Rain, Rain, Come to stay

With branding season in full swing, it was only appropriate that we had another branding to attend this past Saturday.  We got done with the branding around 1:30 in the afternoon, then went home & cleaned up to run to Billings for a few things.  We also scored some pretty cool patio furniture while in Billings as well, and we can’t wait to try it out!  I see many summer evenings spent on our patio with our fire pit going, good steaks on the grill, drink in hand, and enjoying a big Montana sunset on our new patio furniture! 

Sunday we spent the morning pulling the CIDR’s out of our heifers, and that afternoon Wesley & David roped the steers in the arena.  We spent the majority of Monday inside because we were blessed with more beautiful rain almost all day Monday.  While we did have a break in the rain Monday we started to weed eat our yard to prepare to mow it.  We haven’t had to mow our yard since we moved because last year was such a severe drought that nothing grew.  So we are pretty excited to get to mow the yard…eventually. 

We have been blessed with more rain Tuesday and again Wednesday, and it isn’t supposed to quit raining until the weekend.  We are very much ok with this and welcome the moisture with open arms.  Yesterday after I got off work I headed to the ranch to plant our garden before the rains came so it would get some good moisture.  If everything seeds & grows we will have one heck of a garden this year!  I planted okra, onions, corn, bell peppers, lettuce, tomato, radishes, beans, squash, and cucumbers (I don’t think I left anything out…).  I’m pretty excited about our garden.  I’m hoping to get a good okra & bean crop so I can pickle some of them like my sister & brother in law did – we tried some of theirs over Christmas & they were delicious!! 

This weekend we plan to get our yard mowed, put our patio in, and we’re going to have a date night this weekend too.  I love our date nights as they are always a way for Wesley and I to just catch up with each other, even though we try to do that each night.  It is uninterrupted time with my husband that I cherish.  Sunday Wesley is roping as the first roping of the summer kicks off on Sunday afternoon.  I love watching him rope because he enjoys it so much, and he loves training on our horses.  I’m hoping to get some good pictures of him roping again this summer!

And, I know I still need to post pictures from our Vegas Vacation.  I'm hoping to get to that some time this week or weekend!

Rain Is A Good Thing!

Starting last Friday afternoon our area was blessed with some much needed RAIN!  We were SO thankful for the downpours, and the soft, slow, soaking rains as well.  Friday after I got off work I went home & cooked some desserts for the next day’s branding.  It was raining pretty good by Friday evening so Wesley was able to get in a little earlier that evening from work.

Saturday I was up at 4 AM to make sure we got breakfast, coffee, dressed, and get our food packed to take over to his parents’ house for the branding.  We were able to get everything done, and saddle & load horses & be to the branding meeting sight by 7 AM.  We started the ride at about 7:30 that morning (after everyone got to the meeting place).  The road was so muddy & slippery from the rains that we had to ride the horses to the pasture instead of driving up there, but we didn’t mind.  It gave everyone a chance to talk & catch up.  Our friends Ab & Sarah from Wyoming came up to help us brand.  It is always SO nice to see them since we don’t get to see them very often (although Sarah & I are planning a trip for the 4 of us this fall so hopefully it works out)!  Ab went with Wesley and I stayed back with Sarah and we leisurely rode while catching up.  The branding went perfectly, and we were at the house just in time for lunch that day!  After a delicious lunch prepared by Moo Moo Wesley and I decided we’d get cleaned up & meet Ab & Sarah and Ab’s sister Jan & her husband Ryan in Rosebud at the Longhorn for some drinks before deciding whether or not to head to the Bucking Horse Sale in Miles City (weather permitting).  We had the BEST time at the Longhorn with each other.  Sarah and I got some great one-on-one time together to catch up and talk about recent happenings in the Kluver & Davenport families, and we were both so glad we were finally able to catch up!  About 8:00 pm the rain let up so we decided to head in to Miles City to go to the Bucking Horse Sale street dance in downtown Miles City.  Wesley and I didn’t quite make it in, as our friends Clint & Sarah had their 2^nd baby on Saturday afternoon!  So of course we went & spent time with the new addition and proud Mom & Dad!  Little Hayes Jeffrey was welcomed into this world by loving parents & big brother Jack.  He is so adorable.  He was a few hours old when Wesley and I saw him.  We stayed & visited for about an hour at the hospital, and by the time we got out we decided to grab some food & start home since we had such an early morning that morning, which was just fine with the both of us!

Saturday was also the day that we said goodbye to Moo Moo for 2 weeks as she is in Africa with Wesley’s sister Christi on a vacation!  We all cried when we told her goodbye but we know she is having lots of fun with Christi and we are so glad they get to spend this one-on-one time together.  So until she gets back I’m taking care of things around the ranch that she would normally do in the evenings.  I don’t mind at all though…she would do the same for me J!  Plus I LOVE feeding the little baby calf.  She loves her bottle & she will let you know when she is hungry!

