2007 Archived News for The Thomas Ranch
December 2007:
Wow December is a great month, like it always seems to be. First of all Merry Christmas to one and all.
Here is a little information that all of you maybe interested in:
NORCO, Calif.—The chubby Bob's Big Boy mascot is going to wear a cowboy hat and boots as long as he's in Horsetown USA.
There was concern in Norco that the mascot wasn't Western enough for the equestrian community so planners said neigh to architectural plans for a 5,200-square-foot Bob's Big Boy restaurant.
Architect representative Dave Hogan told the council Wednesday that the six-foot statue would don a hat and boots. So the City Council reversed course and approved the plans.
Norco is located in Riverside County about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Now this is strictly a Cowboy Heritage Pressure being levied on a National Chain Restaurant. Let’s see if more towns would stand up we would have Ronald McDonald and Burger King both wearing Cowboy Hats and Cowboy Boots.
I personally wish that our County, Cochise County, would stand there ground with something like this. Or, if National Chains would see the need to keep Western Communities would patron these restaurants more. If we could take visitors, family or friends, to our local McDonalds or Burger King and sit them on a bench with one of them wearing Boots and a Hat and take a picture of them that would become a tourist attraction in its self.
On to another note:
We found this just prior to writing our December 2007 Cowboy Monthly News. We realize this is an older article but it will hit home to a lot of people, especially those who live on the Border.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/19/national/19ranch.html?_r=2&ex=1125547200&en=b1445167f6ad3970&ei=5070&8hpib&oref= slogin&oref=slogin"target="blank"
This will link you to the article.
November 2007:
The breaking news from
The Thomas Ranch is that the Anderson’s at the very end of October, October 28th, had a fire in there home. There second floor where all the kid’s rooms are were destroyed. Smoke and Water damage happened to all of there stuff. They were able to get all the kids out safely and that was the most important thing.
The middle of their fireplace caught on fire and spread to the walls, which in turn eventually worked it’s way to the attic, where it spread through the entire second story.
Smoke and Water was throughout the entire 1st floor but it looks as if they were able to save most of the stuff downstairs.
Thank God that everyone was O.K. and that they are all safe. A ton of people have contacted us and wanted to know how they can help out.
As far as this Website goes, we are publishing this month. The
New-And-Improved Website is up and running replacing our old one.
Also November is for
Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving, to all the “American Cowboy Families” in they entire World.
October 2007
This month started off with a bang. Russell got promoted on the 1st of October to the rank of Sergeant First Class. This is the rank in the Army where you join the Senior Non-Commissioned Officers. He has been in the military for 17 years straight. This is well deserved. Congratulations Russell. SFC Anderson.
Russell also had to leave for a week to go to Ft. Hood for some pre deployment training. The time went fast and he was back home before they even realized he was missing.
News for this website is we are getting close to publishing our
new-and-improved site. We have finally locked it down to 20 more pages to create and write. This after building this website to 160 pages, this is a big jump from only 68 pages. Can you believe that? We only had 68 pages and now we have 160, which may total out at 170-180 when we are totally done. Wish us luck. We are now hoping to get this new site published by 1 November, if we are lucky.
We created this TTR logo in Orange. It has an Orange glow look to it. It turned out really nice. I don’t think we will ever use it, but we like creating new logos and banners.
On the 20th we headed out for a Haunted Trail Adventure,
Trail of Fears. Read all about it.
We want to wish Dawn a Happy Birthday, from all of us at
The Thomas Ranch.
September 2007:
Here we are in September again. You will not be able to see it for some time but there have been hundreds of hours put into rebuilding this website, this month alone. Staying up late every single night is draining our souls and leaving us weary. We are hoping that it is not being done in vain.
If you log into this website in October of 2007 we are hoping that you will already be viewing our new web site. With our new layout we have separated the numerous written pages and crammed them into our new
Reading Room.
We may be getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. The new layout is designed to be just like a ranch. You have a
Bunkhouse, a
Reading Room, there is a
Kids Room, a
Kitchen, and there is even a
Ranch Store. After you have gone thru each room you typically head outside. What do you find there?
Cows of course, what else. Last but not least we wanted to be able to share our
Holidays with you.
