Most of you know that my cell phone doesn't work at home.  When I got back to town after 4 wonderful days of with my family for Christmas, I got this text on my phone!!!!!

Hello!  My name is Jaimie, my husband and I have your son and his companion over for dinner, and this is them "learning" how to eat nutella and beanut butter!  ( My husband is Austrian, they are big into this stuff!)  I promise I fed them real food too! :)  He is a great missionary and doing well, thanks for sharing your son.  Merry Christmas!

How awesome is that - I'm grateful for good members all around the world that took the Elders into their homes and fed them & watched over them this Christmas season!

The Sweater

A year or so ago as I was shopping on the sale racks like I always do, I saw this cute white sweater.  I thought my girls would think it was pretty cute.  Thinking it would surely fit one of them & it was a real bargain, so I bought it.  Got it home and Mara didn't like it , Shelby didn't like it, and it hung in Megan's closet for several months.  I asked my friend Becca if she would like it and gladly took it ~ I thought, well at least someone will put it it good use.  I never did notice her wearing it though.  Then a week or so ago Megan tells me that she bought this cute white sweater for $2 on facebook from a friend Amanda:

Megi showed me a picture & I said go ahead & get it, but it sure looks like the one I gave to Becca that you wouldn't wear.  She picks up the sweater & brings it over to show me & sure enough it is the same sweater. Becca passed it along to Amanda, who then decided to sell it on facebook.  Now surely there is a moral to this story - like.....

grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.......

use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without........

or maybe you should just trust your mom's opinion and gladly wear what she buys you instead of paying for it twice!!!!

Now any guesses on how long it takes Megan to wear it?

Cardettes 11-30-12

The Cardettes performed their hip-hop competition routine during half time of the boys season opener.  Looking good ladies!!  Watch for Megan front & center a few times ~ I think she is pretty awesome for never taking dance lessons as a little girl!!!!!!!!

Lucky Grandma

Check out the link below ~ My cousin Kathy is one lucky grandma:

Couple welcomes four new grandkids — 3 delivered in 31-hour span - The Herald Journal: Allaccess

Squirrel

That blasted squirrel is at it again!!!!

We have an uninvited guest living at our house this year.  At first sight he is really kind of cute.  Check him out all cute and innocent looking:

Now he thinks he is hiding ~ keeps ducking behind the wood:

I know ~ isn't he cute ~ such cute little eyes ~ such a big bushy tail!!

He even sits out there and chats with me while I am doing dishes or cooking dinner.  

Don't let him fool you!!!!!

Evil is hidden right inside that cute little innocent face; just ask our dog Pepper.  Her bowl constantly looks like this:

My little buddy, the squirrel is stocking up for the winter & there are stashes like this all over the wood pile:

I told Jim that he needs to get take care of the problem ~ I was thinking of a live trap & a trip up Gravel Creek, or even his 22 would do the job.........., but what I got was Jim out on the porch having a talk with the little guy begging him to please be good..........Oh brother!!!

I guess he is here to stay, but if he doesn't stop pooping on the grill cover I am going to have to take some drastic measures.

Christmas tree hunt

It turned into quite an adventure, but the girls & I got the tree all on our own this year.  Our neighbor let us go up on his land to find a good one - thanks Dave!

Shelby & I searching for a tree

Pepper is a little camera shy

Shelby & her walking stick

Photo bombing - what a face Shelby!

A beautiful view of Caribou from around the other side of Beavertail

forcing Pepper to pose for a shot ~ we have never figured out her fear of the camera

Success!!!

We got one home & it is a beautiful tree ~ the work has just begun ~ now for making it fit & the decorating!

Oh Christmas Tree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wolves

Thanksgiving morning we had an interesting pack traveling through the valley.  The coloring looks like coyotes, but I'm not sure.  If they were coyotes, they were by far the biggest i have ever seen.  Jim caught a glimpse of them wandering through Jug's place just north of us.  We got out the binoculars & zoomed in as far as we could with the camera.  Here are the shots we got:

they were making a b-line for Blue Mountain

it is hard to tell from the picture, but they were huge!

crossing the road right by Jug's place

Then we spotted another one coming & Mara took off in her car to try and get a closer shot.  She kind of headed him off, but got a closer picture.  He was by far the smallest of the group & wasn't too happy about being separated from his buddies.

this was the smallest of the 4 - he was pretty thick

I've shown several people the pictures & they think that they are probably coyotes, but I'm not so sure.  They were huge & were making tracks for Blue Mountain.  The walked in a straight line  & it was not the typical pouncing around that we have seen coyotes do.  I sincerely hope I am wrong, but will never know for sure.  The idea of having a wolf in the valley when we are calving is just a little spooky.  Definitely not who I wanted to have over for Thanksgiving dinner.

