The Land Yacht !!!

With everything we have been doing around here and pulling trailers we were using 2 different trucks depending on what we were hauling, and they were both half tons. I started looking for a 3/4 ton gas dodge because i thought the diesel trucks were going to be a lot more, well they were all pretty close in price. So we found a 1 ton, with a 5.9L Cummins engine, and it was a mega cab (which Christa has always wanted). 

This thing is HUGE hence the name The Land Yacht.

You would think just coming off the used car lot that they would have atleast changed the air filter. changing this gave me an extra .5 MPG.

I am horrible at taking pictures, so far we have loaded a ton of pellets in the bed and hauled them home, loaded a trailer full of IBC totes on it, and yesterday we got pretty close to a ton of hay on the bed. This thing is a beast, the most it has squat was 2" and its never hit the overloads yet, and gets 17 MPG with a ton in the bed.

We didn't get it unloaded last night and Monkey missed the bus so it was to school with a ton of hay loaded LOL.

2-3-18 Lewis and Clark trail system

working on getting into better shape for our 22 mile long hike this summer. We went for a hike below the McNary dam on the nature trails.

Testing his new hiking pack he got for his birthday.

Fits a lot better, Thanks NaeNae.

There were a ton of ducks and birds out there.

Total we did 2-3 miles, just a leisurely walk. 

Happy 7th Birthday Levi

Last year for his Birthday we went to a Tri City American hockey game, after that game he said he wanted to go again for his next birthday... so we did. The Americans played the Spokane Chiefs again this year, and we won again this year but it was a lot closer, ended up 5-4 in overtime.

The birthday boy

You cant read it in the picture but we had his name put up on the bill board.

helmet of popcorn

Looking like a hockey player with all his missing teeth.

Winger the mascot came down by us so Levi had to run down and see him.

And get a hug

Then Winger stole his hat

The group of us that were there (plus another grandma and grandpa who were sitting higher in the stands). Mom and NaeNae were taking selfies and getting them put on the bill-board also.

 And a sleeping Monkey with his new WSU Monkey he got for his birthday.

Among the other stuff he got for his birthday was a new hiking pack, this one is an actual youth pack instead of using one of my old ones that didn't fit right (and he did an overnight hike with my old one). 

We are already planning a 22.6 mile hike this summer, and he is excited.

Thank You to everyone who showed up for dinner and the small party before the game, and thank you to the ones who could make it to the game, and to the ones who couldn't.... there is always next year keep January 26th open.

maintenance

The daily driver needed a new fan belt and of course the engineers made it so easy to work on. you have to remove the tire and an access panel to be able to snake it in there.

teaching Levi how to remove the tire after we used chock blocks.

He ran the jack while i got the jack stands put in place.

Putting the tire under the edge of the car as a fail-safe, teaching him to be safe and think ahead.....

........And then he wandered off and played, and helped mom clean the stalls some. 

Hogs are heading to the butcher next month YUM YUM.

rebuilding of stalls

The joys of rebuilding stalls when you can see your breath.

This is the end of the barn, 2 small stalls that the previous owners had built, while we had a calf the size was fine, now that we have a cow..... not so much.

minus the hog panel that we had wire tied up there temporarily, this is how it looked. Dont mind the pony head in the pic.

it used to have 2 doors but one was cracked and the cow finished it off.

we pulled the center divider out, fixed out temporary hog panel, and made one gate instead of 2 openings. 

Much more space.

Happy pigs

we built the pig stall earlier last year but the far end we used what the previous owners had as their stall wall. well it was not up to pig standards and they tore through it, hence why the panel was wire tied to it temporarily.

Christmas fun

A little bit of Christmas sledding fun. 

Monkey and Grammy having fun on the antique sled.

dogs sure got a work out.

Papa wasn't going fast enough.

spinning some cookies

Then it was inside to warm up and some Christmas dinner.

Handmade Christmas on the homestead

This year i made a portion of the presents for family.

My sister had a old belt that she loved but the pleather straps had cracked and broke so i reused what hardware i could and replaced all the straps with leather.

For my wife I bought her a new Buck 110 folder and made a style of sheath that she had been wanting.

After wearing the scarf on the horse drawn wagon ride, Monkey kept wanting to wear it all the time so I made him his very own. Double layer fleece.