Thursday, June 30, 2011

Scenic Skies...

 

One morning we were on our way to our friend's house and we saw the most amazing sunrise.  It was dark and stormy but the clouds were parting and just a little sun was peaking thru.  I stopped and took a quick photo but everytime we moved down the road it just got more beautiful.  So of course I stopped and took another photo.  And then another...  And another...  Poor Nate thought we would never get to our destination.  Do you ever have a sunrise like that??







My favorite was the way the dark stormy sky provided an awesome background for the little country church near our house.  The sun seemed to spotlight down right on top of it.  The picture doesn't do it justice but the church was just glowing in the sun among all the dark skies.  It was truly a sight to see.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Ally's Angles....



With the county fair just around the corner, Ally has been busy trying to get all her projects lined out. One of her favorites has defintely been the photography project. A few weeks ago, we spent a wonderful afternoon with Lyndi over at Rustic Lens Photography traveling the countryside looking for photo ops. I won't spoil the fair exhibit just yet, but I will tell you that my little 8 year old has quite an eye for this new found love. We've dubbed her hobby with the name "Ally's Angles" because of all the unique positions and views she gets thru the camera lens! We had so much fun on our little adventure that we might make it a regular occurence. Now if I could just figure out how to get Lyndi to come back and see us more often so she can join in! All of the photos below were taken by her and we miss her dearly since she has moved back to Southwest Kansas!!!





You'll have to check back in to get a sneak preview of her fair display.  There were way too many good ones to choose just one so we might need to take a vote!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Storm Chasers

Being a native of Indiana, I grew up being used to rain.  LOTS and LOTS of rain.  Nebraska, however, is a different story.  We typically get 14-16 inches of anual rain fall compared to the Hoosier states whopping 40-50 inches a year.  On the rare occassion that we do get a big rain, it creates a lot of excitement.  So we did what any responsible fun parent would do... we took the kids 4-wheeling to see the overflowing dams and washed out roads!

Overflowing Dam - The fences are almost under water!

Rippe Creek - We've never seen water here before!

Who would have thought playing in the rain was so much fun?!?!

A little cold... but ALL smiles!
So after 4.25" of rain in about 3 hours, we enjoyed a river and a lake on the place for a few days.  Swimming anyone?!?!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Photo Friday

Yesterday I went on a "photo shoot" of sorts with our very talented intern, Lyndi. We spent a couple of hours taking photos of customer cattle at our place of employment as a new customer service project we're trying out. She has a much better eye (not to mention a much better camera) than me, but here are a few of my favorites I took.




Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Graduation Day...

It's official.  I'm getting old.  My baby graduated this month... from preschool!  I can hardly believe that 5 years have already gone by.  I know we're supposed to enjoy every moment and all that jazz, but it's hard to see thru the constant laundry, cleaning, chores, work, errands, running from activity to activity, and on and on... I know they are growing up too fast.  I know they will be out on their own before I realize it.  So today... I'm just going to enjoy this moment and know he's still little.  At least for a while.


Homemade Invitations!


Nate with his Grandmas and Grandpas!!

Yep!  That's my baby all right.  Pretty sure I'm gonna blink and he will doing this again in high school!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Saying Thanks...

I know we're getting well past the Memorial Day weekend but I still wanted to post a few pictures from the service we attended.  Personally, I think every day should be a day to remember the sacrifices our Military have made so I don't feel too bad doing this late! There were many services in the area and we stopped by several of the area cemeteries to leave flowers and visit family grave sites.  I always love how Memorial Day brings new life to many of the otherwise isolated and deserted towns of the past.  These particular pictures were taken in Norcatur, KS but the scenes were the same at many of the others we visited. 







So THANK YOU to all who have served and to those who have made our freedoms possible!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Teamwork

If you've ever been involved in Agriculture, you know the term "family farm" means EVERYBODY in the family pitches in.  There are always age-appropriate jobs to be had and one can often learn a lesson from the enthusiasm and pride of a small child in completing even the most simple tasks.  I'm a little late in this post, but a few months ago it was time to work the cows and calves for another year.  Generally done before going to spring grass and prior to starting another breeding season, it is important that you vaccinate your cows and calves to keep them healthy for the year.  It is not much different than taking your child into the health clinic for a booster shot of the chicken pox vaccine.  It is also one of the many opportunities to work together as a family, teach the importance of agriculture and food production to our kids, and develop the work ethic that will see them thru a successful life no matter where they go.  Here a few of my favorite pics of the day...

Bringing in the cows...  sometimes we use horses, sometimes we use 4-wheelers, and sometimes we just shake the feed bucket!  Either way, it's always a beautiful sight watching them come up the lane.



Feeding time... Everything gets hand fed each night thru the winter.  This provides a good source of protein and energy to maintain weight, improve milk production, and get them ready for a new pregnancy in the spring.


Working the calves... All of the baby calves get vaccinations for multiple respiratory diseases to keep them healthy after their initial immunity wears off from mama's colostrum at birth.  This is a great place for the kids to help.


 
Record keeping is essential...  Another great job for the kids is having them keep track of what animals have been worked.  They write down all the tag numbers for us and keep track of steers and heifers.  This is a fun way for little ones to learn and practice writing numbers.  They started doing this at a pretty young age! 




As my buddy "B" says, it doesn't matter what you're doing, as long as you're doing it together!