Stephen Burrito

 Stephen's brothers helped him wrap up in a blanket one morning before prayers.

 Kiara was worried about him.

 She said she wanted to hug him because he was her "best friend".

She's a sweetheart!

Expecting More Snow

We are expecting a little more snow tomorrow night.  

I think we have enough snow, but the kids would love to have a bit more I'm sure. 

 The big tractor plowed these wind breaks.  

I think we have enough snow.

That pile is almost as tall as the three bale stack to the west of it. 

I think we have enough snow.

 This pile is in the yard.  It is taller than the van.

I think we have enough snow.

 Brech, Gianna, and Cormac don't think we have enough snow.

King of the Snow Mountain

Brech's Day

 Today Brech got up earlier than normal and went chorin' with his dad.

He's reminded me multiple times today that he had already been up for a long time, that he had been outside most of the morning, and that he had toast for breakfast.  I just love his enthusiasm!!

They Came With the Place

When we lived in Fargo the kids wanted to get a cat.  The neighbors had a cat that would sometimes come sit on our deck when we were eating supper.  I told the kids we could get a cat when we moved either to the country or to a place that we weren't moving from in awhile.  It was going to be hard enough moving our stuff, eight kids, one fish, and one dog.  We really didn't need to add a cat to the mix.  Some adventures are best left to other people, braver people.

Wouldn't you know - the ranch came well-stocked with cats.

They all have names.  Some I know...some I don't.  

I think Darren knows them all.

Count with me....

 one, two on top

three, four on bottom

 five, six, seven, eight, nine.....

Five is Red.

He's nice.  

He likes to have conversations with us.  I think he thinks he's human.

Nine is a newer cat that has recently been living here.

There is a lighter orange-colored cat that is missing from the pictures.  

 and finally ten and eleven.

Counting the missing cat - that makes twelve.

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a cat lover.

I am not a cat hater either.  I am just picky about the cats I like.

These are the four friendly cats.  They would just as soon live inside.

Darren was in shock because I was sitting on bucket with a cat in my lap and the other three trying to climb up.  That doesn't happen.  I fed them.  We are friends now.

My 2017 Goals

My 2017 goals are summits I'm trying to reach.  If I don't reach them this year - then I can consider my effort as training for the next big climb.  Some of them are silly and some are serious.  Some are almost unreachable and others I've already crossed off.  I just might post updates every once in awhile on how my 2017 goals are going.

(I'm going to try to type them out exactly as I wrote them. I used different colored pens and made it pretty.  Here it goes!)

2017 Goals
rely on God
T-Tapp
drink more water (I've kind of done this.  More importantly - already reduced my pop intake.)
LAUGH more
finish Bestgen DVDs (on the schedule for next week)
read out loud more (almost finished with our current read aloud - need inspiration for the next)
cook more with the girls
Spend more time outdoors
Learn something new (currently learning about raising chickens and doing an herbal course)
play less online games
focus on relationships
write more letters
sew, sew, sew
pray two chaplets
do knee exercises
grow something new
play tourist in the Black Hills
become more active in the community
go for one walk by myself every week - summer
visit Fargo 💗
have a sister's day before June (working on this)
Color once a week
Watch Doctor Who (I wanted to watch the last Christmas special. Finished it last week.)
Read for myself more
name one calf after a Doctor Who character (hummm, what name? what name?)
invite neighbors for supper (one has come, invited another)
SUPPORT Darren
L♡VE more
YELL less
HUG daily
FORGIVE quickly
SMILE more
SLEEP regular-like (loftist goal on the page!!)
BREATHE deeply

Cormac's 12th Birthday

Cormac turned 12 on December 28th.  I think his best gift was electricity, but he might disagree.  I haven't seen a kid this excited for a birthday and for presents ever!  He had some of the best faces when he was opening his presents.  I'm sure this is the longest birthday post yet - but he is worth it.  

Cormac is a handful, but just as helpful as can be.

Cormac is a trickster, but just as caring as can be.

Cormac continues to be our most resourceful kid.

We love him to the moon and back.  

Or maybe the top of the snowbank and back. 

 My mostest favoritest everest picture of Cormac!

 Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma Bestgen and Loman

 Thanks, Uncle Peter, Aunt Mauri, and girls!

 That face!!

 That face, again!

 He had to be reminded he had cards left to open.  He likes that book.

 Thanks, Uncle Dirk, Aunt Twyla, Shelby, Taylor, and Tory!

 Counting his money from Grandpa and Grandma Gebes

Thanks!!

And thanks to Aunt Courtney for the "Day of Fun" certificate.

 Two

plus

 ten

equals

Cormac

 Don't look now.....

but you have CAMO cake!!!

Happy Birthday, Cormac Michael!!

Christmas Day 2016 and after - Snow

Christmas Day - the storm rolls in

We lost power around 8 PM Christmas night.  We were the lucky ones because most lost power a couple of hours earlier in the day.  We were able to make supper and eat with the power on.  We didn't quite get through the dishes though.  That night it was still fairly warm in the house so we went to bed and dreamed of candy and warm blankets.

December 26th - the storm gets ugly

I want to point out the difference in the tree in the picture above verses how it was in the first picture at the top of this post.

 When we woke up the next morning it was a crisp 55 degrees in the house.  Still no power - so we attempted to heat the house with Darren's heaters he uses for ice fishing.  They worked well enough.  The generator just wouldn't stay running for Darren so it looked as though we were not getting any help in the heating department from it. My brother, Paul, who lives in Texas called to point out that it was warmer outside in Texas than it was in my house.  That is the point where I told him to be quiet not so nicely.  We had a good laugh about it though.

 I attempted to see what the backyard to the north looked like.  Umm, guess we won't look out that window for an idea of the conditions.  It seems pretty clear to me.

 Blase and Stephen having fun.

No, we didn't make them shovel it out of the way by hand.

Yes, I thought about it.

 Them behind the snowdrift on flat ground.

 This is a beautiful sight and proof that God loves us.

Darren has tinkered on this blasted generator off and on all week.  It would purr just fine and even run some power tools and a set of lights - for all of two minutes.  It would just die.  Darren would start it again and the process repeated itself.  We really thought we were SOL at this point.  Then Darren tried one more time and it worked.  Nothing really changed - it just worked.  God loves us.

We warmed the house back up and went to bed.  This time we dreamed of the hum of a generator we know we'd hear in the morning.  It's the little things that are the sweetest sounds in the world...

newborn babies

precious squeaks of baby animals

"I love you" whispered sweetly

the hum of a generator on a cold, December night

December 27th - time to dig ourselves out

 There was a line at the liquor store.

Those were some thirsty calves!

 Though we had a generator we couldn't run the dryer.  All clothes washed (which was like two loads) were hung on chairs or laid out on the table.  Who else had to clear their table of underwear before breakfast??  Raise your hand.  Don't be afraid.  Am I the only one??  Help a girl out here!!!

 They were so tickled to see a bale they didn't wait for Darren to get into the pasture!

 One more night of no electricity.

So what do we do?

We play "Twist" as Gianna calls it.

 OH yah, and we watch Shawn the Sheep and dry our underwear on the table, again.

About 10 PM the electricity came on again.

50 hours - not bad

We lived.

Oh and we learned that we don't need a microwave or Kindle or TV to survive.

Days later we are sure we need a microwave, a Kindle, and a TV to survive.

Might be time for another blackout.  This time a self-induced one.