The Christmas Season is FINALLY Here!

Christmas time is upon us once again!  Wow, I can’t believe Christmas is less than a week away…yikes!  We are looking to have good weather to fly back to Texas for our annual winter trip so we are definitely excited about that.  As far as today goes, though, we are under a winter weather advisory as I watch the snowflakes fall outside.  I’m glad it is snowing this week instead of next week, however! 

Christmastime always brings a lot of emotions & sentiments to our home as we are away from some of our family no matter which way we go.  But, we make the absolute best of it & try to split our time as best we can.  We are definitely ready for our vacation & to see everyone in Texas again.  We get very excited to see all our family & friends down in Texas that we only see once a year and know that with Christmas comes the time for us to head south.  The weather forecast shows temperatures in the 60’s for the highs in Texas so we are definitely looking forward to that.  We’ll probably look like outcasts in our shorts & t-shirts down there because we’re so used to 30 degree days that a 60 degree day is going to be a heat wave to us! 

We have lots to be thankful for this past year & reflect upon as we enter a new year.  We thank God every day and are so blessed by Him that we are able to do what we love.  We live our dream each day when we look outside the window & see the open range, our cattle, and our horses grazing about.  I can’t imagine another life for us and I’m so happy that we are able to continue making our living by ranching.  As we go into 2014 we’re praying for another prosperous year for us, and as always we pray for moisture to bless our ground so the grass continues to grow.

There are lots of special people in our lives but we too often forget to mention them on our blog…our parents.  Our parents are the reason we are where we are today & we can’t thank them enough for all their love, support, and guidance.   We are excited to spend Christmas with Wesley’s parents then head south to see my parents & spend quality time with them as well.  We love all of them so much.

You’ll have to forgive me in advance if the blog goes silent for a few weeks.  As we prepare to depart for the Lone Star State we are busy preparing things at the ranch for our absence.  And, of course, we have to prepare our “children” (of the 4 legged kind) for our trip as well.  I promise to update everyone as soon as we get back from Texas with details of our trip & the like.  We are praying that our flights are smooth, they’re on schedule, and we don’t have a nightmare in the Denver airport that we did last year.  Until next year, sweet blog readers….

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Love,

Wesley & Tiffany, Jiggs & Jake

Conversations with Moo Moo

 

 

If I haven’t said it before, Wesley’s mom is a gem.  Too often she and I are both too busy to get to have a conversation together, so when we have to gather the herd for various reasons I’m excited for more than one reason – because I get to ride my Reno Dino, and because I know I’ll get to have a conversation with Moo Moo.  How it works is normally Wesley & David will ride ahead of us & plan how we’re going to gather, and make sure they are the first ones off their horses to get the gates for us to ride through.  Moo Moo & I lag back & catch up with what’s going on in our lives and what’s going on in the upcoming weeks.  Whether we’re talking about school, work, ranching, cattle, or the men we’re married to, we have the best conversations just the two of us.  While no one can take the place of my mom, she runs a close second.  My mother-in-law is an amazing person & I wish everyone could have a relationship with their mother in law like I do with mine.  I don’t think Moo Moo will ever know how much her conversations mean to me when it’s just the two of us on the backs of our horses walking along & talking freely with one another, but they are something I hold dear to my heart.  She’s a special lady!

Our Thanksgiving

We had a wonderfully delicious Thanksgiving surrounded by our family & friends.  Wesley's parents came over as well as our neighbor.  We tried out hand at smoking a turkey on our Big Green Egg and it came out delicious!!  We put it in at 4:30 a.m. (yes, we're hardcore like that) and it was done about 10:00 or so.  It came out looking absolutely amazing & the moisture that the bird retained was unbelievable!  I also made tons of sides to go with our turkey, and Moo Moo brought over a side of mashed potatoes & a huge relish tray.  I also made a cheese ball to go with her relish tray for our appetizers.  Of course we had entirely too much food, but we are so lucky & thankful for those blessings.  Here's a sampling of pictures from our turkey day.  Enjoy!  :)

 

What I'm Thankful For - 2nd Edition

With the Thanksgiving holiday knocking on our door (less than 24 hours…yikes!) I thought it would  be appropriate to make a list of the things I’m thankful for again this year.  There are the obvious things that I thank God every day for like my husband and marriage, our families, our health and the like.  However, this is a twist on that traditional list.  If you remember back to last year, I posted the things I was most thankful for other than the obvious.  So here’s the 2^nd edition of “Thanksgiving Thankfulness” in no particular order (and if I repeat some things it’s just because I’m super-duper thankful for those blessings)….

