Tweed's first hunt

Pat & Tweed went up to Malta over Labor Day to hunt with Tom Healy and Tweed's sister Sideswipe & half sister Boogie. They came home with a limit of Sharp Tail Grouse, and a couple of Hungarian Partridge. Not bad for 4 months old.

Introducing - Tweeds

Ok, so I'm finally updating with pics and info on the new addition to our family
Swiftcreek's Hi-Line Tumbleweed. Aka - Tweed

For those of you who don't know. Tweed is a Wire-Haired Pointing Griffon, from our friend Tom Healy's kennel - Swift Creek Griffons http://swiftcreekgriffons.com/

He is to be Pat's bird dog, while Conner continues to be my "best friend, fishing, etc...." dog.

So far Conner has been pretty good with him, after his initial 2 day hunger strike. If you sneak a peek outside you just might catch them sleeping together. But if Conner sees you then he has to act indifferent...

here are just some random pic of both dogs.

Love Conner's "look" not a lot of trust there.

Bright Lights; Big City

To celebrate Mom & Dad's 40th Anniversary, We all traveled to Vegas for the weekend. Nothing says way to go with sticking out 40 years together like gambling, great food, and debauchery....

Dad was kind enough to get us all a brand new airstream to stay in at the Circus Circus KOA. They have them available for you to rent, so instead of being in a hotel, we got our RVs and a nice patio with furniture and pink flamingos. (although we never found the flamingos....)

Pat and I arrived first on Friday, so we had a few hours to run around a bit. So we headed up to the Wynn and had a few drinks. $20 for 2 tonics..... Wake-up call for us Montanans.... Then we met up with Greg & Julie and another guy (Pat) and his girl (Macy) (Pat worked on the Helicopter here in Lewistown last summer and lives in Vegas). The 6 of us then headed into Old Vegas for dinner. We had some good Irish food and a few Black and Tans while suffering through the band that was there that night. What band has 2 basses? That one.....

Sat. was then spent wondering up the strip with the whole family. We had lunch outside at Trader Vics across from the Belaggio water show. Pork sliders, lobster pot stickers, crab Rangoon, and fun alcoholic beverages in bowls..... Then we made our way (gambling the entire time) up to NY,NY and stopped in for a pint-o-Guinness at the 9 Fine Irishmen. A great bar that made you forget you were even in the City that made Neon famous. By this time our feet were all falling off, so we heading over to MGM Grand to make reservations for Sun. dinner at Craftsteak (Tom Coliccio's Vegas restaurant - the Bravo's Top Chef head judge )

Then jumped the monorail (which as Greg pointed out - is not a mono-rail it was a duo-rail) to head back to the KOA. Greg and Pat went for food and came back with sushi. So we ate while lounging outside our Airstreams and enjoyed the warm desert weather.

Sunday was Easter along with Mom and Dad's Anniversary. So we started off with a huge breakfast at Peppermill, where they make 10 egg omelets. After that we strolled down to The Saraha and watched Dad do the "Spin The Wheel Dance" while playing Wheel Of Fortune Slots.

After Dad won about $60 we headed over to the Stratosphere. Were we went up to the top and again had a few drinks while enjoying the view of the entire city. Our lunch was a few appetizers of salmon, Kobe Carpaccio, and cheese in the Top of the World restaurant. Next we headed back to our RVs and caught a quick nap. We had to rejuvenate for our dinner plans.

Dinner was at Craftsteak, Tom Colicchio's Las Vegas Steak joint. We had the Spring tasting menu with the wine pairings. There were 3-4 options for each course served family style. We started off with fresh buffalo mozzarella topped with a red pepper concoction, fennel salad, Persian cucumber salad, and Vermont Quail w/ vincotto. The Main course was Angus skirt steak, Angus flatiron steak, Diver sea scallops, baby shiitake mushrooms, yukon gold puree, and sugar snap peas. Dessert was; Warm apple spice cake with maple crunch ice cream, Cinnamon Monkey Bread with pecan toffee & caramel ice cream, Vanilla bean cheesecake, Liquid chocolate cake with pistachio cardamon ice cream, and a strawberry shortcake. The style of the food is good ingredients prepared simply. The food was incredible, especially the quail and the scallops. Pat's favorite was the buffalo mozzarella, Mom's was all the desserts. The design of the restaurant was sparse wide open space with a ton of wood elements and industrial bare lighting. The down point of the event was the music.... it was loud and some mix of bad Kenny G.

