Can You Please Tell Your Cows to Be Quiet?

It was Sunday after church a day after the calves had been weaned from their mothers when I answered the door to find the little neighbor girl (age 8) standing there. "Can I talk to the person who owns these cows?" she asked. I told her that person lived next door, but we could help if there was a problem. "Are they out?" I asked.

"No, I just wanted to talk to the owner about his cows because they are so noisy. I'm not trying to be rude, but I could hear them through my windows all night long and they are really loud." she said.

I explained to her that they had just been taken from their mommas and were crying for them and their moms were answering the call back. "I know it is really loud, but it will only be like this another night."

"So there isn't anything you can do? They are really loud. I come up with my Mom (Rachelle Koon) on the weekends to visit my grandparents and we stay until after church and then we go home." she said.

I told her the bad news first. "I'm sorry there is nothing we can do to make them be quiet, but the good news is they won't be loud next weekend when you come to visit." That seemed to satisfy her and she went home.

Now, I propose the question. How would one go about making approximately 300 cows be quiet? Brock's answer is to hold your index finger to your lips and say "Shhhhhhh" or yell at them "QUIET TOWS!". Although equally good ideas neither is very effective!

"Holy" Cow Ranch

A General Authority visited the ranch yesterday as part of Stake Conference activities. Now we can truly say "holy cows" when referring to those owned by Tim and Kathy McGarry. You can thank Jeremy for this one.

Trick or Treat

Dragon dry run. Everything fits.

I have been looking forward to Halloween this year, because Brock had such a cute costume and is old enough to understand what is going on. I was slightly dismayed when he was less than enthusiastic about his costume after putting it on, but trick or treating is not about comfort after all; it is for parents of small children who do not yet appreciate what it is all about! I was determined to show him how fun it is to be a dragon for a night. All I had to do was figure out how he could sit comfortably in his car seat with a tail...and not take flight from vigorously flapping his arms because his "wings" were bugging him. The night turned out to be a huge success and he was a really good boy after the initial shock of being dragonized.

Our first stop was to Grandma Withers. Here we got to see Brooklyn the witch, Mason the monkey, and Gage the scarecrow. The three little pigs (Josie, Carter, and Riley Jo) and the big bad wolf (Kaysen) joined us later. It is here that Brock discovers what the bag is for...candy!

Our next stop was Grandpa Shane. Brock gladly carries his bag to the door here since he's a quick study and now knows the purpose of the bag.

Now we're off to visit Grandma Jo and Grandpa Darwin. We still have the three little pigs and the big bad wolf with us. The witch, monkey, and scarecrow had already been here and went to score in their neighborhood. Luckily there was chili here for the hungry trick or treaters (and parents). Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Brint were next on the list. Brock got in some valuable playing time here. He loves to go to Grandma Vicki's and play with her fun toys. Missy (the dog) didn't know what to think of the dragon in her house.

Last stop was the McGarry grandparents. He really had the hang of it here. We got to the door and he knocked, and knocked again, and knocked again...where were they? If they didn't answer soon Brock was going to lose patience and then they wouldn't get to see how cute he was holding his little bag at the door. WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE ANSWER THE DOOR? Finally, just before he had given up the door was opened and there he was in all his cuteness. Okay, so maybe I was the one losing patience.

After 4 hours and many miles the night ended with a tired and cranky dragon, but it was fun for all of us.

Redemption

Unloading cows in the daylight!

This post is slightly outdated, but it was pure redemption for Dad since the first of four loads of cows was home by 3:30 in the afternoon. The last of four loads arrived home around 8:30 p.m. and there was light around the chute this time. So way to go guys!

Brock and I got home just as they were unloading the first load of cows so we hitched a ride up in the pickup with Jeremy. Uncle Bruce was driving the semi and Dad was up at Luthy's corrals separating his cows from Theron's mainly. The funny thing about that is Theron shouldn't have had any cows in this unit, but his cows outnumbered everyone elses (surprise, surprise)!

Here are some pictures of the goings on of the day. It had just snowed and it was so pretty up there. The pictures hardly do it justice.

Some of Theron's guests sorting cows at Luthy's corral.

Uncle Kent

True Love - Jeremy and Tinker

Shoot vs. Chute

I have always prided myself on my spelling abilities. I have always been a good speller...or so I thought until I had a rude awakening last night. It wasn't until Jeremy was making fun of my poor Dad for whom spelling has always been difficult that I realized my error. Jeremy just happened to use the word shoot as a hilarious example of my Dad's spelling shortcomings. Jeremy thought he was being so funny in pointing out that Dad spells it S-H-O-O-T. Turns out he was making fun of his wife and sister-in-law Lacey at the same time. I knew I was spelling shoot wrong in my recent blog "Unloaden 'em In the Dark", but for the life of me I couldn't think of how else it could be spelled. Now that I know, it seems so obvious. How could I not have known? For those of you who are like me and Lacey and didn't spot the error shoot should have been spelled C-H-U-T-E. Now, raise your hand if you thought S-H-O-O-T was the correct spelling.

Unloaden 'em In the Dark...Literally

Backing up to the shoot.

It never changes. No matter who is in charge (the one in charge shall remain nameless) the cows always seem to come home in the dark! The first 26 pair (a cow and her calf is a pair) or 52 and 3 bulls to be found on "the hill" are home safe and sound. That only leaves 250 (give or take a few). It only took Dad 20 or so tries to get the semi backed up to the shoot. I was amazed that it didn't take all night since there were no lights to help him see. Fixing the light next to the shoot must not have made it in the Plan of the Day meeting. I guess the flashlight Jeremy was shining on the shoot provided all the light he needed. Not too bad for a "middle-aged" man wearing bifocals that he can't see out of in the best of conditions.

There is a cow in this picture I promise.

Don't let the light in the background of the above picture fool you. It is quite a ways away and was no help in the aforementioned back-up process nor was it any help for taking pictures of black cows at night.

It Doesn't Take Much

It sure doesn't take much to entertain us! Brock's favorite toy right now is Branson's Nerf dart gun. It has provided hours of entertainment. His favorite part is when Dad joins in the fun.