Afternoon in Billings!

(Om du inte pallar läsa engelskan, använd översättningsknappen uppe/nere på sidan...)

Saturday we spent the afternoon in Billings. Half the way we had some snow on the road so it took us 1 h 45 min to get there. The drive from here isn't so very exciting or scenic. There are really not so much to see..I know there's a nice recreational area, despite the name Dead man's basin, where many people go swimming in the summer. Hopefully I get positively surprised when it's that time of the year...

Anyway, we had lunch at Cracker Barrel. It's a restaurant with homestyled, mostly traditional country meals. We like it and the kids always eat good. They also have a shop next to the dining area with all kinds of stuff. I know they might be a little more expensive there but I bought a new candle from WoodWick. ( around 20 $ for a medium, so at least cheaper than in Sweden...)

Since we live quite far away from Billings, and we try not to buy all out groceries in Lewistown (55 min from the ranch) we bought a membership at Costco. That's a food store where you buy larger amounts of everyday products and food. It costs 100 $ a year to be a member and if you dont get that back as a bonus (2% cashback) they pay back the difference if you get less than what you paid for the membership. You must be a member to go shop there.( It's like a big Ekohallen.) They actually have a good selection of wines and alot of organic products too! For us beeing a quite small family some packages are just too big so we still have to go to a regular store to buy some things. When it comes to buy groceries we have to think a little different so we always have a lot of food at home. At least buy for 1-2 weeks. I can't say I plan meals that far ahead ( could definately be better at that...) and I usually cooks without recipe..so we just make sure we have a good selection of vegetables, different kinds of meat and all basics at home. That way we can cook whatever we feel for...  All high quality beef we can eat we get straight from the ranch (when it's that time of the year, all of a sudden the freezer is full of nicely wrapped white packages...) it's a part of the job's benefits :-).

I think it's very interesting and a way to see each country's culture to go buy food. No matter where in the world I might be, I always like to go shop for groceries..  And here there are so much to choose between so now I just have to learn which products are good or bad health-and quality wise...! I do have some help from my nativeborn man... I'm gonna write more about products and prices later..today I show pics of a few things I like so far...(and yes I buy non-organic too...)

Billings also has a pretty big shopping mall. Today we ran out of time so we just made a quick stop so I could get my winter boots (we looked for a pair all over town before I finally found a pair in my common size..) and a Valentine outfit for Natalie.

When we go to Billings, we always make sure to stay long enough to go out eat dinner before heading home. That way both girls can fall asleep when we drive. A favourite place to eat is Famous Dave's. I can really recommend this and you can find it nationwide ( I think..) That's a bbq restaurant with good selection of both food and drinks. I like that you have (like many places) many options to get as sides to whatever meat you want...It's easy to keep a meat+veggies diet if you so wish...

Puh..sorry for my long post...and bad english! I just write...so sometimes you get bad grammar and spelling..

Trying to make it cosy...

Sorry I haven't updated for a few days! Will write more tonight...

This afternoon is alot warmer no longer subzero! But we have snowstorm outside so I try to make it a little more cosy inside...

Found a new candle from Wood Wick (Trilogy- Fireside,Redwood, Sandalwood Clove). It smells like a mix between a fire and a hot man... ♡♡♡...

Finally warm toes...

Now they are mine... It took a while to find any winter boots in Billings...Crazy, but after running to several stores that were totally out of warmer boots, Scheels just got 4 new from Sorel . And lucky me they were exactly what I looked for and in my size!

I'm already in love...

Sorel's Tofino CVS in Black.

Crazy morning...

Cold, cold...-35°C (-30F) record low in several places... Our waterpipes froze outside the house so I have had 4 handy men that worked on that in the freezing coldness. At least the sun was shining.. Anyway the problem got solved pretty quick with a little help of open flames...under the house...

 

Me and the girls had a relaxing day,mostly inside but we did play in the snow for quite a while in the afternoon. It was beautiful, no wind and sunshine.. I must buy a pair of real winter boots for me! My toes are so froooze! I found a couple from Sorel, but haven't decided which ones yet. I'll show them later... Typically me..forget to buy real winter clothes (now we are talking extremes..) for the mama, only got good for the girls!

For my wishlist...

So easy to get inspired! So many nice things!

Something new...

Last 24 h brought me some "first timers"... Yesterday evening I got to try Elk for the first time...I didn't plan to but made burgers of elk instead of the locally produced beef I thought I used... I just got a little surprised when our burgers tasted wild instead of beef... Anyway it tasted really good when I knew why they had that hint of wild. It wasn't a distinct taste, really mild! I guess the bigger animal the less taste of wild you get and Elks are very big. We don't have them in Sweden but sizewise I assume they are in between a large deer and a moose or much more closer to the moose... Beautiful to look at and in the fall we did see them almost daily! Like Jason the boss said, I didnt tried the ranch beef but got the ranch breed Elk and that's more rare...
Like I wrote on facebook here's a link if you think it's a little confusing to name the wild species...

