Cowpokes

     It seems that I accumulate a lot of pictures that have to do with cows, horses and ranching. I guess that's a good thing since we do ranch for a living. Here's a post with some snapshots of cattle related activities.

First calf of the season! We really enjoyed the calving season and were sad when all the heifers had their calves and there was nothing to find in the mornings. 

  

Cowboy Cooper decided he wanted to ride and drive the heifers to the other pasture…..the rest of us opted to follow him in the truck. Proud of him for wanting to ride bad enough to be cold. 

Getting his orders and riding beside us.

 We stayed nice and warm!

These boys are all about helping Dad, especially when it involves poking cattle with a stick. Boys. This one didn't stand a chance of backing out, he was going whether he liked it or not, and got prodded the entire way.

 

Dalton was working and the kids wanted to ride so, after we brushed the horses, I saddled one up and let them ride. Ace was excited to ride by himself for the first time. 

 

 We had a bottle calf from Popsey…named him Valentine since we got him on Valentine's. He was big fun and the boys enjoyed helping. Cooper and Tucker really like to feed him. Tucker would grab the bottle, let him suck a little, then hand it back to me. Then he'd repeat the process. (This was after he got over the fact that someone else was getting a bottle and he wasn't….you can see his concern in the above picture.) 

 

 We also had a set of twin calves!! They were so cute. Dalton just bought some new heifers. I really hope we can keep this one because I'm ready to have a little more color in the herd. ; ) 

Tucker likes sitting on the horse, and doesn't want to get down once he's up there! He also never missed an opportunity to pet Val.  

 

 These are some old pictures but never got around to putting them in the blog. We did our yearly trip to the Ft Worth Stock Show and Rodeo with Mere Mere and Popsey (and Merann and Jud). It was fun and the kids enjoyed the rodeo. Of course, that was after we finally pulled them off the equipment that was on display. 

Tucker enjoying a funnel cake, family photo and Mere Mere with Tucker. 

 The Graham rodeo was a few weeks ago and we attended that one as well. The boys were more interested in running around than watching, but they enjoyed the clown's show. And it was fun to go with friends, The Weavers. The boys also did the nickel toss and gathered up some change from the arena floor. 

  

 

 We helped out working the calves here at the house. Cooper enjoyed helping Dad hold down a calf, and I got brave and held a leg while they worked a couple too. 

     There you have it. Short, sweet and full of pictures. I'm sure there are stories to go with all of these events but when you wait this long to post, you're lucky to get pictures on here! 

"Better a little with the fear of the Lord, than great wealth with turmoil. Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred." Proverbs 15:16-17

City Visits

      I'm going to stop saying how late I am on each blog, because I think I'll always be late. So here's a few snapshots from 2 trips we took to the big city last month. One was to visit Mere Mere in the hospital when she had back surgery (she's doing very well and on the road to recovery).
     We don't usually travel to Dallas. Ft Worth is about as far as we make it, but we ventured on to the hospital. We had a good visit with Mere Mere and Popsey and then took the kids to a local aquarium before we headed home. We got there about 10 minutes before they closed, so while Dalton parked the car, Cooper, Ace and I ran to the aquarium and paid our way in. The boys were able to pet an urchin, lobster and hermit crabs. We also saw lots of fish, some big sharks, creepy eels and stingrays. We were too late to feed the sting rays but we had the opportunity to pet them. I was the only one brave enough to pet them and it was fun!

      After the aquarium we started home, stopping in Grapevine to eat supper at Olive Garden. The kids behaved so well and supper was yummy. Then Ace said his tummy hurt so I took him to the potty. He did his business and we headed back to the table. A few more bites and he said it hurt again. This time it was Daddy's turn and he took him. Quite a bit later they returned and Dalt informed me that they didn't quite make it to the bathroom before Ace threw up everywhere……in the very crowded waiting area. Sooo glad it wasn't me that took him that time!!! Needless to say, we hurried out of there and headed home, hoping there wasn't a relapse. And thankfully we made it home with no more incidents.

     Trip 2 was the next weekend to have a brief visit with Uncle Justin, who was flying his Osprey cross country. We got to Ft Worth early, ran a couple of errands and then visited with Asher and Alissa before heading out to the airport. Ace loved Asher and clung to him the whole time.

     We only got to visit briefly but it was good to say hello and we also got to see the helicopter. The boys couldn't stay inside long because they wanted to push too many buttons.

     Then we traveled back home, having our fill of the city for a while, and we've been enjoying our country life since. Pretty soon we'll have to make another visit to Dallas though, to see Merann and Jud's new house.

"He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire." Psalm 104:3-4