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I don't ask a lot of Max. Hardly anything at all, really. If a man's gonna have a wife, he would want one like me. Right, honey? Honey?

So why do you think Max would neglect to take pictures of a hay loading and unloading when his wife so lovingly encouraged him to take the camera? I have no idea. But I can tell you one thing, it verges on spousal abuse. The thought of taking the camera out of the bag never occurred to him the entire day. Not when he, Kurt, Gary and Darren went to the farm. Not when Roy rode out to meet them. Not when Becky, Rebekah, Marcie, Amanda, Sarah, Carri, Alex, Renee, Steph, Mike, Kurt and Deborah stared unloading--not even once.

I called Max on my way out to the ranch after dropping the girls off at a slumber party.

Me: Honey, are you taking pictures of the unloading until I get there?

Max: Uh, no.

Me: Well, you took some earlier. . . right?

Max: No, not a one. It never crossed my mind. I'm sorry.

Thirteen years married and the man doesn't realize thorough documentation of blog worthy events is my love language? Could it be that he doesn't care? Surely not.

Alex, master photographer extraordinaire, was there during the unloading and that didn't even spark Max's memory. He got the camera out after I called, but by then the work had ended. Alex had my camera when I got there. When it came time for a group picture of the remaining crew, I let Alex go ahead and take it.

I think it turned out really cute. Somehow Alex took it in black and white as well. All hay buddies, thanks so much for helping out! We really appreciate your time and muscles. I've been there and know what hard, itchy, sweaty work that is. GG is lucky to have you.

Max, you're still the best hubby ever! I love you and your forgetful brain.

I wanted to give a big shout out to Becky. She is training for a marathon and had run TWENTY miles earlier in the day. She then came out and threw hay bales around! Impressive stuff. That is what I call going above and beyond.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

Max Posting


Last night, Michelle gave you some hints about what she did yesterday. Most all of you guessed correctly --- She hauled hay with me!! Yes, it is true, she put the camera down and did some serious manual labor. Let me give you a little background about how this happened.


About a month ago, our good friend Marvin informed us that his uncle had agreed to donate a large amount of hay to Galloping Grace. I had been eagerly awaiting the call that the hay had been baled and it was ready to be picked up. Instead, the call came that the hay had been cut but it had not been baled because it got rained on.


For those of you who may not know, if the hay is not properly turned and allowed to dry, it will mold and spoil. So the process began of turning and drying the hay. I guess the saying "Be careful what you ask for" is true. As a rancher I am always praying for rain, and in this situation, my prayers were answered not once but three times.


The call finally came in on Sunday afternoon that the hay had been baled and was ready to be picked up. Because the forecast showed possible showers and the fact that we had only about a week's worth of hay in the barn, we had to act fast. On such short notice, I did not want to burden our team of volunteers so I was at a loss.


To my utter amazement Michelle volunteered to help!!! I will take this opportunity to apologize to her for any doubt that I might of had about her willingness and ability to do this kind of work. She put in a call to our amazing friend Trish, who also surprised me by canceling a doctor's appointment so that she could help us. For those of you who don't know, Trish is Chase's wife. If you want to know why this is so funny to me, read this.


So yesterday, I headed to the farm with my crew: Michelle, Trish, Daren, my two year old son Grant, and Trish's three year old daughter Kaley. We will fill you in on all of the details and the pictures later. This post is my opportunity to tell you I have a completely new level of respect for my wife. Trish was amazing as well, but honestly, I expected her to handle it just fine. After all, she can do this.

Again, I am sorry, but I just didn't know that Michelle had it in her. We picked up and stacked and unloaded and stacked again 280 bales of hay yesterday. I would be surprised if she didn't pick up virtually every one of those bales at least twice in the process. What a woman!!!!!!!! Maybe I should start taking the pictures and let her do the heavy lifting. I have always thought she was amazing, but after yesterday, all I can say is WOW!!!!

Michelle here.
Geez, honey--thanks...I think. You really know how to dish out the compliments! ;) Don't get used to that kind of work from me--I'm a bit of a one hit wonder. Plus, I would hate to steal all your glory!

