This Week

The kids and I are finally getting over the swine flu-like symptoms we've had for a week. I don't know that it really was the flu, we didn't ever go to the doctor, but whatever it was, we are glad to have it mostly over (I'm still up all night coughing, but the kids are much better). Now it's Jason's turn.


Even when she's sick she still loves to ride.

We didn't get much packing done this week, but we should be ready by moving day on Wednesday. But then there's the two days of cleaning after everything gets moved out (my least favorite part). Anyone want to drive to Nebraska to babysit while I clean? (Or clean while I babysit?!)

The cook house is still only partially torn down. They are waiting for a cool, cloudy day to burn it. The missionaries have been doing lots of work down here. We're sad we won't get to be the beneficiaries of all the hard work they are doing. But they are also doing lots of work on our new house (paint, new sinks, new flooring in part of the house, a storage room in the garage).


Jason's been up on the Joy most of the week so we haven't seen him much. He finally got home at a decent hour tonight so he spent some time outside with the kids. I was hoping they'd pack and clean the garage, but they didn't. I have all the baseball, kickball, soccer stuff packed away (everything they wanted to play) so they took turns pulling Dallie in the wagon.

Jason has finally been released as Elder's Quorum President and has been called as the 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency. Last Sunday was our Branch Conference, so the Stake Presidency was down from Rapid City and was planning on meeting with and extending the call to Jason, but he stayed home from church with the sick kids. But they got a hold of him on the phone and he was sustained during Sacrament Meeting. He will be set apart next weekend when we go up to Rapid for Stake Conference. Now we just need a grandma and grandpa to move close to us to sit with the kids during Sacrament Meeting while Jason is on the stand and I am playing.

Sandhills Traffic Jam

There isn't much explanation needed here. After everyone on the Eldred has sorted their calves, we have the heavy steers on the McGinley and they are currently in the pasture that my driveway passes through. It sure beats the traffic we experienced in Denver the other weekend.

More Updates in Pictures

This is the way Dallie gets around these days. She doesn't crawl or walk - she rides.

A couple of days ago Ryder mischievously came out of his bedroom with his hands behind his back and says, "Mom, guess what? I scissored my hair." This has happened more than once. At least it isn't Dallie's hair he is cutting.

I'm glad our garden is done producing because the deer have moved in.

The weather has been miserable. Kache had a snow day on Monday. There was still school in session, but since bus service isn't provided for the rural areas of the county and the parents have to drive, they let us decide whether or not to go to school. Today the snow finally started melting, but that makes our road miserable (so much for washing the suburban the other day). The guys tried to ship cattle today, but the trucks just kept getting stuck. So the trucks are going to try to come in at 3 tomorrow morning in hopes that the road will be frozen hard enough for them to get through.

The service missionaries were here today tearing down the cook house. They're also tearing up the yard a bit, but that can't be avoided.

I guess I'm not too concerned about what is going on with it because we are moving. The foreman on the Joy Unit (an hour and a half north of here) moved last week. Jason will spend the next year on the Joy being trained for the foreman position. We are sad to leave the McGinley camp and Eldred Unit (I think my Mom is more upset than me), but it's a good opportunity to move up in the company.

The Weather

We are hoping this is not a sign of things to come.

It's been too cold and snowy for the month of October. I wish our mild summer would come back.

Update

It's snowing on and off today. I'm not ready for the cold. Ryder, Dallie and I have been busy taking care of our calves. We get to cake them everyday. We have a siren on the pickup and they come pretty good to the call, but it's always nice to have the dog to kick up the strays. I love to watch cattle dogs work.

Kache is loving school. When I drop him off at school he always holds the door open for other kids walking with him. My neighbor Elaine subs at the elementary and she says everyone (even older kids) knows his name and is always talking to him. I don't know how he got so social. He had a field trip yesterday. Kindergarten through 3rd grade got to go to a pumpkin patch. He can't wait to carve a scary face into his pumpkin.

It sounds like the service missionaries are going to try to burn down our cook house. It has a cellar under it and if it all goes according to plan all the metal and sharp objects will fall down into the cellar and we will just cover it all with dirt. It has a cool pedestal sink and claw foot tub that we are going to try to get out of the house before burning. It is pretty nasty inside, unfortunately. I would have loved to use it as a cook house. The birds and mice have moved in (and I imagine a few snakes). Regrettably, it will take a couple of trees with it when it burns, but it will be nice to have that much more yard. We have so many plans and projects for the McGinley, but I'm afraid we won't get to see them all through.

The kitchen of the cook house. I love the cool old farm sink. The junk in the middle of the room is from our house remodel.

The boys got the porcupine they had been hunting a couple weeks ago. I was out watching the deer in our yard and the porcupine caught my eye as it was climbing a tree. Kache didn't get to shoot it with his bow and arrow, but he was excited to watch Dad shoot it anyway. I'm glad he is brave enough to kill things because I am not.

Brother and Sister

We were enjoying General Conference on Saturday morning when Dallie came scooting out of the pantry with a gallon of vinegar. I was very glad it didn't spill.



Then during the afternoon session, she found Ryder's gloves and had to have them on.

She is so cute...and spoiled. The boys were sitting at their table coloring during Conference and she wanted to sit in their chairs. So she'd stand next to Ryder and scream until he moved out of his chair. She'd sit there for a while and then decided she wanted Kache's chair, so she'd go over to him and scream until he moved. She has good brothers - most of the time. Sometimes when Ryder thinks I'm not watching, he'll hit her, or step on her or push her over. She usually just screams if he comes near her. The other day we were in the hardware store and I set her in a chair they have out for customers and Ryder was leaning on it to fix his pant leg and she just kept screaming until finally he moved. He realized it was funny to make her scream, so he kept threatening to touch the chair again and she kept screaming. I guess they remind me of Kollin and I. He would tease me and no doubt I would scream too.