MOCHA MORNINGS

A little fishing, some roasted dogs over an open fire and the company of great friends. Happy Labor Day!

I never knew how excited I would be to hear that a friend, and co-worker, of mine would be traveling to Laramie this weekend to visit her son who also attends the University of Wyoming! My first thoughts, party mix and homemade cookies! I've whipped up some homemade goodies, gathered up a few odd and end pantry items, some unopened Easter candy, magazines I've read, a requested PS3 game from his brother's room, a tv cable, an I Miss You note,  and a copy of his insurance card and it is ready for the journey to his UW dorm room!  If only I could fit into this tiny box just to get a quick hug from my college boy! 

A little Thursday Night fun with Roots Rated and Sunlight Sports!

Every year Cody presents a Field of Honor starting on Flag Day. Here are a few shots of this year's flags! 

A cool breeze on a Summer Wyoming morning. Gerbera daisies and clouds rolling over the top of Heart Mountain is my morning coffee view. Happy Sunday from the square state!

He's officially a high school graduate from Cody High School and will be attending the University Of Wyoming in the Fall! Couldn't be more proud of this amazing kid!  One down...three more to go! 

Our first official snow, highs in the 20's, college basketball on ESPN, hot chocolate, crockpot soups, ice hockey, cozy sweaters...winter we welcome you.

Kicking a chunk of ice down the sidewalk...my kids are easily entertained!

We woke up this morning to the first sign that Winter is upon us here in Cody. The mountains are beautifully blanketed with snow and the boys are super excited that winter and Christmas seem to be right around the corner. I wasn't too thrilled at the thought of the 36 degree high temps today, but as usually I forgot to grab my coat on my way to the office and surprisingly it doesn't feel "that" cold out....yet!

On my way to work this morning I came upon this gal in downtown Cody. Just strolling across the street and not bothered one bit that she was holding up traffic. Luckily I had my phone handy so I could snap this picture. She just looked over at me like, "Whatchu lookin' at Willis?!?".

Wanted to share a little clip I just uploaded to YouTube from our most recent trip to Yellowstone National Park when we got to visit Old Faithful and watch her erupt.  It was an amazing experience to see in person.  It's pretty amazing living on 50 miles from this place.  There is no reason for us to be bored on the weekends from now on! ...and every time I think of Old Faithful, my thoughts go back to that movie Dennis the Menace and the scene where he squirts Mr. Wilson's nasal spray out and as it is shooting straight up into the air he says, "Old Faithful!"  Funny how things like that from our childhood stick with us, huh? (old faithful scene starting at 6:28) Such a great movie!

Could it get any better than this? Maybe, but not likely.  What are the odds that this small town in Wyoming, that we now proudly call home, has a Taco John's ?  Now, not everyone here has the same respect for the Potato Ole's, cheese dip, Pizza burger and Mexi Rolls that I do, mainly people that are from Texas and just don't understand the concept of Mexican fast food. However, all my Murray, Kentucky peeps who grew up with that six pack and a pound know where I'm coming from when I say Taco John's is on my "have to eat at list" every year when we travel back home.  And though we may not admit it, we all secretly get a little rage of jealousy when we read on Facebook about someone's trip home and they have 'checked in' at Taco John's. Or what about when somebody is on a road trip and they post that they have stumbled upon a Taco John's and they are now enjoying something out of that brown paper bag and then us folks that live in Taco...

When Yellowstone NP opened for the 2011 season there had not been a fatal Grizzly attack inside the park since 1986. So far in 2011, there have been two. This will be the first time in the park's history that there has been more than one fatal bear attack in the same year. The first victim was from California and was fatally mauled on July 6, 2011 while hiking with his wife. The second victim, a man from Michigan, was found on August 26, 2011 by two other bikers on a 21 mile trail. It has now been concluded that he was attacked by a grizzly sometime on the 24th or 25th. He was traveling alone, camping and hiking in an area of known grizzly activity and was NOT carrying bear spray! They don't know if the same bear is responsible for both attacks (the bear in the first attack was a mama beat with her cubs so no action was taken), but they are performing tests on fur samples taken from the scenes to determine if this was the same bear. My opinion, for what it's wort...

One of many unique rock formations seen on the way to Yellowstone National Park from Cody Wyoming. It stands almost 100 feet high.

For being such a big boy today while getting his haircut and for sitting patiently while I got mine cut, Jaxon earned a trip to McDonalds for lunch. I placed our order at the drive thru and was told to pull around to get my total. When I got to the window the lady told me our happy meal was FREE today. Apparently a lady comes in everyday and pays for five random Happy Meals and I guess today we got one of them! So, thank you Happy Meal lady for my son's lunch this afternoon and for your random act of kindness!

After his stay at the vet's office while we house hunted in Wyoming how fitting that the wonder dog had a bandana tied around his neck when I picked him up this morning. Usually he is sporting some curly ribbons around his collar after his bath, but this is just too stinking cute. Now, all he needs is a cowboy hat and he will be ready to tackle WY in style!