Following the Civil War, many men moved west looking for ways to work and make a living. One of the attractions of the American frontier was the relative freedom, as well as the option to become cowboys who could access free range cattle.
The “Wild West”, beginning in the 1860s through the end of the 19th century, became a time of a bit of chaos on the frontier where gangs of criminals were easily bred. Infamous cowboys, like Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Butch Cassidy and John Wesley Hardin were outlaws who committed various robberies, cattle rustling and even murder.
First sponsored in the US Senate in 2005, National Day of the Cowboy was originally brought about by Wyoming’s US Senator at the time, Craig Thomas.
Former president Bush said this about the National Day of the Cowboy: “We celebrate the Cowboy as a symbol of the grand history of the American West. The Cowboy’s love of the land and love of the country are examples for all Americans.”
On Monday morning Toni hauled Charlie, Annie and Abs in to Sheena to get their blood pulled to see if they could go off of progesterone. Annie and Abs can. When Toni tried to get fuel on her way out of Toni she discovered she had not gotten her pacific pride card back from Kade, luckily she found $75 in her purse to get some fuel. In the afternoon her friend Tracie came out to look at horses. She bought Robin and Fancy Gun. So they headed to the West side of WA. I went to Lewiston for a work trip/tour on Monday afternoon. Dad, Kaine and Kade were harvesting wheat. Anna and Jaxsen were working on steers and heifers. Wasps were everywhere. When Toni and Jaxsen were doing chores, Toni uncovered a wasps nest on the top of the hay stack and got stung multiple times trying to get off the stack and get away. Wasps during the heat really suck.
Tuesday I traveled to the Dworshak dam and National Fish Hatchery in Orofino. Toni sold Cappy’s filly Lassie, we were on the fence on keeping her. She is a fancy palomino roan. Dad and the big boys are still harvesting wheat. Anna and Jaxsen are still halter breaking calves and working on steers. Everyone is hot and just trying to stay healthy. Toni went to stay with Grandma Tuesday night after chores.
On Wednesday we took a boat ride to the Lower Granite Dam and went through the locks. We then toured the dam and saw all the fish passage. I got home Wednesday night. I got home in time for chores. Still wasps all over. Gates we go through everyday have wasps nests suddenly appear. The wasps even made a nest in our horse halters hanging on the side of our tack shed. We are like gunslingers, packing our wasp spray for the quick draw.
Thursday I was on a Family Farm Tour of the Quincy and East Irrigation Districts. We got the progesterone results back from the blood pull Monday. 2 of the mares also need SMZ tabs so we headed out in the pasture to catch them on Thursday. This was pretty short sighted as one is bad to catch. After spending 20 minutes stalking her around the pasture we got them both in, gave Charlie her shot, and fed them both their SMZ tabs in grain. You would think that would make day 2 easier as they would want to come in to get grain Spoiler alert- no.
Friday we took Sam from Family Farm on a Tour of the South District. After I got home Jaxsen and I went out and got some pics of some of the colts. No one wanted to help Ben fix a gear box on the circle Friday night, even though he snapped everyone. We spent another 30 minutes chasing Annie around the pasture. After that, both Annie and Charlie went to a pen in the corral. All the young horses came in with Charlie so Toni got out an aerosol fly spray can and started spraying down foals and older, any horse that would stand still for it. The foals were more excepting than the mares. Even though the can made a hissing sound like a snake, the foals didn’t seem to care.
On Saturday we went to the Junior Livestock Show of Tri-Cities. We all had a great time. Anna came with mom, dad and Skip, since she is too old to show there. They only let people that can show at the Benton Franklin Fair show there. It is a nice show, we always show after pigs. The kids all did great. They brought home 4 buckles and 2 cups, lots of banners. All three boys got awards, and our extended family also had a great show. We had some friends come in to watch the kids and saw our show family. It was a good, but hot day. It was actually one of the cooler days for that show that we have had. The men did chores for us so we did not have to do them when we got home. We did get Burger Ranch on the way home. Once home, we had to get Annie and Charlie fed and the dogs walked. It was a long but fruitful day.
