Preparing for Winter
November has shown to be nonstop work on the ranch and in the shop, with weekends broken up by rodeo! We’ve got lots of different projects going on right now, and while all very exciting, sometimes days can be hard and tough choices have to be made. We’ve had a few of those days this week, but I’m so thankful for my husband, Brian, who keeps things in perspective, believes so strongly in what we do, and keeps me smiling and laughing through it all. Things always work out the way they are meant to, and we are smiling and ready to tackle what is next!
Rodeo is always such a great reflection of life’s highs and lows. The November District 1 Rodeo last week was filled with sunshine and lots of our favorite friends. A few highlights…
Francie and Maisie placed 1st and 2nd in barrel racing. Maisie was leading with a fast time of 14.522 seconds on Tater… until her sister Francie outran her just barely with 14.512 seconds! It was a fun one to watch!
JJ and her team roping partner, Caleb, caught their steers both days to place in the top 3 and 5 in junior high teams. Not easy to do! Tess rocked the breakaway roping to WIN IT with a 4.75 second catch. She got after it and was so proud of that run! The second round she gave it her all, but maybe a little too much… she almost came off of Solo, but he’s the best horse and waited for her to climb back in the saddle :)
The girls probably won’t remember what they placed or which rodeos they won or lost, but we’ll all remember these times together… camped out in a trailer, running to get forgotten tack, breakfast donuts and Starbucks runs, dinners with friends, and everything in between.
When we got back from rodeo we spent the day before Thanksgiving working cows, banding bulls, and getting ready for the winter season on the ranch. There’s always a lot to do on the ranch in November - starting cold weather feeding routines and working cattle for our AI (artificial insemination) breeding program. We haven’t been able to travel for family Thanksgivings these last few years - but we’ve started our own traditions on the ranch and are usually lucky to spend part of the day with neighbors who are kinda like family now!
We are grateful to get to travel for rodeos and our big family trip to the national finals rodeo in December (Brian calls it the exclamation point after working hard for weeks of AI breeding!) thanks to our ranch hands Trevor and Ryan, but Thanksgiving is a family work day followed by a feast on the ranch together and we are equally grateful for that :)
I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving - and if you had Five Marys on your table this year, we thank you for that too!