Sunset

We're privy to some beautiful sunrises/sunsets in these here parts:

We were in the midst of cooking dinner when this beauty sprung up in the sky.

Back that truck up

We're reversing back to 2011 to an annual tradition among many great friends (see this previous post for our 2010 debauchery)...

*Drum roll*

CHRISTMAS TREE HUNTING EXTRAVAGANZA/DEBAUCHERY 2011!  It's a much celebrated day when a bunch of friends get together, fill their backpacks with snacks & booze, toss all their snow gear & dogs in the trucks, pile in, & head up the mountain to find the most Charlie Brown amazing Christmas tree.  And if they don't use live trees, they still come for the fun.  This year was no different.

Georgia & Starfish.
Starfish is the stage name of Avery Mae, our beautiful Goddaughter.  I haven't been able to formally introduce you because I'm still waiting for baptism pics from her mama.  Avery Mae was born in July & Steve & I were honored when Georgia & Shane asked us to be her Godparents.  I plan to take this task very seriously & spoil her rotten.  Interesting fact...at last year's Christmas tree hunting, Georgia had just found out she was pregnant but wasn't ready to announce it.  :)

Dogs chasing after the fast skier

 Lindsey being followed by a pack of vicious beasts

Friends

Dogs plowing the way for Shane

Everyone taking a short respite to sip an adult beverage.  Dogs wondering why the hell we stopped & coming back to keep moving us along.

The final product.  Four trees, ten friends, & one rogue dog (Brewer) that managed to stay in the picture (the other dogs were curled up in the trucks.
Total count of people: 10
Total count of dogs: 8
We had a wonderful time & will no doubt plan another epic adventure in 2012.

Politics...Ugh

*Disclaimer...I speak for myself.  Not my husband, family, or friends.  These are only my thoughts...*

We avoid politics in our household.  Not that we're out of touch with happenings around the nation/world, but politics, in our opinion, has become nasty, divided, & hate-filled.  Campaign ads are vicious, billions of dollars are wasted dumped in the industry, & each "side" blames the other for wrong-doings, refusing to work together to solve our nation's issues (What?!?  Work together??  Preposterous!).

Needless to say, I do have some rants on the current state of politics.  Such as, I loathe this man.  

Don't try to pretend like we're friends, Romney.  You have your head so far up your a**, you are completely out of touch with the average American.

On the other hand, I adore this man.  Evidence below:

(I realize that this post is completely one-sided & I'm not making entirely equal judgments.  Too bad.)

What I feel like & what I look like are two very different things

'Nuff said.

Dog in a backpack

It's time for Steve's silly Christmas pics...

His big gift from me was a new hunting backpack from Mystery Ranch, a company out of Bozeman, MT.  They make several styles of packs, including hunting, and are known for their excellent quality.  One of their hunting backpacks incorporates a standard frame and several styles of pack to fit the frame, which is much more efficient than having several different hunting backpacks for several different types of trips.  The particular pack I bought Steve can hold large amounts, including an entire antelope or deer and an elk quarter.  One silly trend is for Mystery Ranch packers to test their backpack by putting a friend/spouse/child in the pack and post a pic on their Facebook.  In our case, we tested the pack with the pups...

 Loadin' 'er (him) up...

 "Hey guys, just going for a ride.  Don't mind me."
This took A LOT of bribing.  So much so, I had to feed him a treat while he was in the backpack to make sure he knew this was fun.

 "Um, Brewer, can you help me out here man.  I don't know what I think about this backpack crap."

This pic is not great quality, but I had to post it because if you look closely at Brewer, you'll see his crazy eyes.  He gets those crazy eyes on occasion.  And it sums up his personality.  Not to mention Guinness continues to play dead dog while in the backpack...