Cowboy weekend

Luke's brother, Matt and his family came to visit this past week. They arrived on Thursday afternoon from Casper where they went to a Oregon Trail Museum. Sounds like a great educational place for the kids to go. They loved it and had lots of stories to share. We laid low on Thursday and Friday. I think the most exciting thing we did on Friday was go to Walmart and the park to play for a bit. Luke grilled a few steaks on Friday night-delicious as usual! Saturday the fun began. We drove up the canyon to a small ranch just outside of the east gate to Yellowstone. We got to take Liz horseback riding as her Birthday gift. Liz, Luke and Matt went for a trail ride and Max got to ride a pony around the ranch. He was led by a guy named Blake. Max said he was the best "cowboy teacher" ever and waved and beamed every time Blake walked by. Max, for those of you who may not know him, is a cowboy. He wears his boots all the time, has cowboy shirts for every occasion and loves to wear his hat. He even had a lasso for a while(he calls it his yee-haw rope!). Emmett and I walked the ranch and played in the stream that ran thru, as well as pick up horse poo and play in the dirt. We headed back home to clean up and then went into town for the Cody gunfighters. They have a show outside of the Irma Hotel every night at 6pm. It was nice to see once, but not something that I need to see again. Liz and Max enjoyed the show. It was a really fun day for everyone. Sunday was Yellowstone day. We drove in to the park thru the East gate and headed north. We decided to drive the top loop and see Mammoth Springs. It was a really long day, but we got to see a ton of really great sights. Not very many animals which might have been due to the "bears" we had in the car. The kids did pretty well for a 12 hour day. We stopped and had lunch at a great spot with a slow stream access. It was a blast. Emmett had a great time in the water especially when both Luke and Matt got down to their skives and dove in! He and cousins clapped and screamed. It was a sight let me tell ya. Way to cold for this lady! I was in the stream for all of 15 mins before my feet were popsicles.

We had dinner in Cooke city after we left the park then headed back to home. We got half way there and were greeted by crazy smoke wall. There had been a storm (actually passed over the ranch while they were trail riding) that caused lightning to start a fire. The smoke from this fire was eerie as the sun started setting. We are still getting quite a bit of smoke from the fire, as well as another fire started outside of Red Lodge, just a few miles from the Ski runs. Smells like a campfire pretty much all hours of the day around here.

One last day to fit another cowboy activity in. The families jumped in the car and headed to the rodeo(called radio by Max. He almost had it by the end of the night!). The night rodeo doesn't start til 8pm, already past bedtimes. It was a great time! We did leave a little early cause the children (and adults) were starting to get tired. The adults ended the evening with a bit of porch sitting. We had to finish off the bottle of wine-no sense in letting it go bad. We had a great time having the Andersons here and look forward to seeing them again at Thanksgiving.

Mammoth Springs

Luke on Cricket

Liz on Gilmore

Matt on Thunder

On the trail

boys in tub

Cowboys

Random thoughts

I have been busy lately, but not sure quite what keeps me so busy. Maybe a 16 month old! Anyway, Matt, Becky and kids are here today! We have lots of great stuff planned while they are here on their family vacation(next post!).
Meanwhile, I thought I would share one of Luke's B-day cards sent to him by his buddy, Dayven. I still laugh when I see it on the counter. It's called "A man's guide to successful aging" When you open the card it reads "Never pass a bathroom. Don't waste a hard-on. and Never trust a fart." True words for a man.
Hard to follow that one but.... Chrissy and Nina participated in the Urban Assault Ride in Ft. Collins last weekend. She sent me some photos that are awesome! You will have to connect to the link since they are copyrighted photos. This race is one of their favs. You ride your bike to locations around town and participate in funny obstacle courses. One of the pics is of Chrissy riding an adult Big Wheel. (I think Luke and I need those for the basement!) The other photo is of Nina and Chrissy going thru a waterslide of some sort. It looks like they had a good time.

http://www.jjhweddings.printroom.com/ViewgalleryPhoto.asp?userid=josephhouser&gallery_id=1192260&image_id=12
http://www.jjhweddings.printroom.com/ViewgalleryPhoto.asp?userid=josephhouser&gallery_id=1192296&image_id=8

Poker night

Luke took off for a great night of poker with the boys. I began a well deserved wine night for one probably the moment Luke got home from work. Emmett has 180 mood swings and I haven't really figured them out yet. He goes from a tantrum throwing mess to a laughing happy little boy. Luke and I videoed his latest funny. He thinks he is hysterical(and so did we!) when he makes fart noises on my knee. Sure to make you laugh(or maybe it's the wine!).

