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Sunday, November 30, 2014

" + "

I can't even begin to say how long I've waited for this! I checked on Saturday and then got up early this morning (it's 5:30am right now) and checked again to make sure and I'm pregnant! I figure I'm due in September and that will be awesome!

I just had to share this! (-:

Love to you all!

- Megan

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

November 2014

It is zero Fahrenheit (yay spell check!) outside as I write this. We've had some snow but not enough to get the snowmobiles out just yet. The change in the season is normal but it is always a surprise to me as if I expected the summer to last forever. No more bare feet around the house, my summer dresses are put away and the mom-jeans and sweats have come out along with my boots. The kids are bundled up when they go outside to play and do chores, they're more interested in the hot tub than they were a month ago, and I now have lots of company in the kitchen when I'm cooking because it's the warmest room in the house!

Steve's work is starting to slow down because of the drop in oil prices but he still has enough to do with the oil companies going from building drilling rigs to building maintenance shops, offices, and real housing for their workers instead of trailers and containers. The upside is he's home a lot more than before and we're all happy to have him home. Hate to be selfish but being the only wife in the house who isn't pregnant right now I am getting more of his attention than usual and getting to have his company at night a lot more. It's been over a year since I was last pregnant and I can't imagine it will be long before I am pregnant again.

Laura and Patty started their kindergarten curriculum and I'm getting to be their teacher and that means I'm learning almost as much as they are! I was terrible in school and school was not that much fun for me but the homeschool studies are pretty easy to understand and learning a few things is not that hard.

Hannah is doing well at college and she will be home for Thanksgiving. She was gone over the summer doing a paid internship at a winery in Oregon so we didn't see her very much. There's no boyfriend to report so far and she says she wants to focus on finishing school before she thinks about having someone else in her life. I'm happy for her that she's focused on accomplishing something and creating a life for herself.

There's been less time for quilting lately but I'm hoping to get a Christmas quilt done for the shelter in Denver. It's got a lot left to do but I hope to get it done before Thanksgiving.

The best part of 2014 to me is that we have not had a lot of family drama this year. It's just been a nice year with a lot of happy times, lots of cuddles, and some awesome late night skinny dipping in the pool with all of the lights off. It's so amazing to be in the water and to look up and see so many stars! You never see stars like this when you live in a city! And when you're out there you hear the coyotes yipping and sometimes we even hear wolves.

If 2015 is half as good as 2014 it will be an awesome year!

Love to you all!

Megan

Sunday, October 5, 2014

October 2014

Happy Fall!

It's my favorite season of the year! The leaves all look so beautiful, there's a crispness in the air in the morning, coffee smells better this time of year and so does the kitchen with the fall baking season in swing! And, yes, I will probably gain a few pounds before the end of the month!

Let me answer a few questions:

I still work as needed to help out at a resort near here when they need me. Even though I prefer baking breads they like me to work doing prep and assisting with pastries. Once in a while they let me do my sourdough rolls which I am pretty close to perfecting. I briefly boil them like a bagel (and it heats them up inside to make them rise faster) and then I use a sweetened egg wash on them before baking them to a light golden brown. They're small, they're expensive, but they're tasty!

My favorite recipe right now is Portuguese Sweet Bread. The kids all love it and the house smells so lovely when I bake them! I usually make six loaves at a time and it'll be gone by the end of the day. I'm experimenting with different pans and have had some success with greased and floured clear glass pans. The traditional pie pan is okay but the bread almost always sticks to it and it just bugs me.

After five babies I most often feel tired. I hope that answers that one person's question (Marcus swears it wasn't him and I believe him.)

Right now I am the only one of us in the house who isn't pregnant. Macy and Cydne are both due around next April and Christie is due in late June. I'm getting a lot of attention lately so I imagine it won't be a long time before I have news of my own!

I am ready to do this again. It's funny how after Sarah was born I swore she was going to be my last baby and then time went by, she was weaned, she started sleeping through the night, I got some sleep...and then I started to miss being pregnant. I don't know how to explain it, it's like this building need inside me to want to be a mom another time. It's like this itch that has to be scratched is the best way I can describe this.

Steve's oldest daughters are doing well. Hannah is transferring from her first college to a new one so she can follow her major. She wants to study viticulture and enology and then get a job in the wine business and that will probably mean California.

Christie is still doing work and was suppose to be in Dallas last week but skipped it because of the Ebola thing. She says it's safer to be cautious and just go to town where she can use WebEx for a meeting instead of trusting that it is safe to fly. She says a lot of the news about the guy with Ebola was hushed up to make people feel safer. I like what she says about how it is better to actually be safe than to just feel safe.

We haven't had any crazy drama for a long time and that has been a blessing! Boring is nice!!! Steve keeps working and that is good, his business is doing good and the investments are doing good so all of us are getting modest allowances again. It's nice to have extra money to buy things for the kids and to buy stuff for the kitchen when I make my "pilgrimage" to the restaurant supply in Salt Lake City! I say 'pilgrimage' because Macy says I worship there! LOL!!!

Getting on time for me to start dinner so I will stop here.

God Bless and Keep all of you!

Love, Megan

Monday, August 4, 2014

Been a while. August 4, 2014

Hi there!

It's been a while and I have enjoyed the break from the drama and it's been nice to have the email drop off.

But I got a note from a friend who said I should post an update so here goes:

We're having problems with the US Park Service coming on our land. Twice now they've cut our fence and tried to steal some of our tagged bison claiming they 'wandered off' of their land! They're clearly tagged as our bison but I guess if you're the government then it's okay to do whatever the fuck you want. We're probably just going to go back to Black Angus because this is too much hassle and we know we can't win. We just need to get the calves grown enough to sell and then we'll stop bison ranching.

Steve continues to work in the oil fields and he's got a pretty big crew working for him now. Enough of a crew that he is home at least one whole week every month.

And that has had predictable results! (-:

Macy and Cydne are pregnant again and Christie and I expect to be expecting soon enough. We've been loving having Christie home from her work and the house has been a lot more 'alive' with her home! The babies are all doing well. Christie's boy Eric is six now and he's a big help around the house. He can even drive the small yard tractor and he's pretty good at it! Of course, he only gets to do this with an adult right close by.

My twins are four now and Laura is reading and Patty is more the tomboy and is more interested in the animals than she is with things in the house and learning to read. My boys are doing well and toddling and my Sarah Michelle is still my momma's girl and has to be held a lot every day.

Church is good but we lost some members as people moved away looking for work. The oil boom has been wonderful for us but not every family is able to make money on it. Things are still hard for a lot of people.

I'm still quilting and manage to make about one a month.

The chickens are doing good but I'm down to about thirty of them because it was so much work.

We still have our Polish guys helping on the ranch and they are awesome! One of them brought over his wife and they live in one of the houses out by the main road. They're nice people and VERY Catholic and they know we're poly and we know they won't be. We get along really well.

Can't think of anything else to write right now so I will close up.

I'm still open to questions if anyone cares.

Love to you all!

- Megan

Sunday, January 12, 2014