1.       Snow/Ice days – because if it snows really hard (and I mean really hard) my husband and I both get a “snow day” to stay at home & enjoy the day together.
2.      4 Wheel Drive – it wouldn’t be proper to mention the snow without this because without our 4 wheel drive vehicles the snow would be impossible to drive on/in.
3.      Heated/Cooled Seats – because in Montana in the winter my behind would freeze to the seat if we didn’t have them.  They. Are.  Awesome.
4.      Board Games – we absolutely love playing board games.  We play with each other and with our friends and have the best time doing so.
5.      Our Oven – without it, I wouldn’t be able to cook Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow (yes, I’m cooking the whole thing…yikes!)
6.      Jiggs, Jake, Reno, Champ, Steele, Stetty, Squirt – while these “babies” of ours are an obvious thing I’m thankful for, they still deserve to be recognized.  We would not be able to do the work we do without the horses we ride & the dogs by our side.  They’re worth more than anyone could put a price on and our dogs do the work of 10 men…seriously.
7.      The Internet – what would we do without it?  Living where we live I do a lot of shopping on the internet & I wouldn’t be able to get all my Christmas shopping done without it!
8.     My new camera – my sweet husband bought me an early Christmas present in the form of a new Canon DSLR camera.  I love it!  It takes amazing pictures and I am so excited to see how I can continue to improve my photography skills.  I can’t wait to take pictures of sweet baby Kaegan at Christmas when we go to Texas!
9.      Cancer Treatments – because without them Moo Moo, my Popo, and Jodie (Katy’s Mom) wouldn’t be here.  Thank God for the minds who develop these treatments.
10.      Daily Talks with Katy – this could be obvious, but should be recognized too.  I love talking to Katy on my way home (before I lose service) and hearing how little Kaegan is growing.  We can’t wait to meet her soon!
11.     Facetime/Skype – it makes seeing family that are miles away seem as though they are in your living room (because they are…on your phone/computer)!
12.     Deadwood – have I told y’all how much we love Deadwood?  NO?  Well we do.  We absolutely love the town!  We can’t wait to go back to Deadwood & hopefully our friends will be able to join us again.
13.     Sarah & Sarah – yes, they’re technically under the “obvious” section too but I couldn’t have asked for better friends up here than Sarah Boucher & Sarah Kluver.  These girls are awesome.  Period.
14.     Wine – I have never been a wine drinker.  Ever.  But, I found a new wine at the liquor store that we just love!  Its by a company called “Cowgirl Sisterhood” and we can’t get enough of their sweet red wine.  It’s the great way to end a day.
15.     Coffee – I’ve given up the caffeine-laden drink, but my sweet husband starts his day every day with a cup of coffee.  His day wouldn’t be the same if he didn’t have his cup of coffee.
16.     My New Sink – my husband installed a brand new and very deep sink for me to be able to better wash dishes.  It even came with the little water squirty hose thing (I just made that up because I don’t know the proper term for the squirty thing) to spray off dishes or excess foods in the sink!  Score!  It’s the little things…
17.     Babies – babies of the human kind & babies of the bovine kind.  Both are marvelous little beings.  We’re excited to find out what Brittany & Tanner are having & are excited to meet little Kaegan soon!  And of course, bovine babies means more beef and producing stock for us!
18.     Cattle – because without them we wouldn’t be able to live our dream.  We’re continuing to expand our herd and produce more beef for the industry, and we are so proud of what we do and watching all our hard work pay off in the end.  It is an amazing feeling to watch your calves grow and know that because of you they are flourishing so well.
19.     Under Armor – during the winter time when the high’s here don’t get out of the teens or 20’s, Under Armor keeps your body so warm.  We’d freeze our butts off if we didn’t have it (and I’d probably become an icicle because when it hits 40 degrees I’m freezing).
20.      Planes – because they get us to Texas a whole lot quicker than driving.
21.      Sharpies – life is better when you can write with a sharpie marker.  Period.  I wish I could write with them every day.  But I can’t.  So I’ll continue to label our calendar, Christmas gifts, and lists using a sharpie.  They’re fabulous for these kinds of things.
22.     Wrapping Paper & Ribbon – I firmly believe every Christmas gift should be wrapped, not put in a bag, and have a delicious bow on the front of it.  The gifts are so much prettier under the tree with a big flashy bow on them in my opinion.
23.      Germ X – it’s a common fact that germs are everywhere.  I hate them!  That’s why I use hand sanitizer every chance I get.  No germs will survive (for long) on my hands.
24.       Excel – our cattle records and expenses would not be as organized as they are now without the help of this marvelous program.
25.      People who EAT MORE BEEF – you keep us in business!  Remember that…and when you’re enjoying that delicious steak the next time you’re at your local steakhouse think of us.  You never know…it could be our beef you’re eating :)

There you have it folks.  These are the 25 things I’m thankful for other than the obvious.  Tomorrow is the first Thanksgiving that Wesley & I are solely responsible for.  We’re smoking a turkey on our pit, and I’m fixing a bunch of sides & 3 pies to complete our Thanksgiving feast.  We’re also having a relish tray & cheese ball for appetizers.  We should be stuffed to the brim by tomorrow evening!  We’re having his parents over for our Thanksgiving dinner along with our neighbor & his daughter & grandson.  We’ll have a house full, but it will be fun.  I will try to take as many pictures as I can (in between cooking) and I’ll be sure to report how everything turned out!

