Riverton in February

The sale barn in Riverton, Wyoming.  They sold 2500 head in eight hours. 

 They know how to sell cattle!

We call this the Red Rock Canyon.  It is just outside of Lander.

Our room at the Holiday Inn has been remodeled! 

We used to compare every bad bed to the beds at this motel. 

Now they are very nice and much more desirable.

 Look at this snow-blower!

 Can you see how cold it is?  -8

 This is the top of the Teton Pass. 

 People hike up to the top of this hill and ski down!

Deep snow--and not a snowmobile track across the whole valley!

 I like this cute sign at the sale barn in Idaho Falls. 

 It is an old place. 

They sold 300 head  in 3 hours on the day we were there. 

Bryan and I had a nice drive--ok a long drive to Riverton.  We left Monday around 11 a.m. and we arrived in Riverton by 4:30 p.m.  It didn't snow on us, but Logan Canyon was slick as was South Pass. 

 The sale started at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning and we left there around 6:30 p.m.  I always get a late check-out and so I went to the weight room and rode the bike for an hour.  When I went to Walmart  after lunch, I got a great surprise and saw a friend that used to work at the sale in Riverton.  It was great to visit with her and her husband.   

We drove over Towgatee to Jackson, Wyoming and arrived there at 10:30 p.m.  Bryan stays there enough that they go turn on the heater in our room so it isn't so cold when we get there. We were gone the next morning by 9:30 a.m.  We had good roads and weather all the way to Idaho Falls.  I got some good shopping done there.  Macy's had a fabulous sale! 

 I crocheted a hat and worked on my cross-stitch, prepared 2 Sunday lessons and cat-napped once.

I have been busy "resting" the past two weeks.  I have cross-stitched,

 I have crocheted hats, and hair ribbon flowers in assorted colors,

I have made curtains for Dianna's windows,

I edited my very own book--ok it is my blog book and it turned out great!  If you are interested in the web site it is blurb.com .

I had these four quilts done but I needed to put the bindings on, so now they are all done too!

This doesn't count all the little cleaning jobs, reading, entering ranch stuff on the computer, preparing papers for taxes and sleeping that I have also done.  What a restful time I have had.  hee hee

Get Well Flowers

I recently had a minor surgery and  I received the most beautiful flowers.  This is just a sampling of my favorite parts of the bouquet.  Kelly, my sister gave me the bouquet with the orange Gerber and Bryan gave me the pink Lily. 
I do love flowers.
They make everything feel better.
It would be Bryan's dream to own a nursery or a flower shop because he loves flowers too.
I wish I had skills in this area.  I am sure I could learn how to grow them better, but my arranging skills are poor at best.
Maybe some day when  &*##  freezes over.

MC State Football

The Olympic Fountain at the Gateway
Teesha and Savanna

Sierra and Nicole

Shandee, Amy, Krecia

I took Sierra and four of her friends and Savanna and Teesha to Salt Lake to watch MC play in the state 4A football playoffs. I happily dropped Sierra and her friends off at the stadium and took Savanna and Teesha and went to dinner and then shopping at the Gateway--what better way to keep everyone happy?! It turned out terrific. The younger girls and I had a blast shopping and playing in the fountain and the older girls loved watching the game. We went to pick Sierra up when there were two minutes left in the game. They wanted to watch the end because it was such a close game. One of the local tv stations had a tv screen set up near the parking lot and so they stood around it and watched the first over-time and then the second over-time and I sat in the car so I could make our get away before all the traffic. It worked perfectly. Oh ya, MC got beat by one point!

Chopping Hay--Again

It is time to chop the oats again! The weather has been terrific and so things have gone smoothly. Better yet, the equipment has run very well. Even the old white truck didn't overheat this time. I took good care of it and made sure it had a drink after each load.

Shawn is in the chopper, Cody is in the yellow truck and Alma is in the tractor in the pit. I got to drive the white truck. It has an auger to unload rather than a dump like the yellow one, so it is easier for me to unload. Allan helped one day so I could get caught up at home.

We spent three days chopping and the pit is full! Another fall job done--now can we just ride horses and gather cattle?

Shipping Yearlings

Shipping yearlings with Bryan is a relaxing get away--sort of. Relaxing in that I get to just watch and let someone else worry about getting the cattle in, making sure they are all found, getting the health and brand taken care of and lining up the help.

