Drifted In

It warmed up yesterday and the snow stopped falling, but the wind picked up. I went out to cake while Jason was feeding in the tractor and I could barely make it out of my driveway. The drifts weren't huge, but they were deep enough to prevent us from going to mutual last night.

The boys had a snowball fight with Jason after they finished feeding. That house in the background is the cookhouse. The reason it is where it is is because when McGinleys were moving it by way of a horse-drawn wagon, the horses got away from them and when the horses finally stopped, McGinleys decided the house would stay right where it was. We will be tearing it down here in the next couple of years (along with a few of the other buildings in the ranch yard). A lot of the buildings have fallen into disrepair, which is really sad. I wish we could have seen this place in it's heyday. Even now, this place is really amazing.

Snow Day

The boys spent some time outside today. Too bad their car isn't a 4x4.

Warmer Weather

The weather we are longing for:

The weather we are having:

It is 4 degrees today with a high of 7. The older I get, the less I like cold weather. Snow is pretty to look at, but I just don't have any desire to be out in it. I think my dislike for snow and cold started in Rexburg. I didn't enjoy walking to class when it was so cold that it would freeze my eyelashes, and then when I got inside my eyelashes would melt and my mascera would run. Jason doesn't even like the snow and cold here (he likes it in Idaho when he can go snowmobiling, but not in Nebraska when he has to work in it and try to keep his cattle healthy, and he especially doesn't like calving in this weather).

Pictures

My sister, Tricia, took the boys' pictures (and our family pictures) while we were in Washington.

Wednesday's Adventure

This is how our busy day started. Most of the cattle came to me in the pickup (like they're supposed to), Jason and Rex rounded up the strays, and Dallie was happy.


They were following good so Jason went back to the windmill to get the solar panel. It was about half way through our move when this happened (flat tire, if you couldn't tell).

So when Jason caught up to us he couldn't figure out why we weren't moving. He'd left the spare tire at the shop, but luckily we were only 10 minutes from the shop and he had the Honda.

The girls wondering "what's going on? where's our cake?"

Right about now Jason is probably thinking it would have been quicker and a lot less work if Kiley hadn't come to help.

The boys chillin' in the Honda. The ranch just bought this last Saturday and the boys love it.

I don't know if I am too fond of it (the Honda) because this is what you look like after you're done riding it.

In this picture Kache is telling the cows how "we just moved to the McGinley, and we just got the Honda and it's really fun to drive, and Mom ran over a fence post and got a flat tire and Dad's fixing it...". Do you think when a person talks to cows it means that person needs a little more social interaction with humans?

Finally, the boys help Jason put on the lug nuts and we finished moving and caking the cows. We weren't able to leave early to do any shopping (just for groceries after mutual) but Jason has go into town on Friday so he can do whatever shopping that still needs to be done.

My meal turned out alright for the guys. Dallie didn't sleep at all that morning so I barely had my meal ready by the time the guys came in. The boss "just happened" to be in the area when the guys came in for lunch so he ate with them (we like our boss and we like to tease him when he shows up just in time for lunch, or after the work is all finished, or when the guys are having a snack).

Lack of Communication

So Jason came home tonight at 7 and said, "Do you want to cook for the crew on Thursday?" Interpretation: "You're cooking for the crew on Thursday."

I say, "What's happening on Thursday?"

Jason: "Oh, didn't I tell you? We're pouring my cows on Thursday. And do you think you could come help me move cows tomorrow?"

After I gave him a dirty look, he said, "Am I asking too much of you?"

Now, I'm not a good cook, but normally I wouldn't mind cooking for a small group (and luckily "the crew" on Thursday will be a small group) and I always enjoy moving cows, but Wednesdays are usually pretty busy for me because of mutual and I try to get my shopping done on Wednesdays too. And now I have to come up with something to feed the guys and try to make my house somewhat presentable (I'm still trying to unpack). So needless to say I wasn't very happy with him. But he did help me clean up a little tonight and he is coming into town with me tomorrow so I don't have to go alone with three small children, so I guess he's forgiven.

In other picture-worthy news: I'm going to have to start putting the seatbelt on Dallie, don't you think?

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

We were able to see more of Nebraska and Colorado yesterday. Columbia View Farms is looking at buying some new-to-them circles and there are some in Imperial, NE, so Jason was elected to go check them out. Imperial is about 2 1/2 hours away, so the kids and I had a good time spending the day with Jason and getting to see some new country. (Just a side note: you know you live in the middle of nowhere when you drive for five hours without seeing a Walmart. We did see a McDonald's and Arby's, which I surprised to see.)

Old Rock Schoolhouse at Ash Hollow State Park (location of one of the many battles between the U.S. Army and the Sioux).

Sundays are long days for us. We have to leave at 7:40 to get to our 9:00 branch council meeting, and since we live so far out Jason tries to do his home teaching after church to avoid making another trip into town. So today we didn't get home until after dark.

Today is Dallie's 6 month birthday. She had cereal for the first time today. She really liked it and did a good job eating it. Hopefully it will help her sleep better through the night. She had been sleeping through the night since she was two months. But with our move, vacation and being sick, she has been waking up in the night.

We tried our new wheat grinder out tonight that we got for Christmas from my parents.

It was pretty noisy, but it was fun to have whole-wheat waffles. And the boys liked playing in the flour, making the waffles and most of all eating the end product.