We hope you and your family have a very blessed Thanksgiving! 

To our family & friends in Texas we send our love and Happy Thanksgiving wishes your way & we’ll see y’all soon!

The Story of the Sinkhole

Saturday was a pretty day for us with a cool morning to start out with (cold by my standards with the crisp morning air starting out in the 20's and highs projected for about 38-40 that day).  Wesley and I enjoyed a light breakfast that morning because we were heading to Miles City that afternoon to pick up the truck (18 wheeler truck) and finish up some errands in Miles City afterwards.  We headed out about 8 that morning and noticed the neighbors horses were in our pasture (mixing in & stirring up our horses that we had turned out in that same pasture).  So, with a bucket of "cake" (feeding cubes for the horses & cows) we headed out to catch & move our horses so they didn't get all wound up with the neighbors horses being in with them.  It didn't take us long to gather the 5 head we had out there & move them to another pasture on the other side of the ranch. 

Saturday was supposed to be a relatively "easy" day by Davenport standards.  A little work in the morning, a little town action in the afternoon, and homemade fajitas in the evening.  Supposed to be are the key words here.  We had to do some range monitoring for our books and I wanted to go with Wesley to take some pictures of the different locations around the ranch.  We started out way on the east end of the ranch and in an area that is one of my favorite spots on the place; the North Hunter is what we call it.  It is secluded, the views are amazing, and its miles away from home.  Miles.  Wesley got done with his range monitoring for that particular section of the ranch, and I decided I wanted to get some 100 year old barn wood from some old homesteads that were built in the early 1900's on the ranch to make a few projects around the house.  We gather the pieces I wanted, got in the pickup, and were turning around to head to the next range monitoring sight.

That's when it happened...

What you might ask?  Well, we hit a bump with the front tires of the pickup, and we didn't think much of it because, well, we are in the middle of a pasture!  Then, the back tires hit the same bump.  Only when they hit it....they SANK.  That's right...sank.  After a few holy you-know-what's and us looking at each other dumbfounded, we got out of the pickup to assess the situation.  And that's when we saw it.  The sinkhole!  The land literally fell out from underneath us and we were stuck.  I don't mean maybe either.  I'm talking front-tires-off-the-ground stuck!  Of course neither of us brought our cell phone with us (because we never get service anyway) and we are miles from home with nothing else to do but start walking.  We gather the dogs, and start our walk.

At least it was a beautiful day (it could have been worse...it could have been snowing) to take a walk, but definitely not how we wanted to spend our afternoon with other things on our agenda.  We hiked it about 3 miles down the main road (which hardly ever has a car going down it but we figured what the heck a hunter might show up eventually) and then we had a choice to make.  We could either continue down the road and hike another 8 miles home and hope we see a car, or we could take a short(er) cut through the pasture & make it home in another 3 miles or so.  Since we hadn't seen a car in the first 3 miles we opted for the pasture.  Granted, this was the more hillier (is that a word?) version, but it was a short cut.  Off we went...with our two puppies in tow.  We get halfway up the pasture and far enough from the road where no one could see us and what do you think happens?  We see 5 cars go by!  Count them...1, 2, 3, 4, 5!  All in a matter of about 5 minutes from each other.  Such was our luck for that day!

It took us about 2 hours to walk the 6 or so miles back to the house to get a tractor and pull the pickup out of the sinkhole.  We actually had to lift the pickup out of the hole because it was so stuck that you couldn't just pull it out.  But, we were successful in the fact that we were able to get it out & nothing was wrong with it.  Both our legs were tired by the end of our trip, but after we got over the initial shock factor (and lets face it...the pissed off factor too) we made the most of our walk together.  We talked and laughed our whole way home.  And after we got the pickup out, we were able to carry on to Miles City (although a couple hours later & certainly a lot more tired) and get our errands done.

Wesley & I have been through some adventures in the 2 years that I've been up here...and not one of them would I ever want to take back.  We always make the best of the situations, and this particular situation is one that neither of us will forget!

