November 2013

We started off November shipping calves.  It went pretty well.  They were big and healthy.  We had some rainy shipping days but it was all right.

The ranch is so beautiful in every season.  I probably have 100s of pictures of this view and no two alike.

Janelle's family came to visit after moving into their new cabin in McCall.  She went with the boys and the men to move cows.  We had a scare when Boots ran off with Clyde.  I was completely a wreck, but Clyde did a great job.  He was like a little jockey.  Boots isn't accustomed to cows or open fields and we don't know what got into him, but when he balked at a ditch it sent Clyde flying.  Luckily he had a  soft enough landing.  But as a mother it just kills a little part of you to see your kid in danger.

It snowed and we played!  Daddy gave Alice an intertube for her birthday and it was great on the snow.

What did I tell you? Here's the same mountain from a slightly different angle in different light.  We live in a wonderful place (well at least half of the year).

Mumsy gave us a bunch of bulbs so Daddy fixed two feed bunks made out of an old water heater so we could plant in them.  Alice helped me transfer the dirt and plant the bulbs.  We also salvaged a huge old trough (about 4 feet by 20 feet) and filled it with soil for a new raised strawberry bed.

Here's Clyde's new tractor (Daddy's new project).  I looked it up it's about a 1950-52 John Deere basic tractor.  We heard it last ran about 7 years ago or so.  Clyde rode on it while Ben towed it out of the brush.  He said Clyde was so proud trying to steer it - it doesn't exactly have power steering so it was pretty tough for a six year old.

We went on a walk with the Wises and found some Winter wonder.

"I love cattle drives!"

 In October 2013, Ben and I took Alice and Clyde with us for our official first cattle drive with all of us on horses.  The kids really improved with their riding this summer but I was still a little scared.  They did so well and Alice exclaimed, "I love cattle drives!"  They were confident.  They paid attention.  Clyde kept Boots from running back to the barn.  It was a terrific day, even if it was cold.

July 2013

We had a wet mild spring and the grass is lush and amazing.  The buttercups by the house were like a thick carpet.  I was taking photos of the children and Ben got the rare photo of me.

The Smiths came for the 4th of July.  Clyde and I made a flag pepperoni pizza - I decided to make Betsy Ross's original 13 star flag because there was no way I could cut out small enough stars to make the current flag.  So a history lesson along with dinner!

We headed to the lake for fireworks.  I thought we were late enough that we wouldn't be swimming... I was wrong.  Here's Alice classing up the Donnelly Boat Docks in her underwear.

Mackenzie and Clyde had fun making silhouettes for me.

Lainey had fun making s'mores the next day at the house!

One hot July day the kids told me they had a surprise for me.  It was a flower and rock fountain.  I love it when they are so creative.

 We signed up for swimming lessons with our Rowley cousins in Cascade.  The first day I got a flat tire on the way.  Luckily there were two lessons so I got the tire changed and made it in time for the second one!  I've still got it!  It was at Margaux's house in front of all the kids, good lesson in woman power and independence.

 We continued to enjoy the Donnelly Library summer program.

Our friend Simon came for a night before he moved to Chicago.

Danica stayed with us for a week just like she has the past two summers.  She's a great help!  I even got to go gather cows with Jack and Ben.

We visited Teresa and our cousins Dylan and Henry for a lot of fun beach days. 

We got a new horse, Boots, from Mumsy.  She got him from SHE, Inc. and Willa Rose.  He was really skinny but great for kids.

Alice and Daddy.

Picking huckleberries with the Rowleys.  The huckleberries were scarce this year.  There was a late freeze (June 19) and that nipped most of them, but where there was good cover in the thick trees the berries were huge and plentiful and they came early.  We found quite a few.

Clyde learned to ride without his training wheels!

One day coming from the Aikman on Pearl Rd., we spotted this stag under a trailer.  

The spring conditions were apparently just exactly right for grasshopper reproduction/hatching so we had a crazy grasshopper year.  They cleaned some people's pastures right out.  So the farmers got together and the State organized a mass aerial spraying.  Ben and I got to talk to a lot of neighbors and practice some politicking.  Here's the spray plane.  I didn't get a great photo, but believe me it looked like he was going to come right through our window.

What is it about girls and horses?

A very beautiful Alice in her Shirley Temple sailor dress at Mumsy's birthday.  "I am not Shirley Temple.  I am Alice!!!"  It seems girls are so drawn to horses.  Mumsy has had a lifetime love affair with horses and it looks like Alice is on her way.  I hope she becomes as good a horsewoman as her Auntie Heather and Mumsy.

A Visit to the Museum

About a month ago we went to the Idaho Historical Museum one cold morning. They have a display with saddles. The kids really got a kick out of it!

As you can see, it's kind of hard to keep Alice quiet anywhere. It's not mad screaming or crying usually, but she has no volume control, none at all. Should I feel bad when she's so loud or just let it go?