Soda vs. Marsh Valley

I had to go to Marsh Valley on my way to Boise for the school board convention to watch Shelby's team play ball.  It was a close game all the way through.  I will have to check with Shelby, but I'm pretty sure that we have never beat this team - if I remember we always lost by about... oh, let's just say 30 points or so.  It was not even close to that kind of game tonight.  Shelby says didn't have her best game, but look at the videos - the girl she was guarding was a good 6 inches taller.  I think she did awesome - scoring is not always the most important job on the team - defense is just as important.  Everybody wants to score though, right.  Here are Shelby's highlights from the night:

This is kind of a fun shot - It has been so nice to have someone coach Shelby that has played her position.  Thanks coach Madie:

 One successful - one not from the foul shot line:

She got this rebound!:

Final Score:

Wheeew!!!!

Woot, Woot Cardinal C-team!!

Cardettes 1st Basketball Game

The Cardettes have been working hard to be ready for basketball season & their upcoming competitions.  It is fun to see them on the court vs. the football field.  You see their faces & it is just funner to watch them close up.  Megan has been really enjoying the dance team & has learned a bunch.  Their first performance was this Friday night at the girls basketball game.  Check out my cute Cardette:

anxious to take the floor - hey that's Kammi playing ball

looking good Megi

wiggle, wiggle - she is going to kill me LOL

woot ~ woot

you are awesome Megi - facials are not a problem for Miss Megan

Nice job girls - you are beautiful!

I think I finally figured out how to post a video via youtube - check out the dance!

                            

They also performed on Saturday night - a hip hop routine.  It was good, but I liked Friday nights even better.  I think it is mostly the uniforms - not my favorite, but they still did a good job.

So here are some pix from Saturday night at the girls game:

ready to go - Megan's cousin Sierra is on her right

yes they do look a lot alike - they get comments all the time

go Megan.. go Megan.. go Megan!!

hip - hop is kind of fun - check out the shiny shoes

The end

We will be busy - lots more performances and competitions coming up in the next few months!

Back to the Gym

Well, it's that time of year again ~ my butt will be on the bleachers again at SSHS.  Part of me is excited & another part of me can't believe it is time again.  Shelby is excited to officially be wearing the Cardinals uniform.  It is a dream come true to be playing high school ball - so here comes another 4 years of basketball updates from mom.  

It was an exciting first night of basketball.  Shelby started on the C-team - all five starters were Freshman.  They were excited, nervous... all kinds of emotions.  They came out on fire - left me wondering if they were the same girls from TMS... LOL  don't be mad at me Shelby.  First game was against Sugar-Salem.  Halftime score was Soda 20 vs. Sugar 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shelby ready to catch a pass

Look at her post up

Can you tell she loves this game?

no foul right? 

give me the ball!

This one is for Seth - his coaches having a good time watching the game!

This one is for Seth too - keeping up the Stoor tradition :)

Final Score

Saturday night Bear Lake came to town.  We have always been pretty evenly matched with the Bear Lake girls, but not this time.  I mostly did video that night so check them out:

only 1 foul?  how does that happen?

Final Score

Crazy score right?  It was absolutely loop-sided & we were a little stunned!  Shelby had 10 points and I couldn't even count the assists - that is if you get to count an inbound pass to the guard who shoots immediately and assist.  It was a fun night, but I don't imagine we will see scores like that all season.  I will try to keep the blog updated, but who knows - we don't have another home game until December 5th, so lots of traveling coming up.  Good thing I like basketball!

shipping day

It's that time of year again - time to ship the calves.  I got to stay home from work for the morning and go with Jim - it was chilly, but a nice day & things went well.  I took the camera along.  Too bad I don't really know how to run the thing - everything just looks blue.  It was a cold morning, but just beautiful.

Jim bringing in the last pair

the sun finally started coming up & melting the morning frost

everyone has a job to do - Sissy is helping too

Jim - counting as they make their way to the semi

waiting for her turn on the scale

Caribou is always picture worthy

the view toward home

It is nice to be able to go out to the company and spend a little time with the cows.  I sent these pictures to Seth & maybe that was a bad idea.  He gets homesick easily & I think I understand why.  There is something so peaceful about being so far away from town.  He is missing that a bunch lately & missing the solitude that comes with living on the ranch.  Can't say as I blame him - I love people, but I also like being alone.  Living in the country has its perks!