THE ONLY THING MISSING WAS THE SNOW!

With the kids getting older, I kind of expected Christmas to start loosing some of it's excitement. With all of my brothers and sisters coming and going at different times throughout the holidays, I have been pretty exhausted trying to keep on top of things. My mom has been stressing about just what she is going to do with everyone; I think it is more that she feels helpless in seeing that everything is taken care of. She has waited on us all for so many years and it is hard for her not to be able to do much now. I told her to just set back and enjoy everyone and let us take care of things. So along with getting my house decorated, neighbor & VT/HT goodies delivered, shopping done, and presents wrapped- I also had all of that to do for her. But with the help of my kids and Saul, we buckled down and got things done. Sue came the Monday before Christmas and also helped a lot. We had fun and after a few late night trips to WalMart, we finished just in time.

What is Christmas without a few traditions? In our family, since Karlie's birthday is on Christmas day, we have a little party Christmas Eve for her. Even though she isn't always around, we still have a Christmas Eve party. The usual menu is- finger sandwhiches (cheese & pimento on one half and chicken salad on the other), chips & dip, cheese ball & crackers, veggies & dip, and a virgin mint julep punch. I love it all and it is just Christmas to me. But after 18 years of marriage, I still haven't convinced Saul and the kids that it is good stuff! I make it every year whether we are in Taylor or not. They like it all but the sandwiches- which is actually my favorite. Maybe I will have to start offering another option. Anyway, Benda & Barry made it just in time for the 'party' and we ate up.

Another tradition is going to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. We did it growing up, singing carols at the top of our lungs. So it is something I have done with my own kids. But with my kids getting older and not having any little ones there this year, I wasn't sure we would go. But as it started getting later, Justin announced that it was now time to go look at the lights so that he could get to bed before midnight. I must admit I was a little surprised. But we all headed out, singing carols and oohing and awing. It didn't seem like there were as many this year, but we still found some pretty ones.

We got in bed just around midnight and got up to Justin knocking on our door at 7:00 to open presents. The excitement and Christmas spirit was still there and Santa was a hit with the gifts he left. It was a little smaller this year- not quite as many gifts under the tree, but now that they are older they are more expensive. I must admit, it isn't nearly as fun buying ipods and electronics as it was buying dolls and trucks.

Another tradition is Christmas breakfast. Growing up we would have breakfast with all of my Rogers cousins, rotating whose house it was at. But after that got to big and they stopped doing it, we just do it with our family. The menu is always ham, hashbrowns, eggs, biscuits, OJ and hot chocolate. YUM! David and Dennis both joined us and brought all their little kids- there's the dolls and trucks that were missing! We all just hung out, the kids played with their toys, and we all enjoyed the excitement. Later that day we had a turkey feast with all of the fixin's.

It was another great Christmas. The only thing missing was the snow!

WILEY COYOTE

It's the most wonderful time of the year for Saul- but I'm not talking about the holidays. I am talking about hunting and trapping season. It starts getting cold and Saul starts getting excited. Yesterday morning we woke up to a little bit of snow- maybe an inch or so. But Saul called it a snow day and didn't go to work. Instead he took my 4-Runner and went out looking for critter tracks in the snow. Ariel had seen a bobcat cross the road infront of her on her way home from work the night before, so Saul went to see if he could find it. He parked the car on Pinedale road and went out walking looking for tracks. He soon came upon some fresh coyote tracks and decided to follow them. He followed them out and around, up hills and down. He kept following them and where did they lead? Right up to the 4-Runner that he had parked and left. Had he stayed there he could have shot it when it came in. I laughed really hard when he told me the story. That sneaky little dog! :)

Of course all I need is for Saul to catch more critters. I got tired of him hanging them all over my house, so I told him that he can hang what he wants to in my bedroom, but the rest of the house is off limits. All his guy friends come over and think I am the coolest for letting him decorate our bedroom. My girl friends all think I am nuts! I guess I'm probably a little of both. But I just gotta find a way to win our argument over where he is gonna hang his moose when he gets it back from the taxidermist ;)