On Sunday the kids washed their animals and worked on them. Anna worked on the calves she is halter breaking. We worked on the horses, put out big bales, check the calves, etc. Made sure everything was doing ok.
We are officially done with the 2025 jackpot season. Now we need to gear up for the fair season. Fun times ahead. Benton Franklin Steers below.
Kaine and Kade were back at wheat harvest on Monday morning. Kaine is driving one of the combines and Kade is driving the bank out wagon. Anna is hard at working halter breaking the calves she has for sale. She has a couple of show heifers and some steers in. Jaxsen goes down and works on his steers for part of the day. Him and I also do Kade’s part of the chores at night, while Toni does our chores and Anna does Kaine’s chores, Jaxsen is very excited around it. Especially on the 100 degree days. We had an outside mare come in to get bred to Tank. It is late in the season but that is better for some people, especially if they are from a bit colder area. The mare is really nice so we are excited about what she is going to have next year. The last Dude baby was also born out of Blueberry. A stunning buckskin colt. We knew we would have some regrets about selling her after we saw the foal. After Kade got off of work he rode the half halflinger around. She is really cute and sweet. We are hoping she will make a good mountain horse for SR.
On Tuesday mom went and stayed with grandma and Toni and Dad went to Spokane to get his saddle. Before they left, Toni and Dad put another outside mare in a pen to get picked up. Most of the outside mares are bred and going home at this point, except for the few we are just getting in. Toni and Dad also went to McBrides Quarter Horses in Medical Lake to look at Marcy’s foals. Marcy has a Leroy daughter and Leroy sister that both have stunning foals. Anna went and helped the neighbor work her few cows then went and got Jaxsen to work on his steers. Erina texted that Kat and Abby Martin were 1st place in Cowboy Dressage World. Super Exciting. Kade continued riding the halflinger.
Kaine and Kade were still at it harvesting. Dad joined the crew on Wednesday. Anna and Jaxsen continued working on steers and heifers. Devo was out Wednesday morning, Anna’s show heifer from 2024, so she got her in first thing and fixed the fence. Anna and Jaxsen also clipped the animals that were going to Sagebrush Classic on Saturday, or started clipping them. Toni took some pics of an outside mare being bred to Sagebug for her owner. Toni and I got some pics of Whiskey and Mighty for someone on Wednesday. Then we worked on Holly for a bit.
Thursday our mare from Texas arrived. Toni went down to Hermiston to meet the hauler and pick her up. This is a dream come true for me as I have wanted a Shiner Named Sioux daughter for years. We found one from a gal we have bought from before, priced right and bred for 2026. She is a nice big mare, bay, so she will fit in perfectly here. She had a long trip so she went to live at my house with Rosey the donkey for a bit. Lots of feed, easy access to water, and time to recuperate. Toni and I worked on Holly again on Thursday. It is really hot, we have not been super motivated. Anna and Jaxsen clipped cattle to go to Sagebrush and worked on packing the trailer. Anna said Jaxsen just clipped Bugs and didn’t help much packing.
On Friday we worked on Holly and Bellini. Dad and I went to Palouse to get pellets. Anna continued to clip and pack the trailer. The boys are still harvesting. It was hot hot hot again and made us have regrets about going to a show on Saturday. The horses were all fine and the cattle all look good, but hot weather really puts a damper on energy.
On Saturday we were up with the sun, or before the sun, and headed to Colfax to the Sagebrush Classic. We had a great time, saw all our show friends. Savannah was 3rd overall PeeWee. Anna was 5th overall senior. All the kids showed great. Kaine’s steer won his class, Hazel won her class. It was hot, but it has been hotter there. So it was all good. Kade took his Nile Merit heifer Carla. She did good. Toni and I stopped in Washtucna at Sonny’s tavern to get take out chicken and fries along with big lemonades for everyone at home. We had two trailer loads of cattle at the show, including Anna’s two cow/calf pairs. She was Grand and Reserve with them at the show. The Koller/Alexander team put on another great Sagebrush Classic show.
