Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

A lot of factors contributed to our decision to move to Montana.  Obviously the main reason was to be closer to Chris's work but we both had a lot of dreams, I guess you would say of how, we wanted to raise our family and we felt like moving out of Utah county would help us achieve that.  A few of the things we wanted in our future was the chance to have land and to teach our kids to work on that land, a smaller community that we could be involved in and would allow our kids to have many opportunities and not get lost in the masses, and a big one for me was I wanted them to be able to experience nature on a daily basis.  I wanted them to see animals, flowers, stars and to be able to notice all of God's creations every day and I felt like when we lived in Utah I made our lives too hectic and fast paced to notice the beautiful place we live in.

So far this move has been everything we hoped for and more.  We love our home and are getting past the stage of being the "new" people and feeling like we belong here.  Plus it is beautiful and impossible to ignore even if you try.  If you forget how big the sky is a thunderstorm will roll through the valley and show off an impressive fireworks display.  There are views of the mountains in every direction, impossible to get away from.  And last but not least the animals demand attention in their very own way.  The other day I had an experience that really brought home the fact I wanted to live a different type of life other than city life and with that comes some crazy situations.

Our morning started off as any normal day.  Huntley was eating breakfast while watching the antelope roaming in our pasture.  After a few minutes she let me know that one of the antelope was hurt.  We debated over it for a few minutes and then finally decided to go out and investigate.  Sure enough it had broken one of its hind legs and wasn't able to walk.  At that point it was time to take Hunt to school so we left it there and I figured I'd call fish and wildlife when I got home and see what they wanted me to do with it.

When I pulled up to our house after dropping Hunt off I noticed there was a sheriff parked near the pasture where the antelope was.  He drove up to the house and wanted to know if it was my land.  I told him it was and he let me know that someone had called him about the antelope and he had just put it down and now it was my job to take it to the dump.  I got to admit that although I don't have a problem dealing with dead animals I couldn't believe that the sheriff left a pregnant lady and three year old to deal with it. 

Since it hadn't been dead for very long and besides a broken leg nothing was wrong with it I didn't feel right about taking it to the dump when the meat was still good.  I ran over to my neighbors to see if they wanted it but unfortunately they weren't home.  My stomach is a little on the weak side right now so I knew cleaning it was out of the question for me but remembered the last antelope Chris shot he just quartered it and I figured that I could probably handle that.  I tried calling my dad and father in-law to see if either of them could walk me through the process but neither answered.  I turned to Youtube and after spending a few minutes watching videos on how to quarter big game, Pais and I set off to prove what kind of Montana women we really are.  Luckily for us as she was holding the leg and I was about to make my first cut our neighbors came by and saved me from seeing how tough I can be.

My day continued on this way although not quite as extreme as dealing with dead animals.  On the way to pick up Huntley from school some horses had escaped their pasture and decided to cause a traffic jam outside of town.  Several people were trying to convince them to get out of the road but they weren't budging.  After a while a lady pulled up who happened to have a harness in the back of her car and she was able to get them to move out of the way.  By this time we were late picking up Hunt who was standing on the corner of the school not only looking a little lost but with blood stains all down the front of her shirt.  I immediately panicked and wanted to know what had happened.  Apparently she ran into someone at morning recess and gave herself a bloody nose in the process.  The office aid helped her get it to stop, cleaned her up a bit, and sent her back to class.  I was surprised that they didn't call me to bring her a change of clothes but I guess in Montana they figure a little blood never hurt anyone.  My dreams have come true and I am not living a city life anymore.  Although I think I'd be fine if I don't have a day like that ever again.