Making sausage!

Monday we processed 60+ lbs of meat. We made about 20 lbs of German Sausage, 20 lbs of Polish Kelbasa Sausage, and then 20+ lbs of burger! It is a lot of work, but we appreciate it every time we pull out a package!

Here's an action shot!

Here's a couple pictures of Dane!

He is completely enamored by his Stuffed Cow and here you can see him gazing at it!

Fire!

On our way home from the cabin the other day we decided to drop off our trailer at the River property. As we were pulled into the town of Sun River we could see smoke and 2 helicopters circling with buckets... Obviously a fire.

As we looked, it appeared that the fire was right where our property is. We don't have too much on our land but what concerned us was that there are houses all around, and it would be awful if they were destroyed.

When we pulled on to our property we could see where the fire had come down the River from the East. It even jumped the River and was on both sides. It had only come onto our property a tiny bit right in the bottom.

All of the local fire departments were there and we later found out that the DNRC provided the two helicopters. By the time we got there, they had it under control, but it had started about 1000 when a guy was burning slash. It ended up burning about 200 acres and getting within a 1/2 mile of town. Thankfully they were able to get it stopped an under control.

Here are some pictures that we were able to get. I snapped some from the top of the property and then while I fed Dane in the truck, Clint walked down to the River and took the other shots. As you can see, he got some amazing pictures!

So, my good friend Abby wrote me an e-mail after I posted the last snow pictures and she said, "doesn't Montana know it's April..." I guess not, cause today we woke up to about a foot of snow... Then it continued to filter down throughout the day and it's supposed to keep coming through the night.

It's crazy cause last weekend the temperature was in the 70's!!!

But, as irritating as it is, the moisture is awesome!

Here's some shots of Bones playing in the snow.

Getting it done!

We did have a great time up at the cabin. We did a little work on the chimney so the stove quit belching smoke into the cabin. That made it a lot better!

It took us a good part of the first day to get the other wall sheetrocked. It had outlets, the fusebox, and a window so there were lots of measurements and cuts. But, we got it all up and then had a relaxing evening enjoying the great views and the nice weather.

Yesterday we got the mudding and taping all done. I was going to put some pictures up, but we are not exactly pros. (neither of us has ever done drywall before!!!) So, I was afraid that anyone looking at our blog would laugh at our work!

You can see part of our work in this picture of Clint. He was a champion, and I'd like to point out our wonderful stool that we stood on to work! What is that saying... "necessity is the father of invention"?

Rebel and Bones watching us work!

Dane doesn't find us very exciting! But, he does a good job supervising!

I think he is saying, "Please pick me up"
(okay he's probably just stretching... but any reason to pick him up is good enough for me!)

Off to the cabin again!

Well, we are headed up to the cabin again to work on the drywall. We will finish the one wall and then start the mudding and taping. It should be fun! We are going to spend the night, so we will be back on Friday night.

Here are some fun pictures of Dane. I told Clint that I can't stop taking pictures of him, he's just so freaking cute!!! (Maybe I'm a little biased, but I can't help it!)

Look how happy he is right before being fed!!!

He really loves looking around and watching us. I was getting stuff ready for the next couple days, so I propped him up a little and let him watch me.

His life is truly exhausting!

Just FYI... I love the comments that people leave, but we have been getting random comments. So, that's why I made it to where I have to okay comments before they can go on my blog... Sorry if it's a pain!

Hanging Drywall Sucks!

We went up to the cabin for the past couple days to hang drywall! All I can say is that drywall is not my favorite thing... it is kind of a pain! Fortunately, Clint is awesome and had already put up the insulation and the plastic.

So, we discovered a few things about drywall. First, the learning curve is very steep. Second, it gets hung horizontally not vertically... Third, doing the ceiling sucks.

On a good note, it is very rewarding to be doing this ourselves! We did pretty well and got all but one wall done. I will post pictures once we are finished!

So, here is what it looked like once we had it cleaned up and ready to start putting up the drywall.

We got a chance to enjoy a great couple days up on the front. The sunset was incredible... We had a dry and warm place to sleep. Okay sometimes way too hot, sometimes too chilly but we will get the wood stove fixed so it isn't quite so temperamental!

We are very lucky because Dane was a total trooper and such a great baby. He put up with everything without complaint.

I have said that he likes to sleep with his hands in the air... here is another good example of that!

Here are a couple awesome wildlife shots that Clint took.

Dane is just over a month old!

How time flies!!!

Yesterday was April 9th and that means Dane is a month old!

Here are a couple pictures of the three of us.

Dane has discovered his tongue and is constantly sticking it out and rolling it around.

He is becoming more active each day and really starting to get a little personality! When we do tummy time now he gets all pissed and although he doesn't cry he grunts and groans. You can see here how he lifts his head up and kicks his little legs. I think he is going to be a stubborn little man, but I really don't know where he gets that... (ha ha)

Waterfowl 101

Clint and I always enjoy taking a drive to check out the spring migration.

Today we headed out to Benton Lake with Bill and Sheri and we were lucky enough to see a fair amount of birds! I've tried to zoom it in and tell you what kind of waterfowl is in each picture.

Tundra Swans

These are snow geese. When the full migration is on there will literally be upwards of 100,000 snow geese at Freezeout Lake. In the fall they are a kick to hunt if you can time it right and get out while they are passing through.

Here they are getting up off the water. You can also see the snow covered mountains in the background.

A Redhead hen and drake.

These are Canvasback's. The quickest way that I tell the difference between them and Redheads is by the shape of the head. Notice that it is shaped more like a wedge.

Here are a few mallards

Shoveler's

Which way did they go???? (Canada Geese)

Bill and Sheri's visit!

Bill and Sheri came from Oregon to visit and see little Dane. Here they are enjoying his company.

While they were here, we headed up to the cabin to get some work done. You can see the new chimney in this picture!

Here's the wood stove that's connected to the chimney!!!

These are the lights that they hooked up.

Dane lucked out and slept in the camper, but here he is supervising everyone... and yes, this is the crib of champions!

Here's Dane hanging out with Nana in the camper!

The second morning we woke up to this beautiful landscape! Luckily the wood stove was in the first day!

Dane's all bundled up and ready to brave the outdoors.

We were trying to capture a picture of Dane's awesome smile, but the camera seems to jinx us... Here's the closest to a smile that we could get!

Friendly Donkey's!!!

We were on a drive and there were these cute donkey's alongside the road. We stopped and at first one came up and Clint fed him a muffin. He was pretty nice and Clint got a change to pet him while I snapped a picture or two. Then his buddy came up to see what was going on.

Pretty soon, Clint had two Donkeys practically sitting in his lap looking for a hand-out!

I've been using the front pack for Dane, but we decided to try out the baby jogger for a change.

It was a little chilly so we bundled up Dane really well. As you can see he looked like a marshmallow. But, he was a trooper and stayed warm so we could enjoy a nice spring day!