Sunday we got the cows in and doctored some bad eyes. We put big bales in with the yearling colts and Tank’s pen. Super hot super sweaty day. It is always interesting to set goals for yourself and see what excuses your body can come up with. Too tired, too hot, too cold, too windy, always an excuse to not do what you set out to get accomplished. On hot days, cold days, everyday- letting the excuses define you is not an option, get out and ride.
Another crazy whirlwind of a week as summer flies by. The boys only worked their harvest job Monday and Tuesday this week. Which was good because Anna and I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma and met McKenna and our WA friends at the National Jr. Angus Show. So Toni needed them home to do chores. I think they would have preferred to be at work. We had people out on Monday to look at the studs. We are done breeding the bulk of our mares, but we have people wanting to breed theirs. Toni took her on a tour and she fell in love with Sagebug, so she is going to bring her mare out to breed to him.
On Tuesday Anna and I left early to be on the first flight out of Pasco to Tulsa for Angus Jr Nationals. We needed to be there midafternoon, Anna was a Jr Angus voting delegate and the meet and greet was that evening. We got there at 1, so took a nap before the evening events. I went to the expo square after dropping Anna off and hung out with Vejraskas. Toni and Jaxsen got horses in on Tuesday to ultrasound Wednesday. Jaxsen had a great time being Toni’s only helper all day. They had to bring in mares out of five different fields, sort them out, and haul them to mom and dads. They had mares stashed in every conceivable pen for the Wednesday ultrasound.
McKenna got to Tulsa to hang out with us Wednesday morning. Kat, Anna, McKenna and I walked around and hung out. We watched some of the bred and owned show. Toni, Kaine, Kade, Jaxsen, Hailey Wilson, and Vanessa ultrasounded 24 horses and 3 heifers. They tried to ultrasound 25, but one of the mares was really acting up. It is not worth getting a human or horse hurt so she didn’t get done. There were some shocks, some disappointments, but overall the mares were bred how we expected or not. There were 5 not bred or early bred. The three heifers were show heifers, Kade’s Nile Merit heifer, his simm heifer and Kaine’s heifer Baby Jewel. All heifers were bred. It was a really long day but with all the help, I hear it went ok. The mare to breed to Sagebug also came in on Wednesday.
On Thursday McKenna, Anna and I watched Kady’s show in showmanship. She was an honorable mention, which was really exciting. Good job Kady. Anna was awarded the Jean Ann (Neumeyer) Bojorquez Memorial & Robert Hollyce Neumeyer Angus Scholarship Thursday as well. We also watched the PGS show on Thursday. Chandolin from WA made it back to the division championship round in Bred and Owned PGS. At home Toni took two mares to the vet to get their serum pulled to see if they need to stay on regumate. Both older. One we think lost her foal even though she is on regumate. Both mares were high end show horses back in the day and are not older pet broodmares. Kade took a different trailer and his horse to help at the Freedom Rodeo in Basin City as they were short handed on Thursday. Dad had to run his hat and a long sleeved shirt down to him. He had a good time. Three of the outside mares left Thursday, so Toni was shipping horses out until after 8 pm that night.
Happy 4th of July. We had McKenna in the morning before she went back to a work party late afternoon. We watched some of owned heifer show and watched the final round of showmanship. We watched Leah from WA show, she did great, was 6th in her class. We also watch Colter Meads and Cora Habein from Oregon show. At home they had the typical lake party. It sounds like everyone had a good time. At home it was colder than normal for the 4th but that was probably nice. They found a little turtle at the lake so everyone oohed and ahhed over the turtle before they put it back. Anna’s dogs jumped on everyone because they were lonely. It was a good 4th in Washington.
