Dana

Today poor Dana woke up with a headache which has hurt her all day. Before lunch she came in and told Morgan and I that she thought that she lost her memories. Morgan asked her what our horses names are. Immediately she said, "Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen..." Even when she is not feeling well she always has a sense of humor and a come back. I sure hope that she gets feeling better soon.

Family Pictures

While Uncle Evan was up here deer hunting, he took a few family pictures for us. We are not the easiest family to photo. Instead of saying "big smiles" we constantly had to tell Casey "little smiles"! He was quite a ham in most of the pictures.

This one really cracks me up. We see that Casey face a lot!

Morgan's Baptism

On September 22, Morgan turned 8. She has been very excited for this birthday because she is now old enough to be baptized. Because we are currently living in a very remote place and there are no baptismal fonts close by, we were given permission to have the baptism here close to the house. We were able to have this special event on September 26th. There were many friends and family members that traveled a great distance to be here with us. Thank you to all that came to support Morgan.

The program was held here at the house and then we traveled 5 miles down the road to Potts where the baptism was held. On the Potts Ranch is a hot spring that is piped into a cattle trough. It was just beautiful. We couldn't have asked for a better day either.

This is where Morgan was baptized.

Water Soccer

This past weekend was Stake Conference in Fallon. All of the Senior Primaries in the Stake had the opportunity to sing the prelude and opening hymn. Morgan was very excited to go. The day that we were to leave, Casey started not feeling very well. Cassidy and I were in our room trying to decide if I should go ahead and go in or keep everyone at home. (Cassidy had to stay home and do chores). While we were in our room, Morgan sliped a piece of paper under our door. It was the letter from the Stake Primary Presidency to the parents of the children that would sing at Stake Conference. She had one sentence circled. It stated, "We pray that your children will be able to participate." Needless to say, I took the kids in and Casey was just fine!

While we were staying at Grandma and Grandpa Dahl's we were able to play a little water soccer while they flood irrigated their lawn. It was a lot of fun.

We got soaked!!

Run, Casey, Run!!

Camping

The other weekend we drove our camp trailer up to the Toquima Cave which is only about 5 miles from the house and went camping. It was still close enough that we could come and do chores. We had a great time hiking, cooking smores, and watching the falling stars. Here are a few of the pictures.

Casey's Birthday

Casey at 5 months

Casey last year

Boy do they grow fast.


Casey turned 3 yesterday, but if you ask him he will tell you that he is 9. He has become such a tease! When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said cake and 2 guns like Orrin, his cousin. You should have seen his face when he opened his present with the 2 six shooters and holsters. His day was complete. Grandparents gave him a horse, which is an all time favorite, and a new scooter that is all his own. Morgan appreciates this because now he will quit stealing hers.

Can you say cheese!!

Dana's Birthday

Dana age 2

I can't believe that Dana turned 6 yesterday. It doesn't seem like it has been 6 years since we brought Dana home from the hospital. She was very excited for this birthday. In her prayers she asked Heavenly Father to let her birthday be awesome! I think that she enjoyed it. Grandpa Cortney and Grandma Trudy came out to be with us. We had fun playing games and watching Dana try out her new set of rollerblades. It was a little comical watching her legs slowly spread farther and farther apart when she took her first spin. Yesterday she didn't think that she would ever get it, but today she is a pro.

Early Mornings

Yesterday morning Dana got up at 4:00 to go and move cows with Cassidy. She was so excited to go with her Dad all by herself. She even went to sleep in her clothes. When asked why she did this she replied, "I just take too long getting dressed in the mornings." She did a great job helping Cassidy move the cows about 8 miles up to a canyon. Today as Morgan's turn to take an early morning ride. They will continue to push the cows up and over the mountain. I am so glad that they were so excited to go and help their Dad.

Neff Reunion

Every 4th of July we head to Ruby Valley for the Neff/Jenson reunion. It is so much fun. The past couple of years we have camped out up at Brighams with everyone. That is the best part. This year the kids had so much fun with so many kids to play with. Casey teamed up with his cousin Orrin and their little friend Ian. Those three could really get into a lot of trouble together, but they were really good and had a great time. Little Ian cried when we left as did all of my kids.

One morning I was headed down to Grandma and Grandpa's camp trailer when Dana comes running up to me and in desperation yells a bee is in my nose. I am thinking o great how in the world did a bee get in your nose. I took out a Kleenex and told her to blow. Nothing came out she kept crying saying that it hurt. With the help of a flashlight, I could see something that looked like the shiny part of a flies eye so all I could think was that the bee was stinging her. After much blowing, a little red BEAD came flying out of her nose. Now the story came out and made a little more sense. She found a little red bead and had put it up to her nose to smell it and I guess sniffed a little TOO hard:) I am just glad that we didn't have to make a trip to the doctors to get it out and that it wasn't a bee stinging her!

