The Babbling Brooks

Nancy Pelosi...

Is there somewhere we can sign this woman up for a brain transplant?

Win With Jody!

Here's Jody's giveaway for September. You can win by going to her blog and leaving a comment on the giveaway post...click HERE to enter. Be sure to tell her I sent you! I know it's possible to win...I've won twice in the last year! 

Montana Traffic Jam...

As I was coming home today, I made the turn off the main highway and encountered this.....my first real traffic jam in Eureka! Most of them gave me a look as they went by, wondering what the heck I was doing there. If you have to stop for traffic this was so much better than sitting bumper-to-bumper and waiting for a string of stoplights!

 

 

Surprise Visit!

While we were in Kalispell today we got a phone call from friends that are in the antique airplane club in Washington with us. Surprise! They were in Montana with the motor home and were driving to Eureka to see us! When we got back to town, we picked them up from the campground and brought them out to our place for dinner. We had a fun visit and got caught up on all the news. Thanks Rich and Carol for stopping by, we loved it!

In Honor of Gigi...

Our friend, Gigi, is the #1 Mouse fan and the best tour guide you could ever hope for at Disneyland. And besides that, she's a truly great friend and we love her dearly (you, too, Darrell!) She loves taking little ones to Disneyland to see the magic in their faces and smiles. Legend had such a fun time staying with us at Darrell and Gigi's, they are just like having another set of grandparents!

Two for the Disney Album...

 

Tobacco Valley Rodeo!

I'd mentioned that we went to the Tobacco Valley Rodeo when Legend was here. Here's a little of what we watched...Mutton Bustin' (kids 6 and under), Legend really wanted to do this but we didn't know about it to get him signed up before the rodeo. If he's here next year, we'll try to get him in (assuming Mom and Dad say it's okay :). There was also Bronco Busting, Calf Roping, and some other events. It's fun to watch. I never thought I'd enjoy a rodeo as much as I do. It's way better than most other sports!

                         

There's no doubt that Legend is too cute...

Here's the proof!

Disneyland...Main Street

Another one done for the Disney album!

I wouldn't recognize him...

if I ran him over! Would you??? It's hard to believe that the voice comes from this young man. I am waiting as patiently as possible for him to do another concert tour. He was in Calgary last summer, but it was a Wednesday and we were in the middle of building the house and just couldn't get away...

 

Blog virgin from Josh Groban on Vimeo.

Our Legend Summer (Montana Edition: The Baker)

Legend and I made chocolate chip cookies while he was here. He did all the measuring and stirring with the only mishap being the brown sugar container upside down on the kitchen floor :) Later in the day he decided we should make a cake and he had his own recipe...

2 teaspoons powder
8 chocolate chips
12 scoops of butter
2 scoops of baking soda
10 scoops of flour
2 scoops of sugar

"Put it in the oven and bake it for as long as you bake a cake. Put whipped cream on it after you bake it." I convinced him that a recipe with 12 scoops of butter and 10 scoops of flour would make a lot of cake, so we used a cake mix instead and made cupcakes. Then later he made sure I knew you could use 2 scoops of butter or 5 scoops of butter or however many you want, just not more than 12!

 

 

Sarah and Hillary...together...

The Disney Album...

As I sit here listening to reports of Hurricane Ike and wondering about the aforementioned people with no brains, I've gotten a few more pages done for the Disney album.

          

Not the best scans...some of the edges are cut off, but you can get the idea!

Is it just me? (Updated 9-22-08)

Am I the only one that thinks these people are candidates for the stupidest bunch of humanity on the planet? Going to the beach bar (the "Poop Deck") to drink out the hurricane makes them deserving of whatever happens to them. No, I'm not saying they deserve to die. But when you are told that staying means you are facing "certain death" and you choose to drink yourself into oblivion, I guess you get what you get. I hope none of my tax dollars will go into helping these people out of the mess they put themselves in. I believe I heard that those who choose to stay will not see rescuers coming in to get them. I say "Hooray" to that. First responders should not be asked to put their own lives on the line for people like these. (For the full story go to FOX News .

The Poop Deckers seem to have made it. Fox apparently got a lot of inquiries as to what happened to these idiots. The building is still standing, the owner who was laughing about whether she'd be alive to laugh about it the next day is still laughing, and several of the "locals" had stopped by to tell her they are okay. The patrons left the building and went who knows where when it started to get really bad. The owner and her husband stayed there in a building on the sea wall of Galveston and listened to the sea and the wind all night. I'm glad no one was hurt, but I hope they know to use better sense next time...

Search & Rescue Certified...

I had mentioned that John and I were on our way to Helena last week. It was a rather productive trip for me getting some of the things on my to do list done as I was on my own most of the weekend. John spent about 26 hours in classroom and flying instruction and is now a certified search and rescue pilot for the state of Montana. The state is divided into regions and he may be called as a pilot or as an observer if someone goes missing in northwest Montana. He got to fly the state owned C182 and C206. He said he had a good time with the C206. It is heavier and more powerful than other planes he's flown and he had to land it on a short, uphill grass strip in the mountains. His instructor said he did great. We had planned to spend Sunday night somewhere just outside the east side of Glacier Park and come back through the park on Monday, but that didn't work out. We may still try to get up there one more time before snow closes the roads.