We here at
The Thomas Ranch believe that you will have an easier time viewing and surfing thru our web site with our new-and-improved web site layout and navigational bar.
Our new standard color will be Orange to an Orange fade. Al worked as a mechanic with construction companies for over 30 years. His favorite shirt for all of this time seemed to always be a "Safety Orange" work shirt. After his retirement and moving back on to
The Thomas Ranch Alice, finally after five years or so, has managed to throw away all of his worn out work shirts. This is our way to dedicate Orange to Al once again, but now promoting,
The Thomas Ranch. Plus Russell and his boys are in love with the “General Lee”, which is “Hemi Orange”, or “Hugger Orange.” So when the decision to pick a new color scheme came up it was an easy choice.
August 2007:
August is one of the busiest months we have on the calendar.
School starts up again and the kids decide to throw a Pool Party prior to returning to school. With the twins now going in the 11th grade and Ronnie headed in to the 10th it seems like we are running out of time. These kids will be grown and gone by the time we know it. The pool party was fun the kids swam all afternoon and Casey Barbequed for them.
Russell entered Counseling thru the military for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after months of battling depression and sleeping only 2-4 hours a night since his return from Iraq. It doesn’t make someone weak to seek help, especially when there is a little friendly shove from your wife (Casey). It took them not talking for four days straight before Casey got involved and contacted the Post Chaplin. With a little help, and a ton of patience, the two of them will make it thru this. Depression loomed over Russell since the middle of the deployment and he was unable to fully kick it once his energy of returning home wore off. If anyone reading this is having trouble sleeping after 90 days from a deployment you should at a minimum contact the
Military One Source.
Treating combatants who are suffering psychological consequences of exposure to battle-related stress or trauma enhances the return of those combatants to a readiness status. Cohesion and morale is also protected when members suffering psychological injuries are rapidly reincorporated into their units. Although not as visible as physical trauma, psychological injuries are a significant portion of battle-related casualties. Combat stress control is, therefore, an essential component of operational medicine.
As part of his recovery Russell who didn’t take the block leave (30 days of leave upon return of deployment) when he returned, he and Casey took off to Branson to spend some quality time together to help them reunite with each other.
Their very first night they went out to dinner at
Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. “Branson’s “Most Fun Place to Eat” Dolly guarantees it! The entire dinner with the shows and everything cost $100.00. Ouch. It was worth it until we found out that if you purchase discount books we could have got in for $22.99 for both of us. (Remember look for discount books as soon as you arrive in Branson.) This is a North vs. South dinner show.
Amidst the fog, the sound of beating hooves begins to grow… the crowd watches in amazement and the excitement spreads throughout the grand arena… suddenly, as if by magic, a herd of Wild Buffalo appears. There are pig races, horse racing (which Casey and I were selected out of the crowd to participate in.) While you are eating, with only your hands (no silverware), this show keeps rolling and never stops. It was worth every penny.
While in Branson they were also able to find a
Fish Hatchery. This was an outstanding stop on their travels. They were able to see Trout, fingerlings, all the way up to 20+ pounds. Once they left the hatchery they headed to
Lake Taneycomo. The water was so cold that it burned as they walked in it. But the fish size made it worth trying to push forward in the endeavor.
This was a great vacation for them. Thanks to Alice for staying, in Oklahoma, with all the kids while they did this.
Not to leave out Ashley for this month. She headed down to
The Thomas Ranch. She and Chance (her boyfriend) got to see everyone back home. They said they had the best time of their lives.
July 2007:
July is here and we want to wish Ronnie a Happy Birthday. The 4th of July is also here and the Fireworks were viewed in Michigan this year. There were plans to enter the
Pickerel Tournament this year, but we were unable to secure a boat with a live well. We really need to purchase a boat for our Team Cowboy members to use.
While in Michigan we were able to swim, fish, ride in the boat (Russell smacked into the brake-wall) and just relax at times. The family in Michigan tried to keep the Anderson’s busy but as a sneaky little person, Russell was able to hide out for some time before being cornered. There were dinners and B*B*Q*, even a Drive-In movie, Ratatouille, from Disney. That was fun and nostalgic, but this time it was we kids with our kids instead of the other way around. We also had some of our Aunts and Uncles with us. It was fun.
