We moved...

We moved.

Finally.

After a loooong month of decisions, planning, sorting, packing, cleaning, more packing, cleaning and sorting....

It finally happened.

This has got to be one of the craziest summers of my adult life.

It just keeps being crazy busy. Anyways.

We moved to  another ranch in Wy. We now live 30 min north of Cheyenne.

Leaving the X-Bar.

                                                  

             Coming in the lane to our new house - that red building is the barn, tho, so don't get confused!

 This is an old ranch - so there are alot of old buildings, mixed in with the new. I love old buildings!

 We went on a drive north of here recently, and drove through a herd of buffalo. They were pretty raggedy looking. But the cloud is pretty!

 Frank likes his 'new - from- goodwill' hat...

 ...And Jenni loves her 'new-from-goodwill' bike that she bought for $3. :)

And we watched the airshow during Frontier days. Pretty impressive for a small-city show.

And many other things have happened that I would love to share. But the chokecherries are calling, and the peaches are also calling, and there is dishes to wash and clothes to fold...see you all later, when I have another minute! :) Happy Summer!

Of Clouds and Sprinklers

I was mowing the yard yesterday afternoon. It was sunny for a few hours, between thunderstorms. This beautiful thunderhead came up - What does it look like to you?

This is what I saw in it! :)

 The kids wanted to run through the sprinkler. OK, I suggested it. It would keep them busy where I could keep an eye on them. And I am trying to be a 'funner' mom - like so many of my friends are...

 There was this huge cloud bank off to the northeast, too. So beautiful...someday I wanna paint a picture of a sky like this.

We're moving!

Yep. We are leaving the X-Bar.

Why?

Well, alot of 'little' reasons, which add up to one big reason. OK, I'll be more specific.

1. Cliff will have half-days off on Saturday! WooHoo!!! That is the main reason.

2. He will also have shorter workdays, whenever possible.  (cows can be unpredictable, and some seasons are unavoidably busy...haying, calving)

3. He will have time off to go hunting.

4. We will be 1/2 hour closer to church - which knocks off an hour round-trip.

5. The boss seems to have the same kind of view of family life that we have. i.e: work your tail off during the week, then take off weekends as much as possible to spend time with the family.

6. A new house, without a mouse infestation.

OK, #6 was totally not taken into consideration. But it will be a very wonderful experience! :) I seriously HATE mice. I generally have some pity/feelings/mercy with even the most reprobate of critters. But not mice. I can't muster even one tiny bit of feeling for them.

Anyways. Moving.

There is very few things that I will miss about here.

1. Sheep Mountain, and the beautiful sunsets over it.

 2. The beautiful walking trails I have come to love. Of course, there will be miles of trails/roads there, too. But I don't know them, yet.

 3. The pair of hawks that have nested close to our house the last 4 years. I love birds. I guess they will have birds there, too.

 I won't miss this house. Its too big, (not good when you have hoarding tendencies.) and it has a mouse infestation that has resisted my best attempts. Including, but not limited to: conventional traps, glue traps, one-touch traps, electronic buzzers, poison, homemade traps, more poison, more traps, and bb guns. Seriously.

 The kids are excited, too!

 We talk nearly every day about the fun we are gonna have on the new place. The main attraction being the promise of family picnics and fishing trips on Saturday afternoons. Of course, there will be days that My Cowboy has to work, and days that he will need to work in the leather shop. But still....at least once in a while, we can do something as a family - other than sit in the car for four hours every Sunday. :) Not that we mind the drive - but, you know....

My Cowboy is hoping to have more time to work on his saddles. He is also glad to get some more experience with a cow/calf operation. We do have some pairs here, but only about 150 or so.

Where:  North of Cheyenne, WY.
When: July 1, 2011

So there you have it. We have spent 4 years here on the X-Bar, and other than the first 3 months, it has been a good experience. Mostly. But its time to move on. So if I write sporadic, off the wall posts in the next two weeks, or don't write at all, well, it will be cause I am packing.

Kids and Yearlings.

I just love white clouds against blue skies, don't you?

Last week on one of our walks, I took my camera along. I had intentions of getting a few good pronghorn shots, but none showed. So instead, I took random photos of my kids. Little did I realize they would end up being some of my all-time favorite pics of them! They are hilarious. Well, it was hilarious being with them...not sure if the pics quite capture the humor. I laughed myself silly that day...could barely snap pictures for laughing. :) Yes, I am enamored by my kids. Like any parent, I think they are the bee's knees.

We were walking down the gravel lane, and when we got close to the fence/cattle guard where the next pasture begins, I seen some yearlings standing by the gate.