Our Anniversary Weekend

The Davenport's took on Deadwood last weekend for our 1 year anniversary and we had a blast!  We were accompanied by our best friends the Boucher's, and together the 4 of us painted the town.  Wesley & I got to Deadwood before Clint & Sarah and Wesley was chomping at the bit to exchange anniversary gifts (a day early) but his excitement was way too cute for me to say no to so we exchanged gifts that Friday evening.  I got Wesley a really pretty Eco Drive watch & he got me a heart shaped necklace with diamonds & a new ring for my right hand!  They are beautiful!  Soon after we exchanged gifts the Boucher's arrived and we were ready to go!  We started the weekend off with a prime rib supper at a restaurant in Deadwood, then hit the tables.  Sarah and I went to play blackjack, while Clint & Wesley played 3 card poker.  When we didn't have much luck at that casino, we headed back to our hotel's casino to all play blackjack.  We had the best time sitting at that blackjack table.  We laughed at ourselves, told stories with the dealers, and too many bottles of wine & glasses of beer later we were heading to get midnight pizza & call it a morning night.  It was just what all of us needed...a night full of fun & laughter!

Saturday we got up, ate breakfast, and were back at it again.  Although none of us hit it big, we were able to hang around all day & that in itself is a lot of fun too!  That evening we decided we'd like to try a new casino up the street & heard they were having a dance.  We all get dressed up in our finest, and head to the Mineral Palace where they were having a dance for the Veterans since it was Veteran's Day weekend.  What a fun time!!  Although we brought the median age of the dance down by at least 20 years, we were quite the favorites with the band!  We stayed & danced a while, then decided to hit the tables again.  We played some tables and some machines, and with no luck we turned in earlier than we did Friday night. 

Sunday the Boucher's went home but we stayed an extra night since I was off work Monday for the Veteran's Day holiday.  Wesley and I slept in, enjoyed a delicious breakfast & lunch, then went back to our new favorite casino & played 3 card poker with the older ladies...for over 6 hours!  We were having so much fun we didn't even realize how much time had went by!  That's when it is really fun to sit at a table...when you don't even know how much time has passed because you're having such a good time. 

Monday we started home, but not before we were graced with a little snow in Deadwood that morning.  I got some great pictures of a snow kissed downtown Deadwood that I adore.  We love the town of Deadwood & can't wait to go back again.  It was also very nice to get together with our friends & have them share in our special anniversary weekend with us.  We had the absolute best time with Clint & Sarah and are already planning our next trip together just the 4 of us!

 

One Year

This weekend Wesley and I get to share something special together – our 1 year anniversary.  We are celebrating this joyous occasion by heading down to Deadwood to do a little relaxing. We’ve booked the luxury suite at our hotel down there complete with a double fireplace and Jacuzzi tub in our room, and we can’t wait to see it!  I can’t believe that it’ll be one year since we have said “I Do”.  It seems like yesterday.  We remember the day so well.  The first snowstorm of the season happened to come in the weekend of our wedding.  The roads were iced over, it was 14 degrees outside, and it took us 2 hours to get 60 miles up the road to Miles City for my hair appointment.  This Texas native did not anticipate having a snow storm move in the day of her wedding reception.  But, with the help of our wonderful (and persistent) friends Clint & Sarah Boucher, we had a wedding complete with icy roads, snowflakes, and freezing temperatures.  The wedding was such a success in large part because of them.  And Sarah was my biggest helper that weekend.  They stood by us as we said our vows & helped us get our hall together, food together, and decorations together…and Sarah was 8 weeks pregnant with their second child at that time!  We owe our Montana wedding success all to them, and we’re so glad to have them as friends of ours. 

One year of marriage feels like only a day with Wesley.  There is never a dull moment in our home, and we are constantly making each other laugh.  It’s an amazing feeling being married to your best friend and knowing that no matter what you have someone in your corner.  We have so many hopes and dreams for our family, our business, and our lives.  With each other we plan on making all those dreams come true.  To my husband – thank you for loving me unconditionally and always.  You’re my best friend and I can’t wait to continue spending forever with you.  I’m looking forward to many more years together.  You’re an amazing man & husband to me and I am so excited to reminisce and celebrate our first year of marriage together this weekend!  I love you more!

Our Week in Pictures

Here is a look into our lives the last few weeks.  All of the pictures are of our animals, because our animals are our life.   And, I'm the photographer 99% of the time so of course I'm left out of the photos.  But, nonetheless, we hope you enjoy them!

Our Jiggs

Little Jakey

Beautiful Sunset I captured last week

This time of year brings beautiful colors around the ranch.  Here's a sampling of the gorgeousness the leaves have on them.

Our resident chickens out & about

Another sunset

Champion

His eyes are mesmerizing

Reno

His eyes are so forgiving

Jakey playing with the ball this morning.  Looking so photogenic.

Jiggs & Jake in action

These next pictures are of Jiggs in action.  He LOVES jumping in the air to catch his ball.  So I figured I'd capture his athletic abilities with some photos.