Another thing this morning was that the car didn't start...too cold... I guess that's what happens when the temperature goes below -30°C ( -22F)... It's the coldest I've ever experienced. I remember many years ago being in Bydalen, in  northern Sweden, and skiing when it got down to.-27° C and one christmas night on the way home from Grandma Kerstin and Grandpa Hasse when it hit -28°C...
Anyway Jared started the car so I could go pick up Natalie from her school. She got to start preschool again monday and now she goes three days a week 8-12 for no cost except lunch 40 cent/day ( ca 2, 50 kr). I think it's really good for her to go see the other kids and they seem to be in a good, playful and educational school. It is much more of a school then a daycare. She has a real classroom, different subjects and learning goals of the week... but they still have a playful approach to the learning situations!

Today was absolutely beautiful outside and the views stunning. It's surprisingly how much power the sun actually has...even if it stayed so cold all day the sunshine felt good. We stayed mostly inside but went and saw some newborn baby calves! The most exciting time at the ranch has just started and I will tell you all about it later. I think around 10 are born so around 590 more to go or so...

Pink & White...

I can't order it all...somehow I find alot of pink and white for Natalie. I didn't plan to make it that cute but...

Snowy days...

Two days last week we had really nice and sunny days. Still cold (around -5 °C, 23F) but we played outside quite alot. Next weeks project will be to find snowracer and a sledge "pulka". We have many hills around so there must be good ones to go downhill!

Sunny days like this makes me wanna go skiing. We have several ski areas pretty close (ski Montana). I know Bridger Bowl is 1.5 h away. That area is known for good offpist skiing...My dear brother Mikael needs to come over and help me shape up my skiing. I haven't been skiing at all since 2009 in Åre... 

 

I know Natalie will join her school on a daytrip to Showdown Montana , and I will definately go with them. Then I'm gonna check out the ski resorts a little more, and hopefully we can go ski some days this winter...

 

 Natalie in a snowsuit and beanie from swedish Didrikson.

 

Jacket Colombia 

 

  

 Jamie is a happy girl in the snow! Gloves swedish Hestra, Jacket and pants Colombia

 Cold evening...

White and cold outside...

So I found a useful website...www.rei.com. It seems like Natalie needs this right now...

Click, click and thanks for online shopping...

(I also got a late gift for Jared, but can't show it yet!)

Windy...

This week we have had both very windy and beautiful, cold and sunny days. I took some pictures when the wind reminded me of windy days up in ski areas... You know the feeling when the wind makes cold snow move tight to the ground...

 

Back in Montana!

We flew out of a warm Florida last saturday afternoon. To get up to Montana you have two flights and we flew FLL-Denver-Billings.  I booked the shortest flight with United, 7h 50 min,~ 500 usd, for all of us. Jamie only pays tax until she's two, then full price for her.

Before we head to the airport we had a nice breakfast at the hotel. They were incredibly childfriendly here to. For 20 usd ( incl. tip) we all got the good Hilton breakfast. After that we spend a couple of hours in the pool, packed again and ran in to the mall so I could buy myself a pair of sunglasses. This time RayBan's Wayfarer. Happy birthday to me...:-)

Before we finally got into the plane, it seemed like forever. I had so much luggage and it took forever to go through the security. Not so easy by myself today...it didnt make it easier with a tired Jamie right at check in/security time... Anyway the rest of the trip went pretty smooth and we finally arrived in Billings around 9.30 late evening.  It was so nice, emotional and such a relief to finally meet Jared when we got out of the plane! So wonderful to see Natalie run and jump into Daddys arms... She had waited for so long and tried so hard to stay awake the whole day so she wouldnt miss Daddy!

We have almost 2 h in the car to the ranch so this was a long but happy day before all of us finally could go to sleep.

Back to routines again...

Now we have been here almost a week. Things are getting back to "normal" or at least we are trying to get back to routines again. Both girls are now completely in right sleeping times, (usually 7-6) and they seems very content with sleeping in their own rooms! Since we have been "on the road" more or less since august Jamie has slept in her bed in our room most of the time. But now she actually has her own room so it works perfectly fine with her upstairs.

We are waiting for "our" house to be built, but since its not possible to do so much in the winter time we're gonna have to wait til late spring/ early summer for it to be done. Right now we are living in an older house. It's pretty charming, quite big (I guess 140 sq m) with an old fashioned country kitchen, big livingroom and three bedrooms. It is older but the only thing that hasn't been a little more modernized is the bathroom. But it works for a while. Outside white siding and a green roof like very many older houses in Montana. The house could have been really nice, but it would take quite a lot of money to fix it completely.

Since we are going to stay in this house for a while, a big priority is to make it feel like "home". Especially for the girls. Daddy painted their rooms (with help from Jody, thank you!) and had bought a new bedset for Natalie so she felt it was special with her new room. Already before we brought over a lot of her favourite toys, clothes and many books! Now I'm gonna try to decorate it without spending a fortune (since it is kinda temporary anyway). First we got to get/fix more storage space so we have somewhere to put all their toys and clothes in...

I found an old nightstand and a small table me and Natalie are going to paint in a soft pink colour... I will show it later!