pot holes in the dirt. we went about 40 miles in the dirt and then found pavement again. we came out at flag ranch, and then entered the park via the south entrance. from there we went up thru west thumb and out the usual east entrance. whew, we made it. i actually believe that it was shorter. at least, the traffic was a lot less. i would take the road again, i'm not sure the ol' coyote feels the same way.

so, that was our weekend, how was yours?

AN EVENING DRIVE

gOOD EVENING...HOW'S EVERYTHING GOING IN YOUR LIFE. WE ARE DOING WELL, HERE IN CODY, WYOMING. SATURDAY, THE 5TH, WE TOOK A GREAT DRIVE INTO YELLOWSTONE PARK. THE PARK SERVICE HAD DONE SOME RENOVATIONS TO MY FAVORITE PLACE IN THE PARK. THE PICTURE IS OF ARTISTS POINT. ISN'T IT GORGEOUS! THE FALLS THIS YEAR ARE SO FULL OF WATER. THE WHOLE PARK IS BEAUTIFUL THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF ALL THE WATER FROM THE MELTED SNOW. THE RIVERS ARE FULL AND LAKE YELLOWSTONE IS FULL. THE DRIVE WAS WONDERFUL, SO COOL AND NOT REALLY CROWDED BECAUSE WE WENT SO LATE. WE SAW TWO DIFFERENT HERDS OF ELK, SOME DEER IN THE ROAD AS WELL AS THE NORMAL BUFFALO...IN THE ROAD. (OH, THE DEER AND THE BUFFALO WERE ALIVE AND WALKING...JUST THOUGHT I WOULD THRO THAT IN SO YOU WOULDN'T THINK THEY HAD BEEN KILLED. THEY WERE STILL ALIVE AND WELL WHEN WE LEFT.) EVEN THE CARS WERE STOPPED....IN THE ROAD. IT IS SO BAFFLING WHY THEY MAKE PULL-OUTS AND THE TOURISTS REFUSE TO USE THEM. THEY SEE AN ANIMAL AND IMMEDIATELY, THEY STOP...RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD....THEN THEY PILE OUT TO TAKE PICTURES....SOMETIMES THEY ARE MORE OF A PICTURE THAN THE ANIMALS...LOL
WELL, I TRIED TO PUT THE PICTURE OF THE SUNSET RIGHT HERE, BUT i STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE HANG OF ATTACHING PICTURES IN THE TEXT...BE PATIENT WITH ME I AM, AFTER ALL, A WORK IN PROGRESS...
ANYWAY, THE SUNSET IS COMING HOME, OVER LAKE YELLOWSTONE.
WHEN WE GOT HOME IT WAS DARK, AROUND 10:30 BUT THE DRIVE WAS REALLY INTERESTING. IT WAS GREAT TO SEE ALL OF THE RIVERS AND THE BUFFALO BILL DAM SO HIGH. LAST YEAR WE WERE ALMOST AT DROUGHT LEVEL AND NOW THEY ARE LAPPING AT THE BANKS. EVEN SOME OF THE TREES ARE ALMOST COVERED...LOOKS SUPER. WELL, IT'S GETTING LATE AND I NEED TO LISTEN TO THE OL' COYOTE, HE KEEPS TALKING ABOUT CAR PARTS..IT'S DIFFICULT FOR ME TO COMPOSE ON MY OWN, LET ALONE WHEN SOMEONE IS TALKING...THANKS FOR LISTENING; CATCHA LATER...CIAO

