A Complete Turn Around

My whole world has been turned upside down. Yesterday my sister and I were laughing and giggling and breathing the fresh mountain air. But now a sudden change of events in my life and my family has taken a choke hold on me.

My trip in Jackson, Wyoming has been cut short and has ended. I am now in Denver, Colorado waiting for my next flight to Chicago then to Michigan.

My cell phone rang at 4 a.m. this morning with my mom crying on the other end. The caller i.d. showed she was at my house. First thing that came to my mind was that my horse had died then something had happened to Yooper's mom. But it was Yooper. Last night he went out on an emergency farm call to deliver a calf. He began seizuring, blacked out and paramedics were called.

Rushed to the hospital they did a MRI. A tumor has been found on his brain.

I am still trying to fathom all of this. I am numb, shaky, scared to death and just want to see my husband.

He is being transferred to Saginaw hospital for more tests. He is being transferred there as I speak.

I have already talked to him numerous times this morning while my sister got us flights home. I'm so glad my sister is here to take care of that part. I kept asking her as we packed up our stuff if I was dreaming. If I was in a bad dream. I still cannot believe all of this is happening. I have so many questions.

Yooper sounded good on the phone and my mom took our kids to the hospital before they transferred him this morning. She said he looked good and was joking around with the nurses and doctors. That is just like him.

The doctors aren't ruling out a bacterial infection that they see on his brain. But they are leaving more testing up to the Saginaw doctors.

I should be back in Michigan by 7 p.m. then I'll drive up to Saginaw and stay with Yooper.

All I ask from my faithful blogger readers are your prayers right now. I so need them. We so need them.

I will keep you all posted as to what happens next.

Thank you for listening, reading this and being here for me!

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About Those Buffalo, Bison, Tatonka

We have seen many a buffalo free roaming this area. We have seen many signs warning how they have no second thoughts about running people down and gorging them. Yes, I said gorging. That word is supposed to remind tourists how dangerous these animals are. Warn them. And they are. They are big, powerful and a little on the ugly side. Their humps on their backs are strange. I'm used to our black Angus cattle back at home.

Did I mention their horns? Wowza. Watch out.

Last night we went out for a drive looking for the infamous Mormon Row and the John Moulton barn. These places are probably the most photographed spots in North America. I wanted to find this popular place and shoot some pictures as well. You know, be like the rest of those photographers.

While we were driving around we saw many buffalo. You could always tell when some were nearby. There were would be 2, 3, 5, 7 or so cars pulled off the side of the road and tourists with their cameras getting as close as they could for that perfect shot.

I'm not sure which is more dangerous. A cow and her young calf by her side or a 2000 pound bull chewing his cud, staring you down.

Either way, we stayed in our SUV and kept our distance.

I took this with my zoom lens at 200mm. Don't ask me how many feet that equals to. Math was not my favorite subject at all. He really was not this close. Plus he was sticking his toungue out at me so we kept driving.

How rude is that?

One area we came to, bison were crossing the road in front of us. Cars were stopping waiting for them to cross, hoping, praying none decided to rub their horns on the hood of their car like they loved doing on these steel posts.

I think it is a popular crossing point because these bad boys enjoyed standing here watching cars and trucks drive by while sharpening, I mean scratching their horns.

This picture makes me wonder what were they really thinking.

"Hey Joe, those tourist chics are taking our picture. Give them your best angle." or "Yo Louie, which car do you want. The sporty Nissan with the photographic babes or that big Chevy SUV parked to close to us?"

We watched these people in their Chevy Suburban . Guess they figured they could achieve this close parking spot due to their "handicapped parking" permit hanging from their rearview mirror.

Personally I call it quite brave and stupid at the same time.

Course stupid is, stupid does, right?

All of a sudden this lady pops up through her sunroof, yells out "YooHoo" to these big bulls and begins snapping pictures.

"YooHoo"? Seriously? Is that how you get their attention? How about her red shirt too. Or the continuous flashing from her point and shoot camera?
I love the thrilled posture of her husband sitting in the driver's seat and his apparent, "Will you hurry up and take the picture already." Or maybe, "Sit down woman!" And quite possibly thinking to himself, "Those chics in that SUV over there are taking pictures of my crazy wife."

And my sister and I laughed and laughed. Snorted, giggled, burped and giggled some more.

When we finally passed the two testosterone filled bulls, we came up to some people parked nearby watching the buffalo. We told them of the herd crossing the road behind us.

"Cripe eh, there appears to be a Tatonka traffic jam up the road." Then my sister did the "Dances With Wolves" imitation and made horns with her fingers on her head.

We laughed some more and drove on.

We did find the John Moulton barn. This morning. Apparently last night we missed it by 300 feet. We were at the wrong angle and didn't see it. Crazy huh?