The month of July also had the
National Day of the Cowboy celebration. We decided to head out to the Rodeo grounds and make a day of it. As you know we have been the forerunner, since it’s conception, for the
National Day of the Cowboy. We hope that you did something for this special event.
June 2007:
June is here and it’s Vacation time. The Anderson’s are headed back to
The Thomas Ranch, for a little
Branding and for visiting with the family. It is the first time since his return home from Iraq that Russell is able to walk on the soil of the Ranch.
The excitement was high and the kids were able to visit all their friends, such as Mariah (our 5th child), and Eric (Bo’s best friend, since he was able to walk). It was a shocker to see these little guys and gals all grown up. Eric was now as big as Russell and Mariah is all grown up. It takes you aback to see how all of these kids are growing into young adults. We can still remember them in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts as little guys and gals.
The
Branding went off without incident and was great not only for the Ranch to receive some help but also for the Anderson’s to feel as if they are still needed. Thanks to both the Thomas’ and Anderson’s for helping each other out this year. Lets not forget the Buchanan’s. Ashley whom is still working full time at Wal-mart was unable to take the family trip back down to
Arizona this year. She will be taking her vacation in August, look for her account and what they did then.
After the work was all done the whole
Cowboy Crew headed to the
Coronado National Park. The 750-mile Arizona Trail, which runs from the southern to northern ends of the state, begins in Coronado National Memorial at the international border between the United States and Mexico. Here in the park, the trail sections are called Yaqui Ridge and the Crest Trail.
Hiking Manzanita, oak and alligator juniper line the trails of Coronado National Memorial. Take an easy walk or a more difficult hike and explore this beautiful park.
Picnicking Enjoy lunch in the picnic area, surrounded by oak and Manzanita trees. Tables and BBQ pits are available. Please remember wood gathering and ground fires are not permitted.
Bird Watching A sky-island, the Huachuca Mountains are home to animals and plants from four distinct bioregions: the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts and the Rocky and Sierra Madre mountains. This diversity creates exceptional habitat for a wide variety of migratory and resident birds.
Spelunking Limestone caves formed from the remnants of shallow seas provide great opportunities for first-time cavers to explore underground wonders.
What great wonders we all saw. Even though the kids didn’t want to go at first, everyone to include myself were awestruck at the awesome beauty of these rock formations. We even bought a “Passport,” just like a regular “Passport” but you collect stamps from National Parks instead of different countries, from the “Welcome Center.” You can contact them at:
Physical address:
4101 East Montezuma Canyon Road
Hereford, Arizona, 85615
Phone #:
Visitor Information
(520) 366-5515
Tell ‘em
The Thomas Ranch set Ya’.
May 2007:
May is springtime, this is the time of year where it actually starts warming up and we start looking foreword to going outside.
This is also the Month in which Casey and Russell got married. Happy anniversary to both of them, we wish the happy couple many, many, more years of marital bliss. They (Casey and Russell) had a long courtship and both sides of the family were almost relieved when they finally “Tied the Knot”. If you ask either one of them they will tell you it was worth it. They are both madly in Love with each other and can’t see themselves apart on a permanent basis. They both realize that the United States Army pulls Russell away from the family from time to time but that their Love is strong and they will endure thru the last three years of his enlistment.
April is also the time of year to head outdoors and do some
Fishing. She (Casey) wanted to learn how to do some Walleye Fishing. No problem Russell took her to Lake Lawtonka, which is about 15 minutes away from their house in Oklahoma. You can just imagine how surprised Casey was to pull out a
5 ˝ pound Walleye. They are having it mounted for Casey. It is her biggest fish to date.
Congratulations Casey!
April 2007:
Happy Birthday Russell. With his Birthday this month we have to fill you in that he has been injured since his return from Iraq. Prior to re-deployment he messed up his right ankle and was limping around for about a month prior to coming home. Once he got home, Bo was so excited to see him; he (Bo) jumped him from the back and started wrestling with him. Russell out of instinct more than anything else had slammed his foot down on top of Bo’s and ended up on the floor, in pain. This was actually a blessing. Whatever he had done to his foot, in Iraq, this corrects it. He must have pulled it (his ankle) out of socket and by stomping down on Bo’s foot he put it back in socket.
