It's been a year

Yesterday I took Bruce for a one year later follow-up on his leg. It is hard to believe that it has been one year since Bruce broke his leg. And surprisingly it doesn't just feel like it was yesterday, it feels like it was five years ago. I guess it seems that way because he has healed so well and without any complications. He had a good report from the doctor. We got to look at the x-rays of his leg and they looked really good. One angle you couldn't even tell where the break was and the other angle you could barely see the outline of the break. His bone looked completely normal. We thank God for the great recovery!

This is Bruce a year ago with his cast on:

This is Bruce today, outside doing normal kid things.

Busy Times

I know the last few posts have all been cow pictures...but this one is significant.

This is Bruce's heifer. We sold Bruce the heifer of his choice when he was about three. She was a year old or so. Last year was her first year to calve. She calved early in March and a few days later we went to check on her. On our way out to her we saw a coyote. By the grace of God, Jed actually shot it and killed it. We proceeded out to the heifer. We spotted the calf laying down. The heifer was nervous and kept walking back to him. The closer we got it was more evident that something was wrong. We found the calf dead, still warm, with raw flesh on his hind end. It was so sad. The heifer had blood on her nose from nudging the baby to get up. I kept my composure only because Bruce was in on the discovery, but it was difficult. He ended up buying a doogie from Papa Bim and Mama Lindy, so he would have something to sell in the fall. Which by the way, with God's many blessings, turned out to be the fastest gaining doogie we ever saw. So a full year later, Bruce's heifer gets another chance at raising a calf. I must mention Bruce took a diligent effort in praying that everything would be okay with his heifer and her baby. God is great.

Not sure how it happens this way, but it appears Clea's heifer, that would have been a first calf heifer this year, has lost her calf. We do not know why or how. So we are in the market for a doogie for her raise this year.

This is a picture of the Ambulance building Jed has been working on the past few months. It amazes me so much that I am married to the man who can build something like this. My "job" seems so insignificant compared to the his job. That's okay because he has to put up with me reminding him every day that he CAN do something like this and we STILL live in a 1973 double wide.

Yes, those are my kiddos up in that death contraption. I was assured it was safe.

Checking Cows

I got to go check the cows this week. We got our little pick-up running so the kids and I went to check the cows while Jed was at work. It was nice and peaceful. I might as well have been by myself.

This is how the kids were right after we left the house and they remained like this until we got home. Bruce wakes up and says, "Did we forget something, why are we going home?" I had some pictures to prove we actually went and checked on the cows.

To my delight I found the first calf heifer we were looking for with her new baby. Calves are so curious. They are fun to watch.

Honest Scrap Award

Okay, so I was "tagged" by Kate. It has taken me two days to come up with some honest things that I am willing to post. And honestly I have only come up with 5 things, so I am going to fill the other 5 with some honest impromptu.

The Honest Scrap award goes like this: A) First list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it honest (hence, the award 'Honest Scrap'), even if you have to dig deep! B) Pass the award on to those that you feel embody the role of the Honest Scrap. (This is an award only to display on your blog that everything you write on it is in truth, sincerity, and integrity.)*

1. I have a tendency to lose my temper. With my kids mostly, poor children. But also when I get frustrated doing something that is difficult. I try very hard to control it and to be slow to anger, especially when Bruce reminds me of what the Bible says. I am by no means abusive, or do I say bad words, but I do scream and have been known to throw things. I think I got this from my mechanic father. I have witnessed him come up from under the hood of a car screaming, cussing and with bloody knuckles throw the wrench across the shop.

2. I am extremely self-conscience of my mustache. When I was in high school I bought some beauty items meant to bleach the dark hair to light hair to make it less noticeable. I guess I wanted to get it real un-noticeable because I deliberately left the chemical on my lip too long. Of course for about two weeks after I had a huge very noticeable burn on my upper lip.

3. I am embarrassed to admit that I have no recollection of my younger years. If some one asked me my kindergarten teacher's name I could not even remember what she looks like. I have a few memories that stick out, but that is it up until about 4th grade and that is when I can recall lots of events.

4. I have a huge scab on my right knee from a fall I took last week. I ran out to the freezer early in the morning with my house shoes on and as I ran scooting my feet so my slippers would not fly off, one got hung up and I was down. I hurt both knees and both hands. Thankful I didn't bust my head, because I was down before I had any chance to catch myself.

5. I like to go to yard sales. It is probably a good thing we live in Animas, because my house would be packed full of junk if I got to go often. In my defense, I only buy things that I would use or that are a good deal.

okay here is where it gets hard

6. I am not a very good housekeeper. I do what I have to, to keep the house neat and healthy, but I tend to put off doing things like windows, blinds, etc. until they are very dusty.

7. I am a rule follower. Jed is not. It leaves for lots of interesting decisions made on both of our parts.

8. I love every part of being a mom. I love reading to my kids, because I love to hear the stories. I love taking them to the park because I love to swing, slide and play tag.

9. I am a paranoid mother. I can see my kids getting hurt everywhere. I constantly have to turn away when I know they have to learn how to do something. I hear my self say, "don't get too close" and "you're going to hurt yourself."

10. I want to love God more than anything else in this world.

I have no idea who reads this blog, so if you want to participate, great! You're it!

Get your confidence back!

A group of four of us from church went to see Beth Moore in El Paso on Friday and Saturday. Wow! It was great. She is just like you would expect her to be live. Her presentation was about digging your confidence out of the trash. The key verse for the weekend was in Hebrews.

So do not thorow away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:35-36.

Through John 15:5 and Philippians 4:13 we learned about humble confidence.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

She had eight points through out the session. I really liked the conclusion point.

• Daily and deliberately believe God over every other influence.

Movie night and the past week

On Friday night, the Baptist church in San Simon played "Fireproof." We couldn't pass up the babysitting part. I highly recommend that movie. It was an excellent movie.

I guess I should have started at the beginning of the week. San Simon was hosting the country gospel band "Desert Reign." We went on Monday to see them play. They were very good. It was an extremely meaningful service. I came away very moved.

On Saturday, we did some outside cleaning and then went to count all our new little baby calves. This is my favorite part of ranching. Seeing those cute little babies out there with their mothers. We have a total of 4 new babies and lots of cows that are getting very close. After that Jed offered to take one kid on the four wheeler to fix fence while the rest of us waited in the pick-up. Of course every one of the kids wanted to go. The clincher was when Leo very loudly expressed his want to go. So Jed gave in and we all piled on and began the slow treacherous drive along the back fence. I have to admit, I wanted to go also. The idea of sitting in a parked pick-up with kids bouncing off the doors just didn't appeal to me. It was very fun. We managed to climb a very high hill and we all got to look out over the vast countryside in awe. I got to practice praying without ceasing during our entire venture. One failed move and we all could have been wiped out. We managed to literally "prop" the fence that was down in several placing, make it back to the pick-up, load up, and beat the rapidly deflating front tire (on the pick-up) all the way home.

The Weekend

On Saturday, we had a few cows to gather. We are scaling back on the cow scene and so we are consolidating the herd to sell some this weekend. We found them pretty easily and successfully pinned them. The day was so beautiful we spent the rest of the day outside. On Sunday, we had just a nice of day and spent the afternoon outside. The kids wanted to ride Blondie both days.