BIGHORNS PART DEUX

WELL, HOW RUDE, THE BLOG JUST PUBLISHED PRIOR TO ME BEING THROUGH. HUMMMM, IS SOMEONE TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING? OH WELL, TO CONTINUE. AFTER WE DROVE THRU THE MARINA, WE WENT TO THE CANYON PART OF THE RESERVOIR. TALK ABOUT BREATHTAKING. YOU LOOK DOWN INTO THE CANYON WHERE THE RIVER IS RUNNING THRU AND THE WALLS ARE SO TALL, IT'S AWESOME. THE "OLD TIMERS" WE WERE WITH TOLD US THAT THE RIVER USED TO BE JUST A SMALL STREAM WHICH ONE COULD JUST WALK ACROSS BUT SINCE THEY CREATED THE DAM, THERE IS SO MUCH WATER THAT THE RIVER IS REALLY BIG. FROM THE CANYON AREA, WE DROVE UP THE ROAD TO A RANCH ONCE OWNED BY (ACTUALLY BUILT FOR) cAROLYN LOCKHART. SHE WAS A FAMOUS WRITER HERE IS THE WEST IN THE 1800'S. sHE WAS A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF bUFFALO BILL. sHE USED TO WRITE ABOUT HIS SHOW AND OTHER PARTS OF THE OLD WEST. wE ALSO HAVE A BED AND BREAKFAST HERE IN CODY, CALLED THE CAROLYN LOCKHART BED AND BREAKFAST. oK, THE RANCH WAS REALLY LARGE AND NICELY DONE FOR HER DAY. THERE WERE SEVERAL OUT BUILDINGS AND A REALLY NICE SPRING HOUSE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A SPRING HOUSE IS? TESTING YOUR OLD WEST LORE....OK, IT WAS A SMALL USAUALLY ONE ROOM CABIN BUILT OVER A SPRING. iT IS USED TO KEEP THINGS COOL, SINCE THERE WAS NOT REFRIGERATION AVAILABLE. PRETTY NEAT, HUH? ANYWAY, SHE ONCE OWNED 7,000 ACRES IN THE BIGHORNS....INCONCEIVABLE IN TODAYS MONEY....SHALL WE SAY...RICH? mOST OF THE ACRES ARE NOW OWNED BY THE STATE AS BLM LAND. THE BIGHORNS ARE IN wYOMING AND MONTANA, BOTH. WE ALSO GOT TO SEE THE PRYOR MOUNTAINS; THEY ARE IN MONTANA. THEY ARE MORE BARE ROCK RATHER THAN COVERED WITH TREES. bUT, THEY ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL, TALL, AND MAJESTIC. OK, NOW I THINK I AM DONE IN THE BIGHORNS. WE HAD A FUN DAY, INTO NIGHT, WE DIDN'T GET HOME UNTIL ALMOST 11 PM. IT'S REALLY FUN LEARNING ABOUT OUR NEW HOME LAND...NEXT ON THE AGENDA, A DAY IN THE PARK, UNTIL THEN....CIAO

BIG HORNS

Boy, i have so much to talk about. i have not kept up with the goings on around here. We'll start with last week. We went shooting again, killing our usual number of tin cans. Then, we took a little trip with a couple of friends, up to the big horn mountains. we went to Barry's landing which is "the marina". It's at the bighorn reservoir, which used to be called (by all the locals) yellow tail lake. Since they redid the Bighorn national recreational center, and built the reservoir, they renamed it. anyway, coming from southern california and being familiar with the balboa marina, the newport marina, the marina at the port of long beach, etc. let me tell you. these people have no clue what a "real" marina is like. there were maybe 6 slips to keep the boats and not for permanent keeps, just to hold them while you went to get a snack. and believe me, that's all you could get would have been a snack. their "marina" shack was just stand up at the shack and order your hamburger, hot dog, or already made sandwiches....chips and soda. talk about being out in the boonies....oh how i long for the beach, with real seafood and a warf, or a pier....let me tell you something. if you enjoy something, enjoy it! don't take for granted the things you have that you enjoy....you may not always have them around. OK, sorry for the digressing, anyway, needless to say it was a shock to the system. After we left the "marina" (we were there long enough to drive thru it and turn around and gone).

