the ranch!

Well, here I am.. playing catch up once again. Hopefully by the time baby comes I'll be better about blogging and keeping this thing updated. Like always, we have been busy busy busy and there has been plenty to blog about, so I will playing a little catch up.

A day on the ranch!

I haven't gone on the ranch to "work" in awhile, yes, we have made very frequent trips (almost weekly) to fix fences, check the water, check the cows, make sure the feed is still growing and so on. But, I haven't gone out on a horse and moved cows since early spring. I was a little hesitant because I'm pregnant but I knew I would be careful. My mom even asked me "is it okay to ride a horse?" I felt good about it, and so did Chris. So off we went! When we got there I felt almost nervous to get on the horse, where as before it never affected me. I've found since I've been pregnant I'm so much more cautious and nervous to do certain things. Chris was very reassuring though, and told me I would be just fine and I was. We started out just riding along the fence, it's my favorite when Chris and I can just ride our horses (with them walking) and just talk. Chris can never take a smile off his face, and I know it's because he can tell how awkward I am on a horse but try to act tough. :) Then he had to head off and we had to part ways, he made sure I would be OK and then I was going to be alone for awhile. It was so hot out there! It felt so good on my skin, I haven't really been in the sun since the beginning of summer. 

notice how green the strip is?? I told Chris I am to

 thank for that cause I brought the Oregon rain with me! :)

my cute cowboy.

after we gathered, we branded

since the feed has been so good some of the "calfs" have grown to be quite strong and it turned into somewhat of a rodeo. We aren't complaining but, it was pretty tough to catch some of them that had almost grown into full cows! :) 

I, of course, stood back and kept count of the males and females. Chris had convinced me to go because he said "oh it'll be a quick day, we'll be home by three." In my head I said well, three means five o'clock and thats not too bad...... it ended up being close to eight o'clock I believe!! I was exhausted and it was quite a bit for me to be out in the sun the whole day, riding a horse, with no nap. :) But, it was so fun. I'm kind of sad the spring season is ending and now upkeep on the ranch will be minimal compared to the spring and summer! When Chris and I talked about it he said "oh but the spring will be here before you know it. " Which is so true, it's crazy how fast the time goes as you get older. Love the days I get to spend with my love in his "element!"