Caib's Comments

This is quite a kid. He never is completely comfortable until he gets into the saddle. He's quick thinking and has a sense of humor that takes some getting use to.

Bed time is at 9:00 pm. We say family prayers, and then I walk downstairs with the kids an tuck them all into bed. I have to admit, it's always a bit of a relief when I finally get everyone to bed and have a few minutes to breath. Especially today after listening to Caib ask over and over : "How come the week before Christmas always takes soooooo Looong!!!!!!! Do I have To go to school Monday? Mom, Can you just call my Math teacher, Please?"

"What the heck? Why should I call your math teacher?" Says I

"To tell her not to give me any homework" Is his reply, and it's in the most serious tone you can imagine. I almost think he is serious.

But tonight as I was tucking him in was the best, because he was serious, and I couldn't help but admire the way he's decided to handle this next "LOOOOONG" week. He'd laid down in bed and I was pulling the covers up over him when he says: "Oh Wait." He jumps out of bed and begins setting his alarm clock as he says, "I'm gonna set it earlier so I can get up earlier and get tomorrow over with."

Now, why didn't I ever think of that when I was a kid?

Thanks, Caib, for the great attitude!!

Just a quick question from Chance.

This is the one week where (I assume that) I don't have time for silly questions. Especially as I'm desperately running around trying to get all the kids fed, bathed, dressed kissed and off to school. Oh alright, two refuse the kissing part, but you get my drift. So there sits Chance at the breakfast table eating cold cereal and he looks up at me and asks:

"Mom, Where would the milk go if you pour it in your ear?"

I stopped rushing around, turned and stared at Chance. For one brief second there was a moment of eternity captured, as Chance looked at me with his question face on and I seriously thought about exactly where the milk would go if he did pour it in his ear.

Thankfully in the back ground I hear Caib pipe up with the answer:

" It'd run right through your head and out the other ear!"

May you all have a few moments of eternity as you rush through this next busy week.

and.....

Merry Christmas!!!!

2009 Christmas Tree

setting up the tree
The finished product.

I decided to just go with the kids ornaments this year(Each kid get's a new ornament each year). with a very few extra's. It's a bit bare but every ornament brings back memories. And, besides, my favorite thing about the tree is the lights.

Can you tell we have a one year old again? actually, She's done a lot better at leaving the tree alone then I expected. Still, It doesn't hurt to be cautious.

Chancee's Chattering's

Well, It's official, We've decided to keep her.

Chance came into the room where Roger was sitting in a chair holding Oaklee and asked.....

"Dad, Can we keep her?"

Roger trying to keep a strait face say's "um....Why should we keep her?"

Chance began a narrative of reasons why he thought we should keep his little sister.

"Because, when she get's older she can play Board games with me and because I love her and ....." on and on and on.........

We were so busy trying not to laugh at his animated expressions that neither Roger and I can remember the whole list of reasons he gave us.

So animated !We sure love our Chance!!!

And yes, I guess we will keep our little Oaklee.

Ah, HECK, I guess we'll keep them all!!!

Elk For Thanksgiving

I've been gonna blog all about my wonderful Thanksgiving Holliday and let every one know all the marvelous things I'm thankful for but, That just hasn't happened. So, I'll tell you this. Thanksgiving Morning Dad and his boys went hunting. Braden still hadn't filled his antlerless elk tag and neither had Dad. I stayed home with cooked turkey, stuffing, salads, pie, and the little girls. We were getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. With about 30 minutes to go the phone rings.

Dad: "Well, Braden got his elk"

Me:(muffled sigh) "GOOD! So how far away are you"

We were only 30 min. late to Thanksgiving dinner but, Braden had a nice conversation topic.

Friday morning 4:00 AM My sister-in-law honks and I stagger outside. That's right, for the first year ever I have hit the Black Friday Sales. I guess it was worth it as far as the deals we got. It was definately worth it because we had such a great time! I Love my Sister-in-laws! They are definately Ladies of action!!

On our way home at about 11:00AM We were about five minutes from home when we pass Roger and the boys. They were on their way to the mountain to do a little more hunting. So now I have two Elk and some frozen venison that I have to bottle and Jerk, and here I sit Blogging.

Finally, Trationally, we went out Saturday and got our Christmas tree!! I'm thinking that this is, probably, one of my most favorite days of the year!

enjoying the snow while getting tree's

playing in the snow

Chancee's Chatterings

Just about every Morning some where between 5:30 AM and 6:30 AM Chancee comes and crawls into bed with me. He snuggles down in works his feet in between my knees and goes back to sleep for another half hour or so. When he wakes up he turns to me and whispers

"Mom, It's Me Chance Kirk Brian"

Well, That has suddenly Changed. He still comes in every morning, climbs into bed, and positions his ice cold little feet into the warmest spot he can find, but instead of saying

"Mom, It's me Chance Kirk Brian" When he wakes up. He rolls over, stiffens, looks up at me with wide open eyes and says excitedly

"It's almost Christmas!!!"