SNOW ON THE 30TH OF JUNE

yOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS....NO, IT'S NOT REALLY SNOW, BUT, WE HAVE THE MOTHER OF ALL THUNDERSTORMS. i'M SURPRISED i AM ABLE TO TYPE WITH ALL THE POWER GONE OUT AROUND US, WE HAVE ONE OF THOSE BATTERY BACKUP THINGS, SO i GUESS iT'S WORKING. aNYWAY, THE SKY GOT REALLY DARK AND THEN THE WIND STARTED TO BLOW, i MEAN TO THE EXTENT THAT THE TREES ARE BENDING IN HALF. THEN THE RAIN CAME, THEN IT WAS LIKE PEOPLE WERE THROWING ROCKS. i OPENED THE DOOR AND HAIL THE SIZE OF MARBLES BOUNCING ALL OVER THE PLACE. tHE GROUND IS WHITE...COMPLETELY COVERED WITH HAIL, LOOKS FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, JUST LIKE SNOW. WELL, IT'S STILL RAINING AND THE TEMPERATURE WENT FROM 91 TO 57, JUST LIKE THAT!!! i JUST HAD TO WRITE BEFORE IT SLIPPED MY MIND, THAT'S EASY TO DO THESE DAYS. aNYWAY, HOPE YOU ARE SAFE WHERE YOU ARE, WE ARE WATCHING THE WONDERS OF NATURE, HERE IN BEAUTIFUL CODY, WYOMIING...LATER

DESERT SHOOTING

Gooooood Morning!!! Well, this past week has been a busy one. I can't remember where the beginning went, but the past three days have been fun. Thursday we took the pos car and rode all thru the sage brush. We played with the antelope, even baby ones, they were sooooooooooo cute. Then we found a place to shoot. We killed a lot of tin cans! We bring our own and set them up (many times) and shoot until you can hardly find the cans....or what's left of them. Then we pick up the remains and bring them home to the trash. We drove around some more and it was a good thing we didn't care where we were because, we didn't quite know where we were. But, in time, we found ourselves back at the main road.

Friday, I had a computer class for my embroidery machine. My heck, there are so many things this machine can do, it's amazing. We spent from 830 am to 4pm learning (that's relative) just some of the capabilities of the machine. Of course, the best software costs a whole ton of money, so I don't think I will be owning all that. I have a little piece of it and just that can do a lot.

Our little town has sure come alive this summer. the streets are full, there is no place to park and the gas shortage doesn't seem to be too much of a problem for the tourists. I haven't been to the park since it opened in May, but I have heard that it too is crowded. Not as many RVs, but lots of people. Our gas is $417.9 and now since last night when they said it's gotten even higher, I know it will go up again. They have a special day (Wednesday) every week, it goes up another ten cents....what happened to raising it by the pennies, sheesh!

Well, I better get off here, I have the cooler packed. Today we are going with friends up to the Big Horns to do some more site seeing and shooting...we have packed chicken, watermellon, macaroni salad and munchies and lots of water. Then, the important things like guns and lots of ammo. I think we have all the bases covered to have a wonderful time. I'll let you know later, you all have a great day....don't work too hard...ciao

LAZY SUNNY DAY

hi everyone. It's been just a lazy day so I thought I would post a short one. Last night we went and saw Get Smart, it was pretty good. Lots of laughs. I'm waiting to see wall-e. I have read so much about the making of it, it should really be good with all the robots and the way they have made the sounds.

the other fun thing I have been doing is finding people from my old stomping grounds (glendora, California). I used to be a Girls camp director and lately, I have been finding some of the girls. It's been really fun. The ones I have located are now married and have families of their own. it's just so neat to see them adults and happy with their own lives. who woulda thunk....time marches on. I'm really happy for all of you.

my life has been pretty boring lately, i don't know why, i am just having a difficult time getting started....doing anything. it's really driving me crazy. i have time to do things and no desire to get them done. and, heaven knows, there is plenty to do. tonight we were invited to some folks home for a bbq. there were about 7 different couples there and we had a fun time. the food was great and the entertainment was great, too. we all just sat around and talked and then gordon got out his guitar and played and sang some songs.
we had some homemade ice cream with strawberries and peaches, really good stuff.

guess i'd better go for now, we are hopefully going to go 4-wheeling tomorrow, so until then, have a good night.

