Wildlife Fun

Instead of wanting a "kid's birthday party" this year, The Prairie Kid wanted to spend time with his best buddy and go to Red Lodge, Montana to the Beartooth Nature Center. We'd never been there but knew that there were wild, native animals in captivity.

The mountain lion growled and snarled at us. It was creepy!

Fun and curious crane

Couldn't get everyone to look at the same time : )

It was such a fun day! The Best Buddy's mom is one of my dear friends and we all had a great time. After the nature center, we took the boys to a great park and then to the infamous Red Lodge Candy Store.

Calving

We're calving. It is demanding much of The Prairie Daddy's time but it is also the time of year where we see our future falling fresh on the green prairie grass. This is our livelihood. This is our bread and butter; black, fluffy Angus calves.

We went out together as a family to check, vaccinate and tag calves the other night. What a sweet time together.

After a calf gets vaccinated and tagged, the mom often makes sure her babe is okay.

We had to help this mom remember she had twins...

She was mothering one well and we needed to watch to make sure she wandered off with both of her kids.

Team work.

Contemplating...

You always keep one eye on the mom...good moms protect their young

And that can mean trouble for Cowboy (although he's never had too much trouble. We try to keep only cows that are good moms but not crazy toward us!)

Brand new calf...we'll wait until tomorrow to tag this little one

What a good mama.

Beautiful dusk on the prairie

Oh how much I love that face!

Cake Madness

I have a DEFINITE love/hate relationship with making cakes.

I didn't get as many pics this year but it wasn't pretty. Here is a snap shot:

Last Friday:
Made two milk chocolate cake mixes and put them in a big pan.
Baked them.
Let them cool.
Turned it over.
Banged on the bottom of the pan.
Lifted it up.
ALL four corners of the cake stayed in the pan.
The middle didn't.

Oops...forgot to run a butter knife around the sides first. NICE.

Wednesday:
Made another cake mix.
Baked it.
Let it cool.
Loosened the edge with a butter knife.
Turned it over.
Only lost a tiny layer of the middle top.

Mashed up all of the extra cake and made the ugliest cake balls you've ever seen.

Thursday:
Researched stable chocolate whipped cream frosting.
Attempted to make stable chocolate whipped cream frosting.
Attempt failed.

Friday: The Day of Redemption
Tried again.
Succeeded.

Attempted to make a camouflage decorated cake.
Partially succeeded.

Called it a year. Will hopefully not attempt to make another birthday cake until next August.

Here it is...not quite how I desired but glad that it is done!

Consumed

VBS prep consumed my summer. And the first week of August we had the program. It was a great week! 5 days, 80 volunteers (and that doesn't include all of the cookie makers!), 135 kids, 6 new friends of Jesus, 750 snacks, live dramas, crafts, games, music, object lessons, and so much more!

It was a fun week. Many people said "now you'll get to take a break!" And I laughed. As soon as VBS ended, fall planning began. And the race is on again!

School starts next week. The Prairie Kid's birthday is today. We're calving on the ranch. Could we pack any more onto our already full plate? (I hope not to try!)

Whew! I'm ready for...a nap!