HOWDY!!!! from the plains of Oklahoma

Yes, we are still alive and breathing after our trip to Colorado!  Haven't been very good about keeping you up to date, but I will try to remedy that with this post.

We have a lot of pictures from our trip and those will continue to be added to the page.  We had a terrific time in Colorado and we also have been to Tennessee since we last wrote.  That was a very interesting trip and we will tell you all about it!!

While we were in Colorado, Monty bought a bus in Tennessee!  WOW!! We don't have any photos yet of the bus, but they will be on the site soon!! This bus needs some tender, loving care, but the engine runs good and we can't wait to take a trip!  When we tried to pressurize the water system,  water came shooting out of the shower,  BUT IN THE WRONG PLACE!!!   UGH!!!  Oh, and the toilet leaked as well.  That's OK!  We knew it needed work and we were prepared for some problems.  The guys worked hard to fix all the water leaks and we thought that all was well.  UNTIL...we took out first showers.  After Will took his shower, he was 3rd in line,  the carpet around the shower was soaking wet.  So, we knew there was more work to be done!!  Monty found the leak and just replaced the part yesterday.  He ran water through the system and all seems to be working!  WOO HOO!!!

 We have just ridden out some really tough weather here in Oklahoma!!!  The last 2 weeks have been somewhat miserable.  Our campers have frozen up more than once and we have all had to learn how to live without running water.  My folks have been gracious and have let us take showers at their house a couple of times.  The Hasses have been wonderful.  They just 'go with the flow or without the flow,'  of water!!   It has not been easy to live out here and they have been real troopers!

BUT...

The weather these last three days has been GREAT!!  The sun has shown and the temps have risen.  Work just moves along at a faster pace when the weather is nice.  Dayton has gotten all the leach lines dug and Ed and Will have been busy filling in all the septic line trenches with dirt.  Dayton also cleared the spot where the barn/house will be and that made Sarah and I very happy!  We can actually see how the barn will sit on the land.  We also found out that the land slopes down to the lake in a beautiful way!!  Needless to say, we are so excited!  Sometimes it takes only a little to make us happy!  SOMETIMES!!! Monty brought in sand and the guys have been putting it around the septic tank as it fills up.  Hard to believe how excited one can get about a septic system!  Such is life on a new place!!  We also ordered some gravel and the guys have been spreading that out on the driveway!  It looks very nice and will help when we start to get rain!  Dayton plowed and disced the potato patch and Sarah's herb garden.  We will be putting in potatoes very soon.  Sarah has a beautiful plan all drawn out on graph paper for her herb garden.  It will be a long term project, but will be amazing when she gets it done.

Barrett is continuing to work hard on the internet business.  He has had quite a few orders lately!  It seems that business is picking up!  A friend of ours, Joshua Williams,  just created a new website for us and it looks great!  Now Barrett has to load all of our product onto the site!  He has lots to do and he still finds time to help out on the ranch as well!  Usually he works on orders at night and the ranch during the day!

Monty is outside right now with the electric company man.  Yes, we have decided to hook up to the grid!  OK, maybe we are being soft and wimpy, but electricity will make things much quieter (no generators) and much easier!!!

We all went through a nasty little bug not too long ago, but now everyone seems to be well!  Life is always full of surprises.  Some good, some NOT so good, but we are together and we are healthy.  LIFE is wonderful, not perfect, but wonderful.  The ranch is starting to feel like home and that is a very good thing!

ENJOY YOUR LIFE!!!!  It is the only one you have!!