Swimming, Clapping, and Other Fun Stuff

Jon was home on Monday, so we decided to take Jeremiah to our neighborhood swimming pool for the first time. It was a really nice day, in the mid-80s, so we thought it would be perfect.


Jeremiah thought otherwise. He didn't really cry, but he did make lots of whimpering "I'm not so sure about this" sounds. The water was not nearly as warm as his bath, which he loves to play in, so I can understand why. The pool is a zero entry pool, so we could just walk in with him and gradually go into the water. He liked it much better when Dad was holding him--that way he could be farther out of the water.




Jeremiah also had another "first" yesterday--he started to clap his hands. The way he does it, it almost looks like he's giving himself five, but hey, whatever works.

The other fun stuff going on? Playing in the new toy box that Dad built, going to a park for a few minutes before it started to rain, playing chase down the hall, and for Mom and Dad, consistently sleeping through the night.

Hi Everybody

Jeremiah has a couple of new found skills. The first one is, in my opinion the best one. This week while Aunt Brandee was visiting Jeremiah decided it was time to start waving. So now he likes to wave. It doesn't have to be for anything important, e.g. you're leaving the room. His other skill, that he recently discovered is the volume of a high pitched scream. This one's not so great for us but he loves to do it. Below is a video of him waving, I'm not sure we'll try and capture him screaming. I'm sure you get the idea.

Staying at Home

I went in to Back to the Bible today to show the lady who is in my former position how to do a few things. Sometimes I miss the interaction with the other employees (and just plain adult conversation in general), but overall, I'm so glad that Jon and I made the decision for me to stay home. Yes, the days can get long, especially when Jon is gone. But there's nothing like playing peek-a-boo with your little boy (at 6:30 a.m. no less) to lift your spirits!

Branding

Last week, we headed out to my family’s ranch in western Nebraska for the annual branding. I look forward to the branding every year for several reasons. 1) I get to spend time with my family; 2) I see a lot of neighbors and people I grew up with that I don’t normally get to see; 3) I love that even though some methods have changed over the years, the branding is a part of the heritage of the ranch that’s gone on for a long, long time; 4) there’s lots of good food to eat; 5) there’s lots of good food to eat!

Jon took all of these pictures. He went on the round-up for the second year in a row. I used to do that kind of thing, but now realize that I prefer getting up at 6 a.m. rather than 3:30, my posterior probably wouldn’t handle riding six miles on a horse anymore, and my mom needs my help.

I don’t know that my mom would necessarily say that she looks forward to branding. Maybe that she looks forward to it being over! While the guys have lots of work to do to prepare (move the cattle in to a certain pasture; get the necessary vaccines and medicines ready to use, if necessary; move panels; make sure they have enough help lined up; get the horses ready; gather all the necessary “tools”—knives, buckets, water jugs, branding irons; block off pasture roads so people won’t wander off into the hills; etc.), as well as lots of work that day, my Mom has plenty of her own.

She spends a lot of time cleaning the house and Morton building, getting the yard ready, buying all the food, and then cooking it. The last few years, she’s let my sister-in-law Brandee and I help a lot more, though I know it’s hard for her to let go of something she’s done for so long.

As you can see from the pictures, everyone at the branding (guys and gals) work really hard riding horses, roping calves, wrestling (correctly pronounced “wrastling”), branding, vaccinating, castrating, dehorning, etc. When they get done branding the three bunches of calves, which I think total around 550 or so, they’re hungry. So, my mom has put together quite the feast.

This year we had 25 pounds of seasoned beef, umpteen pounds of new potatoes, enchiladas, meatballs, ham, corn casserole (yum, yum!), baked beans, rolls, fruit salad, pies, apple crisp, and ice cream brownie dessert (triple yum). This is just counting the things that my mom made, with the help of Brandee and myself. Other neighbors and family members brought more salads and desserts. I wish I had a picture to show you, but no one ever takes one of the food line—I guess they’re too busy getting their food before it disappears! We did have food left over, though. Our crowd was slightly smaller than past years—the count came in at right about 100 people.

As I read over what I just wrote, I realized that a person tends to write “what they know.” If my brother was writing this, he would focus more on what was going on at the branding corral. But since I was back at the house with the food, that’s where my mind was!