It is fun to see how someone else's corrals are set up and how they make it work for them. These yearlings are in Kamas, Utah. There were eleven loads. He had everything together and it took them about 15 minutes to load each truck!

I got a lot of reading done and even some sewing that I've been dying to finish. After, we went to Taggart's for lunch. I highly recommend the carrot cake!

Tetons in the Fall

Savanna and Ben

Bob's place

Every year over Conference weekend, we to to Jackson Hole to ship the yearling steers that we have had there on feed all summer. This year was beautiful.

We left Friday about noon and met Bryan in Soda Springs, where he had been loading cattle. We ate lunch there and then went on to Jackson. We found a great place for dinner that we had never been to before called Roadhouse Q--a barbecue place that was delicious!

The next morning, Bryan and I went to Bob's to start loading. It is never a fast process there, but the people are kind and the pasture is great. We finished in record time this year--1:00 p.m. The cattle only broke out of one pen, once! When we finished, Jennifer had brought us all a burrito and then had made the most delicious rhubarb cake ever!

After, we did a little shopping in town and then sent Bryan to the Priesthood session while the girls and I swam. Grandma Marj soaked her legs.

The next morning was relaxing and we were able to listen to Conference before we had to check out.

What a great weekend!

Livestock?

I wish these pictures did this bull moose justice! He was so huge! I was not far from him and there was a second moose on the hill to the side of us. He just meandered to the Cedar tree and ate. My horse did not like him at all and was not happy that I wanted to hang around and take pictures! I had just ridden up the hill to check for cows above a pond on the Forest ground and he was happily eating. About 5 minutes later it was a down pour and I was under a Cedar trying to stay dry while I waited for the boys to arrive. Bryan was not one bit happy about it raining. He is a fair weather rider. I told him it has only rained when he has come with us this year!

The Harvest

My garden has not been the best tended this summer. The Crookneck plant did the best, of course. I planted green beans, Early Girl tomatoes and some bell peppers. I had a good crop of apples with worms in them. I planted in early June and then weeded it once in July and once in August so I can't complain too much. My tomatoes are just coming on so we've made fesh salsa and put that on everything, crookneck bread, canned the beans and I plan to dehydrate the apples--without the worms!

Riding in the Rain

The two big charolais calves are trying to nurse 1 black cow and the poor old girl just stands and takes it!

Big Al and Amigo--all wet!

It was a bit rainy and wet as we headed down the dug-road above Mantua today.

The yearlings just wanted to stop and get out of the rain.

We had other plans. A semi, waiting at the bottom, and a dry pick-up.

Trout and Berry Days

My cousin Sherry showing her disgust at tossing a fish out of the pond!

The one that got away!

For Trout and Berry Days this year they had Marj be the Grand Marshall! It was so cute to see her on her "wheeler" driving the parade route. She ask the family what she should ride in and what to wear. We were all good at giving ideas-- from riding on the back of the old flat bed pick-up or the bucket of the tractor, to wearing a bikini--none of which she liked. The wheeler was perfect as she is well known for riding it up the back-road visiting.

Savanna wanted to catch a fish this year. This is a hands on(no pole) event. It is good watching. I was proud of Savanna for getting in and getting her own fish. My cousin, Sherry, was a good sport, and even got in with all the mom's to catch her fish.

Moving Sprinkler Pipe

Savanna
Sierra

All Done!

This is my children's least favorite summer activity--

moving sprinkler pipe.

How to move sprinkler pipe:

Unplug the end plug so the water will drain

Walk to the other end of the pipe and shut it off

Move the valve opener to the next head and put the valve on carefully and turn on the water

(no one likes a cold bath first thing in the morning!)

Now, move each 40 foot section of pipe, twenty-one steps and hook it to the valve opener and then each section of pipe--one at a time--NO WHINING ALLOWED!

Depending on how many sections there are, and how deep the hay or grass is, this job can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. We move a minimum of 2 lines each morning. The west side of the river is the worst. The stickers are terrible, the pipe is old and bent and doesn't go together very well and it is not fun!

We have seen the "pipe dance" many times. It is hilarious what the kids will say and do to get out of moving pipe! It isn't that bad of a job and we laugh together when we aren't cussing each other and the pay is pretty good for them, thanks to Grandma Marj!