Sunday we woke up to more rain, so we decided to forego the trade show at the Bucking Horse Sale, and opted to stay inside all day.  We caught up on some recorded TV shows form the week before, caught an afternoon nap, and played a few games.  It was a perfect Sunday afternoon if you ask me!

This weekend we have a pretty busy schedule ahead of us.  Friday Wesley has to go help one of our neighbors brand that morning, then Saturday morning we have another branding for another neighbor of ours.  Saturday afternoon we plan to head to Billings to run a few errands that we need to take care of.  Sunday we have to take the CIDR’s out of our heifers, so that will take up most of the day on Sunday.  Hopefully on Memorial Day Monday we can get some things done around our house like mowing the lawn & getting dirt moved for our new patio. 

Have a safe and Happy Memorial Day!!!

Lazy D Boutique Update

Here are a few things I've been working on for Lazy D Boutique!

Little Gents John Deere bib

Back of John Deere bib

Little Ladies burp cloth and paci clip set

Unfolded burp cloth.  The fabric is flannel pink with pink, brown, and white polka dots and a cloth diaper backing

Back of burp cloth

Burp cloth, paci holder, and bib trio set for a little girl.  The fabric is cotton with cloth diaper backing for the burp cloth.  The rest is all 100% cotton products

Burp Cloth up close

Unfolded burp cloth

Burp Cloth, Bib, and paci holder trio set for little girl.  This is made of flannel material.

Little Lady unfolded burp cloth made of cotton with cloth diaper backing.  Can be personalized with child's name at the bottom.

Lil' Cowboy burp cloth made of 100% cotton material with cloth diaper backing.

This is a tutu I made for Kaegan for her first Christmas!

The picture qualit of these items isn't what I'd like it to be, but I didn't have time today to play with my camera settings.  So, I just took the pictures :)

If you are interested in ordering something from me, send me an email at lazydboutique@gmail.com and I'd be happy to discuss prices as well as customization options with you!

Photo Fav's From The Week

On Tuesday when I got home from work my sweet husband picked me these beautiful wildflowers and had them sitting on the table for me to see.  I love little surprises like this from him…they mean so much!  (Sorry in advance for the photo quality - I used my phone instead of my good camera) 

And…here’s what the boys have been up to lately.  Jakey is really enjoying the shark stuffed animal we brought back for them from Mandalay Bay when we visited the aquarium; as if you couldn't tell from the picture of him on his back playing with it between his front paws :)  The picture of the two of them speaks for itself…makes me smile every time!  We love our boys!

Viva Las Vegas!

Where in the hell have the Davenports been lately?  Well where else…Las Vegas!!!  That’s right…Wesley and I spent last week in the City of Sin, and we loved every minute of it.  We had a very busy weekend leading up to our vacation getaway, but it was worth it.  Saturday (the 4^th of May) I stayed home to pack, clean the house, and get things ready for our vacation while Wesley went out to move cows around to different pastures, and bring in our dry cows to be hauled to town the next week.  Sunday tried sleeping in a bit, but of course that didn’t work!  We were too excited to get on the road to Billings to await our upcoming flight the following day.  So, we packed up, took the boys to Moo Moo & David’s house, and headed out.  Before we left for our trip we picked up last minute travel accessories in Billings, and Wesley got me a new small digital camera so I could take good pictures on our trip & not have to haul my huge camera around…sweet deal for me!   We enjoyed a delicious beer & appetizer date night supper at Applebee’s in Billings, then settled in to bed early since we had to be up at 3 AM for our 5:45 flight out to Vegas on Monday.

Monday we left our hotel room at 4:00 AM to catch our flight out of Billings.  We had an hour layover in Denver, then landed in Vegas at about 9:30 AM.  My parents flew in from Texas to meet us in Vegas and have a family vacation together, but they thought we weren’t getting in until 6 PM that Monday night.  Little did they know we surprised them and got there that morning!  Their faces were priceless…and Wesley and I are SO glad we caught the early flight out to Vegas.  We stayed on Fremont Street at the Golden Nugget and it was extremely nice!   The rooms were huge, the bathrooms were like none other, and we had a great view of Fremont Street from the 19^th floor of our hotel.  After we all said our hello’s, we headed to one of the 5 restaurants inside the Golden Nugget for some lunch, then it was on to gambling.  We gambled for a while that afternoon, then all headed up to our rooms to take naps since we all had been up since 3 AM to catch our flights.  That evening we got dressed up and headed down to dinner at Tony Roma’s in the Binion’s casino, which of course was followed by some more gambling.  That night when Wesley & I got back up to our hotel room we ordered in room service.  It was the first time either of us had ordered room service at a hotel before, and it was amazing.  When they arrived with our late night snack (a pepperoni pizza and 2 soda’s) it came on a rolling table adorned with glasses, white linens, and silverware while the waiter called us Mr. & Mrs. Davenport.  It was the perfect way to end a perfect first day in Vegas.