We headed home bright and early Saturday. Kady showed both of her heifers on Saturday, so we missed her showing. Our plane landed around 1. Toni texted me we needed pics of Shooter, so I brought some big bales down when I came and we got some pics of him. John sent some pics he got of Derringer. Toni got MC’s pen in an sorted the two big foals out and kicked those pair out into the field. We also were able to move Zelle back to the yearling filly pen. She had been in a dr. pen because she hurt her leg. We had another outside mare leave Saturday. Toni and her crew along with Leslie, Marlo, McCall, and Kaine all went to the Basin City Freedom Rodeo Saturday night where they saw lots of friends and had a great time. Our friends put that rodeo on and do a great job.
On Sunday Sonny brought Kade a half Haflinger mare to ride. She is really cute. Kaine and I went out and checked for bad eyes and took some pics. It was hot so everyone was laying in the water, so hard to check eyes. Jaxsen and I put out two more big bales. Toni rode Electra. We fly sprayed everything we that would let us, made sure every living thing had water and food and just tried to get through a hot July day.
“Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.”
– Shaquille O’Neal
If our blog seems repetitive, our goal is to have healthy happy livestock and we spend the majority of our time working towards that end.
On Monday Kaine and Kade started a wheat harvest job in Kahlotus, right now they are doing preharvest work. That has made us pretty shorthanded, but the boys are all excited to get paid to work. It probably doesn’t shock anyone that the pay here at the ranch is in trade. Anna had a dr appt then picked up Jaxsen on her way home so he could work on his steers. Anna is working on her calves; she definitely has some favorites. Toni is catching up on work from being gone all the week before to Utah. During chores Windy, the orphan foal double grafted onto Blackie, realized that Toni leaves the gate cracked when she takes the grain into their pen. So Windy went for a walkabout out into the yard. Luckily her brother and mother did not go with her so she eventually ran back into her pen. She is a little stinker. Other than that, it was a pretty normal evening with lots of chores.
On Tuesday Erina, mom, Toni, Anna and I went to Coeur d’Alene for a girls’ day and had facials. The men did all our chores and we had a late dinner before we came back. We all had a great time. Jaxsen spent the day with dad and Skip. It was really nice to do something totally different, outside the wheelhouse, and the best part is that Erina set it all up so we just had to show up and enjoy.
Wednesday mom and dad went to town and got a new office fish for me. Daniela at work decided we should not name him George again and this one is Ramses off of Nacho Libre. Jaxsen worked on his steers again. He says they are great. The big boys are getting home late, they are rod weeding weeds. Chores were pretty normal. Since we are doing all the chores, the yearlings weren’t fed when Toni went to move water so July was in fine form. He chased her dog, ran around wagging his little donkey tail. Just a reminder that mom doesn’t want to ever sell July so he is priced really high, like ridiculously high at $20,000.00. And if someone came up with 20,000, well then, they have 40,000 they could spend on him. And if they would spend 40,000 on him then she does not think they are smart enough to have him since they are spending their money unwisely. We have had people ask if he is for sale and we don’t think that is a for sale price, so that she would actually sell him. Toni stayed with grandma on Wednesday. Grandma is still not sleeping.
Thursday Jaxsen and I discussed his next steps in working on his steers. He is becoming a good chore boy. Building muscles loading hay. Ben chopped down some more Russian Olive Trees with the Kitten. Boys are still farming. Anna has been working away on the post replacement project, she is almost done. She is expanded beyond filling for Toni. She is halter breaking some sale calves. The summer is speeding by. The big boys are still tying up their show calves in the morning before work, then Anna has been feeding them at night and turning them loose because the boys are getting home so late. Jax is working on both of his steers with minimal complaints. Chores were normal.