DECK THE HALLS

For our first 15 years we trudged out in the forest to find a Christmas tree. But a couple of years ago I decided I was ready to go fake. Saul and Justin still haven't forgiven me. Every year I still hear how it isn't fair and that it just isn't right to have a fake tree. They almost start to make me feel guilty- but then not. I have loved putting up my tree right after Thanksgiving- not having to worry about watering it, the needles dropping off, and pine sap dripping all over my floor. And the ornaments actually stay on and don't sag down the branches. I keep telling them they are welcome to cut a real one and put it up outside- I would even help them decorate it! We have a routine when it comes to putting up the tree. Ariel puts it together and does a great job. Saul, Ariel and Justin put on the lights. Saul puts the star on top, and Ariel & Justin hang the rest of the decorations on. Me- I get to set back, hand out the ornaments, and tell them where to put things. It works great and we have a fun time! Don't ask me why, but for the last 10 years or so we have done different color schemes each year. My favorite is the red and gold. Justin said that he misses the strung popcorn, red beads, and the ornaments that don't have to match and doesn't look like we brought in an interior designer to decorate- perhaps that will be next year. But for this year we have Saul's favorite- the silver and blue. And though we still have some decorating and lots of baking and shopping to do, we are off to a great start for the Christmas season. Even though it gets crazy and I always feel like I am missing someone or something, it is still my favorite time of the year. So crank the music and enjoy- I wish you all a very merry one!

FOOD-FUN-FAMILY= THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving was a pretty quiet day for us this year. We were planning on going to Mesa to eat with my family at Ivy's. But then Ariel informed us that she had to work. We didn't think we could leave her here on her own, so we decided to stay here and have dinner with just us. It was the first time ever that we didn't eat Thanksgiving dinner with other family. Ariel got up and headed to work early, Saul slept in most of the morning, I got up early to get dinner ready, dodging nerf bullets from a terribly bored Justin who couldn't wait for his sister to get home and keep him entertained- and neither could I! We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV, followed by the dog show and football. We all ate in our lounge clothes and just hung out afterward. I must admit that it was a pretty relaxing day, even with having to cook all of the dinner myself. And I must admit, the food was pretty good. But it also seemed empty without other family around.
-Friday morning Saul and Justin headed out early to go elk hunting with Sean and Brett Cutler, Ariel went to work, and I headed to Mesa to hang out with Karlie, Ivy, Megan, and Sue. Dave and Cher left Rachel down there to hang out with her girl cousins, so she rode home with me that night. I was glad to get to see some of the family for a little while at least.

Total Craziness!

The last two weeks have been total craziness for us. Saul left to go deer hunting on the 5th. He hiked in the day before the rest of the group so he could help clear the trail for the horses. There were 10 of them total that went in. It wasn't real successful, Saul got a shot off at one, but didn't hit it. The others came back out on Sat., but Saul was still sick with the flu and just didn't feel like hiking out. They offered him a horse, but he just didn't feel like making the effort. So they left him in there to hike out by himself the next morning. I know Dad and David both were really worried about him. Saul made it out OK and had just called to tell me he was in Alpine and on his way when Dad called and said that he was going to go back down there to pack him out. We were all relieved to know that Saul was out and OK.

***Ariel's birthday was on Wed. She is the big 17 now! We had her dinner and cake just in time for them to all head to YM/YW. It is hard to believe that she is already 17. She is such a good kid.
***One thing I love about our little community is that when someone is in trouble we all pull together to help. Thursday night they had a big fund raising dinner for my cousin, Jason Willis, to earn money to help pay medical bills. He is having heart problems and needed a valve replacement. He had that surgery before, but it didn't work. It worked much better this time and they are hopeful. They made Navajo tacos and had a raffle. There will be a volleyball tournament this next weekend also. Karlie came from Tucson and it was fun to go with her. There was a lot of other family there also.

