Mooooooooooooooooo

Branding.
1. Get the cows into the corral
2. Move the cows through the shoot to the squeezy thing
3. Piece the cows ear with a numbered tag
4. Inject the cows with antibiotics
5. Shave the hair off so that you can get a good brand
6. Brand the cow
7. Release the cow
8. Repeat 40 some odd times!

See for yourself...



If you couldn't tell, my kids were no where near the corral. Ethan was on the outside the whole time except for when Eric dragged him in to watch for a few minutes, he was not pleased. Cohen, sat in the car for the majority of it, just watching movies. And me, well, I had a job to do documenting the whole thing, I was so disappointed that nobody else brought a camera, I mean I love cows, and mud, and snotty cow noses and the burning flesh smell, it really upset me.

Teacher, my mom says it's not safe to play with shotguns.

"Ok kids, it's time for recess, grab your boots and your jacket because today we are going to play on the playground! It's only 14 degrees out today, nothing like yesterday's 9 degrees. Yikes, it was a rough one yesterday. Don't forget your hats and gloves. Oh, and Ethan, can you grab me the shotgun, it's in the closet with the scissors and construction paper.... I'm gonna hunt me some moose for dinner tonight, it will only take a minute while you kids are getting bundled up. Hopefully, there won't be too much blood, we wouldn't want you kids playing in bloody snow now would we? Are you all set class? Wait until you hear the second shot and then feel free to come out and play."

(eric wants to move to wyoming)

So, all it takes is a Capri Sun and a bag of chips?

J: Ethan, are you sad you don't have baseball anymore?
E: No, I just liked the snacks that were at the end.

You mean to tell me you suffered through 20+ games, 1.5 hours a piece, plus multiple practices just for a boxed drink and some triangle shaped crunchy carbs? He seemed like he was enjoying himself, but now that I think about it he did always have his trash and baseball paraphernalia picked up before anybody else so he could be first in line for snacks. If I had know this I would have made him do chores around the house and rewarded him with such snacks if he got them all done. Ok, maybe not, but still, the laundry alone....

Next

You all know I couldn't keep up on your blogs unless I had Google Reader. Well, I have always wished there was a way I could see your actual blog while using GR and come to find out there is! If you use GR and want to see the actual post on the persons blog and be able to comment like normal do this:

Go to the Google Reader homepage and sign in
Click Settings
Click on the Goodies tab, which will bring you to this page: (follow instructions)



If you have a favorites bar at the top of your browser, just drag the NEXT button into that line of websites. Then click Next to see the first updated blog. Once you've read it, click Next again. It will cycle through until you have "reached the end of the internet." The only thing it doesn't do is tell you how many unread posts there are so every time you click it's like rolling the dice, see what little excitement there is to be had around here.

Things one wouldn't find in Santa Margarita, CA

Springtime in May

Rusty yard tools

Uncle Dean

Handmade corncob pipe

Weather vanes

Horseshoes

Ethan in a cowboy hat

Two baby colts, born a few days apart

Eric relaxing on the porch

John Deere apparel

Ethan on Diane's back instead of Ed's

A backdrop like this

A real life Stetson man

Cows

Memorial Day

One good thing about coming to the valley is the chance to visit Noah. It's been 4 years since we brought him here and this is the first time I've been back to say hello. We miss you!

Just chillin'

Well, our weekend turned out to be a little different than we had originally planned. We were supposed to drive up to WY, arriving on Friday so we could brand the cattle on Saturday morning. Well, Friday came and the cows still hadn't arrived. Saturday came and the supplier kept telling us they would be here soon. So we headed up the canyon for a hike up to a local spring. Saturday afternoon, still no cows. So, here it is Sunday afternoon and the cows are "supposedly" on their way. The people around here are definitely on their own time schedule. No deadlines allowed if you are a WY resident. Doesn't this guy realize there are 25+ family members and friends waiting around to do the traditional branding that we do every year? At this point, if they aren't here by 6pm tonight we are headed home, having branded the cattle or not. What a bust.