This is not the injury we are talking about him working thru though. He injured his back sometime in January or February, many soldiers started showing back problems due to the extra weight that they carried on their back in Iraq. He is currently seeing a Chiropractor for it and is unable to do P.T. (Physical Training). He continues to smile each and everyday but it is getting harder and harder. He feels as if his dreams are slipping away from him and is scared that he will be unable to retire from the military. He hides most of this from his family and the military alike. He found out in February that he was selected, as of 1 January 2007, to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC). He knows he has to go to Advanced Non Commissioned Officers Course (ANOC), but he is unable to because of his injuries. This again is weighing down on him.
Keep your chin up Russ and remember that you have a strong support system behind you. America drop him a line and wish him well, using our
Contact Us page.
March 2007:
Happy Birthday, to our Twins, Bridget and Bo. This year is a special year for them and for us. This is there “Sweet 16”. What do you get for two teenagers? Cars what else?
Bo received a Ford Explorer, Eddie Bower Edition.
Bridget received a Chevy Cavalier.
Now I know what most of you are thinking. Spoiled rotten little kids. Well maybe a little bit. But not really.
Bo’s ($300) Explorer, with a straight and nice looking body, was not able to drive when we got it for him. After we finally received the title for it we took a day and worked on it. There was fuel in everything, and oil in the radiator and it wouldn’t start up, although it sure turned over really nice. After about an hour Bo had taken off the fuel pressure regulator and had it replaced. A test drive showed that this 1983 could still spin its tires. The oil was added to the radiator overflow tank. Why? We may never know. A flushing of all the fluids and he was ready to start “Drivers Training.”
Bridget ended up finding her own vehicle. It was a 1997 Chevy Cavalier. It had a straight body and a good paint job on it. The only problems with it were the tires were a little dry rotted and the passenger door lock (a project for later down the road) had been pried out, in an attempt to break into it we guessed. Nothing had to really be done to her vehicle, and shouldn’t need for $2,400.00.
Now with that being said we have to add our warning here:
Warning: If you don’t like the way the twins drive
Stay off the SIDEWALKS.
February 2007:
America we need your help!
We need all of you who are reading these pages to start this year out with an image in your mind. The
American Cowboy once again being the positive icon that it once was. If we all start showing positive sides of the
Cowboy then perhaps our image as an American Icon will once again raise to the level of respect that it once held.
With the Iraqi war still in full effect and with President Bush still being hammered by the press as a
Cowboy and it is being done in a negative light then we must all stand up for what is right.
The country community, as a whole, needs to embrace the fact that we are becoming an endangered species. The
Cowboy is slowly dieing.
We still wear our
Cowboy Hats and
Cowboy Boots, belt buckles, western shirts and still say, “Yes, Ma’aM and No Ma’aM”, while out in public. We feel this is a much better way to raise our children than grabbing our crotches and flipping you the finger while we also try to hold up our pants, which we are sagging trying to be cool.
We as an entire community need to once again show our presence, in a positive light.
Show your pride America, wear your
Cowboy gear in public with pride and use manners to people while you are out. The word will get out and we will have a positive wave flow across the entire United States of America.
January 2007:
This is one of the Happiest New Years that we have had to date. Russell has returned from Iraq. He seems to have energy to burn, going at 100 mph. Full of life and glad to be back with his family. A year without seeing everyone and then to be thrust back into a family setting was great.
Welcome Home Russ!
This year will be a banner year for
The Thomas Ranch. There are many plans for us this year. If all of America can keep up than it will be outstanding. Since we have been on the Internet we have become the forerunner on many grounds breaking promotions for the
Cowboy. This year will be no different. Take a look at the Arizona Weekly cover to your right.
After Russell returned from Iraq he gave Al and Alice the National Day of the Cowboy Flag, which he carried with him into battle. While stationed over there, with the
Desert Cowboys, he had
Charlie Daniels sign it, while he was over there on tour, visiting the troops. Al was happy to receive this honored gift. He will fly it on the Ranch every National Day of the Cowboy.
Copyright © 1902-Present By: The Thomas Ranch
