Don't forget the small stuff!

I was so excited to come home from church and bake up a pumpkin pie for Paul and Al and Nic. It looked absolutely beautiful...................but man did it taste bad! Everyone was very polite but it was just bad. Forward to about an hour after the ordeal of gagging down bad pie - I remembered I had forgotten to put 3/4 c. sugar into it! A small amount relatively speaking but a good lesson learned for life. Don't forget the small stuff! Those things add up with the other good things we do to make a most tasty dessert!

Critters...........the final chapter.........we hope.........

Well, we have not found our critter but I thought you may want to take a look. This picture makes them look almost cute and cuddly...........not when they are scratching at my walls at night! However, we haven't heard it for many nights and we are presuming the poison worked. The poison causes them to want to get out for air so we are hoping Paul finds it under the house when he goes there tomorrow. One can only hope! I promise to put up some pics of our fantastic weekend at the pumpkin patch in St. Paul, OR. Did I mention I love love love my grandkiddies?

Critters...............part 3

There is evidence that the 'thing' has eaten some of the poison. However, Paul bought a true rat trap. Not a baby mouse trap. This thing is HUGE! It will definitely snap the head off of anything that gets near it..........maybe tonight.............(imagine a haunting ghost sound............) If we catch it I may just take a picture of it to gross all of my readers out. And I know you'll be watching for it now because we just can't seem to NOT look at the bizarre, gross, and generally creepy things of the world!

Critters.................part 2......

So Paul set 5 traps - mouse traps - under the crawl space where we suspected the rodents may be. He checked last night and all 5 traps had been tripped and the peanut butter licked clean off! So whatever 'it' is, is too big for the mouse traps.........eeeeeeewwwwwwwwww........So now we know where it is - we put out poison. Now we'll have delirious rats...............great............ However, on a good note, Paul is just thrilled with himself and his self esteem is on a high! You know, keeping his family safe from the big, bad things of the world! You just gotta love it.........

Critters........

When you live on the top of a mountain with nobody close by, you can expect critters. I would love to put up a night cam on the property and just see what is lurking close by! (I think anyways...) So here is the critter watch on my mountain.....

1. Deer coming and going thru the property. Sometimes it's only two and sometimes there are 20. They are beautiful and I wish they would just live at my house all of the time.

2. Resident animals - Moki, Chaska, Toots, Rio, Bear, and Moose. There is nothing quite like sitting up in bed every morning, looking out the windows and seeing my horses! There is nothing quite like letting Moki and Chaska out every morning - they are so genuinely happy to say good morning. Toots - we'll just leave her out of the beautiful morning...............

3. Hawks flying and hovering over the house - LOVE IT!

4. Yesterday Alli and I were driving up the mountain and there were two bald eagles just soaring overhead. We stopped and watched them for quite some time. It never ever gets old to see a bald eagle in the wild. For those of you who don't know, Klamath Falls is one of the biggest nesting grounds for bald eagles. We see them all of the time. Two soaring overhead was just picture perfect.

5. Cougars and Bobcats. I have not seen the cougar or the bobcats this year. That is probably a good thing. I did have a run in with a bobcat a few years ago. He walked across the road about 25 feet in front of me as I was returning from the mailbox. AMAZING!

6. Coyotes - we have a few that come thru our yard on occasion. They are a little frightening looking sometimes but mostly they are just jogging thru the back of the property minding their own business.

7. Jack rabbits. These are not your ordinary rabbits. They are the size of small horses - I swear it! They are so fun to watch chasing and hopping. And those ears...........

8. Squirrels - we have some resident squirrels that live in the rocks. They run out on occasion and take a peek at the world - steal some oats from the horses - and run back to their rocks. Too cute.

9. Magpies - not such a fan. They eat the dog food and it drives Moki crazy - crazy enough to bark at them but not crazy enough to chase them. This would take way too much energy.

10. Bluejays. There is nothing quite as beautiful as a wooded jay. So big and blue.

11. Mice. These are definitely on the bad list of critters. If you recall I had quite the time with some of them last year. I had a bin with a door on it full of horse oats. I went out one day to open it up and about 25 mice came pouring out. It was totally the grossest thing ever. However, there was one that had just overeaten and he was hanging on the door - swinging with the door. He was too fat to do much of anything. He just looked at me like 'Have some pitty.' I know that feeeling after Thanksgiving dinner so I just let him hang. We've had a few in the house but Paul is the expert trapper. You would think he was hunting big game!

