A trip out West–babies, birthdays & cows

Getting caught up here, we got to spend a quick weekend in Colorado the end of October to celebrate a baby and birthdays!

First, we hosted a baby shower for Ryan and Lindsay – these are the only two pictures I took (because Ronny had the camera – see below). They really gathered a lot of loot for the baby – due December 27 – so be ready to see lots of pictures from this proud aunt!

While the girls were at the shower, Ronny went out to check cows (are you really surprised?!).

Of course Hank went along as well.

Love this milk face.

He even figured out the panoramic feature on our camera – great shot!

The pairs.

It was a great weekend at home with lots of family, lots of celebrating and cheering on the Cats for a K-State win. Not much tops all of that!

DIY | Vertical Pumpkins

My pumpkins are ready to go vertical. This past week they started to grow over the edge of the Purina tubs, so Ronny put up a nice (slightly redneck) chicken wire fence around them. This is in effort for them to grow up and over, like a fountain.

As we don’t have much space in our box garden, we decided to experiment with the Purina tubs that my dad gave me (thanks, Dad!) and grow UP instead of OUT like pumpkins tend to do. And they’ve really been growing fast.

I was inspired to do this from an idea on Pinterest. I’m sure we’ll have to provide more support as the vines grow and the pumpkins develop. I will update on the progress!

In other garden progress news, my broccoli is huge and my cucumber vines are growing like crazy. I’ve put tomato cages around them (since my tomatoes failed last year – I decided not to replant this year) and am training them to grow up and over as well. I also have a zucchini almost ready for harvest. Oh and I’ve been eating lettuce like crazy.

And he is just too cute not to post a picture of. But I couldn’t tell when I took the picture because I was blinded by the sun. :)

Nawlin’s. NOLA. The Big Easy.

It’s been a little over a year since I was last in New Orleans for the U.S. Grains Council meeting. My travels there this week were for the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Both of these organizations open up export markets all over the world for corn and corn-fed red meat.

The first evening of the meeting after the port tour – read about that here - we had a river cruise with hors d'oeuvres at sunset. The weather was nice and warm, there was a good breeze and it was just simply a pretty evening.

Jessica and I. Jess is the USMEF intern and a Sewardite!

The next evening after meetings, we took a stroll to Bourbon Street to catch some local food, drinks and music.

My friend and counterpart from Iowa Corn, Carrie and I had a great time!

I did not try the “Hurricane” drink, but the group had to get one since they are famous there for obvious reasons. The fire in the back was actually part of a fountain – way cool!

This band at Fat Catz was rockin’! They played all different kinds of music from jazz to 80’s to country. We spent a good time there dancing.

It was a fun time, but I was ready to come home. You can see more pictures here.

Wordless Wednesday | A Country Drive

There are not many things better than cows and sunsets.

Friday Fun

Just for fun, here is a video of Hank and I playing fetch with is favorite ball.

Link here.

Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday | Vines at sunset

Gourd vines at sunset. It sure is feeling like fall around here.

RiverBend skies

After posting about Colorado skies, Dad told me that Mom had taken some more great pictures of the sky just that night at the ranch.

Aren’t they beautiful! You can see more on the Frasier Farms RiverBend Ranch facebook page.

Colorado skies

I never realized how beautiful Colorado skies and sunsets are, until I  moved away. Sunsets in Kansas and Nebraska just aren’t the same as they are in Colorado. I don’t know if it’s because of the higher elevation or maybe how the mountains look on the horizon? Or probably my bias helps. But they sure are beautiful and unique. And sometimes it’s really hard to capture them on camera.

Some of these were taken last week, some are part of my picture collection, and a few are from my sister-in-law, Lindsay.