Our Legend Summer (Montana Edition: At the Rodeo)

Yippee Ki Yay! The Tobacco Valley Rodeo was held while Legend was here. He had a good time watching the bull riders, calf roping, barrel racing, and the rest. Since this was our first time at the event we didn't know that the Boot Race would be held. When we heard the announcer say that kids could come into the arena, John and Legend were off like a flash. I think the explanation started a little before Legend got into the arena, so he followed what all the other kids were doing. The idea was to take off your boots and put them in a pile. The pile was mixed up while the kids ran over to the other side of the arena. At the signal they ran back to find their shoes and get them on. Prizes were given to the first three kids in each age group to finish. Legend ran as fast as he could and when he found his shoes took them over to John on the sidelines to help him put them on :) He was too cute. My favorite part was when they returned to the stands and Legend declared with a huge smile..."Grandma! That kid out there that fell down...that was ME!"

   

We also didn't know about the "Mutton Bustin'" for kids 6 and under at the beginning of the rodeo. When Legend saw that he really wanted to do it, but you have to sign up in advance. Next time we'll know! I'll have photos of that event in another post.

Our Legend Summer (Montana Edition: Flying With Papa)

Legend loves flying in the Champ and this time was no exception. He helped John (aka Papa) roll the plane out, watched him do the pre-flight and then enthusiastically hopped in. Papa let him do some of the flying while they were at altitude and Legend is proud of that! He told John that when he grows up he's going to "be a pilot just like you, Papa!"

               

And then there's Warbirds...Legend asked John if he could play, so he sat him down and gave him some pointers. By the end of Legend's visit he was flying and landing...and shooting the guns in combat!

    

Our Legend Summer (Montana Edition: Bubbles)

I'll just let these speak for themselves...

     

Our Legend Summer (Montana Edition: The Artist)

       

Legend thought my studio was pretty great...who wouldn't? There's lots of fun stuff in there. He spotted the paint brushes in my paint supplies and decided he wanted to paint. Once again the scrap stash came to our rescue. White cardstock was a perfect canvas. Paints? Hmmm, I didn't think my oils or watercolors would be a great idea. I got the acrylic paints out and they were perfect for a 5 year old. He painted Superman first, then Mickey Mouse, then a spaceship. I was most impressed with the portrait of Mickey. He didn't have a picture of the Mouse to look at and he still remembered the white buttons and the yellow shoes.

   

Miracles Do Happen!

In mid-June I told you about our friends, Dennis and Jeanne . Dennis had just been diagnosed with advanced stage cancer and had no symptoms up until then. His doctors felt that the cancer was too advanced and too aggresive for chemotherapy to do any good. Dennis was put on hormone treatments to try to slow the cancer. His progress has been checked and the doctors found that not only has the progression slowed, but the existing tumors have shrunk by 98% ! His doctor says that he has never seen this dramatic of a change in the 30 years he's been practicing. The prognosis for Dennis has changed from months to years!

Keep those prayers coming!!!

Our Legend Summer (Montana Edition: Let's Pretend!)

Five year olds love to pretend and Legend is no exception. It started at the beach in Washington when we found pirate gear at the $2 store and he became "Captain Legend". (He also has pirate gear from his 5th birthday, but it was home in St. George.)

 

At the fair in Washington we went to the crafts tent. They had paper masks and Legend colored one for himself and one for Mr. Bear. (For those of you that have not met Mr. Bear...he is the stuffed bear that John and I got for him when he was born. We took pictures of Legend with Mr. Bear every week for the first year, then monthly, and now we do them every six months. Mr. Bear is the fuzzy one, the other one is Brer Bear and belonged to Brad when he was a kid. Brer Bear now belongs to Legend.) Legend tied the red side of his Spiderman pajama top around his shoulders and declared himself the new super hero "Flaugh", "like laugh with an F". You may have noticed that pajama top in some of the other photos, now you know what it's all about.

   

When we got home to Montana, he decided he needed to learn 500 jokes. I asked why and he said he wanted to be a clown. (He's working on those jokes...ask him about it!) I remembered that I still had one of the clown costumes I'd made for my boys when they were little. We went upstairs to the storage room and found it. There was no clown nose or clown hair. He made a red paper nose, but later we took him to The Dollar Thing in Eureka and found a foam nose. We had to improvise for the hair. Grandmas craft supplies came to the rescue again and we fashioned clown hair from red paper. Meet "Clownie"...

       

The fun continued when he found two feathers at the park in Kalispell and became "Legend White Feather". I didn't happen to have an Indian costume, so we made one...from paper bags and a head dress (or as Legend calls it, a "head thing") from those aforementioned craft supplies.

   

Don't you wish you still had that kind of imagination???   