AW, THE OUT OF DOORS

Good Morning...I just wanted to update the old blog and say how fun it is to be able to get outside and enjoy nature. Last night (before dark) we went with some friends and did some ATVing. It was great. We saw little cottontails, antelope and deer. They were beautiful, the antelope were running with us, it was so exciting. We went over some high hills and I got up them, but had to have the Skipper drive me down them. Since my neck surgery, I don't take near the risks I used to. I want to be around for a good bit longer and I dare not push my luck! At one point, we stopped at a whistle pig city and watched the little critters popping out of their holes. Since they are varmits, the guys shot at some of them, but they were quicker than the bullets, so they lived to see another day. My glasses broke, so I couldn't see much of anything, so I didn't shoot. I was able to keep them together under the goggles, so I could at least see where we were going. We didn't get home until almost midnight and boy, my this morning my body is telling me that I haven't done that in toooooo long of a time.
So, tomorrow, we are planning to do it all again. This time we are going to go out to see the petroglyphs. We haven't been able to find them, and our friends think they can find them again....we'll see.
But, it doesn't really matter because we will have a great time, just being out, riding in the open (smogless ) air...we love Wyoming!
Well, I guess I better get busy, I thought I would write in the morning so I would get it done. Hope you have a happy day....Ciao

STILL TUESDAY

OK, IT'S 2345 ON TUESDAY SO TECHNICALLY I'M STILL UNDER THE WIRE. I'M SO (I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHAT I AM) BUT ANYWAY...THE OL' COYOTE FOUND MY BLOG, THANKS TO MY DAUGHTER. HE WENT IN TO READ HER BLOG AND MY BLOG WAS LISTED, I'M DEAD. NOW HOW DO I BLOG ANONYMOUSLY.....I'M RUINED. NOW I HAVE TO BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT EVERYTHING I TYPE.... OH MAN!!!! I'M NOT ANONYMOUS ANYMORE! THIS JUST SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED....OH WELL, I'M A TROOPER, I MUST GO ON....I'LL JUST BLOCK IT OUT...I WAS GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE GREAT DAY "HE" HAD. HE HAS BEEN WORKING ON HIS POS SUZUKI AND TODAY, HE DID IT. HE TOOK OFF THE OLD 'THING' AND REPLACED IT WITH A HARLEY DAVIDSON CARBURATOR AND A NEW TYPE OF INTAKE MANIFOLD. IT WORKS!!!!! IT'S AMAZING, IT ACTUALLY WORKS!!! THE CAR HAS MORE POWER AND THE GAS SMELL HAS DISSIPATED, FOR NOW. IT'S PARKED IN THE SHOP INSTEAD OF THE GARAGE, SO I CAN'T SAY FOR SURE THAT THE GAS SMELL IS NON-EXISTENT...TIME WILL TELL. ANYWAY, IT WAS A GREAT DAY FOR THE OL' COYOTE. WE GOT TO GO TO POWELL (THE NEXT TOWN, 30 MILES AWAY) TO CELEBRATE AND HAVE A MEXICAN DINNER AT EL TAPATIO'S...YUMMMM

I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO BLOG ABOUT BECAUSE I AM SO DISTRAUGHT, KNOWING I'M EVEN MORE OF AN OPEN BOOK....I GUESS I WILL JUST SAY GOOD NIGHT. SIGNED, NOT HAPPY

FATHER'S DAY 2008

well, hello there! For all you father's that read this (hahahahaha) I laugh because to my knowledge, there are only about three people that "might" ever, read this. Anyway, it's coming to a close, it's about 2005 here in Beautiful downtown cody, wyoming. the day has been good...slow, but ok. We went to church this morning, for all the Fathers to be talked about. after the meeting, the ladies had baked pies and we served the men a piece of homemade pie with ice cream. Now that should make any man happy...