I'm not sure why but for some reason this is creating a panicky feeling somewhere deep down.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas, always have, but for heaven sakes, It isn't even Thanksgiving yet.

sigh.........


Oh, to be young and excited again with out all the cutsie neighbor gifts to come up with, or the clever, yet inexpensive family gifts, etc. etc. etc. Aw, but I don't believe I'd ever give up Christmas just because of that. I mean after all



IT"S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!




WAAAAA HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

A Rare Opportunity

When it snows in Loa with a snow that is suitable for building snowmen, then you have to hurry and get it done!! 8 days ago we got one of those snows. It's gone now, but, Boy, Oh Boy, Chance and I were on it. As soon as we got home from dropping Aubree off at school, I grabbed some gloves and sat Oaklee in front of the french doors where she could watch. Chance watched with her for awhile, while I ran out back and began rolling snowballs. It took about 30 minutes for me to quickly whip up this fellow. about 20 min. into my project Chance came out with his cowboy boots on, no socks , and his Jacket on upside down. We hurried to finish up snap a picture and run inside before Chancee's toes froze. Less then an hour later our poor snowman "In the sun he melted" just enough to slowly lay down on his side and by the time school was over all that was left was just enough snowballs for the two older boys to smash up in a pile.

That's where they still lay. See, that's what happens in Loa, We will more then likely have remants of those snowballs in the yard until April. And more then likely all the next snowfalls will be those teeny, tiny little snowflakes that won't stick together. Somethings you just can't put off when your living in Wayne County.

I Tought I Taw A Puddy Tat!!!!

5:30 A.M. Loud BANG Coming from the other room. Roger lifts his head off the pillow and asks

"What was that?"
In my fuzzy just woke up from loud BANG state I new it was the bird cage but I also knew that it was to loud of a BANG to have been made by the birds so I jumped out of bed, as another loud BANG rung through the house, and headed into the other room with Roger on my heals. At some point he passed me as I hesitated with the thought

"what if it's a human intruder" .

We found the bird cage upside down on the floor with the canary still in it, but the two little finches missing. Roger went right on past the cage into the Laundry room and yells

"What do you think your doing in here."

And again the thought of a human intruder enters my mind as I ask in a hopeful tone

"Is it Molly?(my little rat terrier)

"No, he replies as he chases the wild intruder out. "It's a ____CAT!!

Apparently our door from the garage didn't get latched last night and either blew open or was pushed open by a cat.

I found one of the little finches shaking on the floor by the dryer. I still haven't found the other one. Who'd a thunk I was so attached to the little birds. I've spent the day walking around the house looking in every crook and cranny, cleaning odd areas of the house, and praying that the poor little bird wasn't in the clutches of the cat's mouth as it leaped for the door, bounced off, scratched Roger on the lower leg(a mean looking 4 inch scratch), and finally wormed it's way back outside in a furry frenzy. I've Even paused in mid step listening intently for any odd scratching or chirping sound. Nothing. I fear my little orange beaked little finch may be gone for good.

I did, I did, I did see a Puddy Tat"

My Cowboys

A Spooky Thought

A witch and her pony(she lost her broom)
and a little duck

Halloween admittedly, was one of my favorite Holidays as a kid. As a mother, not so much. But Like any good mother I know how much kids love Halloween so I try to play along.

After we finished with all the Halloween fun Caib, Aubree, Chance, Oaklee and I headed home.

Upon our return I went into the living room to ask Braden how he was feeling.(He's the first little Piggy, see previous post) At the time we weren't sure that he had the, infamous, H1 N1 virus, A.K.A Swine flu. He was still fevering but seemed to be feeling fine considering the quantity of mini candy bar wrappers in the garbage bucket beside the couch.

Roger was home as well and thinking back I'm pretty sure that one of the first things he said, if not the first when we walked in was,

"There's a pig out in the yard."

I couldn't compute. See, we don't have pigs, and most people in town are considerate enough to keep their pigs out of town if they happen to have a lot of them. They stink.

So Roger said again,

"There's a pig outside"

I looked at him and then opened the french doors stepped out on our porch and sceptically looked around. The yard appeared to be deserted except for my little terrier who was barking excitedly about something or other. (that's not unusual)

Suddenly from the west side of the yard I saw what, registered in my mind as, a stray dog. Caib stepped out onto the porch behind me.

"Dad said to put it in with the Goat and calf."

