Bum Calves

We've had a good crop of calves this year. We've had to bottle feed a few because we've had so many twins and momma cows don't always take both calves if she has twins. Sometimes we go out and help The Prairie Daddy.

Do you think he liked his dinner?

Creepy Fun

Our brother and sister-in-law are in a Creation Club. Their group brought in an animal guy with his "collection" to the ranch for a presentation the day after The Prairie Kid's birthday. We got to go as well and it was fun to see his "friends" up close.

It took some "mom bravery" to watch my kiddo pet this python

And our nephew was REALLY brave by getting THIS up close and personal!

Birthdays

I am amazed that almost a month has gone by and I haven't been able to sit down and blog. I really miss it and hope that someday in the future I will be able to document our lives better again.

For now, I will see what events took place via my camera and go from there.

We did celebrate The Prairie Kid's 6th birthday and The Prairie Daddy's 37th birthday in August!

Miniature Golf

We had a family birthday party at an Auntie's house

The Birthday Boy and Grandpa

Presents!
Cake!
And the rodeo to top it all off
The Prairie Daddy had to work on his birthday. But we celebrated with friends that night and he got lots of treats

He got a Sour Cream Raisin Pie as a surprise too. : )

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!