***Friday night was the Winter Formal dance for Ariel. Of course she took Sheldon. The couple that they were going to double with bailed on them last minute and they couldn't find anyone else, so they didn't really do anything big. Since we make them double date then they were thinking about taking Justin with them, but they ended up just eating at a small pasta place here in town. I feel bad for them. But they really enjoyed the dance.
***On Sat. we went to help haul wood with Dave and Dad. Mom had a hair appointment for 3:30 so she wasn't wanting to go. We all guilted her into it and I promised her I would bring her back early for it. Saul and Justin wanted to stay and go calling afterward, so Karlie took her truck so we could bring Mom back. On the way out we got a flat tire on her truck, so I thought we had it out of the way and there wouldn't be anymore problems. Well, we got dad's truck loaded, then stopped to fry hamburgers for lunch. About 1:00 we decided we should head out to have time to get her back. Since the road was pretty bad Karlie asked David to drive her truck just down the hill for her. Mom was in the truck with him and Karlie and I were walking behind. David ran over a stick which broke off and punctured the sidewall of the tire. Karlie and I heard a 'pop' and then SSS! We just looked at each other and said "NO WAY!" Since she had got a flat on the way in she didn't have another spare. I ran and got Saul who had gone back to cutting. We figured out that our spare for the 4-Runner fit. But being on the hill, the truck kept slipping off the jack and we had a hard time getting it changed. We finally sent dad in with Mom in his truck full of wood. Needless to say, she didn't make it to her hair appointment- I feel terrible. We finished loading Dave's truck and headed in. With three different sized tires on Karlie's truck and a small load of wood, we took it slow coming home. We decided to stop in Heber to check the tires. We got out and first thing we heard was SSS! NO WAY! We had got another flat tire. I couldn't even believe it- 3 flat tires on one little trip. There was no tire shop open so we left her truck at a friends house and piled into the truck with Dave. After we got home we found another spare (Dennis had one that fit) and Dave took her back to Heber and got her truck home. She is still here waiting for a tire shop to open in the morning to get 3 new tires. That was an expensive trip for wood, especially when she is from Tucson and doesn't even need it.
***Saul and Justin headed out calling after we left with the wood. They made a couple of stands, but didn't get anything. On their way home Saul stopped and put Justin in front of the 4-Runner with a shotgun and then played his 'Johnny Stewart' call out the window. Justin ended up shooting at 3 fox, killing 1. They both had a blast (no pun intended) and Justin was thrilled to get a fox.

IN LOVING MEMORY- Verna Josephine Stoffers Eggleston

We got a call that Saul's Grandma was not doing very well and was not expected to live much longer. It was not a very fun week, calling every day to get an update, just waiting for the not-so-good news. We got the call on Tues., Oct. 20th that she had passed. We headed up to Ogden for the funeral which was on Fri., Oct. 24th. Saul got to speak, which he did a wonderful job. It was nice to see a lot of family and friends, just not under those circumstances. Saul is having a pretty hard time with it since he was so close to his Grandma. She was more of a mother to him.

After getting home from Utah early Sunday morning, we slept a few hours and then Saul and I packed up to go hunting for my white tail hunt. We went and picked up James, our friend and neighbor who had the same hunt, and headed out. When we got down there, we decided to try to hunt before setting up camp. We set James at a water hole and Saul and I went to another spot. Nothing. James saw a couple deer, but wasn't sure if they were mule deer or white tail. The next morning we all sat at the water hole- nothing. We hunted hard for the next few days, but still nothing. Saul built another blind around the water hole, hoping that we might have some luck there. It was such a good blind that several guys would stop to glass right next to him and didn't even see him (he was close enough to reach out and grab them). We named it the 'invisible' instead of the blind. We set there a couple more times, but still nothing. My sister text me and said that Meatloaf was gonna be playing at the state fair. With no luck hunting, I was ready to go to the concert. Saul was sick and not doing well. James was discouraged and ready to go also. We headed for home Wed. with nothing. Thurs. morning I found out that Meatloaf was sick and cancelled. Saul decided he was feeling better. Sean called and said that he wanted to go help us find one. So we called James and headed back down there. We all felt good about going back, thinking that everyone else had moved out and things would have quited down. James and I got set up in the 'invisible', and were just getting our hopes up that something would come in when we heard a huge ruckus. It was the forest service cutting down trees to take samples to see how dry the forest was. They blew any chance we had. Saul went and talked to them and told them we were still trying to hunt there. After another 45 min. they finally left, but we still went back home empty handed.