Sushi Dinner

Well, we made it back to Cody late Tuesday evening. Our flight home was much better than the previous. Surprising since he has a couple teeth coming in. We had a very nice time up at my parents house. On Sunday, we got to enjoy the deck and watch the sailboat races. and of course the "pool" at Grammy's! Thank you for letting Emmett run your house for a week!

Nina was in town last night and this morning for business and stayed with us. She and I went out for Sushi(amazingly delicious for landlocked Cody!). My friend Keri joined us for a CodyTini and some really great rolls. I went out of my norm and tried some new things and they were yummy! We ordered so much to try, that it came out on a boat! After a few glasses of wine and too much food, we headed home for one more glass and really good conversation. Nina and I actually made it to the gym early this morning and she just left for her install and training session. It was a really nice quick get together. Always great to see you Nina!

Wonderful Bridal Weekend

My girlfriend, Emily, had her bridal shower and bachlorette party this past weekend in Denver. Molly, one of the girls in the bridal party, held the shower at her home in Lone Tree. She has a beautiful home with a great back deck and yard. She put together a golf themed shower as Emily is an awesome golfer. Molly planned an 18 hole E & C Links(Emily and Charles) and it was played in her backyard. It looked like tons of fun(I was taking pictures and enjoying my first Emily-tini!) The rest of the shower was in colors of pink and brown: the cake, Emily-tini, and favors were definitely Emily-esq. What a great party. After it ended, Jenny, Emily, Kate, Sam and I headed to the hotel to get checked in and cleaned up for the bachlorette party, starting at a place called Lime. Lime was our dinner/appetizer location and the food was really good and the presentation was even pretty as it was upscale mexican food. We enjoyed lots of laughs and stories before we moved on to our first bar, the Cowboy Lounge. It was still a bit early, 9pm, when we got there and there were not many people. The more we drank, the later it got and man, it was packed before you knew it! Emily and I did not make very good shoe choices, so we grabbed a cab back to the Westin and put on our "party" shoes i.e. flip flops. By the time we got back to the bar, maybe 30 mins later, it was crazy packed and I think we stayed for maybe another hour. Some decided to head on to another bar for some more late night craziness, but a few of us headed back to the hotel for some sleep. I think that was probably my fav part of the night. Kate, Sam, Jenny, Emily and I got to hang out and chat/catch up with each other. Thank god Sam ordered a pizza to squelch the late night hungry beast. We still needed to hit the greasy spoon the next day! Bacon!!!! Chrissy and Nina were among the late nighters and wound up walking home. It took them an hour and a half to get to their friend Beth's, where they were going to crash. They took a slight detour and stopped at 7-11 for late night nachos. Chrissy could not figure out why the cheese was cold and tasted funny. After a few more bites, she realized that she had covered them with mustard instead of cheese. We all had a good laugh the next morning about that one!

I had a great time getting back in touch with the girls and can't wait to see you all at the weddin'. (Maybe the zoo next time I'm in town!)

Emily, I love ya and hope you got to have a wonderful time. Aren't you glad it only happens once?! Miss you already!

