Thursday Thoughts

It’s been one of those full-speed-ahead ranch weeks where everyone was headed a different direction, but somehow it all came together.

Friday, Chad was out and we got a big group of the yearlings trimmed. Jake was here too and got all of the riding horses done, plus Rip and Der — the mini stud. Meanwhile, Anna, the dogs, and I gathered and sorted cows before I had to leave, so Anna called in reinforcements. Before long, Tesa, Anna, and Scarlett were working bull calves and their moms, and once Kaine and Kicker showed up, they jumped right in too. Jake ended up helping there as well while Ben was off fixing circles.

Saturday we finished working cows while Toni made a few trips out to horse shows in between ranch work — pretty standard around here this time of year.

Sunday we loaded up early and headed to Desert Storm in Hermiston with cattle. It was a good weekend for the crew:
🏆 Fall Angus heifer was Grand Champion Angus Heifer in Ring B and Third Overall in Ring A
🏆 The DLX heifer landed in the Top 5 in Ring A
👏 Anna and Kade both did well in showmanship
👏 Both steers placed 3rd in their classes and made the final drive

We also recruited Charley Casey to jump in and help show Angus heifers since all of the Angus heifers ended up in the same class at once — and we sure appreciated the extra help.

Monday gave us a chance to pause a little for Memorial Day and remember the people who sacrificed so we get to live this life we love. We’re thankful for the freedoms that allow us to raise our families, ranch, travel, compete, and gather together — freedoms that came at a cost for many families. We’re grateful to those who served and especially those who never made it home.

Of course, ranch life doesn’t stop. Toni was back showing horses again while Ben, Kaine, and Kade headed to Dan’s to pick up grass hay. If you need some grass hay, we have all of Dan’s but Davidsons that live up the hill texted they have some nice three tie grass hay bales.

We’ve also added a few mares in with the new stud, Classic Metal (“Cal”), and we’re pretty excited to see what the future holds there. We think he’s going to cross really well on several of our mares.

And yesterday brought one more exciting addition — Nutter Butter had our Judge Dat Cash foal… a cute filly! We were really hoping for a filly to keep, so we’re pretty excited about this one. Toni also had a visitor stop by yesterday, which always makes for a fun break in the middle of the chaos.