Tuesday we slept in a bit, then met Mom & Dad at the hotel breakfast buffet for breakfast.  The buffet was enormous.  If you couldn’t find something on the buffet to eat you must not like food.  They had everything from fruit to fritters, and omelets to oatmeal.  It was awesome.  After breakfast we caught a cab to the Las Vegas strip so I could see everything down there.  While that day was quite exhausting, it was so much fun.  We started out at Mandalay Bay at the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.  That was the neatest aquarium I’d ever seen.  The shark exhibit was like none other, and they had so many species of fish, a crocodile, Komodo dragon, jellyfish, stingrays, etc.  You name it they probably had it.  They even had an exhibit where you could touch stingrays & horseshoe crab.  That was something for sure!  You had to use one finger (your index finger) to touch them so you didn’t poke their eyes or anything, but it was well worth the one finger rule.  The stingrays were so slimy but soft at the same time.  And the horseshoe crab were as expected – hard!  We all got to touch them (except my Dad…he wanted nothing to do with touching the sea creatures).  After we were done at Mandalay Bay we caught the tram down to the Luxor to do some sightseeing down the strip, and shopping of course.  We went into the M & M store on the strip first, and that was a sight to see!  All those M & M’s in one place could make someone sick from a chocolate overdose & quick!  We also got a picture by the M&M NASCAR since it is a rivalry that my husband has with my Mother (which we think is quite funny but she doesn’t. Sorry Mom!)  Along the strip we hit up various souvenir shops for merchandise and cold drinks, then kept marching on to the different hotels.  We walked all the way down to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville and sat down for a nice lunch.  Wesley and I shared the biggest plate of loaded nachos I’d seen in my life!  And, of course, we had to have a Margarita in Margaritaville!  After lunch we headed over to Caesar’s (because they had a MAC store in it…yay!) and took pictures inside that colossal hotel & casino before hitting up the shops at Caesar’s for some new makeup.  Following that we walked over to the Bellagio hotel to watch the fountains “dance”  to the music.  We were able to catch 2 shows of the fountains, and got lots of pictures of them too.  By this time we were all exhausted so we took a cab ride back to Fremont Street to rest up before hitting the casinos that night again.  Tuesday evening Wesley and I got all dressed up and headed to the steakhouse within the Golden Nugget called Chart House.  We had the best prime rib we’d both ever eaten there.  It was delicious.  We also had fried mac-n-cheese as one of our additional sides and lets just say we could eat that every day!  Our table was right next to the aquarium inside the Golden Nugget so we were able to watch the fish swim by & even caught a rare glimpse of the eclectic neon green resident eel within the tank.  Our waiter told us the eel only comes out about once a week so we were pretty excited we got a look at him. 

Wednesday was our last full day in Vegas so we took advantage of our time there.  We started out doing some more souvenir shopping, and I found my little niece her first Vegas vacation outfit!  We gambled some more, then had lunch at the Binion’s café.  We had show tickets to see Gordie Brown that night at 7:30 so we all headed up early in the afternoon to get ready for our last night there.  Gordie Brown was absolutely hysterical.  We all laughed the entire time.  The show was about an hour & a half long so we were able to end our last night in Vegas with a good laugh & lots of fun.  That evening my Mom was the lucky one out of all of us winning back enough money to pay for their trip & then some!  We were all pretty excited about that.  Wesley and I said goodbye to my parents that night since they had a 6 AM flight out of Vegas back to Texas Thursday morning.  But, we are VERY excited that they will be here in Montana with us in about 13 weeks! 

Our flight back to Montana didn’t leave Vegas until 1 PM on Thursday so Wesley and I slept in, had a nice breakfast, took in some final views of Fremont Street and reflected on our trip there before packing up and heading to the airport.  It was a great trip for all of us in Vegas, and Wesley and I had a wonderful time both by ourselves and with my parents. 

This past weekend we spent putting CIDR’s in our heifers (400 of them to be exact) so that took our entire Saturday up. Sunday morning we cleaned up around our yard and hauled lots of old junk wood & scrap pieces of things to the dump.  Then that afternoon I prepared a delicious supper in celebration of Mother’s Day for Moo Moo.  She and David came over about 7:30 that evening so we could all have dinner together before starting our work week this week.  And now its back to the daily grind.  We were sad to see our vacation end  but with each day that passes its one day closer to seeing my parents/family again!

We are branding our calves this weekend on Saturday, so that will take our Saturday up.  Then Sunday is the world famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, so we will be heading to Miles City to watch the horse races, and go to the trade show at the bucking horse sale.  Pretty soon we will be in full summer swing with ropings on the weekends! 

Sorry it had been so long since I did an update…Vegas really takes it out of ya!  I have pictures from our trip and will upload those soon as well!  Have a great week!