Morgan was a lot braver than her mother and entered herself in the little talent show that they have at the reunion. She decided to sing the National Anthem. Before going up she was so nervous. She came running back to me and asked me to sing the song with her right then because she had forgotten all of the words. We went though it together and then she sang it by herself in front of everyone. She did a great job!

We had a lot of fun visiting everyone. The only problem was that the fun was over way too fast!

Colorado Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Colorado.

These were our seats at the baseball game. This was before everyone got there!

Cassidy and the kids in front of the baseball field.

Uncle Travis and I took the kids down to see Dinger the Dinosaur.

Cow Numbers

Anyone who has ever been around ranchers for any amount of time, can attest to the fact that sometimes their hand is the best notebook around. Cassidy uses his hands to write down numbers that he needs to remember. I remember my Dad doing the same thing. These numbers could be written in a more permanent spot when arriving and home before they wash their hands. Well little kids really catch on to this. It really isn't fair, after all that they get in trouble for writing on themselves while Dad can come home with writing on his hands. Casey caught on real fast. Last Sunday while I was trying to keep everyone quite during church, I look over and see Casey writing on his hand with a pen. I picked Casey up and told him that we don't write on ourselves. He looked up at me as innocent as ever and said pointing to his hand "Cow Numbers". It totally caught me off guard and all I could do was chuckle. I finally had to tell him that we didn't need to keep track of any more cow numbers in church. It is amazing how observant little kids can be. (For good and bad!)

Sad Day

Last week I went out to do chores and found that Socks our calf had died. I have no idea what happened to him. I thought that he was out of the die at the blink of an eye stage since he weighed close to 200 pounds or even more. I guess you just can't be sure with Holsteins! Morgan and Dana were crushed. They couldn't understand why it had to be him. Finally they decided that Heavenly Father must have needed a calf that he could lead around. Dana (looking at the bright side of things) said that at least now we don't have to sell him. I felt really bad for them. One of the bad things about living on a ranch is when animals just don't make it.

Colorado

The last weekend in April we decided to go and visit my sister Allison in Colorado. We had so much fun. It was the first time that I have ever been to any of Allison's houses. We were so glad that they live close enough that we could visit them.
The kids had so much fun. We visited the amazing Natural History Museum that is in Denver. It is 3 stories high and filled with anything you can think of. We also hit the Denver Zoo and went to a Rockies/LA Dodgers game. It was great. I think that if we lived near Denver, we would be regular baseball game goers. We packed the 2 days that we were there completely full. None of my kids wanted to leave. In fact we had to drag Casey kicking and screaming to the truck. As we were pulling out, he yelled out his first multi-word sentence. "Go Back NOW!!" He finally calmed down and we were able to make it home with no troubles. The kids did a great job enduring the 14 hour drive. I will post pictures of the trip later. Thanks Allison and Travis for a great time.

Socks

Socks is our new calf that we got to put on the milk cow. We already had two calves on her, but Elsie (the milk cow) was giving so much milk that it was getting one of the calves sick from eating too much. We were able to pick up a day old calf at a dairy in Fallon for $10. The kids are having a good time trying to halter break it. For the first little while it was a push and pull match. One would be in front pulling while the other was in back pushing. He is doing much better now. Casey even can lead him around. I kind of wish that it was a little angus calf, but you can't argue with the price! If nothing else the kids are having a good time with him and in the end he will help pay for the milk cow's grain.

Spring

I love spring! I love when all the trees start to bud, the grass starts to go green, and all the spring flowers come up everywhere. Well everywhere except Monitor Valley. We were in Fallon and Reno last week and you can tell that spring is starting to wake up. It is very pretty. While at Costco, I found some bulbs that were forced and put in pretty glass cups. I decided that since I don't have any spring bulbs around the house (that I can get to live), I would have a few in the house. It has been a lot of fun. The kids love to see how much the flowers grow. Because they are in glass, you can also see the roots, which has been good for school. We have some daffodils, tulips, and my new found favorite, a purple hyacinth. It smells just like lilacs which are my favorite! It has really brought spring into the house even though Monitor Valley is still in winter.

Gardening

I love to garden. I think that it has a lot to do with the kid in me that just loves to play in the dirt. With that said, last year just about cured me of wanting to grow a garden this year. The dirt out here in Monitor Valley is terrible. It has been sprayed so many times in a vain attempt to kill white top, knap weed, and any other very aggressive weed that you can think of. My poor plants didn't have a chance. Once they came up giving me a little hope, they would quickly die. It was so different from Ruby Valley. The dirt there was so much fun to work in and I was able to grow a pretty big garden. Well, thanks to my Mother in Law, I have hope again in getting something to grow. She let me use a book called Square Foot Gardening. I think that it is the only way that I am going to be able to get anything to grow out here. It may not be my big garden, but anything is better than nothing! I will have to see how it works.

For those that are interested, this is what the book looks like. I am sure that it could be checked out at the library.

