OH MY GOODNESS

So you know the saying "when it reains, it pours" well the month of February has been hard for us and its not over yet. 1st Jake and Krae got pretty sick w/ a fever and chills and then a bad cough to follow (maybe that was the end of Jan.)Krae ended up missing 2 days of school that week, then my Grandmother passed away (he missed 2 more days of school), then we had to take Krae in the other day because of an ear ache (and another day of school was missed this weeek) and now today and all of yesterday we spent trying to save Kraeton's pony and she passed away.

She was an old horse ( I know I have posted about her before) and from the day we got her (or should I say the day my dad dropped her off) she looked rough. She never really gained any weigh regardless of what we did (pasture, hay, grain, worming,etc). So on Friday morning before I went to work and Krae went to school Jake went out to his pick-up to get Krae's bag and saw that she was laying down (which horses do not do often) so he went over to her and he could not get her up. He thought she might have colicked????(I have no idea how to spell that) because she has done that before. So he tried getting her up and then called the vet (who happens to live about a 1/2 mile from us0. He gave Jake some type of shot that she needed every 3 hours to help her gain her strength back. Finally by 4:00 he got her to stand w/ the help of his dad and the neighbors (I forgot to mention that the vet did not think it was colic, but rather a bad gut ache) She ended up standing until at least 10:00pm when Jake went to bed (yes Jake pretty much stayed w/ that horse from 7:00 in the morning until 10:00 last night). He then woke up every 3 hrs to keep giving her the meds and when he woke at 1 he came back in and told me she had fallen again but he had propped her up. So this morning he went back out to give her another shot at 8 and had gathered another team of people up to try and lift her but she had really gone down hill. The Vet had told us that if we did not see her improving w/ any of the shots (she had a total of 8) that we should probably decide if it was time to put her down (he happens to know this horse from other occassions) Anyways now that you have the long version, while we were deciding what we were going to do w/ her she passed away.

As much as Jake hated this horse ( he just was bitter about her because he would rather have motorcycles or 4-wheelers) he admitted today that this has been hard on him and of course for Kraeton (you have to remember that krae cried when he accidentally ran over a frog w/ his 4-wheeler and when the cats killed a bird). I grew up on a farm and for me it has just been a part of my life, but I have to admit it makes it harder when poor Krae is not taking it so well. This kid remembers everything and will probably talk about this yrs down the road. its funny to listen to him repeat all the things we have been tellign him. He was telling us that she was in heaven now and that Grandma and grandpa (Jake's), and Tex(wesley's dog) would take care of her now and then he wanted to know what that place was called where the devil lives.

Anyways I know I just went on about stupid stuff because I know there are people out there that wish they could have it this good, those starving, suffering from cancer, etc., but for our family we surrender-- and hope things can only get better

All about Jake

Like Jess said we do not talk about our husbands that often--so here is 1 just for him


1. Where did you meet your hubby? We both worked together at Ranch and Home. He was always nice to us girls up front (all of us)and would always help us w/ whatever we needed. I personally thought he was a little too nice and so when I told Jess that he asked me on a date and I did not want to go she informed me that "I needed to atleast give him a chance". See what happens w/ a chance Jess

2.How long did you date before you got married? 3 yrs, It was suppose to be exactly 3 yrs , but my dad informed me that when I was choosing a date that he already had some hunting excursions set up around then and one of them just so happened to be the date we picked Sept 8th. so we got married the weekend before on Aug 31st

3.How long have you been married? Almost 7 yrs.

4.What does He do to surprise me? Jake would love to be full of suprises, but because I am a tight wad, I don't let him spend $$$ ( I think I have posted something like this before). Its kind of funny because when we were dating he always was giving me flowers whether it was left on my front porch, or my car, or snuck into my room (W/ my roommates help). I did not see anything wrong w/ it then, his $$$ was his $$$ and mine was still mine, but when we got married and the money became both of our, the flowers quit coming. Although I did recieve some for Valentines day (against my will).
5.My favorite feature of his? His butt of course JUST KIDDING, I got you all.
NO I would have to say his blue eyes and do you think a darn 1 of our kids got them NOOO.
6.What is his best quality? His gift to jabber. I think that is why him and Todd get along so well, Todd will just sit there and listen. He literally can carry a conversation on with anyone. I always tease him that if the wall would talk he would talk back. I choose this quality because it is amazing how he will out of the blue get a call from someone he has not seen or heard from in a long time or someone will randomly stop by. He randomly got a call from someone he used to work w/ a couple yrs ago seeing what he was up too and a few yrs back he got a visit from someone he had not seen from high school (probably because they wanted someone to talk to and they know Jake would never turn down a conversation)

7.Nickname he has for me? When he talks to other people about me he always calls me Franny, but when he talks to me its Fran. Good thing the question is not the other way around because I call him alot of names and most of the time they are not good, so I do have to say that even though I am not nice he never calls me a bad name.

8.His favorite food? He loves Mexican and of course it is not a favorite of mine although there is 1 mexican resturant that I like going to Fiesta-- because it has a salsa bar where I love to go and get a homemade tortilla and dip it in honey (honestly that is why I LOVE to go there, its wierd about the little things that sell you)
9.His favorite sport? I would have to say football. The good thing is that he does not like to watch any of them on TV, he would rather be there. I like sports, I just do not like to watch them on TV, so we go to a lot of high school sports.