Saul and Ariel headed out for her elk hunt Sat.morning, the 18th. They went to a water hole where they hunted last year and sat in a blind. Nothing came in except some guys on a 4-wheeler. When Saul went to tell them that they were hunting there, he found a pile from where someone had shot an elk opening morning. They decided to wait and see what happened. Then a couple came and took down a tree stand- obviously they were the ones that got the elk. Saul and Ariel decided to try somewhere else. They went a little further down the road and found another place. Sunday morning they called and said they had one and were on their way home. Good job Ariel, it was a big cow elk.

HOW MANY PECKS OF PEPPERS DID WE PICK?

I don't know because I don't know how much a peck is. BUT we picked a BUNCH of peppers! Dad planted quite a few plants of peppers this year. A few weeks ago I helped him pick the first picking and we picked a big garbage can full. I thought that was a lot. We roasted them and they were pretty good. So we were waiting for the next picking, hoping they would grow big before the frost hit. So this weekend Dad decided to go hunting with Saul and the kids. Only problem, it was supposed to frost this weekend also. So, he left me in charge. Not really sure why me! I really didn't vie for the position, but got it anyway. So I called Dennis and recruited help. He, Audrey, and their boys came over to help pick. We decided that despite the wind, we would do it on Friday since Dennis had a full day on Saturday. We met at mom's and picked, and picked, and picked, and picked. We ended up with 6 garbage cans full! It was dark by the time we finished, so we decided to roast them the next morning. Can I just say that Dennis has it down to a perfection- he roasted them perfect! Anyway, we had a ton. I sent him home with a bunch, took a bunch to Cher, and I took the rest home to put up for myself and others. When some of my sisters heard that I was gonna pick the peppers, they all put in their orders. I know that they would do it for me, so how could I tell them no. I started skinning, seeding, bottling, and freezing at 1:00 pm. I went non-stop until 2:00 am. I ended up bottling 10 1/2 half-pints, 8 gallon bags individually frozen, and 12 quart bags of just thrown in and frozen (yeah for Karlie, she made it easy). I still had some left over, so I gave Ivy some to bottle for herself (I froze some for her), more to Audrey and more to Cher. I was so exhausted. But my house still smells great- I love the smell of roasted peppers! It froze and we are done with the gardening- alleluia!

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

Saul and I went to scout for my white tail deer hunt this last weekend. We went down the old Coronado Trail, down past Hannigan Meadow. We had a hard time finding anything, we never did see any deer. We took an old ranch road and stopped to do some 'glassing' (Saul's term for looking through binoculars).

After driving around we realized that we were low on gas. We saw a sign saying it was 16 miles to Morenci, as opposed to 90 to Hannigan Meadow. I haven't been down there for years. Everything was covered in copper dust, it was pretty cool. As we were driving through the mine we saw a sign to watch out for big horn sheep. I laughed, where would they live around there. But sure enough, we went around a corner and there was a herd, just off the road.

We got gas and headed back up. We finally found a couple of places that had deer sign, but we never did see any deer. Hopefully we will have some success. We just got back down the trail and in the car when it started to rain. It poured on us the whole way home. It was such a beautiful drive!