Only in Utah

While shopping at the outlets in Park City, I couldn't help but take a picture of these two guys. Both are sporting Baby Bjorns, both had at least 2 additional kids on the playground, and one, so appropriately grasping his low back in pain. If I had to guess the guy on the lefts name is Jared and the guy on the right is Spencer. Their wives are Brittany and Mandi (spelled with an I). They both graduated from BYU, and dated only three short months before tying the knot. They currently live in Draper, in a townhouse that over looks the valley. One drives a Cadillac Escalade (I saw it) and the other, a Honda Odyssey - but they are looking to upgrade soon. Oh, how I miss living in Utah.

Happy Weekend

I am outta here - off to Wyoming and the Valley of Stars. Why you might ask? To brand cattle of all things. I haven't been back to Eric's family ranch since 2005 so I am excited to visit. I think there is a small herd this year so there won't be too much burning flesh. I can't eat meat for weeks afterward. I hope everyone has a SAFE holiday weekend and can avoid the Vegas-CA traffic.

I guess I better keep blogging so I have something to put in my next blurb book.

Ethan's last baseball game was this afternoon. I'm sure you are all ready for it to be over so I stop posting the same pictures, but these need to be recognized because he got to play catcher! He was a little nervous about the whole thing, but he managed just fine. Another reason why I felt the need to take more pictures was because I got a new telephoto lens. The thing is ginormous but allows me to be in the out field and take pictures at home plate. A MA ZING.

















Don't mess...



















Tongue wagging...



















Cohen, giving me the slitty, tough eyed look....














Cohen, only seconds later, screaming, "give me ramra (camera), Coco have it".

Happiness is...

... when I get home from running errands WITHOUT kids (thanks Diane) and my new Blurb book is on the front porch! This years book was twice as long as last years. It turned out great and altough the program still has kinks and it takes a while to format, I would still recommend it to anyone. Happiness is also driving past an almost completed Sonic restaurant just a few miles from my house, which I didn't know was going in but I am so happy I could scream because the only other one in OC is like 30 miles away and I can't justify driving that far just for a cherry limeade, except for that one time, but I was in the neighborhood. Happiness!

I am loving these!

My super talented sister, Martha, is a graphic designer for the company Arbonne. For the past forever she has been working on the packaging/design of their new product line FC5. I was lucky enough to get some of it for my bday. She did a great job on the design and so far I am liking the product, and with my dry skin, that says a lot.







Again, Martha (whose name I have always been a little jealous of since I have always wanted to be Miss Stewart) and Molly surprised me with this new book that I have been drooling over for the past few days. Aside from the amazing crafts, the photography and styling is just amazing. Just one more to add to my already ginormous collection of MS publications. Thanks M&M.



















And thanks to Anne (who I too have been crazy jealous of because she used to work for Miss Stewart), I already used the gift card, that didn't take long did it... p.s. it's way cuter in person.

Ethan, under the lights!

Ethan's Dodger team played at the cool field, as he called it last week. This one had bleachers and a real dugout with hooks for your hat and cubbies for your helmet. His favorite part was that they had an announcer to call their name and play theme music as they came out to bat. Martha came to watch with Ed & Diane so he had a big cheering section. He's definitely improving. He's hitting much better and isn't forgetting to touch home plate anymore. Baseball is almost over - I wonder which sport he will want to play next...

Lucy Jean's Blessing

Living on the west coast sure has it's benefits. One being, that I am able to take short trips to Northern Cal to visit my sisters in San Fran. Living in Milwaukee prevented me from being at events that I would have normally attended had I lived in CA. So, when Anne told me that Lucy's blessing was coming up I was there. My family somehow managed to throw in a little birthday celebration for me as well which was fun. So after a long day of traveling and site seeing in the rain, we all went to a delicious dinner at Houston's. So good. Then on Sunday we headed out to Lafayette for Lucy's blessing at Mike's parents house. How cute is this little girl? She is getting bigger and stronger everyday and we are so blessed and grateful that she is here!

Cohen loves David Archuletta almost as much as his fruit snack.