The kids

Today I wanted to take some photos of the kids for something that I am working on. I got some decent ones, but I will admit that I get much more stressed out and frustrated wtih my own kids than when I take photos of other people. They weren't very cooperative, but what else is new.... Here's a few....

Molly wanted to be in some too... I couldn't get her to move out of the way so we decided to include her.

Thanks for looking.

End of the Year Celebration

J.T.'s school had it's End of the Year celebration last night. The kids get up in the front of all the parents, grandparents, friends and family and sing a few songs. All the kids did really well. J.T. was quite the charming performer...




It's amazing how different J.T. and Abigail are in a situation like this....

Out to the hills

Today J.T. and I went out to one of the hill ranches with Andy. Andy had to work on the corrals so J.T. and I just watched and hung out. On our way out of the ranch (a long gravel road) Andy let J.T. help him drive.

J.T. helped me get one of the gates...

The fog started to roll in as we were leaving. It made for a cool photo with the cows and calves...

It was a long day....

One word

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.
Not as easy as you might think.

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen
2. Your significant other? Andy
3. Your hair? curly
4. Your pants? Lucky
5. Your father? cowboy
6. Your favorite thing? happiness
7. Your dream last night? unsure
8. Your favorite drink? water
9 .Your dream/goal? happiness
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your ex? ???
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Favorite shopping? online
15. Morning beverage? latte
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? trip
18. Where did you grow up? Loleta
19. The last thing you did? snack
20. What are you wearing? clothes
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? dogs
23. Your Computer? desktop
24. Your life? family
25. Your mood? goodish
26. Missing someone? sure
27. Your car? clean
28. Kids? two
29. Favorite hobby? Photography
30. Your summer? busy
31. Like someone? lots
32. Your favorite color? brown
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? unsure
35. Who will re-post this? unknown

Anyone want to try this?

Green jammies

Looking back

Every once in awhile I like to go back through pictures of when the kids were smaller. Here's a couple fun ones that I found...



No, her bathing suit isn't that low cut. Yes, it's on backwards!

Can you guess...

where this was taken? If you know, leave your answer in the comment section! And you get a bonus point, if you can say why this place is important to me...

Hot Iron Branding & BBQ

On Saturday afternoon we had our 12th annual Hot Iron Branding and BBQ. We had the branding competition, a BBQ dinner, and campfire complete with great music! The weather couldn't have been better. After Thursday and Friday were really hot, I was worried that it would be too warm on Saturday. It could very well be the best weather we've ever had. I did, however, get a little sunburned.

Here are a few photos I took. Andy and my dad's team...

The boys (and a few of the girls) had a great time playing in the water trough.... No one fell in this year (I think that's a first!)

A little competition action...

A few of the competitors being spectators...

Andy and Clint...

Here is the winning team for the two-head, four-person competition... Dave, Walt, Donny, and Ben (Andy presented their awards... silver buckles).
Here's what they look like...

Here is the winning team for the four-head, four person competition.... Lane, Justin, Justin and Lane (Andy presented them with silver spurs).

In case you want to see...

After the competition, we had a few calves left to brand so we got Jeff (my brother-in-law) in there to help brand. It's a good thing he wasn't in the competition because he would've been disqualified in his ball cap, t-shirt, shorts and flip flops!

Overall, it was a great day! Everyone seemed to have a great time! Until next year....

Branding #3

On Friday we had our final branding for the year (for our ranch anyway). It was so HOT! Here are a few pictures that I took....



I can't remember what these purple wildflowers are called but they were everywhere. I can't ever remember that there were this many....

Matt took J.T. and August up on the big rock so I could have a little break....

Heatwave in Fortuna!

It never gets too warm in Fortuna... anytime it's over 75 degrees or so, everyone thinks it's really hot! Well we are officially having a heatwave. It was supposed to be 82 degrees today, but at noon it was already 95 degrees! It's cooled off a little already to 90..... I wonder what it will be like tomorrow....

J.T. and his girlfriend

When Amy stopped by with her Mom today, J.T. took her for a ride...

Mothers Day gift

Last week when Evan was here, he and I worked on a little Mothers Day gift for his mommy. We took some cute pictures outside of him. Here are some of my favorites....




He was a pretty good sport about the whole thing and he didn't even eat any of the grass...

Mothers Day

Today Abigail said to me, as I was folding some laundry, "Mommy you can't do laundry, it's Mothers Day...." Hmmmm...

Family wedding

Yesterday we also had a family wedding on Andy's side. Andy's cousin, Susan Johnson, married Doug Burgess.


The kids had a great time at the reception! They both love to dance, but J.T. has some moves that are pretty crazy! We aren't quite sure where he learned to dance like that....

Here's cousin Jaiden dancing up a storm...

Yeah, it was a long day...