These wide open spaces will do that to you sometimes.

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Wish You Were Here!

Last night, my sister, otherwise known as Lisa, and I, did some shopping around Jackson Hole. There is a webcam situated on top of a building looking down at wat is called Town Square and the imfamous antler arches. These arches are completely made out of elk antler sheddings. Jackson Hole has an elk refuge where hundreds of elk shelter in during the long winter months. In the spring their sheds are found and well used!

I called my mom and told her we were in front of the webcam and in front of the arches. She was soooo excited to see us, even if it was just a picture. She saved the images and emailed them to me and so here we are!

That is my sister on the left waving with me next to her, cell phone to my ear asking my mom if she could see us. Sure enough she did! Cute huh? I think this made my mom's day.

Not only are her two daughters in Wyoming, but her husband, son and two grandsons are as well. My dad and brother and my nephews are currently up in West Yellowstone. They are making their way to the Tetons to see us! I talked to my dad last night and while they are having a great time, the Yellowstone tourist traffic is getting to him. His one word to describe it? "Horrendous" Or was it "Ridiculous"? Either way, not pretty. And when an animal sighting is found along a road in Yellowstone, everyone stops, pulls over and you have an animal "traffic" jam. Add plenty of camper vehicles to the mix and Prozac comes to mind. While Yellowstone is certainly a must see, this time of year is so busy.

More places to visit today. We are going to look into doing a horseback ride, maybe rent a kayak on Jackson Lake, be tourists and add in a hike in there too. More updates to come!

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Gorgeous Views From Here!

There are no bad pictures out here. None. Zip. Zulch. Every turn, every mile displays new views of these mountains. It never looks the same.

My sister and I both agreed on this. Just when you think you have seen every view, all of sudden a couple miles up the road, around a bend and voila! They look so different.

My body is on Michigan time and by 5 this morning I was all ready to wake up, pack up my camera and take a drive. But it was dark out and I was afraid of running into a huge tatonka.

That would be a bison or buffalo.

My sister and I ventured into several tatonka traffic jams tonight. Luckily none of those big bulls took out our Nissan rental.

I didn't opt for full insurance rental coverage.

Run into a bison? Pppffff!

We started driving around this morning stopping at almost every stinkin' overlook to take pictures. I think my sister and I combined managed to snap close to 400 pictures.

She has a cute point and shoot and once she got all the kinks out of it and moved away from the green box, she was capturing some great shots!

Mine turned out nicely except for dust spots on my pictures.

Clearly I need to blow out some of that crud inside my camera.

But I opted for Photoshop and the Clone Stamp tool instead. I'm on vacation remember? I don't have to clean!

Did I already say how frickin' gorgeous this mountain range is? Okay sorry. It is!

Wildflowers abound. What color. So much fun to take pictures of not only flowers but the pretty mountains in the background.

It is very hot out here now. I called Yooper this morning and was told how rainy and cold it is at home. I felt guilty for like a minute and sorrowful for him. Then I breathed in the fresh mountain air and sighed.

I hope I can bring home some of these blue skies and warm air temperatures.

But for now, I'm enjoying each and every moment, savoring the views and spending time with my sis.

More exploring tomorrow, but for now I really need to catch up on some sleep. I'm sure my Michigan alarm clock will be waking me up early again.

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Just To Prove I'm Really Here

I am here! I'm in sunny, gorgeous Jackson Hole, Wyoming. My sister and I survived our flights. I survived her panic after realizing she had forgotten her stuffed animal she sleeps with. Every night. Yes, my 40-some year old sister still sleeps with a stuffed animal. We just came back from a grocery store to buy beverages and a stuffed animal. A cute teddy bear. Just so she can sleep better. Ahem.

Okay where was I?

Our flight here from Chicago was easy, smooth and relaxing. Our flight from Lansing to Chicago was delayed an hour due to severe weather. So we sat on our plane on the runway. For an hour. We listened to irritable passengers blaming United Airlines. Gimme a break. Mother Nature ruled over this matter. Not the little people of an airline company.

We drove, I mean flew over many a thunderhead cloud formations.

And arrived to see this.

Yeah. These. Those mountains over yonder. The Grand Tetons. Hello beautiful. How I've missed thee. Oh and the smells of sage. Yummy. I'm high on smelling sage already.

The airport is over to the left and yes, the sight is so unbelievable. It is awesome. My sister and I both became emotional, little girls when our plane landed. We have this bond to these mountains. So many memories. It is such a special place to both of us. I'm not sure how to explain it!

Go ahead, call us wacky! It's okay. I've accepted this disease.

Tomorrow, if Michigan time wakes me up, I'll be up quite early to plan our day. I cannot even begin to tell you how ecstatic I am about taking pictures! There is a camera store just up the road I plan to hit. I need to find all the photo snappin' hot spots.

