Happy Independence Day

The American's Creed by William Tyler Page " I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people;whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, a democracy in a republic, a sovereign nation of many sovereign states; a perfect union, one and inseperable;established upon those principles of freedom, equality,justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed thier lives and fortunes." "I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag and to defend it against all enemies." -written 1917, accepted by the United States house of Representatives on April 3, 1918

An Uncommon Man

I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon...if I can. I seek opportunity...not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to faiul and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence;the thrill of fullfilment to the stale calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom fo beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;to think and act for myself; enjoy the benifits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say , this I have done. All this is what it means to be an American. Author Unknown

POP WITH KIDS

 

MOM WITH KIDS

 

VIEW FROM MOUNTAIN CHURCH

 

MIKE AT HELL'S HALF ACRE WYO

 

Happy Bithday Hope

Today Hope is Four!!! It just doesn't seem possible and her dad commented on his way out the door that it is four going on fourteen. Very true! :-)

He really is a good boy

Just for all concerned, Hell's Half Acre is a canyon in Wyoming where the Native Americans would drive herds of Buffalo over the cliff to kill them. Someone built a restaraunt right at the edge of this place which is closed and all boarded up. Michael had a piece of wire in his pocket and when his Grandma J jokingly told him that she would like to see in there why don't they break in, he started poking that wire into the lock and with out even meaning to or knowing what he did he popped the lock. So they ll had alook inside. Nothing was broken or stolen and they locked it back when they left. So nobody turn him in. He is a good boy!!!

There's No Place Like Home!

Well we made it home all in one piece. Here is a brief over view of all of our adventures. Day one- Left home 6:20 am drove through Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming. Arrived in Douglas around seven and checked into the hotel. Then headed out to the Harmeyer Ranch. Patty and Flo were there already. Tom and Craig having trouble getting a flight, not sure if they will make it.Hope got to try to bottle feed the calf whose mother had died. She was not afraid at all and when the calf wouldn't take it from her she started offering it to all the others. Spent a nice evening sitting around afire laughing and catching up. We were all surprised when the phone rang and it was Glenda( the hated sister in law) calling to say she was in Douglas at the same hotel we were all at. I thought Patty was going to come unglued for a minute. luckily Glenda was leaving early the next morning so no one had to actually see her!:-) Went to bed way to late but very happy! Day two- Headed back to the ranch first thing in the morning. Tom and Craig couldn't get a flight so the headed back to Indiana. Kit, Mike, Patty, Flo and Jim drove to Hells Half Acre to meet Colleens dad and pick up a trailer. they came back telling stories about how Mike picked the lock and broke into the place. ask him about it sometime.Colleen Hope and I had a nice day just running around. Went to the feed store saw Phil at work, Brian was there and invited us to see his new place. Then went to the fairgrounds and saw Peppy, Pam's horse and saw Pammy for a little bit. Hope decided Peppy was a little to big for her to ride but she got to pet him. Everyone came back and we spent the rest of the day visiting and had a feast of Alaskan King Crab and Cod for Supper. it was wonderful. Day three- started with a delicous breakfast of homemade biscuits and gravy. I took a little nap while everyone went to the fairgrounds to pickup Pam and Peppy and bring them home from horse camp. Around five we headed up to the mountains to have the graduation celebration dinner at a neat little restaraunt. It was alog cabin type building, very western, in a small community of about ten-twenty cabins where people live year round. They had the most beautiful church . we went in and the view behind the altar was Amazing. I will post the picture later. after dinner we went back to the ranch to have cake and the graduates opened thier gifts. We got to bed way to late again. Day four- Hit the road to Cody. We stopped on the way so i could see Hells Half acre. got to Cody and went to the Buffalo Bill Museum which is actually five museums in one. We went through the whole thing very fast. The plains Indian museum was my favorite. There were quite a few things on the Blackfoot tribe. It was great. We ended the day at the Cody Night Rodeo. The kids really liked it but Hope slept through about half since it didn't even start until 8pm. Day five- On to Yellowstone! We checked into our cabin. i was very happy to see it was not quite as rustic as I had imagined! We saw Old Faithful and a bunch of springs and geysers. Everytime Hope smelled the sulpher smell she would say"Mike you stink!" We had dinner in the hotel dining room. It was very FANCY. real silver and china even! Mike and I had pan seared duck breast and Kit had a bison steak. Hope had chicken strips of coarse! It was all very yummy!! We saw tons of Elk and Bison and even a Bison calf with its mommy. We got back to the cabin to find a Bison right in the parking lot. Day Six- Started at the mud volcano, then went to the lower falls and the grand canyon of Yellowstone. Took a great hike up to the top of the canyon . Realized that we are really out of shape!! Drove up to Mammoth springs for lunch, a picnic in the grass. Saw Elk walking all through the town. It is a neat historic spot, I would like to stay there next time. Went to the coyboycookout after seeing the tower Roosavelt falls (where thelady fell the Sat. before) We rode wagons out to Pleasant Valley where the cookout was set up. On the menu, Ribeyes, potato salad, Rosies beans,coleslaw, huckelberry crisp ,watermelon and corn bread muffins. Yum!! Cowboy Bob played the guitar and told cowboy stories . We saw Tandy's twin working here and tried to get his picture. I think he thought we were stalking him! HA HA!! On the way back to the cabin we saw a real live grizzly bear! day seven-checked out of the cabin, headed south, stopped in Jackson Hole bought some souveniers and had lunch. Continued on to Vernal Utah. We ended up with a suite which the kids loved because they got thier own room and tv. We were so tired so we just ordered a pizza and stayed in the room. it was nice. Day eight- after breakfast stopped at the dinosaur museum in town then went out to the quarry where we went on a great tour and were able to see bones being excavated and even got to touch real dinosaur bones. it was ver cool! then we drove to Golden Colorado. We stayed at the Marriot. they had the nicest beds of any of our rooms. We ordered the kids room service. Travis and Christiana ( sorry I know that isn't spelled right) came over to the room and hung out with us for a while. It was so great to see them. I will never get over Travis being so grown up! Day nine- Went to breakfast with Travis and Christiana then we got to see His office, messy but impressive,and her office and lab also very impresive. Mike was in awe the whole time. After saying goodbye we hit the road for home. We drove it seems like forever but finally made it and there trully is no place like home!

FAT FAT FAT

We are leaving in 6 days for vacation and I am desperately trying to lose weight but the harder I try the tighter my clothes seem to get!! I know it is my own fault for waiting till two weeks before we leave to get serious about it. Oh well there is always next years vacation to look good for! HA HA!! I have to leave here in one hour for Turning Point. I am not looking forward to it. I am definitely ready for this vacation. We leave here Friday morning and will spend the first three nights in Douglas, WY. While we are there we will see Kit's Uncle Jim and Aunt Coleen (or Aunt Clean as Hope calls her) Patty, Tom and their friends Flo and Craig will be there also. There will be a graduation party one of the days for Coleen(nursing school) and Pammy (high school) It should be fun. Then we will head up to Cody,WY where we will see the rodeo and visit the Buffalo Bill museum. Then it is off to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, WY. We don't have plans after that. We are still discussing whether we will try to go to Vernal UT to the dinosaur museum or whether we will try to go see Travis on the way back. Guess we better make up our mind soon. Anyway I am looking forward to being away from Turning Point for a couple of weekends. But not you Kathy and Megan, I will miss you!

THE BEASTS