Meghan brought two friends from Oregon who had not been to a ranch in Montana. They came for Easter weekend. As I was going through the pictures no one took any pictures of the girls with my camera! Yikes! You may think they were a figment of my imagination. They were fun, full of questions that Cowboy patiently answered. How is branding done, when we "calve" and what about organic meat? So many questions that I didn't write down! There was lots of nonstop talking. There were Meghan and her two friends, Tristin and her college friend, Cari, and Sydney who is 7 years old. With all the females, it was PRETTY noisy around here. Besides that, Cowboy could barely get a word in edgewise and he had to be fast to do that!
They went to the corral to see the horses. It was too cold to ride and there weren't any "dude" horses that anyone could ride. They were just happy to see them.
The "main men" getting a treat. What good boys!
Bill went to a bull sale on Saturday and got help branding bulls when he got them home.
A cute baby calf...
Meghan and Bill going to "swing" some gates.
Unloading bulls...
They found the branding irons...
Hot irons will do the trick...
Can't you smell the smoke?
One of Switchback Ranch's brands: Y Lazy Y.
Picture takers overlapping...
Helper girl Meghan taking hot irons to Bill. Sydney is cold and Tristin didn't take a coat, but found a blanket. She should remember, it is always chilly even when it looks warm!
Meghan "running" irons. Cowboy does all the branding...
Meghan getting on the computer to show Granddad what her new job will be consisting of. She is now working for Morgan Industries and they move heavy machinery. As you can see, she is doing some explaining...
Cari is hiding behind me, but we are mixing up something good, I am sure!
Tristin is pretty laid back... Meghan and Sydney are probably talking to Jamie (Sydney's daddy) or something else of interest! Rachel (Tristin's friend) and I are looking on... Cari is looking at the camera person...
Being together is so special and pictures capture some of those moments. The time went so very fast and the days flew by. I tried to pour love into such a short space of time...
We did go to church on Easter Sunday but could not convince all to come with us...
Cowboy took the picture of the boots and shoes. One of the girls bought used boots at the Vintage shop in Billings. Why didn't I come up with that idea over the years? Maybe I could have made a buck or two! It seems I have worn out my boots and have holes in the bottoms so I discard them! I have seen some boots on fence posts around the ranch that have seen much better days too! The boot jack has Bill's brand on it. It is the Standing S Lazy S monogram.
The picture reminds me of the chaotic fun that we had (even got in some games too!) and boy, oh boy, was it ever quiet when all left... We were a lonesome twosome...
Cari came to the ranch to celebrate her birthday which was Monday. Of course we had a jam-packed weekend! She got her Friday night and we talked fast and furious for a short time and went to bed. We got up Saturday and found out the graduation party (high school for a relative of Bill's) had been moved to a more accessible spot (on the highway). That was relief but it would have been fun to take Cari down in the breaks along the Musselshell River. We hurried to Jordan and bought some plants and then came home and got ready for the party.
Cari spotted the goldfinches in our little cottonwood. There were at least 10 if not more, but when I moved closer to the window, only one "brave bird" stayed. I hope this shows up.
Early Sunday Cowboy wanted to give the horses their flu-vac and west nile shots and worm them, so Cari went to help. She told me we have too many coats, but we can outfit most anyone that comes. She borrowed, hat, coat, jeans, socks and boots... So there you go...
Cari and Dunny
Say ahhhh!
Cash Man...
Art is the old soldier of the horses. He is 25 years old and is such a pretty chestnut when he sheds off in the spring. The light spots are hair that hasn't come off yet. Art is getting is a hooficure. He will be racing around the pasture still the Boss.
One more cowboy rule: Stand on the side with the cowboy so the horse has a place to go if he decides to jump, move, or paw.
Opening gifts and cards. This is the year the "kids" aren't getting birthday presents, so I am having to think of unbirthday gifts I can give to them.
Bonnie and Cari sharing a goodbye.
Granddad and one of his girls...
Don't you just love the look of that grass in the pot. I ran my fingers through it. It is so soft...
Cowboy got up at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning and moved all plants and hanging plants in the garage because it had frosted. He is a keeper, I am telling you. I would have helped him... Anyway, this is one of the pots that Cari bought to take home. I told her that Bill would think that it might be mine and he would say, "Is that your grass?" The next morning, sure enough: "Is that your pot with the grass?" No, I assured him, it was Cari's. He is afraid the seeds will blow over into the hay fields. He wants to know what kind of "weed" that is--or maybe a new form "quack grass"...