On Friday mom and Anna took the puppies in for their last shots and everyone except Snickerdoodle got spayed or neutered. Poor little guys. Erina and Terry brought Jr and Josie out on their annual trip to see the horses. Jr is a budding photographer and took Toni’s camera to take pics. He is 5 1/2. Everyone had a good time. Blackie refused to walk down the hill (yes, she is still walking through the hot fence to go up the hill), so they went up to see her and pet the babies. Windy has stranger danger which we did not realize. Red doesn’t. He doesn’t know a stranger which is a pretty typical Blackie/Tank foal. We don’t know where Windy’s attitude comes from. Marlo came out for chores so she helped Jaxsen. Marlo likes things clean so she had Jax clean off the back of the chore pu and clean off all the strings. They found the dull machete that is used to cut bales open and been missing for months. It was missing because it was covered in hay and strings. Jax thought he should get to keep it. We all were nervous about what he might do with it, so the machete is still in the chore pu. Long fun day. I headed to Grandma’s with Doodle for the night. She still isn’t sleeping.
I got some pictures of Kade and Carla, his Nile Merit heifer, on Saturday and a couple of pictures of a few of Anna’s show calves for sale. Anna and I went out to check the cows and look for bad eyes. The Hallowells came out to get Derringer to breed their mini mare, so we went on a small tour. Mom had not seen Jack Jack yet. Kade worked on Boon because he had not been riding her at night due to work. Kaine and Kade bought caught their extra show steers, since they need to be at least somewhat halter broke in case they need them. Kaine also took the lawn mower tire in and got it fixed and him and dad went to the Ace Hardware grand opening in Connell. Kade worked on Jag and Texas Red on Saturday night as well.
On Sunday, Sonny and Jeanie brought a gelding for Kade to ride, and they all went to look at the foals. Chad was out and timed some horses. Toni had two groups of people out looking at foals, and mares. Kade rode Butterscotch for one group. She had not been ridden for a few years and was great.
Habits start off as a choice and build into a habit over time. Making time for your horse and yourself is the best habit a person can have. It isn’t too late to start or get back on track. If your dream has been to have a horse, come get one. We have lots of choices and there is always time for a horse.
On Monday Anna built a fence in Blackie’s pen to keep her from going up the hill. Her arthritis has gotten really bad but she keeps going up the hill every day and standing at the top which irritates mom. Toni rode Gina over from her pen to get her meds. Gina has not been ridden since we had her, so Toni jumped on with a halter bareback. I guess she figured if Gina has earned her ROM she will be fine. And she was. Besides side stepping away from the fence when Toni jumped on. Kade and Anna finished packing him up to go to Utah for Simmental regionals. Kaine took the 5th wheel camper in to get new tires. Leslie had a blow out in May when we went to Spokane, and our tires are 7 years old, so we decided it was time to change out the stock tires. The carpet guy came back and finished the trim. Kaine and Kade went to Kahlotus for an interview for a wheat harvest job. I told them we have plenty of work, but they seem to want to get paid.
Tuesday Anna and dad headed to Pullman to get Jitter, she has been confirmed in foal to GSR Guns N Bullets. Toni had people out to look at Revel and her colt, Manhattan Flash. They also decided to take Sarge as well. They already have Revel’s sister, Cinder, and a colt named Duke from us. It is a great home for all of them. Kade did last minute prep before him and Toni left for Utah. Kaine and Jaxsen started football camp Tuesday, they left earlyish and got home late.
Toni and Kade headed to Tremonton Utah at 5 Wednesday morning. They got there at around 2 our time. They got set up and ready for the Simmental show. Kaine and Jaxsen went to Day 2 of Football camp. Anna had a long list of things, she got a mare in to doctor, who was not particularly easy to catch. But she got it done. She met the DISH guy and got that fixed. Did some irrigation work. Worked on the calves she is halter breaking. Mowed the yard. We got some items in Booker Auction on Wednesday, a disc, got a heck of a deal on it. A mower for thistles, the one we have is not working, we are still going to fix it but got one in the auction. Anna and I did chores. The men fixed circles and chased water. The football boys are getting home really late, as following the football camp they go back to Connell and watch video.