Spreading Sunshine

This was on Kinsey's blog page. I don't even think that 5 people check out my blogpage, but I always love things from Kinsey so here it goes!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! Made with tons of love just for you! It might be a fun sewing project, a sweet letter to you from me, or some yummy goodies, you might be surprised what you get! Give it a try! The catch? You must re -post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a lovely little treat for themselves! Have Fun! Ready........Set............Go!

Kids, You Have To Love Them!!

I love the logic and humor that comes out of children's mouths. I have decided that I need to be better at writing down the funny little things they say before I forget them.

Casey: Casey has been very slow at developing his speech. I think that it might have something to do with having two older sisters that do all the talking. At any rate he has not been behind at getting into trouble and needing a little spank every now and then. The other night I went to an enrichment meeting leaving Cassidy with all of the kids. I guess Dana had a melt down and was throwing a fit next to the chair that Cassidy was sitting in. Cassidy just ignored her, as I would have done too. Casey came up to Cassidy and pointing to Dana said "Spank". I guess in Casey's mind that behavior deserved a spank.

Dana: This week we have been studying weather in school. I asked Morgan and Dana what the word climate meant. Faster than anything Dana said "A tree". I guess climate sounds a lot like climb it. In her mind the "climate" you climb is a tree.

Morgan: I have been teasing Cassidy that he is loosing his sense of taste because he is eating a lot of jalapeno peppers. As Cassidy pulled out his jar of jalapenos, Morgan told him that he is loosing his "sense of humor."

I just love to hear what kids come up with!!

The Crew

Here are a few pictures of the crew sledding.

This is how Casey gives you a wink.

Cake Mix Anyone?

The other day we had a bald eagle come and visit us. It is a lot prettier than the old crows that seem to stay nearby.

Family Pictures

Aunt Allison sent the girls these really cute dresses!!

I think that little Casey looks like trouble with his new rifle. Luckily Santa did not include the rubber bands!!

Casey just loved Christmas!!

The girls made each other these pillows for Christmas.

Locks of Love

Morgan has been growing her hair out for quite some time so that she can donate it to locks of love. She has really wanted to get it cut because she is very tired of brushing it. In order to keep her going to get the 10 inches needed we are having a race. I am sure that she will win because she has a good 6 inch head start on me, but that is o.k. Dana wants to grow her hair out too so we will see how we all manage. If any of you would like to join us, you can go to locksoflove.org to get all the information. They even show you in a video how they would like you to cut your hair and what is needed to send it in.

Wood Cutting

We have had a great past two days. Steve and Sandy came to stay the night with us Tuesday night. It is always fun to have them come. They get to see the wild side of my children because whenever company comes they go crazy. I guess when you don't see people too often it is hard to avoid. Then my Dad came to cut some wood Wednesday afternoon. Mom had to take my Grandma to Reno so she was not able to come and visit. We missed seeing her, but had a good visit with Grandpa Cortney. He sent some great pictures everyone.

The girls built a snowman while we loaded some of the wood.

Dutch Oven

We decided to do a little Dutch Oven cooking the other night. Here is a great recipe that we tried out:

Brownie Pudding Cake

2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2-1/2 cups hot water

In a large bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients. Pour into 12 inch greased Dutch Oven. In a medium bowl, combine the next 3 ingredients. Then pour the hot water into the dry ingredients and stir until sugars and cocoa are mixed into the water. Carefully pour this mixture on top of batter in the Dutch oven. DO NOT STIR. Cook with 8 coals under and 16 on lid for about 35-40 minutes. Rotate oven often.

We used wood coals instead of briquettes to cook with and it worked great. It is so good. If you like to cook in a Dutch oven you will love this recipe.

Milk Cow

Much has happened since I last wrote. I just don't know where all of the time has gone. We had a wonderful Christmas. All of the kids were SO excited. Their excitement makes everything a lot more fun. When I get pictures developed I will post some Christmas ones.

I used Morgan's little digital camera to take a few pictures of our milk cow (yes her and Dana have a digital camera and their parents don't). We decided that because we are quite a distance from town a milk cow would be really good in case we had a winter like last year and get snowed in for 2 months. We got this milk cow from Fallon. It belonged to one of my Dad's FFA kids. It is a big pet, even halter broke. One day Cassidy was trying to catch a horse that was in the same pen as she was. She kept getting in the way so he just caught her and decided to see if she would really lead. We happened to look out the window and saw him leading the cow up to the house. The kids really got a kick out of that. Her name is Elsie. For the most part she has been a pretty good cow. Cassidy calls her Niagara Falls because she just seems to have to go every time we milk.

Now come rain or shine, cold or warm we will be there milking the cow twice a day. I think that it is both a blessing and a curse! When it is 14 degrees below zero, it is definitely a curse to go and have to milk the cow. Luckily so far we have only had one morning that was that cold.