Happy Birthday Brandon!!

Well Kid, ya kid it! You made it past 25 years old!! I have to admit that there were times when I had my doubts. Lying awake at night wondering where you were. Or if you were doing ok. Or those days when I knew you were heading into something that was going to back fire on you, but knowing that I had to keep my mouth shut because you had to figure it out for yourself. Besides, you wouldn't have listened anyway. You always were a "figure it out yourself" kid since the day you were born.
But that's ok. Look at you now.  All grown up and making us proud. But most importantly, making yourself proud. You set your sights on a goal 6 or so months ago. And you have worked very hard to accomplish it. And you just keep on going with it. And that makes you happy. And seeing you happy makes us happy.
So, Happy 26th Birthday Son! And may you continue to be successful in all your goals and dreams.
Love,
Mom & Dad

Happy Birthday Natalie!!!

It is so hard to imagine that you are 24 years old already. WOW!!
it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was walking in the door bringing you home from the hospital. You were so tiny compared to your big ole chubby brother when he was born. I don't feel like I have children that are almost 26 and 24. But there you are, 24 in just two days. Amazing!! :-)

Happy Birthday to you! And may this year bring you love, happiness, health and peace my wonderful, beautiful daughter. I wish for you everything that your heart wishes.

Love ya,
Mom

Happy Birthday Mitzi!!!!

The North Clan would like to give a big shout out to the big sister in Sacto Patato on her birthday. Have a most awesome day Sis and more awesome ones to follow. We love you and miss you. Blessed Be to you and yours!! We Love you!

And lots of Get Well Wishes being sent to Miss Cheryl :)

Family Invasion

It has been a long time since I've bounced over here and updated this blog. Too long!

We have had a very busy year. Kids have gotten married, sisters have moved away, grand-children have been added to the family tree. The list of happenings just goes on and on. It's a sure fire bet I can't update all of these events in one sitting. so, I'll start with the most recent.

Visitors, Visitors and More Visitors!

It started on or around Aug. 13th. when Matt's lovely sister Mitzi and her wonderful hubby Keith drove all the way from Roseville, Calif. for a 4 day visit. It was so great to see them again. We had seen Mitzi and beautiful daughter Cheryl last summer when they flew up for a visit but it had been about 4 maybe 5 years since we had seen Keith. Their visit just happened to fall on a few of Matt's days off so we were all able to spend some precious time together catching up and just enjoying one another's company.

A few days after they left in drove Aunt Janice and her brother Uncle Jim (this would be Matt's mom's sister & brother). Two finer folks you'll never meet. They are a joy to have around with their upbeat and humorous attitudes. We've had great fun laughing and joking with them for the past week. Janice will be leaving in a few days for her high school reunion in Boise, ID. Which left Uncle Jim without a ride home (he decide at the last minute not to go to the reunion). So, along comes Rennie (Matt's brother's wife) to the rescue. She was going to head down to Portland to see her daughter and grandson anyway. So, she headed up from Meecham, OR, stayed a few days to visit, then she and Uncle Jim left yesterday morning. It was so much fun having her here again to chat and "soapbox" with. She and I jump on soapboxes really well :)

 

 

 

So, for the past three weeks we have had family from distant places visiting and it has been such a blessing to see them all again. I for one have enjoyed every minute of it.

Easter with the Family

My apologies for being so behind in updates. Life has been very busy since the snow melted.

Let's start with Easter. We had a great time. The house was full that's for sure. Mom and Mary were here. Brandon rode out with Natalie, Zech, little Zach and Zech's daughter Emerald. Yes, a new family member. Zech has just gotten custody of his daughter (5-6 years old) and spring break was the trial run for them. We enjoyed having her here with us. She is adorable and well behaved and was soon calling Matt "Poppa".

The food was great as usual. Mom and Mary brought a turkey and some side dishes including a yummy jello of some kind. Mary is the Master of Jello's. You should see the things she does with a simple box of powdered jello. It is amazing and tasty. We provided the ham, as Natalie is not much of a turkey fan. And Natalie raided my cabinets so she could make Mom's homemade biscuits. Nobody walked away from the table hungry. Everyone had to wait some time before they had room for Mary's beautiful Lemon Merengue Pie.

The biggest hit of the day however, had to be for little Zach. Forget the traditional Easter egg hunt. He got to play "Bob the Builder" with Poppa. You can read more about it on the All About Zach page and check out the pictures. Poppa was busy digging a BIG hole. But that's another story.

Welcome!

I thought that it would be a great idea to start a little blog of sorts so that friends and family could pop in and see what is happening in our world. Not that it is all that exciting, but we do get phone calls and emails from you all wanting to know what's happening up here, so you  at least must be interested.

New Years Eve we had "visitors" and everyone has been talking about it. Sending us emails wanting pictures of our "visitors". So, rather than sit here for hours waiting for our molasas is January slow dial up connection to send you those pictures I thought why not just post them here for all to see.

Lost His Girl

This poor guy was wandering around in the meadow behind our house. He would take a few steps and bugle. Then wander a small circle and look around, take few steps in the other direction and bugle, and hang his head forlornly. These actions were repeated for about 10 or 15 minutes before he headed more toward the house and walked up along the fence line between us and the neighbors, who have horses. He jumped the fence but quickly jumped back realizing the horses were NOT his kind! All the while I could hear the Cow moose crashing through the brush to the northeast and bless his little rut minded brain, he was heading southeast! Poor Dani our mom's horse, She was kind of between both Cow and Bull and had never smelled a moose in her life! Mom, said that she wouldn't even eat her grain that night.
I don't know if Mr. & Mrs. Moose ever hooked up, but it was such an awesome experience to stand back at a safe distance and watch such a majestic creature meander through our property.

Seed Theives

We haven't put in the permanent pond yet. So we have the koi in this very large stock tank. With winter here we had to put straw bales around it to help insulate it. The pond heater can only take so much. We had been putting black sunflower seeds out on top of the bales for the birds and finally word got around to the squirrels that there was a buffet over by the pond! Two of them come everyday now to fill their bellys, cheeks, and nests. The birds have learned to share and it has been great fun wathcing them bound acress the snow to hide their larder away until the marrow ;-)