10.Where and when did you first kiss? I love to tell this story, No we did not kiss on our first date and here is why (its amazing he ever came back, its tough love what can you say) On out 1st date we went to dinner and a movie and I laid down the law before we set foot in the movie theater-- I informed him that when we went to the movie he would not be holding my hand, cuddling, kissing, or touching me. I told him 1st dates were all about getting to know each other and that I did not kiss just anyone and everyone. Can you believe he came back?

11.What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? I have to agree w/ Jess, we like to go out to eat. When I'm eating, I'm happy and unfortuately (or fortunatly however you want to see it) he loves to eat as well

12. Do you have any children? Yes, as all of you know Kraeton and Gracelyn

13.Does he have any hidden talents? I would be lying if I said no, he is one of those that hated school but as long as you can convince him he is not learning he can do anything. I do have to say how AMAZED I was at him for never building a house before (just being in new construction and watching things be done) and being able to do what he did for our house, WOW!!!

14.How old is he? 28, yes he also is 9 months younger than I

15.Who said I love you first? Of couse he did-- remember he was the one that was ready to kiss before we even went on a date.

16.What is his favorite music? rock or what I call hard rock (I have been told it is not heavy metal, but that is what it reminds me of) and I hate. He will listen to country, but I think it is more fun for him if we get to have a fight over it first ( I am not sure why he likes to fight about it because i always win)

17.What do I admire most about him? He is always willing to try something new, whether it be a meal, an adventure, a money saving strategy, he will try anything once. He is always up for my wild and crazy ideas what ever they be.

18.What is his favorite color? Green ( I can't lie, I just had to yell up stairs and ask him)
19.Will he read this? no-- not a big computer user and I like it that way, I never have to fight to get to use it

20. I tag anyone who is willing.

A Tribute to Grandma

This is the most recent pict. I have of her w/ Gracee and my cousin Brandon's baby Isabella


My Grandma Rill passed away about a week ago and we had her services (Yes 2, we had one in Othello where she has lived the last 40+ yrs and then she wanted to be buried in Elgin Or-close to tollgate, where she was born and raised) this week--what a busy week. This was the 1st death in my family and so I have never had to go through something like that -- what an emotional roller coaster.

She had had cancer (intestinal) for the last 18 yrs and lived well beyond the 5months - 2 yrs they gave her. The sad part to that is she basically has suffered since then. She never was a complainer, but I imagine it as always having a stomache ache. In my heart I know she is in the best place she can be, the hardest part is feeling sorry for my Grandpa. That is all he has known for the last 55 yrs-- good thing they have a HUGE garden w/ plenty of things to do to keep him busy.

A few of my memories (good and bad):

playing w/ paper dolls and rocks

getting my mouth washed out w/ soap for the 1st time (I think I said I hate you)

Grandma trying to get work out of me and my brothers by offering us 25 cents if we picked a basket (the little greeen 4x4 ones) of rasberries. I remember being determined but only ever picking 2 or 3 baskets.

Her LOVE for picnics

She absolutely enjoyed nature to its fullest-- whether it be trees, mountains, rivers, wildflowers, thunder or lightning, wind storms -- she found the beauty in all of it

She hated to waste ANYTHING-- she would scrape bowls clean until the siding of the bowl would come off, she would eat every last crumb on her plates, we even found that she was saving milk jug caps-- not because she had a use for them, just because she probably could not fathom throwing them away.

I'll never forget when we were younger and all 3 of us kids were staying at grandma's for the weekend and she had to go to Connell to get feed. We going down the back roads (us kids in the back of the pick-up w/ the canopy on) and looking through the window becasue we thought we were flying and sure enough she had the pedal to the metal-- she was going 70. I even had my brother look and when we told her about it, she denied it. She known for her lead foot, but she did not see it that way.

Her love for children, especially babies

I honestly do not know if she loved to cook but she always was doing it, and most of it from scratch, of which she never went by a recipe. It made it hard if you wanted to know how to make it because she really did not have an answer unless you are one of those that can make it by someone telling you " a little of this, and then add that until it looks right". Well that was not me, so the one thing that Grandma made sure I knew how to make was her homemade noodles-- I still don't do it like her because I cheat and use chx breast and add water and boulions, she actually would boil a chx and make her own broth and then use the chx in the soup. So under her food category my absolute FAVORITES were homemade noodles and huckleberry pie although she had a ton of stuff I would not refuse.

Another food thing I remember of her was making sure you had your daily servings of fruits and veggies and milk!!!!!

Puppies

So I know it is kind of weird that i grew up on a farm around many animals, but I am not a huge animal lover. I hate animals being inside, mainly because of the messes they make. I feel I have enough messes to clean up the way it is why add another, I also hate their breath, the way they smell, and all the hair that sticks to EVERYTHING. With that out of the way I simply cannnot resist baby anything. These puppies are my brother Wesley's. Aren't they cute? Who could resist? They are only 1 week old here and look at how fat they are...its because there are only 3 of them and all they do all day is eat. I can't wait until they become playful.


Gracee absolutely loved them, I think she thought they were stuffed animals (or atleast she treated them that way)






And no we are not taking any home.