Hay--Keith is Awesome!

There is a guy named Steven who always comes out to the big ranch for branding and other big work days who is one tough cowboy. He can outflank men twice his size. The bigger the calf, the better! We all get a big kick watching him in action. He has a contract hauling hay for various farmers and ranchers in his particular area. Steven called and asked Max if he would like to help haul hay with him, and Steven, in turn, would make a donation to Galloping Grace. Max loved the idea of being able to help Steven who has done so much at the ranch.

Max recruited some help in Keith. Keith is new to this whole hay bucking business. By day, he is a banker. Lately, he's been a big help at Galloping Grace. He was one of the guys in the shade building project. He also helped Max load and haul hay out for our horses a couple months ago. I don't know if he likes torture, or he is just one really nice friend. It might be a little of both.

When Max asked Keith if he wanted to throw some hay around with him this morning, he told Keith they should be finished around noon. Keith kindly agreed to go along for the fun. Max picked Keith up at 6:30 this morning and did not bring him home until 6:45 this evening! It wasn't quite the day Keith agreed to. Max said that he was an extremely good sport about the whole outing. I think his wife and my friend, Dena, was an even better sport. They had company in town and her son had a migraine while Max held her hubby hostage for 12 whole hours! (Sorry again, Dena.)

There were four men moving four trailers full of hay from one farm to another. Max estimates that there were 1030 bales of alfalfa hay, each bale weighing between 80-100 pounds. I told Max from the looks of the pictures, the bales couldn't have weighed that much. Max just shook his head, gave a soft little chuckle, and walked out of the room.

Although I couldn't muster up a claque to accompany the work crew, I did send the paparazzi. Brooke and Garrett hung in there the whole day and took all the great pictures (except flanking picture) you see on this post. I was really impressed with the shots they got! Good job, kids. Pretty soon I'll never have to leave the comfort of my own home. Plus, unlike their father, they actually remember and enjoy taking pictures.

Keith, hope you get to rest all day Sunday--you've earned it! Thanks for helping Galloping Grace get $300 richer! (Hopefully in the near future post, I can let you in on more money Keith helped GG acquire.)

And as a courtesy warning to another friend that didn't make it out Saturday morning, I think Max is thinking of some nifty things to say about you. Prepare your rebuttal.

Buckin' Hay

Yes! Time for more child labor. Admit it--you like it! Who doesn't like to see some children slaving away? I'll say it once again, it builds character!
This was our work crew on Saturday. For the most part, they were excited about throwing all that hay off the trailer. (I think it's just really fun for kids to climb on stacked hay.) Most of them were already up there before I decided to take the picture. A few others, I coerced up there. I would now like to make a public apology to Taylor, Zack, and Tara for pulling the "everyone under 18 get in the picture" comment. I think if you're anywhere near fifteen, you shouldn't have to follow such silly commands. I'm sorry, guys. Taylor is on the left in the red jacket, and Zack is on the right with the cowboy hat. Yeah, I don't think they're loving me here. Tara didn't seem to mind. She was all smiles. Brooke just loves her big cousin Tara! Tara is a sweet, happy girl who is just a joy to be around. We're so happy she came to visit! She will be living here in about a year and a half--not near soon enough! I think Tara is going to come out quite a bit and bond with all the horses once she lives here--I can see it in her eyes. Here is Holly, Terry, another of Max's big brothers, Hope, and Tara. Cute family, huh? This picture is missing our nephew Luke. He stayed in Flagstaff because he had to work. Back to the kids slaving away. It was actually pretty amazing how quickly the trailer was unloaded. These kids know how to work! Max, Chase, Zack, and Zack's dad, Tony stacked the hay the children tossed down. Good system. (I wanted to insert a picture showing them stacking, but Blogger has had enough of me tonight.)

I cracked up seeing Jericho and Smoke staring at all the action. I bet they wished it could skip the middle man and go right to them. Wouldn't that make more sense? Well, except for it getting rained on and moldy and such. (But does it even rain here?!)

Good job, junior crew! You made us proud.