Is it a Boy or a Girl??

The last calf was born recently in Ioka. Of course it had to be my cow that waited waaaaay past all the other cows to have her calf! The mom and baby won't be able to go to Colorado until later because the baby is too little to survive the 28,000 acre ranch. I thought that it would be fun for the kiddos to try to guess the calf's gender and birthdate. The one that gets the closest will get a Webkinz Pet from Grandma! So, have fun and try to guess the best you can. Only 6 votes will be counted since that is how many kiddos there are. No cheating! You could suggest a name too if you would like. I'll consider your choices. The guesses will be tallied and analyzed on Sunday, May 31st. Hurry and get your vote in!

Bailey's Contribution This Weekend

Bailey proved to be such a good contributor this weekend! She constantly ran around outside and brought us BIG rocks off the Ioka property. Everytime I turned around there was another boulder in the way! She even dropped a few in her water dish for us. Several times we found rocks in the bathroom by the toilet--ya know how she drinks from the toilet?--well, she must have dropped it to get herself rehydrated and forgot to pick it up again. Not to worry tho, cuz there were PLENTY more where that one came from!! Jared, you need to thank her cuz it's that many LESS rocks we have to pick up later and that many less rocks that Canyon will come dragging home to you!!

The Ioka House

We worked our poor little finger bones almost all the way off this past weekend! By the time Saturday evening rolled around, I could barely make a fist with my right hand as it was sooooooo sore and swollen from holding a paint roller! We had lots of sore muscles in other places as well from crawling around on the floors and climbing up and down on ladders. We took lots of Aleve and Ibuprofen to get us through the nights!! We did however, get LOTS done on the house. All the rooms now have paint on the walls. We got all the painting done except the pantry, the bedroom closets, and the floor boards throughout the house. Sounds like a lot but really the bulk of it is done!!! (By the way, the house DIDN"T have floor boards when we started!) It looks pretty good. I wasn't sure on the color choices but after getting a room or two done, I've decided I really like it. The front and back doors need a color too but haven't decided as yet which color to put on them. The little house is proving to be not so bad! Still need kitchen countertops and flooring in the living room and the two bedrooms yet. At least it feels like we are on the downslide. The living room will have hardwood flooring (which we already bought and took out to the house) and the bedrooms will have carpet. I've started watching the sales for the carpeting. It should end up all looking halfway decent when we're done with her!! The neighbors keep thanking us for cleaning the place up and hauling so much junk off. Guess that gives us an upper edge with them when we finally move out there!! We'll remind ourselves of their gratitide when we're wondering if it was worth all the muscle aches!!

Baby Calves

We were in Ioka this weekend to paint the little house and had to feed the cows for Grandpa Dale while he went out of town for the day. There are sooooooo many new calves this year. I took some pics while driving the hay truck with Dad and John in the back throwing hay bales out in the field for the cows to eat. If you ask Dad, he says I was driving in supersonic speed but really I was in low gear and taking pics as slowly as I could! The calves were running through the field like kids do at lunch recess at school! My camera couldn't focus fast enough to catch all their shinanigans! I thought about slamming on the brakes a time or two to catch some cute calf antics but decided against it. Only because I didn't think I would survive the drive home with John and Dad covered in cow poop from being thrown out of the truck bed into the large piles of poop in the field. Anyway, thought the kiddos would enjoy seeing some of the calves. A couple of the calves have to be bottle fed since their mommas won't feed them. John fed one and I fed the other. They wolf those bottles down in a heartbeat of time! They were so cute.

Missing My Son....

I have had a hard time today getting anything done and trying to stay focused. Jared left to go back to Texas this morning. The house has been super quiet all day and I haven't had to manuever around an extra Marine or two laying in the Family Room. No one here to say, "Hola, Madre"! I miss that when he is not around. We had a nice visit with him -- the week DEFINETELY went by toooooooooo fast! Thanks for coming, Jared. Thanks for lending Jared to us, Shaley. Can't wait until you live closer and we won't have to go such long stretches without seeing you! I love you, son. My heart is empty tonight without you here. Love you TONS!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like.....SPRING.....here in Utah!

Spring has sprung here in Utah---finally! One of my favorite seasons. I got to play around with my camera to capture the proof. The trees are just budding and starting to bloom. These are the trees in my front yard. The turtle pictures are to show Ady that "Fred" is still doing a great job guarding the pond and spitting at any potential predators. I love this time of year! Actually, I love it more in a week or two when things have really woken up from their winter slumber. A few of my favorite snaps from tonight in the yard....

God, Please Bless My Mom!

My poor Mom! She is not in real good shape. Her bedsore is HUGE and looks AWFUL! I feel so bad for her. She has good days and lots of bad days due to the pain. This was taken on one of her good days. The Doctors say that she will be in the hospital at least one month and then to an extended care facility until she is ready to go home. I admire her strength and her willingness to fight. This is definetely one tough lady! I have new admiration for her. I am glad that she is where she is and is able to have some of the "best of the best" in medical professionals and health care. God, please Please PLEASE bless my mom to come out of this trial and still be whole and if it's not too much bother, please help her to remain calm and come out of this with her sense of humor intact. I'm not ready to let her go. Please remember her in your prayers everyone. She needs the support, help, strength, and loads of love from all of us right now.