Memorial Snow

Happy Memorial Day! While the rest of the country was basking in beautiful weather, we had two days off (Sunday and Monday) and THIS to celebrate with. Jason, as always, was excited. I was bummed. Praying for some warm weather this coming week!

Because of crowds in the parks and stinky weather, we decided to stay at the Ranch this weekend. (We also wanted to save some cash!) Our original plan was to hike locally, but that didn't work out because of the cold and the mud. Instead, we got all settled in our new cabin (it's awesome - pictures soon!) and were forced to relax and lay low!

Chad is home in Colorado until Wednesday, so in addition to Indy, we are dog-sitting Buddy, one of the ranch dogs. He's sort of smelly, but couldn't be sweeter!

The best event of the last week was our surprise horse ride on Saturday afternoon. We were blessed with some surprisingly decent weather, and J.W. decided to start putting us through our paces with the horses. We're expected to do all of our own tack and grooming, and should be able to take the horses out on our own in another month or so. It's amazing how easily everything came back to me - the knots, the grooming, the tack... It's all still there in my mind from all of those lessons I had as a girl. It's a fortunate thing I had those lessons (thanks Mom and Dad!), since on our ride something was really bothering my horse and she got crazy out of nowhere - I kept my seat and my composure and was complimented by J.W. for my excellent horsemanship. :) Nice. Also, while out on our ride, we encountered a Bull Moose on the property. It's one thing to see a Moose in the Parks, but here on the property? More awesome than you can imagine. The location where we saw it was literally less than a five minute walk from our new cabin!

Speaking of the new cabin, Indy's a BIG fan. It has lots of windows and a direct line of sight to the "big doggies" (or horses). He's obsessed.

We also got the okay from the boss this last week for my parents to stay on the ranch for a few days when they arrive in Wyoming on July 8. They spend a month in West Yellowstone (on the other side of Yellowstone Park, in Montana) every summer. This year, they're driving up through Wyoming and into Cody to see us for a few days before driving through the park to the other side. They're pretty lucky - they're going to be staying in the Deer Creek Cabin, which is one of the nicest, coolest buildings on the property. It's awesome. We're super excited to see them and share this amazing place with them, and they're really looking forward to it, too. Dad's especially stoked to get to fish on the Shoshone River here on the property. It's a very, very famous location for flyfishing, and few anglers ever get to fish the South Fork of the river, simply because it runs through private property on both sides. You have to have the property owner's permission to fish it! Hopefully the fish are biting when he's here, and the river has slowed down after the massive snow run-off.

In Greenhouse news, we have not yet caught the Chipmunk that has decided to live in there. (For the record, I am trying to catch this one ALIVE. Indy, however, has another idea about that.) It has decided that it needs to dig up and eat some of my beets. Grrr. They're almost ready to be pulled up - I hope it doesn't get anymore!

Well.... that's probably it for today. Lots more to tell, but I think I'll save that for separate posts. Check back in a day or two for photos of the new cabin, and some more stories that I really want to share!

Oh! And check out Jason's photos from our trip last weekend!