Double Dream Hands

The weekend before Valentine's Day the Big Sky communities met near Bozeman for a glorious event known at Winter Retreat. Winter retreat was a big deal here in Hays since we made such a great impression at the fall retreat and we knew that we had to go even bigger this time. The weeks before retreat were spent knitting mustaches and learning dances. This time we decided to go without our costumes from the fall retreat and keep things simple since simplicity and social justice were the themes for the retreat.  

Over Christmas Martha blessed us by introducing us to the Double Dream Hands video which naturally changed our lives for the better so after much discussion we decided that the only thing to do was to learn the dance and perform it on our next retreat.  After our performance the boys performed "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof. 

We also discovered that the Double Dream Hands dance can be applied to almost any song and thus we are ready for the club scene for the rest of our lives. Below you will find our spectacular performance. Feel free to call us if you would like to book us for your next social gathering. 

Delish Crisp

The original crisp

Many moons ago on August 10, 2010 we the Hays JVs plus our support person, Margaret, joined to make a treat for the workers who were struggling to complete our bathroom. We had a pack of huge marshmallows and I mean the marshmallows themselves were giant, about four times the size of a regular s’mores mallow. After attempting to put some whole marshmallows in our mouths we used the rest to make a nice rice crispy treat for the guys. After making a traditional rice crispy treat for the workers we decided to make one for ourselves but naturally we had to spice ours up a bit because we never do anything in a typical way around here. Montana is rugged and so our treat had to be a little rugged itself. We raided the cupboards for anything and everything we could add to the treat.  It started with cheerios and moved on to old candy from past Halloween and Valentines Day parties, sprinkles, chocolate chips and maple syrup to name a few items.  The final crisp was peculiar and included a piece of bubble gum and a piece of salt-water taffy. The object of the crisp was like that of a king cake, we had to eat it all in one sitting and if you had the piece with the bubble gum you were in charge of making the next crisp. And as you can imagine this had potential for a yearlong tradition. We now celebrate Delish Crisp on the 10^th of every month.

There are a few rules that have been developed along the way such as you must eat the whole piece usually without utensils, the hidden candy cannot be a black licorice taffy because black licorice is nasty, pickles and mayonnaise are off limits, you must also be willing to eat the crisp if you make it and guests are allowed but as long as they agree to the above mentioned.

All the crisps have been very different one had fresh bananas, one was spicy, one had spaghetti and cream of wheat, one had pickles(the cause of the pickle rule), one took a cereal form with green milk (Christmas edition) and the most recent had a layer of brownies on the bottom of the pan. Yum!

Each month the preparations are done in secret as to not ruin thesurprise of the ingredients. The chef cuts and dishes out the pieces before each person picks his or her own piece and we all cheers by tapping out plates or bowls together before taking the first bite.

Our special guests have included Greg, the Jesuit novice who was here for the first half of our year and Susan our area director who comes to visit and check in on us.

The Delish Crisp has really improved the quality of life here in Hays. The laughter, and anticipation that is felt by all of us as we pick our pieces to the relief that is felt by all the day after.  So if you agree to all the rules listed above come on by on the 10^th of the month and enjoy a piece of the crisp but remember if you get the special candy you are in charge of the next one….

Hays Celebrates Christmas

Like most American stores, Hays couldn't wait for the start of Christmas. (That's partially why we have skipped talking about Thanksgiving and gone onto Christmas!) Starting the day after Thanksgiving, Hays began showing their Christmas spirit by listening to all of their favorite holiday tunes. Among the favorites: Noisy Boise Christmas, Hanson's Snowed In, Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You, O Come O Come Emanuel, among some others...

In the weeks leading up to the 25th, effort was made to decorate every nook and craney of our house, complete with multitudes of nativity sets, reindeer, lights, stockings, etc.

      

Yule Log

Reindeer

 

Nativity set #2

Nativity Set # 1

Nativity Set #3

A couple of evenings were devoted to baking and frosting cookies. The traditional cookie cutter shapes were perhaps a bit over shadowed by some of the hand sculpted shapes like baby Jesus, the Christmas turd, and a face replica of our support person.
Pictures to follow...

An evening was spent, watching Christmas Vacation while drinking personal quarts of eggnog (a holiday spin on our gallon challenge!)
Picture to follow as well....

1st Grade

The last week of school, the children put on a Christmas program (with a little help from their teachers!) Highlights from the program included a skit made up entirely by the Kindergarten class entitled "Christmas Dinosaurs" and an acrostic poem by the 1st grade (M stands for Mrs. Toe!).

 
Our holiday celebration in Hays wrapped up with a holiday staff party (because let's be honest, no holiday celebration is complete without a holiday staff party!) We tidied our place, and invited the entire Mission Grade School staff over for an evening of festivities which included a white elephant gift exchange. The hot items of the exchange: a mug full of candy, a hat and scarf set in Mission blue and gold, and pair of hand knitted hand warmers.

Halloween!

We know it is now December but when you have halloween costumes as epic as ours were you can't help but feel the need to share it with the world.

Every Thursday is big breakfast day at Mission. This means that Wilma and Chrissy (our lovely school chefs)  prepare a glorious feast that includes pancakes and waffles or french toast.  Along with those yummy carbs we have a sausage patty or link, hard boiled egg and a fruit.  We are also treated with the opportunity to use a fork instead of a spoon and to wash it all down we of course drink a half pint of milk. 

