Cute Little Cowpoke

I absolutely do not have this boy's (pictured below) mama's permission to use his image on my blog. Why oh why do I write my posts after 10 PM when it would not be proper to call and get a verbal OK? I think I'm going to live on the edge tonight and show this adorable child anyway. His family is so sweet that I don't think they'll mind.

Here is the the whole sweet family I mentioned. As long as I show the whole crew, they should be OK with things, right? These kind folks have been traveling to our family ranch to lend their talents to our branding festivities for several years now. I love them all! They are nothing but friendly, grateful, fun and talented folks who are a joy to be around! PeeWee, Tony Lee, Matt, Kimberlee, Wade and Kellee--thank you so much for helping out this past weekend.

Right before his family left the ranch, cute little Wade climbed up on his horse trailer and tried to do a little "fishing" with a roll of twine. (I think it's twine--I'm not so sure really.) I think I was the only one nervous that he was teetering on the edge. I pretended like I was totally fine with it and snapped away.

He was going for a big one.
I don't know how he can stand being so dang cute!
Gotta love little cowboys--especially when they're beyond adorable!

Branding weekend to be continued...who knows if I'll ever make it to discussing the calves.

We're Back!

Branding was a rip-roarin' success! I have lots and lots of pictures to share with all of you. (You lucky dogs!) Brace yourselves for an onslaught of images from calf country.

Our dear friends leave for Boston tomorrow (Thursday), so we've been trying to soak up all the time we have left with them. I plan on getting back to my blog world once the fun friends so rudely move back to their life on the East Coast.

Here are a few pictures to hold you over until I can fully commit myself to you, my neglected readers. (Anyone left?)

I love the sunsets out there. We saw this rainbow as we were leaving the ranch. Not a bad way to say goodbye.

Little Sarah

My sweet little baby niece is one today!!! I am so glad we got to meet her before her birthday. It's tough living so far away, but we're grateful for the chance to hang out with Sarah and her family for almost two weeks. In that time we got quite attached to that precious little thing. She has to be one of the happiest, easiest babies on the planet!

Mom picked up all the fixings for a small birthday party for Sarah the day before they left.
Here's a picture of my sister letting Sarah touch Shorty and Buff. She thought the horses were pretty cool. Happy birthday, Sarah Elizabeth.
We love you!

Branding Day

We should be in the middle of a bunch of dust, blood, and smoke today--it's time for our annual Band & Brand. Every year I pray for a safe branding for our family and all of our guests. It's dangerous work, but it's also a lot of fun. If you're the praying type, please say one for all the participants out at the Wade Ranch. Our necks, backs, legs, arms, eyes, and feet thank you kindly.

Just a few shots from 2007. Nothing fancy, but you get the idea.

Beth looks like she's taken some aggression out on either her hubby or son. Yikes. She's such a nut!

Be back soon.

Thankful Thursday

As we tend to business at the family ranch, The Koesters, Deanell, Darren, and our super neighbors Mike, Steph, Jonathan, and Mikey are all watching over things at Galloping Grace. It brings real peace of mind knowing that such caring people are there for the horses and for us.

The Koesters

Darren sans Deanell. (She's like me--does not enjoy the camera pointed at her!)

Mikey, Jonathan, Stephanie, and Mike

Guys, we appreciate your time and dedication to the ranch. Thank you so very much!

Wordless Wednesday

My Sissy, The Horse Whisperer

Erin is not in town very often. This makes me sad, but it's our reality. She is an attorney in Chicago, too many thousands of miles away. Luckily for all of us, Erin and Christian, my extra funny bro-in-law, made the trip out when my brother's family came for a visit. It was great being together and sharing the ranch with all of them.

I'm going to say one of my favorite memories of Erin at GG was when she took Poncho for a walk. Erin never had the pleasure of meeting the little rascal personally before that fateful Saturday, but she knew a little about him through the blog. I guess that might have something to do with why she wasn't jumping up and down begging to walk him herself.

I might sorta have accidentally thrust him upon her and ran off to take some pictures. My memory is fuzzy, but it could have gone down like that. At least I warned her that he has a tendency to bite. My dear sister, you looked like a real pro walking that stud around. If you ever move back to NM, I will be sweet enough to let you have Poncho as your own--I know how tight you two have become. Thanks for the laughs.

