He Wrestled a Buffalo...?

So, I've decided that a better story for my ankle is that I wrestled a buffalo while on vacation...what was I thinking? Those stories of animals being safe and friendly are WRONG!

And...He's DOWN!

Nice move X-LAX!
Well, we made it home safe and sound yesterday. Got the camper cleaned, mowed the yard, hit the laundry. I decided to clean the awning and wash all the bug guts off the camper, and when taking a step off the camper steps, proceeded to miss the bottom step and sprained my ankle...BAD! Bad enough that I decided with the 3+ pitting edema maybe I should be on crutches today. This sucks! I attached a couple of photos to see...nice huh? I'll keep you posted on the colorful design that develops.

One guy at church today says "Hey, I heard there is this ONE physical therapist who knows what he's doing"...implying that I didn't...he was obviously joking with me.

Well, I guess I will have to practice what I preach....Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Bobby was nice enough to bring me a bell to ring in the event I needed help. Her mother didn't think that was such a good idea. Of course I'm taking advantage of every ring I can make! HA!

Summer Vacation 2008 Part 3

Well, all good things must come to an end. Today was our final day in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We enjoyed our week and decided to end our time with a lazy day in the camper and the most strenuous thing we did was take about an hour hike as a family up into the forest ground behind our camper. It was great. Took some good shots and had fun. In the afternoon we decided to go swimming at the city pool here in Custer. It was wonderful! Dozing in the sun, watching the girls play and swim, and then enjoying an occasional dip ourselves. It was a great day! Tomorrow we head home....sigh. Oh well. God gave us a great vacation and we've enjoyed it.

Summer Vacation 2008 Part 2

1880's Train Ride

Today started out with a ride on the 1880's train from Hill City, SD to Keystone. It takes about 2 hours and is a beautiful ride with lots to see. The scenery is breathtaking, and the history is very interesting. Kind of pricey, but we thought it was worth it.

Dad and the girls on the train...
Next stop...Flinstonestones Bedrock City
The girls...riding the Bedrock Rail....(another train..toot...toot~!)

When I was a kid, my parents took this same photo of me, I'll try to find it and compare...cute huh? Momma S says I'm just a kid at heart!
S & S setting on a stone pelican...(don't ask!)

I'm messing around on the toys again...

Bobbie and her beautiful hat....She reminds me of a traveler PT that worked for me once...HA!

Summer Vacation 2008

The Black Hills - South Dakota

Does everyone like our new RIG? Isn't she a beauty?

Ha! Gotcha! Just kidding! This is for all of you who make fun of us because we call packing and hauling our 5th wheel camping. Take a look at this...lace curtains, steps that automatically pop out when the door is opened. These folks were from California. The mom (looked like a grandma) carried around a martini glass all the time, the daughter, carted a black toy poodle like a show piece and daddy walked around in his tank top and shorts cleaning things. UGH! After setting up the camper, we decided to try setting up a new net canopy for the picnic table. Dad gave it to me for Christmas. Oh, my! What a chore! Directions that required a nuclear engineer to read, and many tired, hot helping hands. Every time we stuck one pole in, another would pop out! UGH! Finally we got it done, and are now enjoying it.Nice Girls!
Crazy Horse Mountain 1948- Present and still carving... The "A" Fam at Crazy Horse Visitor CenterA "COOL" view of Mt. Rushmore in the tunnels of Hwy 244
The girls out on a hike... S & S out posing on the hike! The Black Hills are simply beautiful!

Daddy and his "girls"...you know...growing up, when I thought about being surrounded by women all day long...somehow, this just isn't quite what I had in mind...But I love it anyway! Thank you God for a healthy family and for wonderful children!

Princess For A Day!

Sis is PRINCESS for a DAY!

Heritage Days in Alliance is like any other Carnival/Celebration portion of a local County Fair, only in Box Butte County, it is split up (long history of politics that we won't get into today).

On Tuesday, Sis won the prize of a raffle offering her the winner of the Princess of the Day award! She was thrilled. A day of breakfast
in an old victorian house (the one we really wanted when we moved here), hair done at the salon, and a ride with Miss Alliance 2008. We were VERY proud of our "little girl", who is now turning into a beautiful young woman before our eyes. She has been asked to consider particiapting in the Miss Teen pagent next year.

Sis and Miss Alliance, Amy Applegarth.
The "girls" watching the parade!

Those Darn Summer Projects

The FENCE!
Thanks to numerous hunting trips to find the dogs, noisey traffic on 18th Street, and a healthy tax return,

The "A" Fam decided to build a fence around the back yard.

Considered white vinyl fencing, but decided the good

ol' budget coudn't quite hack that.

(I LITERALLY could install 3 of my cedar fences for the cost of white vinyl)
Here are a variety of photos of the project as we progress:

Me, my brother and two hospital buddies drilling holes. It was hot that morning! Filling post holes with concrete. It was about 90 deg. out.

Here are the finished posts all nice and straight: Dad and Pippy cutting 2x4's for cross boards:

One side done...and below an idea of the finished product: Shadow box cedar fence

Misc Summer Fun - Gatherings

Here are the girls and a bunch of people at our 4th of July party we had.

A few weeks ago, we went camping up at Ft. Robinson, NE. This was the horse drawn wagon ride we took Sunday morning. Offered great history of the Fort and of the area.

Here are our girls along with a friend at the BBQ. It was a "western" theme.

Never done this before....

So, this is my first experience of the blogging world. I know, it's time to catch up with the real world. Hopefully this will be a chance for our friends and family to keep up to date with our family and life here in NE.
Here's a photo from a BBQ we had at our church last week!