After church, we came home and I fixed some nice pan fried fresh stream fish that was given to us by a friend. I still haven't gotten to fish since we moved up here. I bought my fishing license...I even bought the ol' coyote his fishing license to inspire him to take me fishing. I have my "ugly stick" that we bought in I think, bass pro....anyway, it was while we were visiting our friends in oklahoma. Bob helped me pick it out and i have been so excited to use it....i'm still excited to use it, just haven't yet. hummmm, maybe i should just get in the car, go about a mile and throw my hook in the lake....at least then i could say i've been fishing this year. well, the year is still young, i may get there yet. wish me luck!

oh, i was talking about dinner, sorry i get sidetracked easily. and, i'm trying to watch the next food channel star on the tv and the bunnies running and playing on the front lawn...whew, sorry, there is so much going on in cody, wyoming! anyway, i fixed the fish and we had some fresh corn and peas with some coleslaw. Sounds kinda boring now that i wrote about it. but, it tasted good, if that counts for anything.

russ called this morning and we got to talk, i always love it when i get to talk to our kids. kelli called this morning too, she cracks me up about her dad. she knows him sooooooo well. the only people missing on father's day are the grandkids. we love to hear from them and even tho "papa skip" is not their dad, we do enjoy when they call. Boy, these bunnies are really lovin the tall fresh green grass. they're going crazy. it's difficult to type and think and watch them. i mean, i'm great at multi-tasking, but fingers, eyes, brain, all going in different directions, it's a bit more than i'm willing to give....

guess i should give up and watch only two things instead of trying to watch three or four. Hope you had a great day....oh, i forgot to tell you....the people that we did the wedding for yesterday, well, today after church, they came by with some left over wedding cake. coyote's favorite, chocolate, he was pleased. ok, now i'm done....sweet dreams...ciao

HAPPY SATURDAY!

oK, i THINK IT'S BEEN A REALLY GOOD DAY. i DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT I GUESS I WAS BUSY AND THAT ALWAYS HELPS. aLSO, I HEARD FROM A LOT OF PEOPLE I LOVE, SO THAT MADE IT REALLY KEWL. fIRST, rUSS CALLED AND WE HAD A GOOD TALK AND HE TALKED TO DAD AND WISHED HIM A HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, SO THAT WAS GREAT! tHEN I GOT TEXTED FROM MY ADOPTED DAUGHTER IN OKLAHOMA....THEY ARE CAMPING....LUCKY GUYS. tHEN, OUR DAUGHTER SENT AN EMAIL AND SAID SHE WAS GOING TO START BLOGGING AGAIN (THIS ONE FOR KEEPS)...I PUT THAT IN SO SHE WOULDN'T WOOSS OUT. BTW, THE BLOG LOOKS GOOD, I LOVE THE 3 LITTLE CUBS...

THIS AFTERNOON THE OL' COYOTE AND I DID A COMMUNITY SERVICE BY HELPING OUT AT A WEDDING RECEPTION. IT WAS FUN, I WORK WITH THE FOOD AND CLEAN UP AND COYOTE HELPS TEAR DOWN THE PLACE. HUMMMM, THAT DIDN'T SOUND RIGHT. WHAT HE REALLY DOES IS PUT THE PLACE BACK TO THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE...WHEW, GOT OUT OF THAT ONE. oH, YEAH, I ALMOST FORGOT...WHILE I WAS DOING THE RECEPTION, THE OL' COYOTE GOT BORED AND ON THE WAY TO THE PLACE HE HAD SEEN A SIGN "GUN SHOW"...i KNOW YOU KNOW WHAT'S COMING. yES....HE DID. HE LEFT THE RECEPTION (DUE TO BOREDOM) AND WENT TO PERUSE THE GUNS. hE CAME BACK IN TIME TO CLEAN UP. aFTER WE GOT HOME WE WERE SITTING RESTING OUR FEET AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, HE SAID HE SURE WISHED I WOULD HAVE GONE TO THE GUN SHOW WITH HIM BECAUSE THEN HE WOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT THAT GUN......AH, WHAT GUN...HE COULDN'T HOLD IT ANY LONGER. HE SPILLED THE BEANS....BY SAYING....WELL, I ONLY OWE ANOTHER HUNDRED AND I CAN GET THAT MONEY FROM MY SIDE JOB. YUP! YOU GUESSED IT. hE BOUGHT ANOTHER .22 AUTO. JUST WHAT WE NEED, ANOTHER .22. OH WELL, AT LEAST HE ISN'T OUT CHASING WOMAN....BETWEEN THE GUNS THE YARDS AND THE CARS, HE DOSEN'T HAVE ANY EXTRA TIME...i MAKE SURE OF THAT!