 

 

 

 

Our Legend Summer (Montana Edition: Big Creek Baldy Watch Tower)

When we left Washington with Legend in tow, we had several days left to enjoy him. One of the things on John's To Do list was to stay overnight in a watch tower. Legend loves to be outdoors and to camp. John found a list of fire watch towers that have been decommissioned and are rented out to the public and we decided we'd take Legend to one. We stayed at the Big Creek Baldy Watch Tower about 30 miles northwest of Libby in the Yaak. We were able to drive to the base of this tower, but we were glad we now have a 4-wheel drive vehicle cause we wouldn't have made it up the last bit without it. We hauled our gear 41 feet to the top and found a propane stove, 2 propane lights, 2 chairs, a table with a bench, a double bed, and a single bed (no bedding, you bring your own...we brought sleeping bags.) We had a 360 degree view here, even from the ground. The old cabin next to the base of the tower is where the watch keeper slept long ago before the quarters at the top were enlarged.  

We hiked around for a bit to enjoy the views, then built a fire and roasted hot dogs for dinner (with smore's for desert, of course!) Last year Legend told me that roasting marshmallows was his favorite part of camping.

        

John had gotten a slingshot and given Legend a lesson a few days earlier, so they brought it and Legend got in a little practice...

   

We watched a gorgeous sunset and settled in for the night. The next morning John and Legend made entries in the log book and Legend got a lesson in calling in a fire and determining it's position.

         

The next morning we gathered up our gear and got ready to leave. While we were packing the Explorer, we noticed some Mountain Bluebirds going in and out of the nesting box that was at the bottom of the stairs to the watch tower. I got my long lens and waited patiently for them to get brave enough to go to the box with me standing there. My patience was rewarded!

 

Being the hardy campers that we are we loaded into the Explorer and stopped at the Libby Cafe for breakfast on the way home. We had a great time staying at the tower and are planning to do it again next summer for a longer time. We also stayed at one when Trevor was here in August...watch for that later.

Stay tuned for more Legend stories.....

 

 

   

Back to those photos...

I finally have my studio pretty well put together and organized for scrapbooking, stamping, painting, and whatever else comes along! (OK, I'll share pictures of that soon.) So I've gotten started again on a scrapbooking project...those photos from our trip to Disneyland with Legend in 2006 for Disney's 50th Birthday celebration. I'm so glad to have my Wishblade to cut letters, words, and whatever else I want...normally I would scan and stitch my scrapbook pages to share, but I didn't want to put this one of my scanner because of the beads and glitter so we're stuck with a photo.

We'll be leaving for Helena in the morning. John is going to attend the search and rescue course for pilots that is put on by the state of Montana. He'll be busy from Friday afternoon till the end of the weekend. I'm going along for the ride and the chance to just relax, read, catch up on photos and my blog (assuming the internet connection is good!), and so I won't miss my sweetie for 2 days. I wanted to make another trip to Glacier National Park before it closes for winter, so we've decided we'll stay on the east side Sunday night and come back through the park on Monday.

Barking Dogs and a Black Eye

I like dogs. I miss Licorice. I want to get a dog. We just need to find the right one. I do not like dogs that bark at night and bark and bark and bark. Well, it's not their fault. They're barking at deer or coyotes or raccoons or bears or whatever else is moving around out there when it's dark. Our neighbors down the hill have 2 (maybe 3) dogs. They must be hunting dogs cause we don't see them out and about with the family. When the family goes camping, the dogs stay home. When the family is gone for a few days, the dogs stay home. They have a large kennel with a nice doghouse to enjoy. When we first moved into our house at the end of January, we'd hear them now and then. I guess they were spending most of the time in the doghouse (literally) to stay warm. But then the weather improved and we started hearing them more and more. Thankfully, they do not bark much during the day. John called them a few times in the middle of the night and they did whatever they do to quiet the dogs. It happened that one day after one of those phone calls, the lady of the house came over on some homeowners association business. She mentioned that they have bark collars for the dogs, but they forget to charge them or they forget to put them on. She promised to do better and they have. But...still they forget a couple times a week, last night was one of those times. After 45 minutes of barking, I got up and called them to take care of it. I turned out the light and started back to bed. You need to understand that when we turn the lights out, unless there is a full moon it is pitch black. After several minutes your eyes will adjust and it is usually possible to move slowly about. Well, I made the call, hit the light switch and headed directly back into the bedroom. As I made the corner into the room I swear the cabinet that's there must have jumped directly into my path cause I smacked into it hard and here's the result...

 Within 2 minutes I had a golf ball size bump and the bruising started.I put an ice bag on my eye and went back to sleep. The ice seem to have helped the swelling and bruising, but you can tell where the ice didn't stay put. I guess I'm lucky that I'm not a half inch shorter or the cabinet a half  inch taller or I'd probably have damaged the vessels in my eyeball! The dogs??? Yes, they quieted down...I think he put them inside somewhere cause I heard them once after all this and it sounded like maybe they were in the barn. We'll keep working on this barking dog thing...along with all the other covenants they are violating.