When we were discerning (yes, it was a formal process of discernment) our halloween costumes we wanted to have a group costume idea that the students at the school would really enjoy and some how we decided that big breakfast was our best and most delicious option. We spent many Thursdays secretly conducting research during breakfast and coming up with ideas on how to make our costumes. We also collected some cardboard. 

After many heated discussions we were able to decided how we would split the items up and create the costumes themselves.  David was the french toast complete with beret, Jenny was the 1% or green milk, Harry was the nibbled on sausage patty, Martha was the waffle and Megan rounded us out by being the fork.  We decided the egg and fruit were less essential food items and just ignored them, its not that we don't love them there just aren't enough JVs in Hays to fill the needs of the big breakfast costumes ensemble. 

The costumes were also a huge hit at the Billings halloween party even though we were sans fork. Everyone wanted pictures with us and to watch us dance the night away granted we were not able to sit down or do anything other than dance. We were worried that the other volunteers who have not experienced the Mission tradition but as it turns out everyone loves breakfast.

Needless to say our costumes were a big hit and we still hear mention of then on big breakfast or days when there is green milk at breakfast or lunch. Big breakfast will also never be the same for us. The costumes still reside in our hallway waiting for a chance to be worn again....

What is a sugar beet?

The Biggest Sugar Beet in Chinook!

Way back in September after we won our fiesta station and right before our first area visit there was a glorious celebration of the sugar beet in Chinook. Now you might be wondering what a sugar beet is much like some of us were but that is not important. What is important is the celebration itself.

Every year the town of Chinook comes together in all its glory to celebrate this vegetable but really its just a big block party. The shut down main street and people set up little booths selling crafts and baked goods, there is also a car show and a fun run/walk.

Now we were told this was one of the less exciting festivals in the area but we decided to see for ourselves. We showed up(thats right JVC we showed up!) right in time to register for the fun run and talk with Jackie(a woman who works with us) about the puppies she was selling. We also took the time to stretch out before our race. The race/ walk was great and David and Megan even won some prize gift certificates.

The display of decorated beets

After the race we explored the town stopping at all the little craft booths and talking with people. At one booth there was a husband and wife team selling deep fried oreos.  We stopped for a bit as Megan discussed the art of deep frying with the man who resembled santa claus. He gave us free samples and told us a little about his recipe but would not share all of the ingredients because he uses a top secret recipe.

Dead Beets

Right next to the fried oreo booth was a nice trailer displaying the star of the day, the sugar beet. Apparently people young and old in Chinook, MT take great pride in their sugar beets. There was a contest for the smallest, the biggest, the best carved and the best dressed beet. After marveling at the glory of the sugar beet as an art form we headed to the museums to learn more about the local history and the wildlife of the area.

The Fiesta Station

A couple of weeks ago, the 5^th & 6^th grade class held a Chinese Auction as a fundraiser for their end of the year class trip. The Hays JVs were of course there in attendance for support.

Among the items being raffled off was something called a Fiesta Station. The station is a mini buffet that holds all the makings one would every need when making a burrito or taco. What gives the station it’s fiesta, is that it is in the shape of a vender’s cart and topped with a chili pepper on top!

Destiny intervened that day, in that raffle item # 22 (the fiesta station of course!) went to the raffler #22 – Megan! Since Megan was not present at the time of the drawing, Martha and Jenny were nice enough to not only collect her prize, but also have it all assembled for her when she arrived home later that day.

 

Megan and the other volunteers have wasted no time breaking in the Fiesta Station. The very next day, the station was commissioned for use at the priests’ house for a meal with the new Jesuit novice and the Dominican sisters. Needless to say, the meal had an added zest thanks in part to the station!

The Fiesta Station also made an appearance the week our Area Director was in town to visit. On this occasion, it seemed only fitting that fiesta music be played and everyone be required to dance when the Macerena came on.

In the future, the station may be used for other non-taco/burrito type meals. Since the Fiesta Station has the capacity to either cook or keep items warm, there are a lot of potential meals it could be used for. One idea that is currently in the works is using the Fiesta Station as an ice cream sundae buffet. More will follow on this matter as things develop…

Do it like they do on the Discovery Channel...

The first weekend of October we ventured to the breaks of the Missouri River with Greg and Margaret to see the elk in the nature preserve. This time of year the elk are looking for mates for the winter. The bull elk are “collecting” females for their herds. During this time the males and females can be heard bugling and the males with their ever impressive racks can been seen fighting. Its pretty much like watching the discovery channel in real life.

            When we go there the elk were about 50 feet from the road as they were emerging from the trees and grazing in the grass. As the females stuff their faces the males try and impress them by fighting, bugling and sniffing their hindquarters. We were fortunate enough to witness a miracle in the making as one male had his way with a female after winning her in a brief scuffle. We also watched as two elk locked antlers and a third came in a stole the female they were fighting over.  

Look at the rack on that one!

            Watching the elk is a big thing around these parts. We are asked almost daily if we have gone down to the river to see them yet. Many people go every weekend and it is pretty cool, just a little ways away and all our dreams came true on the first visit.