2 posts wrapped in 1

I’ve been saving part of this post for a couple years now. Two Christmases ago, my dad surprised me with one of the neatest gifts I’ve ever received. It took my breath away and brought me close to tears when he led Kyle and I downstairs of his house to reveal it. I always thought the gift merited a post of its very own.

Over Auri’s blessing, he and Kyle installed it. I bought some pads, made some pillows, and the finished product turned out like this -

I mean WOW, right? A porch swing (on steroids) of my very own in the backyard. For me to swing on whenever I please. It makes me one happy gal!

This Mother’s Day was less than ideal. I was on day 3 of pretty much being a single parent (the cop job and ranching had taken Kyle away. I don’t even remember having him home for meals). I did church by myself with 2 grumpy kiddos and survived a major tantrum (Casen, not me. Although I wanted to get on the floor right there with him and throw one as well!) I was trying to remind myself all day of those few fleeting moments I’d had lately that reminded me of the joy of motherhood. Finally, Kyle came home that evening and the whole dynamic of the household changed. He completes us, you see! We took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and as a family spent some time rocking in the swing. I was so happy Kyle had grabbed the camera. He caught some priceless moments.

Notice my guitar case in the background? I’ve started playing it again and it feels so good to have those calluses back on my fingertips and challenge myself musically. Oh how I wish I had the time to have lessons. YouTube has some pretty helpful tutorials though.

We love spending time on my family size swing. I love my dad for building it for me and for him and Kyle hanging it. I love Kyle for (among a bajillion reasons) giving us such great kiddos and being the righteous leader of our family. It was a wonderful Mother’s Day.

The day I became a Rancher’s Wife

It’s been a long time coming, and one of the biggest reasons we moved down here. It’s something Kyle has always dreamed of and I have too, I’ll admit. The family land arrangements were made. Aspen posts were cut and repair on the corral and fence ensued. A couple weeks ago we went to the cattle auction in Cortez, CO. We were looking for steers of 500+ lbs and some mom and calf pairs. My old FFA livestock judging skills came back to me as I analyzed and critiqued every animal that came into the ring. I told Kyle I wanted them when a sleek and healthy black angus mom and heifer calf came out. He made that sly wave of the hand that tells the auctioneer that you place a bid, and after going back and forth with another rancher, we won the bid and became the owners of that handsome pair.

And that’s the day I became a rancher’s wife.

Casen tagged along at that 3 hour auction. He was content to sit and watch all the animals and listen to the auctioneer. It was cool to see how much he enjoyed it! He especially was intrigued by the 2 bummer lambs and a litter of pups some Navajos had brought to sell.

We brought the pair home and took them to the fairgrounds to use the squeeze shoot to brand, tag and vaccinate them. The exact moment I pulled out the camera to shoot the branding I had two vials of vaccine and needles shoved into my hands. So no photos of my favorite cows of our small herd.

It’s now one of Casen’s favorite evening activities, to go to the farm and “check on the cows.”

He peers into what Kyle calls Casen’s summer swimming pool.

The view of town and the Blue Mountain is incredible from out on the farm. I really want to build a home out here someday.

A couple more trips to the auction and our small herd became complete. We picked up 4 more red angus mama cow/calf pairs and 5 black angus heifers (that we averaged 87 cents a pound on!). We’ll fatten the heifers up to fill us and our families freezers in the fall.

This was just after Casen learned the valuable lesson of why-we-don’t-yell/shout-to-the-cows. Casen’s loud voice and unexpected movements spooked one mama cow (who we’d left in the corral to give her calf a chance to pair back up with her after branding, tagging and vaccinations) to the point of busting through the corral breaking some posts to smithereens. Almost simultaneously Kyle and I cursed under our breath. We had the talk of how to act around livestock and Casen gets it now.

X Bar is the name of our brand. When Kyle asked our branding inspector if he could have that brand he laughed at Kyle and doubted that it’d be available. Well, after all these years of Grandpa Redd and Uncle Buddy using it for Redd Livestock, it indeed was available and Kyle couldn’t have been more excited! It’s a family brand that carries a legacy and now it’s going to live on.

X Bar, left shoulder. 

Let the ranching begin!

The rest of Auri’s blessing pics

Thanks mom for sharing all your photos