Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

I heart my new Kindle!

All I want for Christmas is......

~ A Kindle
~ a subscription to Bon Appetit mag
~new sunnies
~some free time
~ snow for xcountry skiing and snowmobiling
~ someone to come and deep clean every month

I s that too much to ask for??

blah

For awhile now blogging has felt like much more effort than I am willing to put forth...
The things that I have been putting my energy into include:
~planning a trip to San Diego with my bro and sis...and dad and step-mom
~preparing for and enjoying an awesome Thanksgiving feast with mi familia..........
(missing my bro, mom, bruce and justin on Thanksgiving due to an injured horse and an angry appendix)
~bringing back the Isaly family Thanksgiving tradition of being crafty together.....we make kick ass bee's wax candles (thank you Jamie and Traci)...I heart you guys!!
~worrying about my bro's health
~being done with xmas shopping by the end of Nov.
~making x-mas spider ornaments and selling them at the xmas stroll at the Danforth!!!
~sitting for hours in my bro's hospital room with he and my mama
~canceling our trip to San Diego....bro is in no shape for travel
~being thankful that bro is back home and one the mend
~work xmas parties
~picking and cutting down as tree in sub-zero temps
~planning the xmas tree judging progressive party
~buying a snowmobile from a friend
~working
~hoping for more snow
And at some point I may get some pics up of the last few months.....Hope you are enjoying your holiday season!!

Has it really been a year?!?!?!

My best friend Ashley's little angel Karmella turned 1 last week. I hitched a ride to Billings with Sarah and Force to help Ash and Austin celebrate. We ended the day in Billings with a trip to Cabellas and dinner at Texas Road House before we hit the road and headed back home. Thanks Karmella for bringing SO MUCH JOY to so many lives!

FOUND THEM!!

Found my sunnies in my gym bag...I had already looked there once!! YAY!!

Have you seen my...................???

I am a little panicked..............Can't find my sunnies anywhere.. Checked the gym, my gym bag, my purse, the car and the kitchen. The only places I ever put them. I know that obviously if I can't find them I must have put them somewhere else and those places must not be the ONLY places that I put them but I am at a loss. And VERY SAD!! We are close to the sun in Montana and it is BRIGHT out there! I felt like I might be blinded this morning droving home. If you find a pair of SMITH Methods-green stripe...THEY ARE MINE AND I AM MISSING THEM TERRIBLY.
On the other hand this does give me reason to get a new pair ;)

Halloween 09

I have to admit....I am not the hugest fan of Halloween. I really don't like dressing up in a costume....I am not very creative....just not my fav. Doesn't mean that I don't partake though. My 'costume' usually ends up being something that is not to uncomfortable...and it must be somewhat warm (Halloween is often snowy and blustery around here). I remember as a kid having to pick a costume that I could wear over my winter clothes.
That said...my prisoner and I did have a pretty good night out;) Happy Fall Back....YAY for an extra hour today!

Fun being tourists!

One of the things that I love about having company is that we get to act like tourists. There are so many very cool things to do around here and we just never seems to take the time to experience them unless we are trying to show visitors a great time. G's mom, brother and 10 year old niece came to visit from Alabama and Florida. Of course it had to be in the single digits and low teens the entire time they were here.....that did limit us a bit in terms of what we could take them to do. A 10 year old who has spent her entire life in Alabama is NOT a happy camper when she is expected to walk around in the snow when it is 10 degrees out!!! We found that out pretty quickly. But that is all a part of the Montana experience when you choose to come in mid-October.. You just never know what the weather will bring. I think the thing that she liked the most was soaking in Chico Hot Springs. Between soaks at Chico we managed to sneak in breakfast at Pine Creek and the Beanery. A day trip down to Yellowstone National Park, dinner at the Yellowstone Mine in Gardiner and we got a quick lesson on how to explain away what it feels like to hit a raccoon at 70 MPH late at night on HWY 89S. We checked out the Grizzly Encounter on Bozeman Pass the we have driven by hundreds of time and never stopped before. HB REALLY wanted to see some bears and since she would not get out of the car in Yellowstone this was our last resort. We moved on to Bozeman to take in the Museum of the Rockies complete with dinosaurs, native Americans, early western settlers and WWII exhibits. In the evenings HB schooled us all in the art of WWII bowling while we warmed our frozen selves by the fire. It is possible that we enjoyed all that MT has to offer just as much and maybe more than our guests. I guess that is why we live here right??

The clan at Pine Creek Cafe for a breakfast of champions.

The entrance to Yellowstone National Park. 'FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE' YNP was the first National Park. We live north of the park and much of my family live south of the park. I have spent my entire life driving back and forth through the park sometimes many times each year and this is the first time that I have ever stopped at the entrance and acted like a tourist...standing under the arch for a photo shoot...it is about time!