Caib Said as he jumped off the porch and scared it back in the direction of that pen. So, I ran over opened the gate as far as I could and then Caib and I spent the next fifteen minutes chasing a half grown, completely pink, pig around the yard.

We couldn't get the thing to go any where we wanted it to. Roger came out and smiling said, "see why we don't own pigs." GRRRR

It probably took us another fifteen minutes to, finally, coral the pig.

But, even then, in the morning it was gone.

Here's a spooky thought:

Caib and I are the only two who haven't gotten the swine flu.

I'm pretty sure the Pink Pig was real......but then again..... It was Halloween and we never did get a good look at that pig.

OOOWWWHAAAAA HAAAA HHAAAAA HAAA HAAA HAAAA.

How are you planning on avoiding the swine flu this year

This Little Piggy

The first little Piggy got the flu.

The second little piggy hasn't got it.

The third little piggy got it yesterday

The fourth little piggy's acting fine (but very pale)

The fifth little piggy cried wee, wee, waaa!! weee! all night long.

Momma Piggy is alright, so far, but very tired,

And Daddy piggy is in denial.

Chancee's Chatterings

We had to go up North yesterday. So we thought we'd get a little shopping in. It would probably be a lot easier to do shopping without a four year old and a one year old, but what do you do if your going to be gone all day.

So, there we are in shop-ko filling a prescription with Chance running all over looking at all the different things. (this is slightly more exagerated in children from a town where the only store is a small grocery store) After about the bazillionth time of Us calling him back and Chance hollering out

"But, Mom I have to show you something!" Or

"Dad,come here I gotta show you this"

I'd had it and Said in a somewhat agitated voice something like this:
"Chance, You get back here right now We've gotta go get Dad."

His response was, yet again,

"But Mom, I gotta show you something."

"Chance, No! you get back here now, I'm staying right here." I said, trying not to yell and embarass myself to badly.

His Response, with no hesitation at all:

"Well,.....Then I'm gonna go show myself something"

and off he skips to the DVD section.

SIGH.......SIGH.......sigh.....and sigh

Chancee's Birthday, Hunting, and Jak-o-Lanterns

Chance was born during a busy time of year. But we managed to squeeze him in. He was born on the 21st but he was due on the 31st of October. Chance wanted a Thomas cake
Braden hunted 4 days before Chance's birthday, Chance's birthday, and 3 days after.

It took him all week, but.....

He finally got a little two point

And then tonight we carved pumpkins

first we designed them

then we cleaned out the insides
anyway

we chose

Then we waited for dad to light them

and VOILA!!!




This is only a few of the many activities that go on during October. I just haven't gotten pictures of all the other activities.

Why I don't hunt.........yet.

Saturday we woke up just before the first rays of the sun had begun to show from behind Thousand Lake Mountain. yeah, It was still dark and we were on the move. I had awakened with a start, realizing that this was the day that, well.........the boys had been anticipating since the long white envelope had appeared in the mail containing the deer tag.(I use singular because Bradens the only one with a tag this year) I jumped from my bed, paying no heed to the warm comfort of my nice, snugly warm blankets, and rushed to the kitchen to begin making Lunches fit for hunters. I pulled all the makings of a ham and cheese sand which from the fridge.I spread 16 pieces of bread across the counter top and began slapping on the Mayo,
Then the cheese and last of all the meat, I threw on the top piece of bread cut the sandwiches in half bagged them, Gathered up the extravagant amount of treats and goodies that had been purchased the night before,and sent my four boys on their way. They were gone until about 4:00 PM with the report that they hadn't even seen a single deer. Sigh.... They saw PLENTY of hunters though.So, about an hour before dark The whole family loaded up into the pick-up and we headed out into the mountains again. we saw plenty of does this time but no bucks. Braden decided that he should climb up asmall hill,walk across in search of the bucks and meet us on the other side. He had to have someone go with him so I volunteered.

We walked up on top and about halfway across,having seen no deer I decided to get in to this whole hunting thing. I borrowed Bradens hat and took the gun from him.

So......Now you know why I don't hunt.......Yet.
I just get way to into it.

Working Ranch Horse and Cowboy Poetry Competition

I would have to say(as a mother) that I'm extremely pleased with the experience we had last Saturday. No The boys didn't win, but they had a good time. They took 11th and 14th and learned what this kind of a competition is all about. They're thinking next year they'll do better.
I just have to throw in the thing that amazed me the most. We were competing against mostly just regular kids but there are always the kids that spend all kinds of time training for these competitions on horses that have been doing them as well for as long if not longer then the kids themselves. Well our horses have never been trained for this kind of competition at all except for the real work that they do during the summer working the cows on the mountain.
I was somewhat nervous about the reaction Bradens colt would have to the 60 plus horses in an indoor arena. Both Braden and Sammy, Braden's colt, did amazing. I can't say for sure but I'd bet money that Braden was the only kid there that was riding a horse that he'd broken himself. In fact, nobody else has ever even ridden Sammy. I'd also bet that Sammy was the youngest horse there. He's only three.