The air is getting cool and crisp, the leaves are starting to change, farming is coming to an end, you can smell the smoke from wood burning stoves, and the boys in my family are getting hunting fever! Each of us were lucky (?) to draw deer tags and Ariel drew a youth elk tag. Yes, I am still wondering just how/why I consented to even put in, but even I drew a deer tag. At first Saul was feeling so lucky as he bragged to everyone about how many tags we got. Now he is feeling so stressed about how he is going to help us all fill them. About a month ago he hiked down on the Blue to our family hunting grounds and put up his trail camera along with some salt to bring in the critters. He has just been itching to get back in there to see just what was coming in, so he and Justin went in this weekend to retrieve the flash card. They headed out on Friday night and slept at the head of the trail. Saturday morning they got up and headed out on their 8 mile hike. They got in there, checked things out, switched out the card from the camera, set up blinds, and cleared some shooting lanes (oh yeah, we are high tech!) After about an hour and half of playing they decided they should head out on the 8 mile trip back out. As they were rounding things up, Saul looked up and saw a black bear just a little ways off. The bear was just limbering along, stopped to look at them, and then just mossed on. Saul usually takes my camera along because he always runs in to fun stuff like that, but he had called me last night to tell me he had forgot it- darn it. But he had his cell phone, which Justin was holding, so he told Justin to hurry and try to get some pictures of the bear with it. The bear was walking away as Justin was trying to take a picture. Saul grabbed the phone and went after it (Uh, just a little crazy). He got about 8 yards away from the bear and got a couple of pictures. Just then the bear stopped, turned around, and started walking towards Saul. Saul decided that was his cue to get out of there. Of course he didn't want to run, so he walked away fast and told Justin to get ready to get out of there. With the bear walking towards them Saul was fumbling to get his pack together and broke a zipper on a pocket. He hurried to get stuff into other pockets, got his pack on and he and Justin headed out. The bear just turned and walked away then. To make the story a little more interesting, it was the archery hunt so Saul didn't even have a gun with him. Of course he and Justin just thought that was the coolest thing ever! Justin said that he wasn't even scared like he thought he would be, the bear just reminded him of his old dog Jed and he just wanted to go and give him a big 'bear' hug! Uh, I wouldn't recommend it! Saul has always told me that it is his dream to wrestle with a bear. He says that if I die first he is going to go to Alaska to find a grizzly- that is how he wants to go out. I told him he has a real goal- to become bear ----! Anyway, he and Justin came home on cloud nine and just can't wait to get back out there. Oh yeah, there were 124 pictures from his camera, 2 of them were bears.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

In my case it is 'what does your garden grow'? I was so excited to get to plant a garden this year. Dad came over and plowed and disced my spot for me. I got a notebook and plotted out my rows and just what I was going to plant and where. After fertilizing & mulching I ran to the store and got my plants and seeds. We got it all planted and started watering and waiting. Soon we were seeing little sprouts coming up all over and we were excited. They started producing, and I got puzzled. Two of my red bell peppers only turned red after they started shriveling up. The other ones grew long and don't look like a bell pepper, but they do taste good. What was labeled as an Anaheim hot pepper turned out to be short, red peppers that aren't hot at all. The cucumbers were supposed to be picklers but ended up slicers instead, but we enjoyed them in vinegar. My pumpkins are orange but they look more like a squash than a pumpkin, they have this 'belly button' looking thing on the end instead of going in so you can set the pumpkin up. Dad gave me some seed for some buttercup squash that he loves, but that is not what we grew. Some of them look like they might be the buttercup, but others look like maybe a cross between a buttercup and a banana squash. I even have one that looks like a banana squash. So who knows what they will taste like. I don't even like squash, but I have a whole bunch of huge ones. And talk about huge, one thing I did grow big was a huge garden spider- yuck! Even though I didn't grow what I thought I was planting, I still enjoyed growing it. One day when I took some fresh produce to share with my neighbor he said, "you put all this hard work into growing this and you are just giving it away for free and not getting paid for your work". But I just smiled and said that I did get paid for it because I love gardening and it is so fun for me to get out and be in my garden. It is very calming, satisfying, and mentally refreshing for me to play in the dirt. And even though it didn't all turn out like I thought, we just set and laughed and waited to see what was going to grow next!