The time flew by and then it was time to hug, kiss, and say goodbye... Happy Birthday Cari!
Happy Mother's Day! What better way to spend the day than to go to a dedication of a child. We asked to go to church with Barry and Jolene not knowing that they were planning a dedication of Javon. We were thrilled to be a part of this. It is not a child's salvation, it is the parents' promise to bring the child up hearing about the saving power of Jesus and seeing it in the home.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16. The minister, Jeff Cahill, preached out of Romans 1:16-17. The question presented to us was are we ashamed of the gospel? And, do we believe? Do we REALLY believe? We are unable to make our children believe just as we are unable to make each other believe. It is an individual choice. There is that free will one more time...
It is a serious commitment for parents and joyful too!
Javon slept through it all!
Here is little Javon helping Grandma Loretta order!
We had a wonderful Mother's Day, Grandma Margaret had a good day seeing grandies. All the grandparents were at this dedication and Aunt Jennifer and Kamryn and Liv (Jentry liked having cousins!), and Jolene's sister and her husband and another cousin, Reese!
Cowboy got me some more pottery made by Dave Lockie (I have one bowl I use almost daily). I really like this and besides that it is made in Montana by someone that I know!!
Of course, both Cowboy and I like the blue color and it will be just right for guacamole. Come on over!
So my question this evening for you is, "Do you believe? Do your REALLY believe?"
This is my second year and Cari has participated in four of them, one when in college. She ran one three years ago and we have walked together for two years. We do the five-mile walk and enjoy the outdoors, people watching, and the thrill of competing, but most of all, being together. We hatched the idea that we could make it a girls' day and have all the girls plan ahead and do it with us. This would include Tristin and Khyrsten. We saw lots of younger kids too!
This is one of our fashion girls. We had a good breakfast of eggs and toast, me two pieces of bacon and her some sausage (Amy got the left over bacon and sausage and toast). We went back to the room to get ready and I asked her if she had on earrings!! Of course, and you can see them! Me, naturally I had mine on too, but you can't see mine!! She had on makeup and mascara and I had on mascara and sun screen. After all, a girl had got to have her priorities. Oh, did we have a wonderful laugh!!
I wasn't as nervous this year, I knew what to expect. The good Lord willing, I could walk the five miles. We are true Montana girls at heart, I had my silk underwear (and you know I mean REAL tops and bottoms!) plus a long-sleeved t-shirt and a exercise jacket, plus the red outdoor jacket. Cari was layer as well. We got pretty warm, but it was only 28 degrees when we were wondering whether to wear multiple layers.
We always seem to pick (I guess that would be me!) a focus person to try to keep up with and it keeps us hopping! We had a strategy that if we could keep up, we could make the quick burst at the end. We did manage a pass (you realize 7800 women participated in this) but it took some concentration on my part. About mile three I was glad to see the sign! At mile four there is always some funny guy with smart comments, but it keeps us laughing. It is also fun to look at the homes on the streets past Division. That would be Clark St. and Yellowstone Ave.
Back to the walk, about mile four I was starting to lag a little and Cari said, "Come on, Mom, we are just about done." By then, we were both glad that it wasn't any warmer outside! So when we got closer to the finish line, I said, "Should we sprint?" Cari wondered how close to the finish line and I said oh, not too far back. She took off and my jog felt like I was standing in place moving my legs up and down. I don't think mine could be called a sprint, I don't think there is a word invented for what I was doing! We made it across and she looked at the time and said we had bested last year! Yipee!!
It doesn't matter where you start in the line up, your time does not begin until you cross the starting line and it reads your shoe tag and it reads it across the finish line. There is a tremendous amount of volunteer help involved in this race. I know several people that participated, but we didn't see them.
We decided that no post race pics, only before ones! The one thing that I forgot was my pink cap to protect my nose just a little. When I was packing, all I could think about was what to take to keep warm! When I got up Friday morning it was snowing and I thought I should really just stay home, get my t-shirt and be happy!!
Here are our numbers and you can see even though we registered a week ago, we were some of the last to do so! I have three pair of tennis shoes, and these are the oldest and don't rub like the others. We were glad that we had no blisters. We saw one poor girl walking with shoes in hand and a bloody blister on her heel.
So, if you want to walk with us next year...sign on!!