Hank 17 Weeks

He may still be a cute puppy, but look how vicious he's getting! That giant lizard never saw him coming.

Hmmm, at which week should I stop my Hank updates?? (Week 10?!)

Back to my slide show. Wish me luck!

All Aboard!

Have I ever told you how much I love my husband? If not, please let me say that I do so very much! He is such a thoughtful, sweet guy! He loaded up all four kids, several horses, and a load of supplies to take down to the family ranch in preparation for branding. I offered to keep the kids, as many as he wanted(and especially Grant), but he said that they would be great going with him and it would give me a chance to get some stuff done.
He is planning on taking the load, eating lunch, and turning around and coming right back. If you're reading this post on Sunday, please say a prayer for their safe trip. Now let's hope I use my time wisely!

Just Be--Like The Good Ol' Days

Guest post alert! Guest post alert! For those who were reading this blog back in May, you probably recall me droning on and on about how I didn't have any time, I was making slide shows, and I needed help blogging. Well, fast forward a couple months and I find myself in the same predicament. (It might have a tad to do with my time management skills, but don't get hung up on that.) It is almost branding weekend at the family ranch. With that comes a million things to do. Last year we had around 180 people who came to help, and we're expecting a big crowd again this year.

I make a slide show ever year from the previous branding pictures. A year should be enough time to do it, but I don't necessarily pace myself like I should--at all! Good thing I have understanding friends who love me in spite of all my faults. One such friend is the lovable Lisa. Lisa wrote the following post to help me out in my time of need. I know there has to be several of you who wish you could put your two cents in here. Now is your chance. Be heard and prosper! I thank the rest of you in advance for sending your guest posts my way! :)

Well, as I make foray into blogging, I am at a bit of a loss for words. I wasn’t given very clear instructions as to my topic. And since I am rather a novice at ranching, horse riding, poop-scooping, worm-buying and the like I am not sure how well received this entry will be.

That being said, I do feel like somewhat of an expert on having a bunch of children run around helter-skelter - not an expert at parenting, mind you, just an expert on watching them run around. And on listening to them. Not good parenting listening – listening to them yell, fight with each other, complain about who has what toy or who is mistreating who, that life is unfair (from my dramatic daughter), that they are bored, why can’t we watch TV – am I rambling? Blah, blah, blah – yeah, that’s how it all sounds to me, too. Soooo, making a short story long – one place that my kiddos do not ever complain is out at the youth ranch. They all love to be there. They love to ride, yes, but they also love the freedom the place affords. Now bear in mind, my babies are still babies, kind of. And I am a very over protective mom – just ask my husband. But GGYR is a place that my kids can kind of run around and just be – no one (okay me) is nagging them or telling them don’t touch that or climb down – they just get to play. And be. And as over bearing protective as I can be I really feel like kids need to just be… and that it is something that many kids really do lack. When I was little, my brothers and my cousins and I would all play at my grandfather’s house. He had a lot of land and very little care in the world about what we did on it. There was a great big shed where we played house and held opening night of our rock band - over and over again. He had an old Scout- it didn’t run - that we ‘drove’ to any and everywhere…many spirited adventures. We dug trenches all over and I do mean all over his property and then flooded them with water and floated Icee lids throughout the river system. I never once heard about the mud we tracked all over. You get the picture, he was wonderful and we all have many wonderful memories of him and of just being at his house. So coming back to the point -

Not too long ago we were out at the youth ranch and the kids were all off playing. The adults were talking – some taking pictures. Good guess as to who. The kids took off hiking around, exploring and sliding down hills. You could hear the voices of sweet babies taking care of each other and helping each other along. They came back exhilarated and dirty. Pretty soon the kiddos had created a fort out of scrap lumber lying around. They had built a picnic table out of plywood – and you could just see the joy (there’s that word, Foxy) in their smiles and as the game progressed along, admire their imaginations at work. Kids not fighting, actual imaginative and outdoor play and NO toys or electronic devices of any kind. Kinda reminds you of the good old days. Or, at least my childhood, anyway.

Lisa, thank you so much! Beautifully written.