Wedding Bells

Our youngest son called one morning and said, "Hi, Mom!  I wanted to let you know that we just got married..."

WHAT?  Wow!!  That's fantastic!  I mean, they've only been together for 6 years?  7?  and we love Michelle!

So I sent Granpa to town to buy a wedding cake.  It never occurred to me that I should coach him on what bride-n-groom topper to get.  This is what he came home with !!

Does Granpa have a sense of humor, or what?  And obviously, so does our son and his new wife!

Truth - absolute truth - be told, though, Michelle was the hesitant one so this bride and groom should switch places.  I suspect, however, that that would look pretty Neanderthal and not sell very good.

So we celebrated with what we had, and Michelle loved it.  All our sons have wonderful wives now, and wonderful families.  Granpa and I will rest easy.

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Look What Was Waiting For Us At Home

My eyes and my heart are aching for home.  We really, really love our home.  Being away for so long and living in someone else's home always underscores for us what we think we did right in building our own.

But coming home also means a small window for repairs.

Yes, we lost an old pine tree while we were out of town.  One of our sons has taken our two chainsaws home for maintenance so all we can do right now is look at the mess.  Ah well, just adds to the rustic charm of country living...

We also have a huge oak tree that was struck by lightening and the electric company will have to come deal with it because it's too close to power lines.  All we can do with it is look at it and wait patiently for the electric crews...

However, we may be able to get a bonus out of the oak tree.  Sometimes the power company brings a chipper and creates mulch as they clear out their easements.  I've asked that they empty their mulch trucks on our land as they move through the fall clean up season.  We can use all that mulch to "bed down" the garden and flower beds for the winter.

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Buffalo Diplomacy with Russia

How would you like to have gone on a hunting trip with the likes of Custer, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, "Wild Bill" Hickock, AND General Sheridan?  Well, that's exactly what happened in January 1872 with the 21-year-old Grand Duke Alexis of Russia.  Visiting Denver, Colorado that year he was promised an exciting hunt with these amazing personalities.

After arriving by train in Kit Carson, Colorado, they headed for a valley between Rush Creek and the Big Sandy.  The Grand Duke, armed with a brace of pistols, a Bowie knife, and rifle, killed a bull and two cow buffalo (well, bison, really).  Since buffalo can run up to 35 miles per hour - and can maintain that pace for fifteen MILES,  I'm thinkin' the Grand Duke Alexis did good!

The entire expedition was a tremendous success, especially when accompanied by free flowing champagne and whiskey.  Relations between Russia and the United States were greatly improved!

Kindred Spirits

John and I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful surprises that pop up during our travels.  We found this in a teeny-tiny town at a sort-of rest stop.  I thought it was beautiful, and I thought it spoke volumes about women of all times.

KINDRED SPIRITS

Their lives made kindred spirits of these women of the west.

They shared the pain and joy of America's conquest.

They prove their strength and courage with raw intensity;

Raised a family in the wild through great adversity.

I'm proud of every ounce of blood that comes from them to me,

The example of America as it was and is to be.

We found this beautiful piece of artwork and verse on US Highway 287 in Colorado just a few miles from where the Sand Creek Massacre occurred in 1864.  U.S. troops killed over 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women and children at Sand Creek.  Movies have been made about it.

You know, there were a lot of people who were wronged back then --- and there are a lot of people right now that are being wronged.  I think that's why my faith is so important to me.  When all is said and done, "Is that all there is?"  With my faith in Christ and the salvation for eternity that He gives if we just believe in Him and His sacrifice, no, that is NOT all there is.

Man's inhumanity to man will continue for all time, but I have Christ in every fiber of my being - and will for all time.  You can, too.  All you have to do is Admit, Believe, and Confess your sins.  Ask Jesus to forgive you and to come into your heart.  From that day forward you will continue to struggle with right and wrong, but you will fight with the strength of God Almighty.

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Things You Didn't Know About Montana

Trivia for a day:

The largest snowflake ever observed was 38 cm wide and was recorded in Montana on January 28, 1887.  That's just darn near 15 inches!

Montana holds the world record for the greatest temperature change in a 24-hour period.  On January 14-15, 1972, the temperature went from -54 F to +49 F in Loma, Montana.  That's a whopping 103 degrees!

(This is a good one:)  It is illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone. (eeww!  ickky!!)

In Montana, it is illegal for married women to go fishing alone on Sundays, and illegal for unmarried women to fish alone at all.

The Montana Yogo Sapphire is the only North American gem to be included in the Crown Jewels of England.

It is a misdemeanor to show movies in Montana that depict acts of a felonious crime.  (Now why do I think that one's not enforced??)

No state in the U.S. has as many different species of mammals as Montana.

The average square mile of land in Montana contains 1.4 elk, 1.4 pronghorn antelope, and 3.3 deer (minus one deer that I know of!)

 Montana is the fourth largest state in the U.S. but is 44th in (human) population.  The elk, deer and antelope populations outnumber the humans.

In Helena, Montana the law states that a woman cannot dance on a saloon table unless her clothing weighs more the 3 lbs 2 oz. (???)

In Fort Benton, Montana a cowboy once insisted on riding his horse to his room in the Grand Union Hotel.  When the manager objected, they exchanged gunfire.  The horseman was killed before reaching the top of the stairs.  Fourteen .44 caliber slugs were later dug out of his body.

Well, I can't say that I knew all of that, either!

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Montana Gold

We're certainly not going to let a lil' ol' deer strike dampen our enthusiasm for history though!  I'm beginning to believe there is gold in EVERY state!!  Who knew... 

"About 1 1/2 miles downstream from this point a creek flows into the Clark Fork River from the southwest.  In 1852, a French half-breed, Francois Finlay, commonly known as "Benetsee," prospected the creek for placer gold.  Finlay had had some experience in the California gold fields but was inadequately equipped with tools.  However, he found colors, and in 1858 James and Granville Stuart, Reece Anderson and Thomas Adams, having heard of Benetsee's discovery, prospected the creek.  The showing obtained convinced them that there were rich placer mines in Montana.   The creek was first called "Benetsee Creek" and afterwards became known as Gold Creek.

The rumors of the strike reached disappointed "Pikes Peakers" as well as the backwash of prospectors from California and resulted in an era of prospecting that uncovered the famous placer deposits of Montana."

(Placer is Spanish meaning shoal or alluvial/sand deposit.  This gold can be found in the gravel and sand deposits from glacial ice flows that created and filled streams and rivers.)

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