"Cattle Work"

Yesterday, we spent the day helping our friends do "cattle work" (as Bria calls it). The "we" was really just D, but the girls and I were there to watch. Bria had a lot of fun because there were other girls her size to play with (although those girls are expected to work some too). Around here no child is too young to be put to work.

Rounding up the cattle from the pasture. D is one of the people on a horse.

Waiting for the calves to be moved into the coral.

This calf is the calf that Bria say being born earlier this spring.

Bria and a couple of the girls watching on the fence.
One of these girls is not like the others,
One of these girls doesn't belong...
Obviously, Bria is not a real cowgirl.

Proof that even Bentley and I were out there!

The pins for the tub became guns.

Bria following her little friend. Bria went almost everywhere she went.

We had a great day. I think all of our faces are a little red from all the sun and wind. There is nothing better than crawling into bed after a long day of hard work.

Just Life As Usual...Almost

From day to day not much changes in our life. We generally just take each day as it comes, without too many worries. Last week was one of those weeks, until Friday night...

On Friday our landlords came to talk with us. We didn't have any idea what they wanted to discuss, but soon found out that they are moving back and want to be in this house by July 1. So, we will be moving. Again. This time it will only be in town. Friday night after we found out we scrambled to make some phone calls to talk to people who had property for sale. (We had already talked to the one person who has most of the rental properties in town, and he didn't have anything available that was an adequate size. We aren't even looking for something all that large, maybe 1,500 square feet, but even that is hard to come by here.)

We didn't here much about available properties right away, but there are a few that will be up for auction mid-June to the end of June. That, however, would not allow us to be into a new place by July 1. All but two of the available properties in town are occupied. We were also astonished at the price people are asking for tiny properties in this very small community. We have spent a lot of time in prayer knowing that God will provide the right place for us and at the right time. It has helped that in talking to people they have given us other possible leads on properties. The next couple of months could be very interesting.

Family Traditions

We have started a bit of a family tradition. On some Sunday nights, D cooks and makes us Swedish pancakes. (The recipe was his grandma's, so I don't mess with it.) Bria really loves them, and wants to help Daddy as much as he will allow. It is also fun for her because Daddy can hold her while he is cooking.

Warm Weather, Finally

The weather has gotten warm this last week. We are very excited. Both girls love to be outside. Yesterday, D took the girls out to blow bubbles while I went for a walk.

Bentley's first experience with bubbles. She liked watching them in the air.

It was hard to get Bria in any of the pictures because she was running around like crazy. Earlier this week Bria was out using her new sidewalk chalk. One day she came back in the house completely covered in chalk. She ended up having different colored pants than she went out in and a bath. We have been outside as much as Bentley can handle.

7 Months Old

Our precious baby was 7 months old this last week. She is getting to be such a big girl, and is very happy. We just can't get past those adorably chubby cheeks.

I actually got a couple of pictures with her smiling.

Her hair is getting much longer too.

Bentley also sat up on her own for the first time this last week. Trying the solid foods is going pretty well. It seems like she eats a lot of cereal, but isn't all that fond of the vegetables. However, after trying avocado this week, she appreciated the sweet potatoes a lot more.

Easter

Easter morning at our house was the same as any other Sunday morning. We don't get the girls Easter baskets because they end up with enough candy and toys from the grandparents and people at church. The one thing we want to make sure they understand is that we celebrate Easter to remember that Jesus died and rose again so that we can spend eternity with God. Bria really seems to be starting to understand.

While we were getting ready for church, Bentley was laying on the floor and Bria went a laid down next to her. I love to see those two playing together.

Two kiddos in their pajamas.

Side by side, Bria looks a lot bigger than Bentley, but when Bentley is sitting up next to Bria she looks bigger than she actually is.

All dressed up for church. Sorry, no special dresses for Easter.

In the afternoon, J's parents and sister came to visit bringing goodies for the girls. Bria was extremely excited to see them. She was talking as loud and as fast as she could.

All the gifts in the Easter basket from Grandpa and Grandma.

Looking for Easter eggs. It was sprinkling outside, so we stayed inside to hide them.

Bria and Aunt D wearing the sunglasses that were in Bria's Easter basket.

House Repair?

After a long weekend away, and a day to get the kids settled back into a routine, our landlords arrived to re-shingle the roof. That seemed like a good thing. Thursday evening they tore off the shingles on one side of the house (that is the only side they are going to redo). It was starting to get dark, so they quit working without replacing the tar paper or covering the roof. The forecast for Thursday through Friday was rain.

Guess what came next.

Rain! Except, the rain didn't start until a little after 10pm. Before we had even gone to sleep, we could hear drip, drip, drip. We went out to the kitchen to find water coming out of the ceiling fan. Within a couple of minutes, it was running down the ceiling and dripping from several other places. Pretty soon, it was coming in around the window (running inside the wall). Eventually, several other windows started having water run out of them, including our bedroom. We tried setting out buckets and towels to keep the mess from getting too bad. In the end, I'm not sure it helped much. Every room on that side of the house ended up with some kind of water in it. We didn't get much sleep.


Yesterday morning, our landlords came back and put a tarp over the roof. It was very windy, so hopefully the wood and insulation dried out some after it stopped raining. Today, they are back again laying the tar paper and probably the shingles. We aren't sure that anything is completely dry, but there isn't much we can do about it. The inside of the house is left with very discolored spots on the ceiling.

Sumo Baby

Bentley's hair is getting very long in front, and in order to keep it out of her eyes I put it up in a little pony tail.

The results were Sumo Baby. It looked more Sumo-like in real life, and her cute pudgy belly added to the look.

Great State

While we were at D's parents I wanted to get a nice outside picture of the girls together. I went outside to see how the weather was, it was warm, sunny, and just a light breeze. Ten minutes later when I was ready to take the picture, it was cloudy and windy. What a great state we live in! Despite the weather the girls are still cute.

Bria didn't feel like she could keep Bentley stable on the rail, and kept freaking out.

The little one with her tongue always out. Her hair also kept blowing in Bria's face.

We will have to attempt a picture of the the two of them some other time.

A Busy Trip

This last weekend (and Monday & Tuesday) we headed to D's parents. We had a lot to do while we were there. Saturday we had a wedding in SF, Sunday we went to Wtown to visit friends & go to church to see lots of other friends, Monday Bria had a Dr. appointment in SF, I helped my sister look for bridesmaids dresses, and we visited with one of D's friends from high school, and Tuesday D went to a bull sale. We hardly spent any time at the farm. In traveling from place to place, I wasn't very good about getting out the camera. Here are couple of pictures of the girls with the grandparents.

Bria and Grandpa "shooting" antelope and putting the pieces in buckets.

Bentley just hanging out with Grandma.

We really appreciate all the time Grandpa & Grandma took to run around with us & watch the girls.