Walking on the boardwalk of the terraces in Mammoth Hot Springs....something that I usually speed by.

We had one UNHAPPY camper.....taking a stand against the cold; tears and all.

You are NOT supposed to leave the path...but I wanted to see how warm the water is.

Mr. Crow showing off. G loves crows.

TATONKA

BABY BUFF

FALLS................another short short jaunt outside of the car that was NOT enjoyed by all.Yellowstone Lake...The source of most of our summer fun.

Meet Jake and Maggie. 3 year old Grizzlies...they eat 20,000 calories each day!!! Griz have a life expectancy of 25 years in the wild and up to 40 years in captivity. These guys were rescued from living their first year of live in a dog run..............They are VERY happy!!

Jake checking out our scent.

Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that!

Museum Of the Rockies HB meeting Hazel.

G and his Mink.

All in all I think their trip was a blast. HB got a disk of almost 400 pictures to take home and show off to her class. Her trip was supposed to be educational and she had to keep a journal which she had not started yet when she left. lol She said that she doesn't like to write because her handwriting is bad and she thinks that it gets better the less she practices...10 yr old logic. ;)

PS....... I HEART MONTANA!!

YAY KEEGAN

I am a proud big sis this week. My lil bro Keegan was hired by my friends Peter and Brooke to be a guide for their hunting camp this year. Not only was this his first gig as a guide but the first trip was with a TV crew and hunters for a show called Western Extreme (I think) on the Outdoor channel!!! BIG DEAL for all involved. His first day out on his own with a hunter was a big success and by the end of the day he had called in 2 bulls, one was down and he had it quartered, packed and back in camp. Big day! A great time was had by all and I think that he really learned ALOT from 10 days with professional hunters and cameramen. Read more on Brooke's Blog.

mmmmm...jam

Delicious jam and salsa.. If I thought I could make a living making this stuff I would quit my day job! But I think I would need a greenhouse first. Luckily I think that is somewhere on 'the list'.

That wait is over!!

I have been waiting patiently for 3 years to have a dining room table. There are ups and downs to dating a man who can design and build amazing things.... up: he can design and build amazing things... down: he doesn't really like anything that you might see in a store and because he designs things all day every day there is not much time left for personal design and build time. Thus...no dining room table for 3 years. At meal times you can find us hovering over the coffee table. And if we have guests; you can find us hovering over the coffee table ;) or eating at one of those long plastic folding tables. I am not sure why these options are better than buying a table but this I do not dare argue for it is an argument I will never win.
Last weekend Brooke and I saw a great old antique table at a community garage sale in Emigrant. We think that the table is perfect for the house but I hesitate to throw my money at something that is well, already designed and built. So I go home and think about it. He does sometimes like old things... I convince him to take me back to Emigrant on Sunday in hopes to find my table still there waiting for me and to also get a thumbs up. It was there' waiting for me so we strapped her in the back of the truck and headed back down the road. We decided to put a finish on it and it turned out BEAUTIFUL!!! I can't wait to use it... friends...come over and eat!!

Old antique 'treasure' table: $100

Minwax Antique Oil Finish: $10

A place to eat together and with guests: priceless

much needed

Brooke planned a much needed.....for all I'm sure.....evening at her house. Great food and great people!! For me it consisted of yummy lasagna, wine, bread and delicious apple cake and fun visiting with friends. For her it consisted of a little more than she has bargained for....check it out!!!!! ;)

Fishing for...ELK???

Our routine weekend float started out just like it always does. A visit with Brooke and Matine at the fly shop as we head south to hit up our favorite stretch for fishing and finding sweet rocks. About half way between Carbella and Point of Rocks we came across a bull elk...he seemed to have lost his herd but didn't really seem to mind. He was spending his day on the river just like we were. Being the second day of bow season G was bummed that he didn't have his bow; and I thought it was pretty funny that the first bull we see a season is on a day we chose to fish!

either/or

Either I have been doing NOTHING interesting for quite awhile / Or I have been crazy busy.......
Really, I decided to bring my personal computer home from work in hopes that I would stop wasting so much time on non-work activities at work. Not sure if it worked but I did realize that blogging takes time and it is not time I am really willing to spend out of me precious evenings and weekends. But I will sacrifice today because it is a 3 day weekend and I am planning on going into work today to do some paperwork and am of course procrastinating. ;)

Riding Hazel.
Night out with my favorite girls!!

I really do live in Paradise!

More time on the river...

My family knows how to have fun.

Gpa Bill's annual visit out west from Florida.

Day trip to Crystal Park.... We found SOOO many treasures!!

River time with the Arch boys.

My best fried got married!!

Bach party in Boz!

'Playing' with guns with our CA friends.

At Travis and Molly's wedding on Ennis Lake..

This just about wraps up the past month....enjoy.....