NAVAJO COUNTY FAIR- 4-H, animals, rides, carmel apples, and kettle corn!

WOW! What a week it was. We headed to the county fair on Wed. to get the kids' steers checked in. I asked my dad if he would pull his camp trailer down for us to stay in. The trips back and forth every day are so wearing. We got checked in, animals fed and watered, and the trailer all set up. One thing we did notice was that there was more competition for the steers this year- or I guess I should say better. Thurs. morning came awful early- I think Ariel was up and out by 5:30. She and Justin fed, cleaned the pens, washed their steers and started getting ready for the big day. This year was so much better than last year because they had such gentle steers, they were like puppy dogs. What a difference that makes. The lady that helped us clip them told us to give an hour to groom. So we headed over to watch the last of the pig judging and showmanship. After that we headed over to get ready. Just a few things we didn't account for: we had 3 steers and 1 shoot- not good. Rachel (my neice) was showing first, so they were first in. We were all scrambling to do what we could without the shute, what a wreck. We also didn't have a generator that would work our dryers and the electricity there was a joke, to say the least. It kept tripping off and we were having a hard time getting them ready. Rachel got 2nd in her class- yea! Ariel went in next and we got her ready just in time- thanks a bunch to Cher who stayed behind and helped us. Ariel got 1st in her class- good job! We had two more classes showing before Justin had to be in there which gave us a little more time. After a few stepped-on toes, black paint on our fingers, show adhesive all over our clothes, he was off into the ring. Justin had the hardest class, but he still got 3rd. Way To Go! The judge put his and 2 others seperate and took quite some time to decide how to place them, so we felt really happy about that. After the steer judging was over they each got to go back into the ring for showmanship. Rachel was in Jr.'s, but Ariel and Justin were both in Sr. and in the same group. They both did a good job, but only Ariel was chosen to go back in for the final round. We just need some more practice, Justin. Ariel didn't win anything, but she did a good job. We all felt like that contest was a pre-determined decision. I won't vent it here, but pretty much everyone there felt that. Anyway, when the judge went around and gave comments for each kid he said that he couldn't fault her in any way. She controlled her steer well, set him up well, and did what she should have. There was another kid that did a GREAT job and really stood out to all the spectators! When he didn't win, there was a gasp from those in the stands. Kinda hard to believe someone can let their steer go 3 times and still win. But I said I wasn't going to vent, right. That night was the opening night of the carnival. That first night it is all the rides you want to ride for $15. After animals were all tucked in for the night the kids headed off. Me, I watched a little of the demolition derby with some of the other parents, up until security came and put up a tarp over the fence in front of us. We were watching it from the steer barn. We were pretty put out about that since if it wasn't for our kids and their animals there wouldn't be much of a fair. After a few of the dads told them off and we let them know just what we thought about it, we just pulled up some feed buckets and watched it from over the fence- we'll show them! The derby was pretty much a dud, so we were really glad that we didn't pay. And we had more fun taunting the security anyway. Ariel showed up feeling 'green' just about the time it ended. She had gone on rides with some of her friends and threw up twice, yum! You would think that after the first time she would have known better than to go on another ride- um no. Friday morning was another early morning and we had to get ready for the sale. We did watch a few open class shows to help pass the time. We decided to give ourselves more time to get ready for the sale, so we got an early start. We all went down knowing that with the economy this years sale wouldn't be the same as last year. There were more animals and less money to go around. The kids both sold for about $3,000, so we won't complain. Some of the others got lots less. We had the same buyer from last year come from the valley to buy for us. Thanks Jerry! We didn't make as big of haul as Rachel, a whopping $10,000. It pays to have connections. And our buyer is actually one of their connections also. That gives the kids enough to pay me back (YEA!),buy steers for next year, and pay for their own grain. And they may even have a little left to spend. Atleast that will put them on top next year. That night we were all wiped out. We were all in bed with lights out (atleast in the trailer- the carnival was still going strong) by 9:30. We went to sleep to the tunes from the carnival and the announcer from the rodeo. Sat. was nice. We got up later and the kids fed and cleaned pens. Ariel and I had a nap, Justin walked around the fair. We didn't have any shows or anything that day, so we just hung out and took it easy. We met up with friends that came and just had a fun day. That night I went to bed early. The kids played at the carnival and around for a while. Sunday morning they had to load their steers on the trailer at 6:00. A little sombering knowing where you were sending them off to. Ariel had a hard time. We are all glad that it is over. But the kids are already talking about next year. Each year we learn a little more, get there a little more prepared, and feel a little more satisfaction with the way it all goes. The kids sure did good to work their steers, and it really did pay off. We sure appreciate my brother David and his wife Cher. Since Saul knows nothing about the animals and tells me we can do 4-H as long as we don't try to involve him, we wouldn't be able to do it without David and Cher! It hasn't even been a week and David is already asking the kids when they are going to get their steers up from the field. Last year we bought from AZ National, but this year we are going to buy from Dad and David.

