The Great Flower Race of 2009 and a Sunday Picnic

Early in the year, the girls and I decided to plant some flowers and race to see whose flowers bloomed first. I planted California Poppies, Amy planted Oriental Poppies and Katie chose Painted Daises which took longer to sprout, but grew more flowers than mine or Amy's.


However, my California Poppies sprouted and bloomed first! Having said that, I should note that I had a total of about 5 flowers that survived to bloom. I guess they don't like Wyoming too well.


Amy had bad luck with her Oriental Poppies because she put all of the seeds in the packet into her little 10 inch flower pot. I kept teasing her that it looked like she was growing lettuce. However, the poppies did begin to shoot up after mine and Katie's bloomed, but in the interest of full disclosure, Katie picked all of the petals off Amy's flower as soon as they opened so that she would not win the race! What a little cheater. Oh well, all I can say is like father like daughter! Amy did get some of her flowers to bloom and they turned out very nice.



Moving on to a nice Sunday picnic...


This is a spot I had heard about at work, so we decided to pack up some food and have a nice Sunday picnic. It was a beautiful day for a drive and the scenery was magnificent. We had a good time exploring a place we had never been before and eating junk food along the way! It was only a short drive away from our house, so if anyone wants to see this scenic loop, then we can take you when you visit. We accept reservations anytime!!!


Katie's fingers were itching to catch some fish in this creek!


Amy reminded her that we did not bring any fishing poles, so there would be no fishing on this day. I kept looking on the mountain for deer and elk, but never did see any. After lunch we continued to drive and enjoy the scenic mountains.

The end of the loop brought us to a place where we could look and see the Flaming Gorge and it sure was magnificent! Now that we have scoped this place out, anyone who wants to see it for themselves, come on out! We have a place for you to stay.

Take care- Rick

Thunder's Just the Noise...

Last night we had a wicked lightning storm. I don't usually think I'm cool enough to say "wicked" but last night was amazing. We stood at our bedroom window and just watched. The power went out throughout the evening, and around 8:00 it went out for good.

With no lights we were able to get some cool shots!!!

Earlier in the evening I went to a meeting and it was not only raining cats and dogs, but the lightning was a little too close for comfort. As I walked toward the building a flash went off and seemed like it was down the street. I screamed like the wimpy girl I am, and received a chuckle from the man behind me.

The power outage lasted until around 1:30 am. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on as the tv was on and I couldn't figure out why Katie was watching Little Bill at 1:30 in the morning.

Today we woke up to a large branches that have broken off, and landed in our yard, and the sun. I am currently watching three children plus Katie, plus two wiener dogs (more about them later) and yesterday was "interesting" being stuck in this house ALL DAY!!! The sun was a glorious sight!

Cross Everything

For the next two weeks we will be anxiously awaiting to see if Rick's job will be saved. Please keep your fingers/legs/arms/eyes/anything else you may be able to cross, crossed for him as he waits. You all will be the first to know come August 19th.

We'll call you.

In Better News...

This year I put a picture I took last year in the fair. Rick had this picture framed for my birthday. I took it at Devil's Gate on the way to Casper. Katie was busy picking the tops off the grass in the field, and it was windier than heck. Don't ask me how windy heck is just know it is pretty darn strong.
Anyway this year I won first place. WOOOHOOOO!!!!
Just thought I'd bring some good news back to this blog!

As Normal as We Can Be

Last Thursday Rick came home and told me that he had received a layoff notice. At the end of September he, and 69 other employees of FMC, will be out of work. I cried. We knew it was coming, we had been aware of not only the economy of this country but of the financial issues occurring within his company. But it is still a huge punch in the gut when it happens. In a way it is almost like someone dying, the grief is huge.
We are now faced with what to do next. On the positive side Rick will now be looking for work using his MBA. He is excited to see what doors will open. On the negative side we worry about where he will have to go to get work. Living in a small town makes it a little difficult to find something local. The unknowns are scary and large. We try to look at the positive side but it is difficult.
We are trying to keep life as normal as we can for ourselves and Katie. We don't want her to know and we thank goodness that she is young enough to be mostly oblivious.
In the end we know that what is happening is current and isn't forever. We will be able to eventually look back on this and know we survived, because we have no choice but to survive. Rick and I are super strong because we have one another to lean on. We also have all of you as supporters and we are so thankful. This isn't the usual post for me. I like to keep it upbeat and funny, but life isn't always that way is it?

