Spring Break

What a great week! It went by WAY too fast! We always love going out to our ranch to just "get away from it all" and relax. We got there Friday night and Saturday it rained all day; even thunder stormed off and on causing us to loose power a couple of times. So we pretty much stayed in the ranch house all day. That's ok with the kids because even though we don't get TV channels out there, we have an "old school" Nintendo and they love playing the old Mario Bros. My brother-in-law (Tim), his wife (Misty), and their sweet baby (my niece, Brooklyn) came down and stayed the night with us. Luckily the sun came out Sunday and we were able to get out of the house.
Joseph and Tim got up early Sunday morning and took a ride around the ranch in a helicopter. Hunters had paid to hunt on the property from the helicopter and Joseph and Tim had to show the pilot where the boundaries to the property are. They had a great time and even saw an elk on the property! The hunters shot a few coyotes and wild pigs.
My mom, dad, brother (James), sister-in-law (Kami), and nieces and nephew (Kristin, Kaci, and Keller) all came out to the ranch to go fishing and riding horses. It was a beautiful day and the kids enjoyed being outside. Fishing wasn't so good, though. Kristin caught a fish, but that was the only one. It was still a little early in the year for fishing.

The beautiful pastures at the ranch

Cooper, Kaci, and Keller playing on the 4-wheeler

Gage fishing

Kaytlyn fishing

Kaci and Keller playing in an old car

The kids feeding the baby lambs

Kristin, Mimi (Joseph's mom), and Kaytlyn feeding a baby lamb

The rest of the week we worked a lot of cows! Lots of spring time baby calves that needed to be worked as well as the hefers. Joseph and his brother, Mark, would get the cows and calves rounded up and in the pens and then the kids and I would go out and help work them. The kids LOVE helping work the cows. Kaytlyn loves to brand and she has gotten really good at it. She can do it all on her own without any help. Gage loves to help daddy push the calves into the squeeze chute to be worked. He got kicked a couple of times, but not too bad, though - just a little bruise. He's a tough cowboy! Cooper still isn't brave enough to help work the cows, but he watches. I was the "shot giver" (gave the calves their vaccines). Mark castrated and de-horned. It was a family affair!



Gage pushing a calf into the chute

Kaytlyn branding a calf; Mark holding the calf down

Cooper may not have wanted to work the calves, but he helped push them into the pen.

Friday we took a break from all the cow working and went to the Abilene Zoo with Tim, Misty, Brooklyn, Misty's mom, and Misty's grandmother. It was windy and overcast, but overall, it was a pretty day and the kids had a blast.

Joseph and Cooper looking at the giant turtle.

The kids looking at the birds.

Looking at the animals.

Feeding the giraffes

Cooper, Gage, and Kaytlyn

Cooper and his cousin, Brooklyn

After we had lunch we went back to the ranch and went fishing that night.  Again, not any luck catching fish, but it was still fun.  The sunset on the tank was beautiful.  Mark, Kim (my sister-in-law), and Paisley (their baby) came out to hang out with us.



Kim, Paisley, and Mark

On Saturday my parents came back out and we took my mom's metal detector and went "treasure hunting". The kids loved it! Everytime the metal detector beeped, they couldn't wait to get out their tools and start digging. We found several pieces of old scrap metal, a couple of old bullets, and a horse shoe.

Finding treasure!

The boys decided to have a sword fight. I guess the treasure hunting made them feel like pirates!

Sunday we went to Joseph's mom's church with his brother, Tim, Misty, Brooklyn, and Misty's grandmother. I'd like to say it was a nice morning at church, but just as the sermon started, Cooper had another seizure while Joseph was holding him. We quickly took him out to the nursery and laid him on the floor. He was gnashing his teeth pretty hard, so I was worried he would bite his tongue. We put him on his side, but he thrashed back to his back. We put him back on his side and he finally started to slow down. He took a few gaspy breathes and then fell asleep. I sat in the nursery with him while he slept it off during church. He slept a little more in the car on our way to lunch, but once we got to the restaurant, he was awake and feeling fine. We all went to lunch and we were joined by Misty's mom, Mark, Kim, and Paisley. We even got a family picture while we were there.

Back row (l to r): Gage, Joseph, Kay (Joseph's mom), Tim, Mark

Bottom row (l to r): Kaytlyn, me, Cooper, Misty, Brooklyn, Kim, and Paisley

We all went back to the ranch after that and the kids rode Corndog (our horse) one last time before we had to head back home. It was a wonderful week that seemed to be over way too quickly! Now it's back to life - work, school, and the day to day. We have a busy week ahead of us, too. Baseball and softball all week. Let the craziness begin! :)