In Utah Kade and Toni checked Penelope in. Had opening ceremony and family fun night. Simm regionals is a bit different than other shows. Simm offers 5 competitions pre-showing and the kids are required to do at least 3, one of which is a speaking competition, before they are allowed to show. So Kade competed in 4 of the 5. Toni and her group of parents participated in the trade show and supported the people there. Anna tied the show calves she is halter breaking, so if you are looking for a show steer or heifer for 2026, we have some getting ready. Kaine and Jaxsen were still at Football camp. Mom and dad took Skip to Yakima for some mandatory VA appts. They also picked up some feed for Blackie and her two foals. I headed to stay with Grandma on Thursday, who is still not sleeping.
On Friday in Utah Kade had livestock judging and helped Ava fit her bull for the bull class. Kaine and I deliver a bull in the morning. We only have one Angus bull left for sale if anyone is looking. Anna and Jaxsen went into CBJLS to help Aram set up for his senior project, a cattle showing clinic. When Kaine and I got back, Anna and I went out and caught Sagebug and brought him in to put with an outside mare. He was not particularly happy with us. Chad came out in the afternoon, so I ran to get Jaxsen to help, and Anna pushed the rest of Sagebugs mares out with Gunners mares, Sagebug and Gunner are now pulled for the winter. Jaxsen held Gina while I caught some other horses, and then Jaxsen went and moved all the water. Chad and I decided June the donkey probably had not been done before, and she could have been worse. Could have been better too.
Kade show Penelope on Saturday. He had a really hard class, both the champion and third overall heifers were in his class, and he did really well. He was not called back in showmanship, but him and Penelope did a great job. Toni and Kade then packed and headed home after the awards ceremony. Kade took 3rd in the Genetic Evaluation and 9th in the Cattlemen’s Quiz. If he goes back to a Simm show, we are going to have him actually prepare for some of the competitions, think how well he could do then. Jonel and Ava left with them. Aram had his showmanship clinic, that was his Sr project. Anna helped him with the clinic, I took pics and Ben cooked. Snickerdoodle came in with us. We donated the burger. The kids learned a lot and it was a great clinic. I came home as soon as it was over, but Ben and Anna helped Aram clean up. Kaine worked on his steers, his heifer Baby Jewel, was in at the clinic for Harlen to show. Then Kaine dieseled up the Skidsteer since Anna used all the fuel in it. Jaxsen and I put out grass bales.
Sunday Anna caught her calves she is halter breaking, Kaine caught the steers and fed them. Kade came down a little later since it was after midnight when he got home. The kids worked on their animals. Anna tied up her calves. I went out and checked the bulls and heifers and got some pics. Ben fixed circles and got a bull in to put with Kade’s Simmental heifer, she was in heat. We put out bales, checked everything, and did ranch stuff.
We are wrapping up the horse breeding season, but we are still really busy with the kids and their show cattle. We love having people out to see the foals, yearlings, and the handful of broodmares we have for sale. Feel free to schedule to come out!
The kids are officially on summer break, which is a relief since we have a lot to tackle around here. Jaxsen and Kaine are diving into summer football, with practices lined up throughout the week and a jamboree scheduled for Friday, keeping them busy and active. Meanwhile, Kade and Toni are gearing up for the Simmental Regionals in just a week and a half, so they’re busy organizing travel documents, checking tires, and getting oil changes done to ensure everything runs smoothly. Kade has also been busy relocating the round pen from its winter spot, where we were halter breaking, to a more stable area, and he’s started working with the two-year-olds. Anna has taken on the task of replacing the old fiberglass posts with sturdy metal T posts, enhancing the durability of our fencing. Additionally, she and Kaine have been out using the skid steer to cut down Russian Olive trees, tackling the overgrowth and making the property look much better.