gAIL CALLED AND WANTED TO KNOW IF WE WOULD JOIN THEM FOR DINNER AT aDRIANO'S (AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT) TONIGHT. wOW, THAT WAS WONDERFUL, I DIDN'T HAVE TO COOK...YAAAAAAAAAAA. sO NOW, THE EVENING IS WINDING DOWN, THE OL' COYOTE IS WATCHING COWBOY STUFF, WILD WEST TECH AFTER WATCHING THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES...ONE OF HIS FAVS AND I AM BLOGGING. i THINK I AM THRU FOR NOW, NEED TO DO SOME OTHER STUFF. Y'ALL HAVE A GREAT EVENING....TALK WITH YOU LATER....CIAO

I'm Back!

SURPRISE!!!! Well, I'm sorry I deserted you all, I just have no excuse. But, I decided I should get my stuff together, suck it up and get back on the horse. I can't even begin to start where I left off, that was a lifetime ago. Sooooooo, let's go with what's been happening lately. First off, I got a new computer, especially made by "Jimmy" at the computer store here in downtown Cody. I like that it was specially made to suit what I do (which I haven't figured out yet), but at least it works....most of the time. It's Vista and that says a lot. It's basically ok, but it is quirky. When we disagree on something I want to do...it wins and I can't do a lot of what I used to do. I am constantly finding new areas that I have no clue why I'm there. And, the places I want to be, I can't find. Awwww sweet mystery...

Moving on, I also got a new Embroidery sewing machine. I sold the one I had (that I had never even opened the box...too intimidating). I never had any support for the machine so I sold it and bought a new one from the quilt shop here in Cody. Now I have a great machine, it sews great and I have all the support for the embroidery and sewing. There are classes all the time for projects and I am still taking the "new owners" classes to learn what I'm doing...ur, um, what I am supposed to be doing.

Gosh, one would think we won the lottery....not! but somethings just had to change. We had to go to Buckeye to visit with our daughter and our three grandchildren. Emily, the oldest is having to do reports and research for school projects and she couldn't use her mother's computer because it is set up for Kelli's work. Her work does not allow any other use but her work because of all the special info she needs to do the work. (wow, that was a long sentence, sorry) Anyway, since my computer was getting slower and older, the Ol' Skipper decided that we needed a newer, up to date computer....that's a whole 'nother story....anyway, we did get the computer so we could take mine down to "the kids". They were ecstatic so all was well. We also went down at this particular time because it was time for Abigail, the middle child, to be baptized. Skipper got to do the deed and that also went very well. It was funny tho....after she got dunked, she came up out of the water and the first thing she said was, "WOW, that was cold!!!!" Everyone snickered. It was a nice time, her dad and a lot of his family were there to give support. A good time was had by all.

Our trip down to Arizona was really a nice one. Skipper has a navigational tool that we thought we would use to guide us, instead of the trusted map. Well, we go down there so often we could probably be blindfolded. Anyway, using the tool was really fun. It took us on a completely different route. We got to see some really pretty scenery instead of the cement slab. (commonly referred to as the freeway) Coming home was a different story because we went to visit my brother who lives in Bullhead City. (That's next to Laughlin, NV) We had to take the normal way, thru Las Vegas and on up the slab. So, now we are home and happy to be!

That's been our life for the past month...what have you been up to?