Having fun at Grammy and Poppy's

We got in on Wednesday morning. The flight was good, no nap, but good. We got to play all day with new toys that Grammy had bought. Chrissy had a softball game in town at an early time so we got to watch her game. Everyone was so tired when we got home that we even skipped wine time. Don't worry, the next evening was great make up time on the porch. It has proceeded to get really hot, even up here in the mountains above the lake. Emmett had a rough time sleeping

last night cause of the heat. There is supposed to be a cool front moving in this afternoon to help cool things down. Emmett got to go swimming in Grammy's "pool". She found an old tub and bucket and filled them with water. He had a great time splashing and flinging water everywhere. The humming birds here are crazy! There are about 8 or so that fight over the feeders. The buzz right by you. My parents dog, Holly, doesn't even seem to notice anymore. Emmett had a great time watching them.
Emily has her bridal shower and bachlorette party tomorrow. Should be a great time. I am looking forward to seeing all the gals!

Fireworks

Luke purchased a few fireworks to set off this past weekend. The funniest one was called the Exploding Bin Laden Noggin. He also bought a few sparklers for us girls, and some with bright colors for Emmett. Mostly he didn't care, and surprisingly he slept thru the ones we set off late. He also slept thru the midnight fireworks going on in the neighborhood!

Nothin' better than blowing up s*#t for America!

Fabulous Fourth of July

We had an awesome time with our guests for the 4th of July. My parents drove their motor home up with a full load of passengers. Ken, Chrissy, Nina and Eric plus the dog, Holly. They arrived late afternoon on Thursday, with Emily and Charles on their heels a few hours later. We had dinner, drinks and enjoyed the view and company. Chrissy, Emily, Nina, Eric and I had signed up for the Runner's Stampede the morning of the 4th. It was a 5K at 7am. We all made it. Eric and Nina were our runners, while Chrissy opted to walk with Emily and I. It was a beautiful morning to walk around the lake, minus the wind that picked up. Then we headed home to meet with the rest of the crowd to then leave again for the parade. It was a really great parade, as far as parades go. It might have been a little long though. (Oh- I found out today at my hair appt. that my hair stylist, Missie, was the momma bernstein bear in the kiddie parade last Wednesday! I think there are pictures in one of my last posts. Too cute- and hot according to Missy!) Anyway, there were lots of horses and cowboys and funny floats. Emmett lasted about an hour and then needed to go home for a nap. I think everyone was on board for the nap! The entire house napped and then started preparing for an awesome BBQ! Luke and I made ribs. They turned out great! Lots of dips, salads and so many potato chips. I can't eat another chip for months. Oh, and lots of drinks. Watermelon tinis, "special" lemonade, and lots-o-beer. We had a few couples and their kids come by for the fun. It was nice to have them stop in. A few of the guys played horseshoes and the rest of us watched from the porch. Good days in the sun. After everyone left, we continued to play around the house. Video games in the basement, fireworks in the front yard along with frisbee with Chrissy. We had many fireworks shows to view from our front porch/yard and I got to play with my new camera. It has a special fireworks function. It was fun to watch and shot pictures while drinking wine.







The next morning, Emily, Charles, Luke and Eric went golfing. I put together a pancake puff feast with bacon and homemade cake doughnuts. Great for our hangovers. The rest of us, went into town and shopped Sierra Trading Post, back home for naps, and then prepared ourselves for the Extreme Bulls at the rodeo. What a great event! The seats were jam packed together, but worth it for the show. Even the view from our seats was breathtaking. Bull riding lasted 2 hours long and had everyone on the edge of their seats most of the time. Emmett did pretty well for his short attention span. He loved to clap and cheer along with the crowd. Luke took him for a long walk about halfway thru the show and he was fine. (The night before, Emmett had forgotten to take a step on the front porch and gave himself a mighty big scrap on his face. Luke said they made a ton of friends with his story of "You should see the other guy!")
Sunday morning, the motor home crew took off for home. Emily, Charles, Luke, Emmett and I did nothing but watch movies and drink water most of the day. We did finally pick ourselves up off the furniture and head into town for a La Cominda dinner. It was worth it to get off the couch for the food! After the food coma started to set in, we all hit the sack early.
The aftermath was not bad at all. A few rooms to clean and lots of laundry to do, but totally worth it. Same time, same place next year?!






















Cactus in the front yard

Percherons in the parade