Meeting Clara…

 

Our kids were able to visit their brand-new cousin the other day.  They were so totally excited to finally get to meet this little baby…

Little miss Clara…

Love those teeny tiny toes!

Garrett, so excited!

 

Teigen loving on her…

Baby Clara!

 

Me getting my baby fix…

Cousins…

My hubby with Emma and his new niece…

Zayne giving her a squeeze…

Maddie checking her out!

Tori gets to have her baby fix too!

Victoria showing the other kids…

Hayden giving a little love…

Emma and ClaraSawyer and Sammy with their new cousin!

What a wonderful blessing babies are!  I feel particularly blessed to have been able to help (I hope) my beautiful sister-in-law through their birth process and take pictures of this wonderful and exciting time.  It really has helped to heal my heart!

     

 

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Frosty Friday…

 

Jack Frost has shown up in full force here in NW Montana…

 

Linking up with friends at:

Skywatch Friday

Friday Fences

Spiked

 

Three spiked elk boys along the road….

 

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NatureFootstep

Macro Monday

 

 

 

 

 

Out checking the ewe lambs…

 

We had a bit of blue sky and no snow, great time to check out the ewe lambs across the road…

 

 

 

 

Linking up with friends at:

 

Homestead Barn Hop,The Backyard Farming Connection,

 Camera Critters,  Farmgirl Friday,

Grand Tetons

Taking in the beauty of this wonderful place…

On our last day of camping in the Tetons, we hooked up to our camper, headed down the road and had to make a decision as to which road to take to go back to Yellowstone.  We decided at the last minute to veer closer to the mountains in hope of seeing more elk. While driving we saw a cow and calf elk come running full tilt out of the trees, we quickly pulled off the road and decided to wait and see what else would come out…

 Here comes the rest of the herd…

With a nice bull…

We were definitely happy campers seeing these beautiful animals our last day in Tetons!

Linking up with friends at:

Skywatch Friday

Friday Fences

Nature Notes

Farmgirl Friday

     

Soaring Around the House…

 

Garrett informed me that we had visitors soaring around the house…

 

Beautiful Red-tailed Hawks…

Cool Facts

• The Red-tailed Hawk has a thrilling, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors seem to think. Whenever a hawk or eagle appears onscreen, no matter what species, the shrill cry on the soundtrack is almost always a Red-tailed Hawk.
• Birds are amazingly adapted for life in the air. The Red-tailed Hawk is one of the largest birds you’ll see in North America, yet even the biggest females weigh in at only about 3 pounds. A similar-sized small dog might weigh 10 times that.
• The “Harlan’s Hawk” breeds in Alaska and northwestern Canada, and winters on the southern Great Plains. This very dark form of the Red-tailed Hawk has a marbled white, brown, and gray tail instead of a red one. It’s so distinctive that it was once considered a separate species, until ornithologists discovered many individuals that were intermediate between Harlan’s and more typical Red-tailed Hawks.
• Courting Red-tailed Hawks put on a display in which they soar in wide circles at a great height. The male dives steeply, then shoots up again at an angle nearly as steep. After several of these swoops he approaches the female from above, extends his legs, and touches her briefly. Sometimes, the pair grab onto one other, clasp talons, and plummet in spirals toward the ground before pulling away.
• Red-tailed Hawks have been seen hunting as a pair, guarding opposite sides of the same tree to catch tree squirrels.
• The oldest known Red-tailed Hawk was 28 years 10 months old.

For more info visit here...

Linking up with friends at:

Wild Bird Wednesday, The BIRD D’pot

NatureFootstep

 

Yellowstone Grizzly…

 

On our 10 day camping trip to Yellowstone Park and Grand Tetons, we managed to see just about everything except for a grizzly bear.  At dusk, on the last day of our trip we spotted this beautiful bear…

And the kids viewing from the top of the van…

 

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Nature Notes

Mountain Bluebirds…

 

We spotted these beautiful Mountain Bluebirds this fall, while we were in the Tetons, around Mormon Row…

Cool Facts

• Most studies of the Mountain Bluebird involve birds in nest boxes. Little is known about natural nest site requirements.
• Only the female builds the nest. The male sometimes acts as if he is helping, but he either brings no nest material or he drops it on the way.
• Mountain and Western bluebirds compete for nest boxes, and may exclude each other from their territories. In the small area where they overlap, the Mountain Bluebird dominates the Eastern Bluebird. This relationship may limit the westward expansion of the Eastern Bluebird.
• The Mountain Bluebird often occurs outside its normal range in winter. Individuals are casually recorded in western and northern Alaska, and in the midwestern and eastern states.

For more information, please visit here…

 

Linking up with friends at:

Wild Bird Wednesday, The BIRD D’pot

NatureFootstep

 

Spring Time Treasures in the Fall…

 

Thursday, we continued right along with winter-like weather pattern (and have actually all weekend!)….

It was just another typical day on the farm… even if  Darla was hanging out on the top van!  Actually, she was trying to get away from one of the dogs trying to herd her back to the chicken coop.

 

It continued to snow all day and around 4, I sent Hayden out to take the garbage out to the dumpster.  He started out across the yard and then dropped the garbage sack and started to run way out in the yard.  He came running back in to the house with something in his hands…

 

 A nearly half-frozen baby chick!  Well, that got the household into a frenzy of kids trying to  find coats, gloves and hats and hustling out the door to see if they could find more…

After scouring the yard and pastures they found two more half-froze babies!  We thought for sure one was going to pass on.  Tori took some warm water and started to syringe feed a bit of that to the baby while holding it next to the wood stove.  Amazingly, it came around and has been a happy camper all weekend!  We never did find a hidden nest anywhere but the kids found a the naughty Red Star that decided to go broody in the middle of October with the other two chicks.  Seriously?!  Doesn’t she know we live in MT and it gets cold in November!  For now everyone is locked up in the fruit room, cozy and warm.

Linking up with friends at:

 

Homestead Barn Hop,The Backyard Farming Connection,

 Camera Critters,  Farmgirl Friday,

 

Fairy Flowers…

 

I have no idea what flowers these little, petite things are but they were gorgeous this summer, covering the forest floor…

 

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NatureFootstep

Macro Monday