Lit!

In 25 years of marriage this is the first time we have Christmas lights on the outside of the house!  It just feels so good!  Lorna was my helper and we got them up pretty quickly.  We had some issues of burned out lights and new lights that don't match the old lights, but overall I'm pleased.  We even got the tree lit and decorated!  It really is a wonderful time of the year!

Christmas Tree Time

While living in our rental home we kept holidays pretty simple... especially decorating.  Honestly there just wasn't room for a Christmas tree.  Well, here we are chopping down a nice free ranch tree to fit into our house!  It was so fun to pick it out and get it set up!  I can't wait to decorate it!  It's going to be a beautiful Christmas this year!

Stumped

One of the first things we did on the ranch was to cut a branch off of this cedar tree.  Then a few years later we cut the tree down, but left a tall stump.  Since living in the house, the stump is right out side of our bedroom windows.  It's just sitting there reminding us everyday to cut it down.  Well, the day has come!  Good-bye stump!  

Jeff cut around it and then we all helped pull it over.  The center of it is all hollow too!  So glad to have that done!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been 5 years since we've had a normal Thanksgiving.  It is so long that Lorna didn't even think we had ever done Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving.  We normally do it on the Sunday after so we can take advantage of the time off work to get stuff done on the ranch.  I think last year we were sheetrocking :).  Well, it's been a beautiful thing to get back to normal!  I will say that while I was cooking the food, Jeff was out mowing a pasture.  We are living the life now!  

The turkey was amazing and the pies even better!  It was a nice Thanksgiving at home with our 3 youngest kids.  We missed the older kids, but realize it's not worth the travel to get them home just to send them back to school... especially with Christmas so close!  We are thankful for our home, ranch, family, and of course our Savior, Jesus Christ!

 

Foggy!

It was a beautiful foggy day!  Everything felt a little eerie.  I love getting to live here and experience these amazing days.  The photos really don't even do it justice.  

Good-bye Achmed

We decided to sell our herd bull, Achmed.  He has been a good bull, but we are looking to adjust our herd and make it younger.  We also want to vary our genetics and the bull is the easiest way to do that.  Jeff found a buyer a couples of hours away.  We loaded him up and dropped him off.  

I didn't end up with a photo, but on his left eye it looked like a huge tear.  It was heartbreaking.  He has been such a good bull, but we knew this was the right choice.  He will have a new herd of ladies to love and so much pasture!  At least we know he's going to a good home!  We will always love you Achmed!

Horses!

The Bakers are back in town from Colorado!  That means it's time to go horseback riding!  It took a bit to get the kids used to the horses again and comfortable riding.  The kids all took turns.  It is fun to go with our friends the Humphries.  I love seeing Lorna do so well with the horses!  The Bakers really are the best!