That Time Of Year

Ah yes...

It seems as if it is that time of year again - time to visit the In-Laws in Texas!

Reindeer

Reindeer flowers from my family in Colorado! :) hope everyone near and far had a merry Christmas!!

Workin' on the Holiday

Texas and I fed the cows this holiday season. Double teaming it definitely makes the morning go by faster! We went to check on our beef cows and found a little Christmas Eve surprise... A new baby girl! She decided to get herself stuck in the slop, so we helped her get to her mama.

My New Toy

My much needed new barrel saddle!! Custom made to order from our local saddlery. Hand painted tooling, silver pistol conchos, and the best part - a seat that fits my butt!! Was definitely swimming in my last one. Jade also appreciates that this saddle fits her back WAY better.

More Than Four

At the time this picture went to press last week, I only had four baby beefers. Last night, Texas and I got to watch my final and fifth baby angus come into the world.

Not sure great timing considering its supposed to rain cats and dogs all weekend and be pretty windy. That'll just make for a tough calf after the storm, I hope. Not ideal to have our calves in December, but hopefully next year we will be seeing more calves drop in the fall.

A $20 Christmas Tree

This beautiful gem was found a few miles down the road from our house. Pictures don't do it justice - she is so beautiful and full!! We walked down the $19.95 price aisle at the Make shift Christmas tree farm, and this tree outshines her peers by a long shot. I had Texas grab her before someone else discovered this treasure!

2 For 2

Checked on our beefers last night. Looks like I'm a proud granny again - 2 for 2 so far. Nice little bull calf hit the ground, and I think I'll call him Rex. :) No picture of this one yet - Texas and I were in a big ol' hurry to look at the herd last night before the dark and fog left us blinded.

Two

Today marks the two year anniversary of my dad'd death. It is crazy to imagine my life two years ago. It feels like yesterday when Texas came into my work to deliver the bad news. To think of how much my life has changed, it is incredible. While I miss my dad, I am so thankful for the opportunity Texas and have even given to work for my family. I have accomplished tasks that I never thought I could do.

Missing you today and everyday Dad, and I hope I'm making you smile. :)

Back In Action

My little, or perhaps large 16 hand, lady is back in action. After four weeks of doctoring abscesses, and one week of rain, we are back in training and conditioning for upcoming races. Over the past 5-6 weeks, I have been dreaming of the way I should be riding Jade at races. She has all the potential in the world to win some races, in my opinion. I just need to get my act together and not lose my head when I get in the arena when it counts. It's definitely hard to expect everything to go perfect when asking her to run fast away from home when I can't practice at speed on our own turf.

I've just got to learn how to compete on the horse that I've trained. She's such a laid back, may I even say lazy, horse at home. She could pass for a western pleasure horse. When it comes down to getting into the arena and seeing three barrels set up, she cannot deny her barrel racing lineage. As her rider, I need to learn how to ride her at home and I competition. She's two different horses when it comes to riding at home and running for money. I'm excited for this months and the barrel racing opportunities we have going on close by - as long as we don't encounter rainy weekends or abscesses. :)

My First

The moment I've been waiting for since October 2011 has FINALLY arrived!!

I'm going to be a grandma to (hopefully) 5 healthy angus beef calves.

Last October, I invested in 5 Angus heifers with the intention to breed the heifers and sell the offspring. I thought it was a promising, yet risky, way to see some of my savings grow - literally.

The beginning stages of my investment proved to be frustrating. The new bull our ranch had purchased for our growing beef herd was having some 'malfunctions'. After a few months of seeing heifers still coming into heat when they should have been a couple months along, a semen test showed our big man on campus had very high quality sperm - he just didn't know how to use it. Another new bull was brought in and my heifers were confirmed pregnant shortly after.

Much to my surprise, my first calf dropped 2 1/2 weeks earlier than the vet predicted. I'm now the proud mama of my first Angus pair. As for the other four, they are bagging up with each passing day. I'm on pins and needles waiting to see another black dot on the horizon when I look out across our pasture.

A Little Wet

Well, it seems as if this winter will not be as dry as last winter.

Hooray!

Texas and I have been waiting very impatiently for some rain here over the last year and a half. Last winter we saw less than a handful of spitting rainstorms. Pretty pathetic.

Since last weekend, we've seen about 4 inches of rain drop here at the ranch, and the surrounding foothills saw much more.

While I have had a couple barrel races canceled due to the weather, I am thankful to see grass growing in December. We've been able to cut back on the hay and will hopefully make our supply last a little longer.

We are feeling very fortunate to receive the recent moisture and are excited for more to come!!