December 30th

Here are some pictures from my birthday and Christmas. Fred got me a hat and gloves, pj's and some warm socks for my Birthday.

Thought I would see what I looked like with curly hair.
Shadow opening her present.
Fred and his "pet" horse.

Present is opened!

December 9th

Here are some pictures of our Christmas decorations.

Foundation Concrete

After several tries this week, I was finally able to schedule the concrete truck. The driver was a little hesitant to drive across the bridge but I told him it would be fine. (I couldn't help but be a little nervous though. That is a heavy load!)


Placed 6 1/2 yards of concrete. Had just enough.


Once the addition is built, we will fianlly be able to restore the exterior of the house and get rid of the ugly green color.

Waterfall

Waterfall under the bridge.

Here is a video of "Our Waterfall".

2nd of December - 33 degrees

Here are some pictures of the start of the addition. Fred is going to try to pour the concrete for the footing tomorrow.

Here are two of our four pets. It is hard to gather all four together.

Shadow had a little accident today. She cut her paw and had to bandaged up. It wore her out to be injured.

2nd of

ANOTHER NEW ADDITION

We have decided on the name "Shadow" because she follows Pepper around like she is her mama.

Here is the beginning of the new house addition.

Hunting Trip

Don and Phillip made the long drive out from Tennessee last week for the first week of rifle season. Hunting was good. They each got a bull. Don also got a deer.

Here is the homemade wall tent we camped in:

I got this Whitetail deer today near our place.

Bannack Ghost Town

This weekend we visited Bannack, the first Territorial Capital of Montana. It was also the site of the first gold strike in MT and led to a big gold rush in 1863. Mining continued up until around the 1950s. The state then bought out the remaining residents and preserved it as a State Park.

It looks pretty much as it would have in the 1800s, with fewer buildings.





Here are the old jails and one of the local cowboys "whooping it up"

8th of October - Overcast and chilly

Fred and Brandon got up at 5:00 this morning to go hunting. They saw nothing but goats on the way back home. Here is Brandon sneaking up to them.

Here is Brandon and me standing on the bridge on Sunday after church.

Autumn Day

Today was a beautiful fall day. The aspen and cottonwood leaves are nearing their peak colors.
Brandon's first horse ride.

First Snow

I found this 5 point elk horn shed while hunting Friday. Saw lots of elk including three bulls again. I had one within 25 yards at one time but I still didn't get a shot. Hunting with a bow is not easy!

This is the area I have been going to:
We got a little snow in the mountains and rain at the lower elevations.
Here is a goat standing behind an old flume that was once used for gold mining there in Avalanche Creek where I have been hunting.
Brandon will be here on Saturday. He is excited about that and is already planning what we will have for lunch when he gets off the plane!

We are still planning on doing the house addition. Hopefully we'll get started in the spring.

We changed the house plan a little:

Here is a blow-up of the addition (Thats the washer and dryer in a closet, shown beneath the tub):

Elk II

Went hunting yesterday in the same area. Saw lots of elk again. Got within 75 yards of three different 6x6 bulls. One at daylight and two more throughout the day.

This is a picture I took of the last bull I saw. This was about noon. This looks like the big one I called in last week. Hard to see him in the bottom of the meadow.

I almost got a shot at him but it didn't work out.

Also saw this spike with some other elk. He had one broken horn hanging down.

Raining hard today. The fire season is finally over. They have predicted up to 12 inches of snow in the mountains, but we aren't at that high of an elevation here.

Lst Sunday, Terry and I drove over to the hunting area. On our way in we say some people rock climbing..