Just some random pics

Here are some random pics I found on my camera to share with you all

This was Easter swimming at the hotel. Earl and I bought the kids hats for Easter. So my son very proudly wore his everywhere!

Gwen doing a nice HI-YA! kick on the trampoline we found at our new home!

Earl 3 fourth birthday party cake.

First day of School

I should have posted these a while ago, but nonetheless here they are...
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PICS!

Gwen started a different day than Earl so there are different pics of her.
It is dark out because we load the bus at 7:05 AM!

Baby Hugh Hefner

Some babies become attached to certain objects. Some get attached to blankets or maybe a stuffed animal. But mine however are always a little off. when Gwen was little she became attached to a remote. It was only a brief amount of time, but we still had to carry a TV remote with us everywhere. Now my Son, Frank, has become totally attached to his robe. He will not go without it. For two days now he has been wearing it....to the school, to the north ranch, in the tractor with his dad, EVERYWHERE. I keep trying to get it off of him but he goes bananas without it. I don't know, I hope I don't have a baby Hugh Hefner on my hands?

Hello?..oh yeah we are still here!

hello every one! I am so sorry about not updating my blog. In fact I am pretty sure I write that each time I make a post because I think posting only happens about every four months. any who...
Here is the latest update on us all....
WE MOVED!
We recently moved to New Salem, ND. Yes the town with the big cow on the interstate. I think it is really comical that the mascot at the school is the Holsteins. Oh yes! We are living at my Dad's and his new business partner's new place. I think we are going to call is HW Cattle Co. Very professional. haha.

Gwen and Earl start school this year. Gwen is already on her second day of school and loving every minute of it. In fact she got up at 5:30 am this morning to get ready for school. I told her she was crazy and to go back to bed. Gwen is in Kindergarten and Earl will start Preschool on Sept. 6. He is having a little of separation anxiety from Gwen. Ever since he was born, because him and Gwen are so close in age, we have treated them almost as twins doing everything together. Now without Gwen Earl has settled for Franky. Frank loves the new play mate however Earl I think still would prefer to have Gwen back. At least she doesn't steal his trucks and cars.
Earl is currently working construction for TAND Construction which is the company that my dad's business partner owns. He is enjoying the change however I think he misses the home cooked meals everyday and night. With him working away from home he is having to Bach it out a bit. Earl will also be doing some ranching on the side as we try to build our own cattle herd together.

Well that is it for now. We are really happy with our choice in the move. New Salem is a really wonderful little town. It has all the needed essentials. and is only about 14 miles away! unlike before when it was 27 or more! we also live next to a country town called Almont (4.5 miles down the road). This town cracks me up. It consists of a tiny bar, hair dresser shop, post office, gas station, and a bank. However you have to get to know the hours because not everything is open all the time. The best part about the whole thing is that you can buy eggs at the bar! Of course Earl loves this idea. He said he will gladly go get me eggs whenever I need them. hahaha

hopefully I can post pictures soon!

Frankie's First Haircut!

here are some pics of Frank getting his first hair cut. He did really well. Didn't fight it. stood there just like a good little man should and got his hair cut. He now looks like a little toe head. Apparently there was blonde hair under all that brown fluff. (the pictures don't show the blonde hair very well, terrible camera and terrible lighting)

A spring Storm

Well calving is almost over (thank goodness! I have never worked this hard in my life, haha) and we have been blessed with a spring storm. It laid about a half inch of slush before it snowed about five inches. It wasn't too bad though, the calves didn't seem to mind and my kids really didn't mind. It was just the right temperature that we were finally able to make snow men this year. The kids were very excited about this. So we made each one their own snow man. They personalized each one the best that a 1, 3, and 4 year old could. Guess who's is who's?




Earls is the one with "strong muscle arms", Gwen's is the girl one with hair, and Frank, well he really was more interested in all of the dogs and taking pictures rather than decorate his snow man.

Calving Season!

Calving season is upon us! It is a very busy and restless time of year. However, this year is unique in that my husband has recruited myself and our three children to be his helping hands. Each morning starts out with Coffee and breakfast, then we are off to tag all of the newborn calves. Gwen my avid animal lover absolutely loves doing any thing that involves the calves. In fact Gwen is so motivated to help her dad that she usually gets herself up and ready to go with out me having to do a dang thing. Earl and Frank need a little encouragement but they still enjoy going with too. Frank loves to look at all of the "moos" everyday. And Earl just loves doing anything his dad does.

Out in the fields we are quite the crew. All five of us stuff ourselves into a standard cab pickup with a manual transmission just to make things more interesting. I am the writer, I write the calve's tags out, Gwen and Earl 3 are the tagger keepers (the tagger is the tool used to put the tag into the calve's ear) they hand their dad the taggers when he is ready to tag the calf. Frank is the "complicater" He feels that it is very important to touch or grab anything that he can get a hold of to make things more interesting for the rest of us. And for a 17 month old little boy he is quite fast. The little turkey. I can't complain about my job, though, my husband has the most difficult. He drives and catches the calves to tag. This is a very dangerous job at times. Some of the "mommy cows", as Gwen and Earl refer to them as, do not like their babies to be touched. And this Gwen feels that the cows need "Spankings" for chasing her dad. One morning in particular the cows were feeling very feisty. After the third cow chased Earl, Gwen quietly leans over to me and whispers "Mom i think the mommy cows are very grumpy today, maybe dad should give them a spanking". Ah, the mind of a child, they just crack me up with the way they think.

We love helping Earl out with the cows. Although it is very stressful at times, it is also the most rewarding part of our job. Getting to know the animals and take care of them gives us all a sense of pride and compassion. It is great family time spent together.