This week has been sweltering we are reaching triple digits. Kade and I have found ourselves in a bit of a disagreement over Gucci, a three-year-old horse sired by Tank and out of Blue, which Kade has been training. He has claiming Remi, I’ve claimed SJ as “mine,” but it seems we’ve come to a consensus that Gucci might actually suit me better. However, Kade also thinks she will be a good rope horse, however, maybe too lazy. Kade has been lending a hand to Anna with her own three-year-old, Gunny. She worked with Gunny last year, but now it’s time for her to start riding Gunny out, so Kade has been stepping in during the day to help her out. On top of that, Anna is juggling a part-time job with Toni this summer, where she’s been tackling legal work. She’s managed to get Toni all caught up on filing, which means she can now shift her focus to more engaging tasks. Meanwhile, I’m not quite sure what Jaxsen occupies his time with, but I keep reminding him that his steers won’t halter break themselves, and they’re only going to get more challenging as they grow. To add to the chaos, our HVAC system flooded the office, so Anna and Kaine have been busy cleaning up the mess and tearing out the carpet. Thankfully, our friend Hector has a carpet guy lined up, and he’s scheduled to come on Friday to replace the flooring.
On Wednesday July the donkey colt assisted in moving water The sweltering heat of the week had made him somewhat lazy, causing him to neglect his usual responsibilities. However, on this particular day, he seemed to regain his enthusiasm and decided it was time to pitch in once more. He also decided it was great fun to chase Toni’s dog Abby. Ben chased water all week and fixed circles.
On Thursday, our friends Steve and Louis came over to visit and check out all the adorable foals. They hadn’t had the chance to meet MC yet, and it had been ages since they last saw Tank, who was just a colt back then. We spent a delightful afternoon reminiscing and catching up on each other’s lives. After we wrapped up our visit, Toni took care of the chores while I headed over to spend some quality time with Grandma.
On Friday, Dad and Toni made the trip to Spokane to pick up Gina, our last mare at Allies. While they were there, they also met up with Denise, they took Kenna and Blondie. Kenna and Blondie went with Denise to their new home in Montana. We’re thrilled to share that Gina is confirmed in foal to Brother Jackson, which has us all buzzing with excitement. Later that afternoon, we headed to Royal City for the football jamboree, while Anna and Kade stayed back to handle the chores at home. I have to say, the boys played exceptionally well! They faced off against Moses Lake, a much larger school, Ephrata, which is just one classification above us, and Okanagan, who competes in a different division altogether. It was a special day for Jaxsen, as it marked his first game as a high school player, while for Kaine, it was bittersweet since it was his last chance to play spring ball before he becomes a senior next year.
On Saturday, Ben took the three older kids to Hermiston for the UCCA Desert Classic, and they all performed exceptionally well. Each of their four heifers advanced to the championship round, with Short Bread, Penelope, and Baby Jewel winning their respective classes, while Hazel secured a commendable second place. In the championship round, Baby Jewel was crowned the overall heifer champion, and Penelope finished in third place overall. Kade also had a strong showing, finishing third in his class with his steer, while Kaine earned the title of reserve champion. Our Juju who was named grand champion. All three kids made it to the championship round in showmanship, showcasing their hard work and dedication. Back at home, Toni and I were busy as well; we shipped out a cow and her calf, carefully sorting through the herd to reunite a mother who had gotten separated from her young one. We also managed to get Gunner’s pen in, pulling him out and transporting a few of his mares to the house while letting the rest out into the desert. Toni took the time to chop down a thistle, and then we wrapped up the day with our usual chores, feeling accomplished after a busy but rewarding day.
Happy Father’s Day! We gathered in Washtucna at Sonny’s for a delightful lunch with Sherri, Berry, and Jeanie. The atmosphere was lively, and we all enjoyed each other’s company, sharing stories and laughter. After our meal, we returned home where Toni and Kade snapped some pictures of North to send out. Meanwhile, Jaxsen and I got busy putting out grass bales, ensuring the animals had plenty to munch on. Kaine and Anna dove right into their cattle chores, working diligently to keep everything running smoothly. It was a fulfilling day filled with family, fun, and a bit of hard work.
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