And then I have to brag just a bit about Caib, too. I accidentally signed the kid up for the wrong age group. He was the youngest kid in the competition and I'll bet not one person even knew it. It'll be funner next year with a little experience behind us. Here's some pictures. Caib coiling his rope after a head throw.

Braden in the sorting pens

Braden on Sammy as he rides his pattern

Waiting their turn

And then there was the cowboy poetry competition. Chance was in the peewee division. They didn't judge the Peewees.

Caib won the Junior division and Braden took second in the intermediate division.

I'll tell ya though, I was sure glad when we were finished and on our way home. That was an, awfully, long day for a one year old and her mother.

Braden Thinks We Over Did It!!

Tomorrow Braden and Caib are riding in a Working Ranch Horse Competition. They are pretty excited about it and wanted to get home from school today and head right up to the Rodeo grounds to practice. That wasn't in the master plan today. Dad informed Braden that we would be digging potatoes first. I had to throw in my reasoning as well and explain to Braden that real life came before the other stuff.

So we went out and began digging our potatoes. After an hour or so we were about a third of the way through when Braden starts in about how long this is taking and asked "Why did we plant so many?" I had to remind him that it was he and Caib that planted them. They must have enjoyed the planting because they just kept on planting, all by hand.

I think we ended up with about 400lbs of potatoes. Not a bad harvest after such a late start because of the extremely cold spring.

Mean while my little dog lounged in the sun. And all were so excited to be done.


They figured Chance had enough smile to prove it.
Notice the bags of potatoes they are sitting on. (one bag not pictured)

Chancee's Chatterings

Remember, "Mr. Fantastic," Chance's friend? http://cattlekids.blogspot.com/2009/02/cancees-chatterings.html



This link will take you to the blog about him.

Sunday as we listened to conference Pres. Monson in his last talk uses the phrase "I testify to you that we are all in this together" When I let Chance watch it again on the internet he got all excited and wanted to write a letter to President Monson.







This is the letter we wrote and sent.








Dear President Monson,
My name is Chance Kirk Brian. . I am going to turn 4 on Oct. 21rst. I live in Loa, Utah I have a friend that I call “Mr. Fantastic” I'm not sure what his real name is That's just what I call him. He lives in Loa, too. He got in an accident a long time ago and because of that accident he is in a wheel chair. He works at Loa elementary school helping kids learn to read.
My Mom, me and my little sister are the crossing guards in Loa. Every morning, after my two older brothers leave for the school bus, we take my older sister to school, she's in second grade, and we help all the kids cross the street who walk to school. I mostly just stay in the pick-up and watch my little sister.

Almost every morning, for about two years, my friend “Fantastic” has wheeled himself to school. He goes right by our pick-up and he always stops to visit with me. We talk about all kinds of thing's. One day I told him about a dream I had that he could walk. He told me he sometimes dreams that, too, and that someday he will get to walk again because of Jesus. That makes him really happy. Me, too.
We only visit for a few minutes each day, and as soon as we're done I always tell him “Don't forget, and stay out of trouble, and remember, we're all in this together. Good bye”
I first started telling him “Don't forget” Then I guess I just decided that it's important to “stay out of trouble” so I added that. Last year I decided that “We're all in this together.” and so I added that.
Jesus must know how important it is for us to remember that, too. Because in your last talk for conference I heard you say “I testify to you that we are all in this together...” I may not be very big yet, but I know that if Jesus wants the Prophet to teach us that “We are all in this together” Then we'd better do everything we can to help each other do what's right, because, After all, We are all in this together.
Love, Chance







Well, what do you do when your almost four year old son want's to write a letter to the prophet?














You write the letter, I guess.

A Rare Experience

We headed up into Seven Mile

so that Dad could do his range studiesIt was SOOOO beautiful

We headed down the road to enjoy the trees

Chance had to run ahead he was so excited

Then we rested on a log

And enjoyed the leaves

"Here Enjoy!!"

Then we drove on down the road,

Enjoying the view!!

And we threw rocks in the water.

And on the ride home, we had a rare experience.

That's right!! we saw a MOOSE!!

What a perfect Autumn Day.

Sorry about the blurry picture. My battery only had enough life left for one picture and it was Dusk so the light was bad and I had to hold the camera reeeaaally still so that's the best I got.