Well, I think I am starting to figure this out. It has been a while since I have played here, life gets busy. But here's a little run-down on our family.
Saul stays really busy chasing work and trying to keep us afloat. He has always had such a great work ethic and we appreciate him so much. His loves in life (other than his family) are hunting, fishing, and trapping. He is exctied for next month- hunting season starts! He put all of us in for tags, hoping to get a couple. Ariel drew out for the youth elk tag and we all drew out for deer tags. So we pretty much have back-to-back hunts for 5 weeks. Now he is stressing over just how he is going to help us all fill them. Oh, we feel so sorry for him.
Ariel is 16 (almost 17) and a Junior in High School. Saul and I are still trying to figure out how she got there. When Saul and I talked about having kids and how we would like them to be, we both agreed that we would like our little girl to be girly, but not prissy. That is pretty much our little girl. She loves horses and has 2 of her own, is raising a steer for 4-H, and just feels at home out the barn with the animals. She just got into the NAVIT program in welding. That will give her college credits and help her to a career. Not really a career you picture for a girl, but she loves it. But she also loves manicures and pedicures, bubble baths, and frills. She has a giggle that is so contagious.
Justin is 14 (going to be 15 next week) and a Freshman in High School. He was afraid at first, but really seems to be adapting well- and is yet to get shoved in a garbage can. He also has a 4-H steer, but doesn't love the animals like Ariel. He had a dog, Jed, that we actually had to put under last night. Jed hasn't been doing good for a couple of weeks, and we have been telling Justin it was just time. But it took him a little while to come to terms with it. Jed was a blood hound, and they don't have long lives. The average is 7-9 years and Jed was over 10. He has been Justin's dog and he has really taken good care of him. We will all miss him, but know it was for the best. Justin is in to computers and electronics and is taking IT courses at school. He is such a 'happy-go-lucky' kid and has such a positive outlook on life.
My life is pretty much my family. I help Saul with the paperwork and payroll for the business. I keep busy helping the kids with their 4-H steers and keeping up with their schedules. I don't know how people do it with more kids. Another love of mine is scrapbooking. It is fun to go over the pictures and go through the memories. I haven't got to do much of it this summer however since I have been working so much in my garden, another love. I took some veggies to my neighbor tonight and he made the comment that I keep giving stuff away and don't really get paid for all my hard work. But I told him that I do get paid, it is very therapeutic and makes me happy to work there and watch it grow. My soil is terrible here and it has been a struggle to get things to grow, but we are doing ok. It will take some work to get it good.

I am so new at this and have spent a couple of days trying to get this Blog set up. I have limited knowledge when it comes to the computer. I didn't think I had any interest in it until I talked to Sheridan Tenney and she gave me the link to hers. While in there I checked out some of her "links" of people I know and thought it was pretty cool. Anyway, we'll give it a whirl!