Branding

Kerry Don told me Thursday morning at 6:45 a.m. "Oh they're branding our calves on the Gardner place this morning." It was nice to have 15 minutes notice! We threw on some clothes and headed out! .

When we got there the guys were heading out to gather the cows and calves. I really like this picture. The boys hung out with Ewell's dog... he's pretty sweet.

Justin's boot.

The guys put the boys right to work giving shots.

Pake's right hand was so swollen that it wasn't much help, but the guys rigged him up by putting the medicine bottle in his belt. It worked pretty good.

The calves were too big for the boys to help flank, maybe next year.

I'd love to know what Tate is telling Alan.

Some pretty good cowboys... all local Tulia guys: Ewell and Blake are brothers, Justin, and Alan with Pake and Tate. The boys got to pick a calf and put their ear tag in his ear. They picked the two biggest black bull calves well they're steers now!

Trip to Denver

Traci, Brooks, Hunter and Tate went to Denver with us! Pake and I were soo excited to have someone to come and hang out with us. We left on Monday morning and were able to hang out that afternoon and all day Tuesday. We packed in lots of sight seeing!

Our first stop was the Bass Pro Shops. The boys loved it... Brooks, Pake, Hunter and Tate.

This is Casa Bonitas. We'd heard this was a really cool place to visit. It's a restraunt that's actually a cave. The entertainment was great, but I can't say the same for the food. It was ok, just not gormet authentic or anything...

Traci, Hunter, Pake, Brooks, Tate and I.... we were seated in the splash zone!
We got to see the divers up super close. It was like nothing I've EVER seen before.

One of the divers about to make an awesome dive.

On Tuesday, we headed for the foothills and mountains. We went on a scenic drive that started at Golden. It's such a charming little town with a creek that running through it.

Pake watching the guy on the kayak.

I was worried that Tate was going to jump in!

We drove up Look Out Mountain, you can see Golden and Denver in the background.

At the top of Lookout Mountain is Buffalo Bills museum and grave. It was really interesting.

We started driving up near Echo Mountain Ski Area. There were some beautiful views, but we couldn't stop just anywhere since it was a two lane highway. We saw a car that ran off the road. It was really steep where he went off but the trees kept him from falling off the side of the mountain. He was fine though and he took his bike off the top of his car and rode it down the mountain. We wanted to go further but a thunderstorm was rolling in.

The creek outisde of Evergreen, Colorado. We were all wishing we could go fly fishing!

Red Rocks Ampitheatre was the last stop on our scenic drive. It's really something to see! I bet concerts there are awesome!

We went downtown to the Aquarium. I never get tired of going there... it's an interesting place.

Pake's best friend Hunter finally got to go with Pake to the hospital. This was Pake's 59th surgery. He's way brave! He went into surgery at 7:00, and they released us at 11:30. He just wakes right up and is ready to go! They injected 18 ccs this time of ethonol alcohol to kill the extra veins in his hand and arm. Amazingly he has very little pain.

Our flight was at 3:00 pm and I thought we had plenty of time to get to the airport. Well, we barely made it. They wouldn't give us a boarding pass when we checked our bags, and they told us that we had to get it at our gate. Our gate was in terminal C and the LAST gate. We got there at 2:45 and they tell us they have 5 seats... there were 6 of us.... WOW! I paid for my tickets two months ago, but Soutwest overbooks.... I was ticked! Anway, they finally printed 6 boarding passess and let us on the plane about 2:59. I was soo glad to see Amarillo, Texas. I did not want to stay in Denver while everyone else got to come home....

We made lots of memories with Traci, Brooks, and Hunter! I was so glad they got to go with us and were able to see all the things we saw.... I think the boys will remember it forever!

Bailey's Sweet 16

Bailey's Sweet 16 was supposed to be a pool party. Unfortunately, last Saturday was not a good day for a pool party since it rained all day! So, we moved it to our house. Lots of kids came out and they all had fun!

It's just so hard to believe that Bailey is already 16 years old!

Lake Proctor

We took our yearly trip to Lake Proctor this last weekend. We enjoyed a long 4 day weekend there. It's a very relaxing place. We camp right on the water. This year it was Dexter & Sherry Adams, Justin & Tami Byrd, Joe Wayne & Juila Adams, Colton George and us.... well plus the 11 kids and 3 dogs!

Our family Pake, KD, me and Tate
Cousins! Yes I said... 11 kids from 17 months to 16 years! Kaitlyn Adams, Rayli Byrd, Cimmaron Adams, Jerzi Byrd, Tate, Meghan Byrd, Brenden Adams, Pake, Drew, Aaron, & Bailey Adams! They all had a blast! The cutest friendship that developed was with Rayli and Cimmie they're just 3 but don't under estimate these 3 year olds! They are quite bossy but oh sooo cute!

We fished for catfish on the beach and had some luck! Tater caught one! He was pretty excited but very disappointed when he lost the next one. I'm queen stink baiter! I used a stick, but I don't mind and believe you me it was smelly!

Pake with that awesome stripper he caught, it ended up being a little shy of a keeper. I thought it looked pretty BIG!

My Pake learned to ski last year, and he didn't have any problems getting up this year. I think it's awesome that he uses both hands! His hand doesn't keep him from doing much.

Well Tate just had to try sking too! He's just 7 but he made a hand! After about 3 tries, he had it down. I have to say I'm pretty proud of him!

The kids loved sking and tubing! I don't think we could have gone long enough for all of them. Well on Sunday afternoon we ran out of gas in the boat. They were alittle disappointed but they thought it was pretty neat to get towed in too! Luckily I had my cell phone and Joe Wayne came out and got us in Dexter's boat.

We always look forward to our trip down south to a "real" lake since there aren't any around here! We hope to make some trips to Greenbelt or Buffalo so the kids can ski! Better yet we're praying for the BIG rain that will fill Lake Mackenzie back up!

Texas Tech Football Camp

Pake went to football camp at Tech with Tevyn. They got to stay in the dorms for two nights. They thought it was pretty cool... makes me realize how much Pake is growing up. Tish, Tate and I went to watch them this morning. They were at the stadium doing their drills and then played some "Raider Ball" as they call it. Tate can't wait until he gets to go!

Tate with his BIG brother, Pake.
Tevyn and Pake

The defensive coach for TECH gave the boys a little speech before he let them go.... He told them to remember ABC... Avoid Bad Company and to always work hard! I just hope the boys remember it!

Fire Fighter Golf Tournament

Kerry Don and I golfed in the Tulia Volunteer Fire Fighter Golf Tournament. It's a four man scramble and our partners were Speedo and Joe McD. We really didn't do all that great but we had fun!

KD taking a rest while we waited on the team in front of us....
KD wearing the fire fighter gear that we had to wear while we teed off on hole number one. I actually put it on the green and they used my ball... one of the few times I was helpful.

This was our first tournament.... golfing is something we really enjoy doing together.

Scout's First Birthday

It's so hard to believe that Scout is already ONE! WOW..... Time flies! I say that all the time but it's sooo true. We went to Earth for lunch! Tori definetly outdid herself... it was great! We were sad though because Pake missed it... He had football camp.

Our family with little Miss Scout!
Scout with her bouncy horse that Mom and I got for her... Kerry Don and Riley got to put it together and they weren't too happy with us! But I know she's going to have lots of fun with it!

Scout got tonz of cute pictures. I think Scout likes Tate and Trail too! I got hope she grows up to be extra ornery! ;)