"We are about to be surrounded by yearlings," I remarked casually. When they were younger, my kids could get a bit frightened when the yearlings came crowding around. I wasn't sure how they felt these days.

"Good! then we can chase them!" Frank said gleefully. I chuckled, but when we crossed the cattle guard, he went flying after them, sending them running. I started to laugh, and told him to do it again so I could snap a pic. He gladly did it again. Yearlings are so silly - they will run pell-mell away if you so much as snort at them, or wave your hand. But a minute later, they stop, turn around, and run right back atcha. Its annoying when you are trying to get something done, but funny if you have a son who loves to chase them. Frank and Jenni chased and re-chased these same steers like 3-4 times, till we finally were across that pasture.

Send em flying, Frank!

Then we walked around the ranch headquarters, and back towards our house. They wanted to walk along the irrigation ditch, so I let them.  The neighbor's dog likes to walk with us, since my kids willingly toss sticks, rocks, and all manner of junk for him to fetch. Sometimes he fetches things before they throw them. He is weird. They especially like to toss rocks into this ditch, just to watch him dive head first into the water and fetch it out. Anyways.

 Then they like to jump the ditch. Its one of those that is almost too wide to jump, so they take a run at it like 4 times and stall out before actually getting the courage to make the jump. Oh, the carefree days of childhood!!

Course, they had to pet Fred as we passed by. He is their personal horse.

Oh, and we can't forget 'Cia! She love when we go on walks.

Branding, 2011

First, our good friends that have lived and worked on the X-Bar for the last 2 winters. I wish they could stay here always. They are good hands, and I like having a woman around. But they have been working on another ranch during the summer. So i don't see them as often as I would like.

 Lane and Karmen.

 And my favorite photo of the day! Buck-off! No, I don't want them to get bucked off, but it makes good pictures. Plus, what else do they expect when they bring green colts to a branding? I guess he wasn't hurt too bad...no blood, and he was pretty active the rest of the day.

 ...right onto the ground.

Cliff's boss (Miller) on the left,  and Miller's partner.

 ...And their wives.

 The guy on the right is Cliff's current co-worker.

 And My Cowboy, of course. He wrestled calves the first part of the day.

Then he took a turn ropin.

                           

                          

 Everyone was having some trouble  catching that day. The ground was sticky, and it seemed to bugger things up a bit. But still, they got the job done.

 Check out the handful of ropes he holds in one hand.

Friends~The Spice of Life.

Last Saturday was alot of fun. ALOT of fun! Mainly because these two crazy friends came and spent the day. I love having my friends come...who doesn't? But I think I value it more because I don't often have the pleasure of entertaining my friends. We live 2 hours from most of my friends. I have had a few more guests than usual the last couple months, and I have loved every minute! I always get that nervous/panicky/I-think-I'm-gonna-hyperventilate feeling in the pit of my stomach about 15 minutes before guests arrive. That never happened to me before we lived here. I just love having people up - its just too exciting, I guess. It does get just the teeniest bit lonely out here...

Anyways - back to the branding. I took 350+ photos, so you will have to indulge me while I share the best ones... Like my friends, here...

I finally have a woman friend who knows what MUCK boots are! :) ...and she isn't afraid to wear them. Go Cowgirls! :)

My Cowboy and his other friend who was helping at the branding. This guy has helped brand before.

And my sweet little 'fat boy'. This kid is delightfully chubby and tubby and all kinds of sweet. I would kidnap him, but his mom knows where I live! :)

Our kids had a blast...well, 'cept Frank seemed a bit bored.

Cutest little cowgirl. What a heart breaker!

Lots of funny stuff goin' on here...

 

Maybe the loop could be just a 'tiny' bit bigger, sweetie. You know this kid is gonna be a good hand, one day! :)

More calf-wrestling...

Aahhh...the aroma of burning hair!

Uh-oh... someone is upset about something...

No worries. Her pal will figure it out! :) These girls are too cute and funny together!

Grab that baby!! This picture is deceptively calm. I had to laugh as they wrestled this one down. It was kicking like crazy.

But of course they got it!

Kneeling on the neck is a wonderful way to control calves. And it doesn't hurt them as much as it might seem. These babies are tough.

All in all, it was a wonderful day of fun, food, and belly-laughs! I can't remember a branding that was ever quite as fun as this one, when our friends came.

When you have good friends, its a blessing.

when you have friends that are also brothers and sisters in Christ, it is a double blessing!

I still have some photos of My Cowboy I wanna post... stay tuned!