This first section is just for fun and for Zack's ego boost.
As we (moms, kids, photographers) arrived at the tail end of a cattle drive Sunday morning, I saw Zack take off after a wayward calf.
Ride 'em, cowboy!
Ride 'em, cowboy! 
I think this seventeen year old has found his passion in life. 
He successfully rounded up the little booger and returned him to the herd. 
Instead of riding their horses back, the majority of riders loaded their horses in the trailer and hitched a ride back with us. Imagine Grant, Kelsey and Kaley's joy when they realized they got to ride on top of the trailer.
It was a good thing they did--can you tell Grant was protecting us from the savages along the way?This next section is dedicated to Lexi, a girl whose body lives in Boston but heart lives in Vaughn, NM.
Lexi's family has been traveling out west to our annual Band and Brand for the last several years. From their very first visit, the family was hooked. (Lucky for all of us--they're wonderful friends and a whole lot of fun!) Lexi and Candido, our ranch manager, have formed a special bond throughout the years. I'm sure she'll eventually be one of his assistants on the ranch.
This past summer Candido gave Lexi the honor of naming his new horse. When she asked for feedback from him, he told her the decision was entirely hers. Lexi agonized over the perfect name. She created a list with dozens of options. After much deliberation, she settled on Spirit. Candido joked to some of the men that he had to go break it to his horse what his new name was. We all know Candido was tickled.
It turns out Lexi has a knack for naming equines. This boy has spirit, oh yes he does--how 'bout you?! Sorry, flashback to my old cheer leading days. Wait, I wasn't a cheerleader. I'm far too tall, awkward, and uncoordinated for that.
On Saturday, Spirit was slightly obnoxious on the cattle drive--some leading issues. He is a also a wild firecracker who hates to be tied up. He broke some of Candido's new tack during one of his stints standing at a fence.
What Spirit doesn't know is that Candido is old school and very determined to break him of his bad habits. Trish walked by the horse as he was tied up down by the barn before the cattle drive started. Keeping her distance, she kindly complimented him on his good looks. We're not sure if he was offended being called pretty instead of handsome, but he went a little wacko rearing up and trying to pull away. Later that morning he was doing some time at another fence. Manual (seen in the white hat) went to get Spirit to load him in the trailer for Candido.
The boy lived up to his name once again. 
I think it's going to be a long, frustrating battle for this stubborn but athletic horse.
It's been at least a few days since any reptiles have appeared on this blog. I'd hate to deprive you all of their cold-blooded selves any longer. Probably one of the things our son Garrett loves most about the "big ranch" is the presence of so many reptiles. We get there and he's out the door searching for the next great specimen. Often he can talk Max into taking him to the north well, an area famous for such creatures.
Saturday Garrett caught two of his very favorites--a collared lizard and a red racer! He asked me right way if I would put the picture on the blog.
Brooke later convinced Max to take her out on a little hunt. She made it back with a bullsnake--a vicious bullsnake that bit Garrett and made rattling sounds with its mouth. 
It was hilarious watching all the kids huddled around the cooler playing with the snakes as Chase and Tim, grown men with severe snake phobias, watched from afar.
Saturday Garrett caught two of his very favorites--a collared lizard and a red racer! He asked me right way if I would put the picture on the blog. Brooke later convinced Max to take her out on a little hunt. She made it back with a bullsnake--a vicious bullsnake that bit Garrett and made rattling sounds with its mouth. It was hilarious watching all the kids huddled around the cooler playing with the snakes as Chase and Tim, grown men with severe snake phobias, watched from afar. Lest you think the children only handle reptiles, here a shot of them holding a little bunny they caught. Don't worry Mom and Keri--after snapping the picture, I got onto Garrett for handling a potentially rabies-infested animal. What kind of parent do you think I am anyway?
Yep, ranch life is the best.
Anybody make it to the end of this? If so, I salute you!!
I cannot figure out why they don't want to pick up and move out here. 
After all, our children get along famously. 
Ooops. Wrong picture. This is Steve. Don't let that look fool you--he's a softy. 
This is Steve doing what he does best. 
OK, not entirely fair. He's also a fairly good foosball player, a superb architect (who is so kindly designing our new house and eventually will design the barn at GG when we get going on that), an excellent omelet maker, and one heck of a jokester. Everyone loves Steve. Some also fear him like my innocent daughter, Claire. During Steve's family's stay at our house, Claire came to me at 3:30 in the morning telling me she was scared of Mr. Steve's snoring. Imagine me trying to be compassionate about that fear. "Claire, it's just Mr. Steve and he can't help it! Go back to sleep!" Funny stuff. 
He is now an expert flanker on Team Max. (More about the branding teams in a future post--it's not pretty or even mature, but it sure is fun.) 
For the past few years, Holly has totally helped me clean up after the big mob of guests come and go for branding weekend. Holly doesn't think twice about washing ALL THE DIRTY LAUNDRY, cleaning rooms, sweeping, mopping, etc., etc.! I think I would be lost without her. In fact, this year I think I sorta kinda helped Holly clean up. It now has become her doing most of the work. Yeah, I'm a great friend. Besides being a workaholic, she's also wicked funny and fresh--her Boston influence creeping in. 
Holly can be a huge jokester herself, so I always have to watch out for her crazy antics. 
In this picture, you can clearly see Holly trying to steal my niece away from me--we both love Kasey so much. Rude, but I'll share because I'm a little more mature that she is and I owe her for doing all those dishes. 
I love her and wished she lived closer, like in Albuquerque. We could have grand adventures that she, of course, would plan because I don't do things like that. There's not much she can't do or won't try--well, unless it's meat. That's OK. She happily works the cattle and serves it up on a platter. She's nice that way. Holly, thanks for all you did to help out and thanks for being such a great friend! 
I think her love of the ranch gets over shadowed by her sister's because she is a lot more reserved than Lexi. 
There is no doubt in my mind that Nicole is also in love with the place. She is a sweet soul, a mature young lady, and ever so helpful! I cannot tell you how many times Nicole asked what she could do to help me. She is happy to take out trash, carry food out to be served, or whatever else I might dream up. I have never witnessed an ounce of malingering coming from that girl. 
She has also become quite the rider. How a person gets so good when they only get to practice a few times a year escapes me. Maybe it has something to do with her calm nature and positive attitude. 
I love Nicole and respect her so much. 
Oh, and I didn't mention how sweet she is with Grant. Max and I would love it if when the girls get a little older, they can stay with us for the summer and be volunteers at Galloping Grace and work with all the kiddos we have coming out. (Pipe dream--we'll have a hard time convincing their parents to part with these super kids!) 
The baby of the family is Stevoz. 
He real name is Steven, after his father, but that just never fit him.
He is Stevoz through and through. I mentioned in the Unplugged post what a great swimmer he is. Maybe I'll hit him up sometime to teach me a few strokes. 
Stevoz and Garrett are absolutely great together. They have gone on many adventures over the years. I think Garrett has convinced Stevoz how totally cool reptiles are. 
Stevoz is always willing to go on the next great hunt with Garrett. This summer they walked to what we call the north well. It's a little over two miles from the bunkhouse, but loaded with lizards. (Or so Garrett believes.) I drove to check on them considering it was almost 100 degrees and the middle of the day. They were happy as could be looking under every big rock around. I went ahead and drove them back, but I'm sure they would have been fine if left alone. 