Growing tired now and heading for some sleep. Now that the whole traveling buzz has subsided, I'm feeling the effects of being up since 5:30 this morning.

Good night, good morning!

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Special Announcement

We interrupt this blog to for a special announcement. DVMsWife is heading for a jet plane to carry her and her sister to the Grand Tetons of Wyoming. Stay tuned for sporadic updates throughout the next week(depending on available WiFi) to hear of her travels and you guessed it, pictures.

You can also read of her happenings over in the right hand column where it says "I've Twittered Myself" and random musings.

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Ruby Tuesday ~ New Friend

If there could be one trait Ruby has that stands out the most, other than her funny looking short-legged body, it would have to be her sweet nature. Not only does she have the sweetest personality(you knew that already) but she has such a gentle way about her when she is around children. Anytime children walk up to her, if she doesn't find them first, she sits down and gives an innocent look and adoration to little hands that pet her head. She displays patience and happiness while they giggle and coo over her.

When I first found Ruby and learned she and her littermates played with the owner's children night and day, it reassured me she would be kind to my own kids. And from day one, she has never been agressive nor naughty towards children. She has only been a magnet for them and in return for gentle pats, she gives sloppy, wet kisses with her foot long tongue.

Yesterday, she showed her kindness and love towards little kids that stopped over to our farm for a visit. A good friend of mine and her son, 4 and her adorable little girl who is 8 months, took a break from the city life, enjoying our wide open spaces and many farm critters.

My friend's daughter happily sat in the grass, watching her big brother chase my kids around on his bike.

At one point, Ruby took a break from chasing balls being thrown around by Yooper Jr. and plopped down next to the cute little girl.

With big smiles and outstretched chubby, little fingers, Ruby was introduced to the quiet, small girl happily sitting in the grass. She sniffed and "kissed" those hands with her cold, wet nose.

And while this shot is not focused on the sweet moment exchanged between fingers and snout, it lit up my face when I opened it on my computer.

This little girl has animal lover written all over her face! You can see her eyes smiling behind Ruby's head.

Ruby was kind enough to sit with her, occasionally licking those curious fingers, enjoying her new friend.

Seeing her be so kind and gentle towards a baby, made my heart melt! I love this dog so much.

But goodness Ruby, your tongue! Where does it all go when your mouth is closed? Miss Pretty In Pink in the background is probably wondering the same thing. It made her giggle. Of course sounds of a giggling girl only caused Ruby to give her more sloppy, wet kisses.

I couldn't ask for a better dog.

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A Win & A Loss

Earlier this week I entered the above picture to the I Heart Faces website for their weekly photo contests. One of their themes was Sports and of course I had to enter Yooper Jr. playing baseball. This picture of him pitching is one of my favorites! So I was very happy to find out yesterday that this picture had won honorable mention! I found this out just before we were to leave for his all star baseball game, the big game that determines their fate for more baseball. I showed Yooper Jr. how his picture had placed in a photography contest and he was beaming! Now seeing his big grins made my day!

Take a minute and head over to I Heart Faces to see what other sport shots were entered and to see some really cute pet pictures as well! The girls over at the site once in awhile hold a special pets "anything goes" photo contest, which of course I love and enter!

While over there and you have a bit of a photo bug in you, check out some of their past photography tutorials. They are excellent!

Now about that baseball game yesterday? The one I have been, along with Yooper, the coach, losing sleep over?The game that determines whether their team would go on to play more ball? They did not win. Our boys did not have the oomph they had in the previous game and the other team was out for a killing to win. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit tired of the nit & gritty coaching and poor sportsmanship I witnessed yesterday from the other team. And parents? Wow. Unbelievable. At one point during the game I was trying to take pictures, in between drizzling rain squalls, and a parent from the other team was not too far from me taking pictures with her big camera. I made a comment about her camera, because I love big cameras, and she totally blew me off. Blew me off because I was from the opposing team. Yeah, stuff like that gets under my skin. Snobby b#%%! came to mind. Because that is what she was, snobbish.

I felt sad for these boys because they really wanted to win and have worked so hard at each and every practice but yesterday was not their game to win, as cliche' as that sounds. I saw some long faces but you could only feel proud of them and want to hug them all! The baseball experiences they have learned are sure to only make them a better player. They also witnessed their two coaches never lose their cools, argue with umps and make a bad name for our team.

So in a nutshell while these kids did not win and earn a chance to go on to play more ball, they are better baseball players in so many ways.

To tell you the truth this loss has taken some huge weights off of our shoulders. Yooper feels a bit relieved and is motivated to begin his summer, finish haying, mow the lawn, send his wife to Wyoming.

Baseball season is over around here. Let summer begin!

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