After dinner Greg and Julie went back to sleep off dinner, while Pat, Dad, Mom, and I went to the Crazy Horse Paris Cabaret show. It was tastefully done and a very entertaining.

Monday we flew out.... and came home to rain mixed with snow..... oh, to be back in the warm desert. Now there is at least 6 inches of sloppy wet snow onthe ground....

Smell This

You know how when someone comes up to you with a hand full of stink, and says " smell this"... You know you shouldn't but yet, for some strange reason you do... And Man it STINKS...

Well, this is how I have come to finally watch the movie version of Mamma Mia. And yes, IT STINKS... How could it not with the casting of Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan... I mean Really.

The sad part is that I love ABBA, I do... and I have seen this show on stage and loved it. But then again, they had professional Broadway singers. And yes, as hard as this is to believe... The movie was WAY cheesier than the Broadway show. Streep over-acted her way through the entire thing, and it was just gut-wrenching to have to listen to Brosnan murder ABBA and even worse to watch him dance in ABBA style clothing.

I knew from the moment I heard the casting for the show it would be bad, I kept away while it was in the theater, no way was I going to pay $7 bucks to see it. It's the damn Red Box that let's you rent movies for a buck. (and the fact that Pat is away on a detail ) I can spend a buck to knowingly watch crap. And yet, you hope with all your heart it won't be as bad as you think, and then as the credits are rolling, you think to yourself... Dumb Ass, you knew it was going to be bad, and yet you just had to watch it....

Yes, this is the way Hollywood destroys Broadway... You take a great show and instead of casting actual talent, (not that I'm against Merell Streep for her talents in Drama, or even Comedy) They cast "names".... don't have them sing for you whatever you do....

Not that it matters anyway... Can anyone name a great Broadway musical that has become a good movie (minus The Sound of Music)..... Rent - nope, The Producers - nope
Nothing takes the place of seeing a good show in a theater and all the drama that comes from that. Sorry Hollywood, I know you are all excited about the comeback of the musical, but shouldn't you spend your time and money saving where the musical came from instead.

It's Official!!

Well, Pat and I took a walk to the Justice of the Peace today....

Yup, that's right... I am now a married woman... Wow... that's a bit crazy.

We are still reeling from the event, as easy and relaxed as it was. Just the idea of after 8 years together, we finally decided to make it official in the eyes of the law and with the Big Guy upstairs.

and it feels good....

Our Announcements will be sent out hopefully sometime next month. With all the details of our plans for Celebrations.

Yes, we are doing this a bit differently than most... but we do still want to celebrate with everyone.

The Holidays

Jeremy & The Dude singin' Christmas carols!

The Holidays have been good to us this year. Pat and I hosted my family for Thanksgiving. Greg, Julie, Mom & Dad all came out to Lewistown for a MT bird and some good rich food. It was nice to see that our new little house can host at least 6 people for a dinner. Mind you we had to re-arrange the living room into a dinning room. But it worked.

Then we headed to Winona, MN for a few weeks over Christmas. We hadn't done the drive for a few years, we thought with gas as cheep as it is, why not... Then we were reminded why we had stopped driving in the first place. Winter is not the ideal time to drive from MT through ND into MN. After being chased by a winter storm into MN, we had great snowy weather the entire time we were there. A true White Christmas. (again - not ideal for driving cross country - but pretty)

While in Winona, we were able to get up to the new Krage Farm - up in Ridgeway. Pat's Dad and step-mom Debbie just bought a new place with 43 acres. 10 tillable, the the rest pasture and woods. A deer heaven. (or a horseman's' paradise - however you see it....) More photos are on Flickr. This is also the proposed site for our large family reception party! More details to come as the Wedding Parties get planned.