Our New Weedeater

The other day I sent Jake and Kaci out to weed the garden.   I was busy cleaning and doing my thing in the house.   Dan came home from work yelling at me to come to the back door.   He said have you been watching your children?  Irritated by the fact that he would think I would not be watching my children I went to see what the problem was.  Because you know as a mom we sometimes become immune to problems they are an every 2-3 minute occurrence.   As I reached the back door he was laughing which eased the tension and said you have to see this.   Yep,  Jake was using his goats to weed the garden.   Carefully guiding them around each plant.   As I was grabbing my camera to get some footage for posterity sake Dan was busy posting on facebook.   This is his post,

So, I may not be the sharpest tool in the tool shed, and my kids probably aren't either, but when your sons job for the day was to weed the garden, and you come home to this, you know that common sense runs deep in there blood. He even managed to make the goat eat around the plants. I tip my hat to you son. He saved money on feed and got the job done!!! Man I wish I would have thought of that when I was a kid!!!!!!

So if any of you are in need of a weed eater Jake and his goats are for hire!

Surprise

Zeak had a surprise party brewing in his head.   Unbeknown to be he had already talked to Mitch and had most of the party planned.   I was left to prepare the food and the rest Zeak and Mitch would provide.   They had the cattle arranged for, got the bbq grill, they had invited the Winn's Shepherd, Neilson's, and Carters.  They were all coming before Dan got there and the plan was for the boys to run the shoots and the adults to rope.   We were going to have hamburgers and hotdogs.   Zeak wanted all of the horses saddled and ready so Dan could step on and go to roping.   Mitch and Zeak had come up with a wild story on how Tuff was hurt and they had hauled him to Nephi and Dan needed to meet them at the arena.  I'm not sure if he bought their story but he was surprised when he pulled in and saw all the horses, steers, and friends, and family.   His next surprise came when they roped him and gave him birthday spanken's right off the bat!   Zeak was elated when a guy from Arizona was looking at buying some horses and agreed to open shoots so the kids could rope with their dads.   It was a fun night they ate and roped until dark.  It got serious when the rally caps came out and the flag!   I know Dan enjoyed his night and hopes he knows how much we all love him especially Zeak!

The big 60

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My dad turned the big "60" on June 4th.    For his birthday we all spent the weekend at my mom and dads.   Dusty came up with the idea to get him a gun and have his signature and birthday engraved on it.   I think my dad was pretty surprised.   We took him shooting and everyone had a blast.  Dusty brought probably 20 cans of shaving cream and thats what we used for targets.  That was so much fun you hit the can and it explodes.    After shooting we went back and had cake and ice cream.   Brenda made the perfect cake for my dad it was awesome.  She had a Mountain with wildlife including fish in the stream and a garden planted at the edge.   What a fun way to celebrate 60 years of life.   My dad has 6 children and 10 grandchildren with one on the way.   My dad has a love for his family and has always held my mom on a pedestal.    He loved her and respected her to the highest.   He loved us kids and we knew it.  He took time to teach us and help us in everything.   My funnest memories are hunting with my dad.   I am not an early riser but I loved to get up early before school and go hunting with my dad.   He would teach me how to look for tracks and signs how to find my way back and how to walk quiet.   He was always making me step carefully.    My dad was good at math and always helped me with my homework.   I learned my love of cooking from my dad who learned it from his mom.   We learned how to live the gospel from my parents.   My dad is a great man with a huge heart and testimony of the gospel.    Thanks for being the worlds best husband, father, and grandpa.   We Love You!

Today while this dishes sit!

I hope summer is filled with these kind of  days.   We are having a play date with some good friends.   This adorable boy pictured above more often than not lately has a melt down.   So today I decided to try a different approach I didn't tell him to get over it.   I didn't tell him I loved Zeak and Kaci more than him.   (Unfortunately that is my standard response.)   Today I snuggled with him on the couch.   Had him read me a few pages in the  book he got at the library this morning.    There was a lot of protest on his behalf telling me how he didn't even want the book that his good friend Keanna made him get it.  He didn't want to read with me he just wanted to go back to school.  I tickled him until he couldn't pout anymore and then we read.  I am amazed at how his reading as improved.   He can read words that I struggled with forever.  He read his five pages then I let him go with  a smile on his face.   He then researched KSL for a Billy goat.   He wants a specific kind in the right price range.   He wants to start breeding them and raising them for JR rodeo.   He knows how old they have to be and which breeds are the best.  His brother finally came in and asked him to go back out and rope and ranch with him and Buster and life is good.   So Keanna thanks for making him get a book that we could lay on the couch and read together.    I want to be a different mom and spend more quality time with my children helping them through their challenges and struggle in a positive righteous way.   Although I know there will be many more days of failure today was a success!

Utah State 2012 Junior High Finals

 This photo is what could have been.   If that loop would have kept going we would be on our way to Gallup, New Mexico.   He would have won the round and placed high in the Average.   But as fate would have it the loop didn't go around and we didn't go to Gallup.   As a parent this is so hard to watch but deep down before we even left I knew that because of our Faith not Fate we would not be going to Gallup this summer.   Earlier in the season I would have told you a different story but because of life and circumstance I knew we were not going.    I find comfort in knowing he has all the talent in the world to go just for reasons unknown to us at this time he is not going. 

 What matters more than going to Gallup is having such a great support team whether you are loosing or winning they are there or on the phone getting an instant replay.   

 Luck would have it that Torri Mackelprang and Zeak  qualified in Delta 2 weeks before State and caught once at State.  That was a perfect ending to a rough team roping year.  

 One away from the top 10 in Ribbon Roping was awesome.   We were on the edge of our seats waiting to see what the results of this team event was going to be.   Shaylynn was exactly where she needed to be every time.   I think Amy bribing Zeak with cinnamon rolls if he caught was the trick he hasn't missed since Delta.   So we will start the bribe early next year and hope to go to the top 10 and on to the top 4 next June.  

As tradition would have it we ended the day with a trip to Granny's for a shake with Grandpa and Grandma.   It was a fun year at State.   We are taking the summer off and gearing up for 2012-2013.