Parade and Fair

This week is the Sweetwater County Fair. We began with the Red Desert Round-up rodeo and parade. It is always so exciting to see the parade, and oh man the candy they give out!!! Katie stood in the street waving at everyone!Mostly she waved to get some candy. We stayed at the parade for a long time, but then Katie had to go to the bathroom. Here we are on a street lined with businesses and you would think one near us would be open, right? Wrong. Katie had to go behind the building. I know right in town my kid pee's outside. Now we all are born with a talent. For some it is playing a piano, for others it is peeing outside. Katie and I do not posses the talent for peeing outside. We often end up with wet clothes. Long story short, we had to leave the parade early.

Yesterday we went to the fair. The girl with Katie is Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jack's granddaughter Molly. Katie and Molly get along famously. They are both only children and Lindsey, Molly's mom, and I were a bit nervous about how they would be with one another. We had nothing to worry about.

This year I put in a picture of Katie that I took last year. I am happy to report I won 1st place.

It was a bit chilly at the fair this year. 55 degrees is not an appropriate temperature for going to the fair, but we made do. Moreover it wasn't only cold, but the Wyoming wind had us holding on to our food for dear life.

After we ate we went to see the young children barrel race. The kids this age are so cute because they only walk their horses through the course. One little boy, probably age 4 or 5 had a difficult time steering and the horse was stopped in front of the barrel.

After that it was time for the rides. Yippee rides.

Aunt Carrie and I also got a ride bracelet so we could go on with the kids. But I saw this ride and as terrifying as it looked I had to give it a try. I just knew Aunt Carrie would love this ride so I forced her to go with me. Just look at our faces it was loads of fun!!

I was really glad I didn't exercise that morning because the girls needed help on most of the rides and we spent the evening doing a lot of climbing.

We had to go on rides we wouldn't even dream of. This little slide of horror made small children go very very slow. So we adults assumed that everyone went very slow. Nope. Adults go down very very quickly, and since we assumed we would go down slowly we didn't give the child in front of us enough time. It was a little frightening.

I love, I mean LOVE the scrambler. I talked Lindsey into going on it with me. Even though I have been on it tons of times in my life it never ceases to make me scream and laugh the entire time. Do you see how fast it is going. It spins in circles and forces the person on the inside of the car into the person on the outside. Poor Lindsey was trying to give me some space but it was no use.

It was a really fun night, but we didn't get home until 10:00pm. These two were tuckered out. In fact that's exactly what Molly told me. "I am just plain tuckered out." She said. Today I am suffering from a slight fair hangover. I think I need a nap!

Rodeo Time

Tonight we went to the Red Desert Rodeo. Did I bring a camera? No. Did Rick? No. We forgot the camera and we were at Katie's first Rodeo! Idiot!!! But I will tell you it was pretty fun. There were some world champion saddle bronc riders, and they were good. Have you ever seen a wild horse race? Two teams release a wild horse and two guys try to get the horse under control while the third one prepares to saddle it and ride around a barrel. It is pretty funny to see these cowboys with a wild horse's head between their legs as the saddle cowboy tries to get that saddle on.
Did you notice something in the above photo? Look close...

Rick is turning into a real cowboy. All that's missing is the hat. Who doesn't like a man in cowboy boots??

As for me I have no cowgirl paraphernalia yet. How can a girl live way out here in Wyoming and not have boots and a hat? It's a darn dirty shame. I will just have to remedy that quickly.

Katie said that she will be in the rodeo someday just like all the pretty girls who "shoo the cows into the pen." She's talking about Miss Rodeo Wyoming and if she puts her mind to it she can do it. She already knows how to saddle a horse: "put the blanket on, then the saddle then tie it on, then get on the saddle and put your feet in. Make sure you're wearing boots." I gotta get some boots!
This week is full of rodeo's, parades, and the fair. Keep watching!!