12. Pack rats/wood rats - Now we had a cat that loved to bring his treasures to us each morning. (This cat has since been the bottom of the food chain for a coyote!) He would bring them to us in many different parts. There were inside parts laid out for us sometimes. And sometimes it was just the head. Lovely cat - he made us proud! However, we have one (we think) in our walls as of a few days ago. Paul went a-hunting for it under the house last night but can't quite figure out where it has gotten in. I know this sounds so horrible to all of you but it's just part of living on a mountain. He will be caught in a few days and this will bring great pleasure to Paul.

I love mountain living. I love that I have fresh air every morning. I love my critters - all of them. I love watching the storms come across the lake. And most importantly - I love the human critters that live with me!

Blog stalking........

Not too long ago, someone in my familia (Jayne) told me how inspired she was by one of Dyans (and kind of an acquaintance of Dani's) friends. Her name is Susan. I have never met her and only have seen a few pics of her on her blog. Well at any rate, she is 25 and has stage 4 liver cancer and it's not a good prognosis - medically speaking. However, we can never underestimate the miracles of God now can we............She is newly married and I can't even begin to imagine dealing with this the first year of marriage. Paul and I dealt with it 8 years ago for the first time and that was 22 years into marriage. It was hard. The second go round was 3 years ago - 27 years into marriage. It was hard.

She is a strong young lady and has lots of people praying for her. However, I would just love it if you would all remember Justin and Susan in your prayers tonight. I know that Heavenly Father does listen to our pleadings and it will give her strength. You can feel it when a concerted effort is made in your behalf. I never really understood that until this last round of cancer with Paul. It was a tangible feeling that others were praying over you and pleading to the Lord to lessen Paul's suffering. I don't know how to explain it other than we could literally feel it. I don't know the Lord's plan for Susan and Justin but I do know that there will be lessons learned in their lives that they can get no other way. Don't we all look back at hard times and feel a sense of gratitude that the Lord allows us to feel joy afterwards? That He allows us to really understand and learn from those times. Only a loving Father would do this for us.

Matthew 11:28 -30

Sibs!

I just LOVE this picture of my brother Dave! I've never quite seen him so at peace with life. Welcome back Dave!
This is Jayne and I attempting to take a self portrait! Take 1!


Take 2! Sisters....sisters....never were there such devoted sisters..........(add the tune....)

The Originals!

This is the original family that started it all in the Jensen, Sargent, and Stewart families! I think we've all aged quite nicely - like a good stinky cheese I hear! We had soooooo much fun at our 80th birthday celebration for mom and dad - yes mom, you aren't 80 yet! But you had better make it to 80 since we made such a big deal about it! I really love my parents and my siblings. I haven't been the best at keeping in touch with any of them over the years. I should have done a better job at that. However, it was so great to just pick back up with them all and know that we just all love one another. I know that may sound corny but I really mean it. They are just great people with great families - this includes you, mom and dad! I hope that my children never let an opportunity go by to stay in touch with their sibs. I hope that they never let too much time go by without a call or a visit. I hope that they let their sibs know that they love them and their kids!
I added the ski lift picture because they just make me laugh when I look at them. The first one is of mom, dad, and dave riding up. It was a beautiful day at Sundance. The sky was blue, the leaves were turning, the weather was spot on. The ride down which happened only moments later as the minute we reached the top a giant black cloud appeared and we were hurried down the mountain.
It poured the whole way down! As soon as we got to the bottom it quit raining and we enjoyed our drive up in the mountains to see the colors. It was an eventful drive as Dave drove off the road and got the back tire caught in a ditch - well it really wasn't his fault. We saw a flock, gaggle, herd - whatever you call them - of wild turkeys just off the road. Who ever sees one wild turkey nonetheless an entire flock, gaggle, herd of them! It was amazing and well worth the trip off of the road!

Thanks Jayne and Dave for making this time together so incredibly wonderful. I enjoyed you both and loved having Janet along to keep us in check. Happy 80th Mom and Dad!

Welcome to our world!

Welcome to our world Reece Noelle Andrus! Proud parents: Summer and Joshua Andrus! Reece weighed in at 7lbs. 10oz. on September 25th! She shares a birthday with her Uncle Sam who was born in 1985 and with her great-grandma on her daddy's side of the family! She is perfect! She has a load of blonde hair and now that she has her tummy full she is just a happy baby. I was so thrilled to be there during the events before and after! What a great home she has been born into. Her parents are just thrilled and all of those mommy/daddy instincts have kicked in! I think Summer still can't believe that she has a baby and how much she loves her! Joshua jsut can't believe there could be a prettier baby! Thanks Summer and Josh for a new grand daughter and for letting me be there to witness this perfect miracle!