So long dear Fords

I remember watching a Disney cartoon when I was little that had this teenager shopping for a used car and all the little cars were sad remembering when they were new and zipping around. Their headlights were eyes and you could see how they had feelings. He fixed up a little red coupe and they were both happy. I still feel a little bad for the old vehicles that sit on the car lots and always think of that cartoon. Apparently I am a little sentimental.

So I had a little bit of a hard time tonight when we had to drive our old Fords into town so we could replace them with a shinier newer one. We bought the '99 pickup the week Paige was born and brought her home in the hospital in it; the '96 was Cowboy's first official adult purchase out of college. It was also the vehicle we drove through the blizzard on our honeymoon.

So I thought the old '96 & '99 deserved a little bit of a goodbye and I'll admit it; I told them goodbye!

The Aftermath

Princesses. Barbie. Glitter. More Glitter.

That pretty much sums up our birthday extravaganza on Sunday for Miss Paige. We had a nice turnout of friends and family; thanks to all who braved our muddy roads to come celebrate with us. The birthday girl tended to shy away from the camera; but we managed to get a few good ones. I think my stalking her with a camera for 3 years has maybe started to irritate her.

A Pooh themed party

She blew out the candles like a champ--3 times!


The aftermath--part of it.
Paige and her Daddy spent some time opening up boxes and getting coated with glitter. A fun time was had by all.

Happy Birthday Paige

Today my little girl is 3. I didn't believe everyone when they

said it goes by so fast. They were right.

We have cake, balloons, presents and some Easter eggs to dye on the agenda today. Paige just woke up and the dozen helium balloons we have are going to provide entertainment for days--as they were the first thing she grabbed when her eyes opened up. She is walking around with as many as she can grab just thrilled there are balloons in her house.

So happy birthday to our little girl--you are our everything and we love you.

I'm turning into my Dad

So I am turning into my Dad and all I seem to do lately is take pictures of the wildlife surrounding my house/yard and watch the weather to see how much its going to snow. If you know my dad, you know that the weather channel is his favorite thing to watch and its his favorite thing to talk about. Its been a busy week, weather wise; and I have a lot pictures this month of snow, then flooding, then more snow. I decided to throw in some animals for variation.

The icky turkeys that inhabit our yard. Cool the first few weeks. Now, a pain.
Part of the deer herd that hangs out next to the house.

The deer dining on the bales some thoughful farmer left out for them. On my way to work there are about 40 of them in the field.


Cowboy does really well on snow days; he makes it untill 2pm before he's bored inside and has to go outside. Fortunately, that is when the wind died down, so he decided shovelling was a necessity. The tractor came out shortly after he started this; so don't feel too bad for him.

My cowboy--happy he's not inside--even if it means shoveling.

Poor pheasants last night trying to find a place to hide as the storn set it.

Pre-Birthday Fun

We got to the ranch late on Saturday night and spent part of Sunday there. The weather forced us to leave a little earlier than we hoped, but that's another story. Paige got to celebrate her birthday a week early with Grampa Keith and Sandy; she got to play with the puppy; and help Daddy feed an orphaned calf. Needless to say; she had a four hour nap that afternoon. Thanks Grampa and Sandy for the cupcakes and presents. We still have a few that haven't been eaten!

napping

I found her napping with her hat. The hat originated from Crystal back in college. She gifted it to me with some other cowboy 'paraphanelia' for a bachelorette party. I wonder if she ever thought it would end up being one of my toddler's favorite things.

Snow Day

Beautiful 60 degree day on Saturday . . .

Here is today. . .

So we are snowed in at home today. I don't mind the day off at all, but it really sucks to see all the snow again. The rumer is we had 14 inches of snow--we'll see how much of a difference is reported by everyone tomorrow. I will take snow over flooding like all my friends in Fargo are having to deal with. Good luck to all in the valley and kudos to all who are sandbagging--our thoughts are with you!