Merry Christmas!!

I find myself not sleeping very well lately due to the unsettled feeling that surrounds my thoughts. This year has presented many new (and old) challenges and struggles, and next year proves to be more of the same. Sometimes I wish that there was a clear answer from God. Things are changing in our little farming world, and Jason and I have been praying that we make the right move. But it seems that the harder we try, the more opportunities that present themselves the harder and more confusing everything becomes.

So Jason and I have found a verse that I would like to share.

"Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!"
Psalm 27:14

To wait on the Lord is to demonstrate confident expectation. The Hebrew word for wait may also be translated hope. To hope in God is to wait for His timing and His action!

Don't you just love that?! So I wish you a very Merry CHRISTmas, and that whatever situation you find yourself in this Christmas I hope that you too will find yourself waiting on the Lord.

Christian Bigotry?

A letter to the editor was written to our little newspaper about Christian bigotry in the Bible Belt States. This man claims to be a "minister", yet he condemns Christians for not voting for a black who stands against Christians. I am a white voter who did not vote for Barack Hussein Obama because he is pro-choice, I am pro-life, he is for gay marriages, I am for marriages between one man and one woman, and he is against our Second Amendment rights, and I carry a gun! So does that make me a bigot? NO! It makes me a Chrisitian who stood up and voted for a person who would do the best job of protecting what I believe in. It would not matter if that person was white, black, green, purple, or yellow, if they had strong Chrisitian values and stood by them then they would have my vote.

He also wrote how sad it was for the black people in those states whose vote didn't count. Well, I'm sorry but if they got out and voted then their vote counted! And even though the man that I voted for did not win, and still feel that my vote counted. What's sad is the fact that people call white people bigots or racist for not voting for a liberal black man.

He just had to say something negative about President Bush as well, and that if he was running again with only a 28% approval rating that the people in the Bible Belt would have voted for him. Well, sir, I would have voted for President Bush!! How rare these days to find a man who will stand up for what he believes even when it is not popular.

I'm leaving on a jet plane.....tomorrow

This country girl is going to the city!! Tomorrow my mom and I fly out of Tucson heading to Washington D.C., and we are so excited!! But I can't lie and say that I'm not a little bit nervous about the metro. You see I've got this thing with my personal space, and I'm not so great when it gets crowded. Luckily, Nette will be able to coach us through all of that!

This is also the first time for me to leave Jason for such a big trip. I'm not sure how to handle it! I've been cooking all week, and coming up with a list so that he knows what needs to be done. You really don't realize all that you do until you have to leave it to someone else!! But I think that he is going to be OK.

So here's to a very happy weekend, and happy (if that's possible) voting on Tuesday, and I will see you, Nette, tomorrow!!

Trouble In The Wind

She was born on a very cold, very windy Easter Sunday morning. April 16,1995, Trouble In The Wind came into this world and forever changed mine.

We called her Windy and she was quite the little whirlwind. So tiny that she fit neatly under her mama's belly while she nursed.







It was definitely love at first sight, well for me anyway....I'm not sure about Stacey.








Every young girl needs a passion in her life. Mine had always been horses, and Windy came along right before I entered high school. Just good timing or God's hand at work? I would say God's hand at work!!





We entered her into halter classes, dragging her along with us to all the shows.












This was her first blue ribbon. I believe that she is just a yearling in this picture.




















I was showing her in all the classes when she turned 2 years old. She was my baby, my project. I started her, I trained her, and she rewarded me greatly! Together we worked so hard and in the end it paid off.













She was my best friend and I relied on her through my high school years. I am so glad that I had some of my senior pictures taken with her!














Many people do not know that we were on the cover of Brio, a Christian girls magazine. (Please, don't hold the horse "whisperer" title against me! I was not so thrilled when they put that on the cover. Besides, there were many times when I was horse "yeller"!) This was definitely another God thing.














I believe that this was after one of our stressful photo shoots for that magazine. She is drugged here (she got over stressed), but I just love her crossed legs. She stood like that for quite some time!







Arizona State Fair! As a 2 year old we placed 2nd in our Western Pleasure class, but for some reason I don't have those pictures. Here we placed 6th in showmanship, which was one of the toughest classes.





















Lots and lots of waiting in between classes. I miss those days.











This is Windy and Teaspoon, her first and only baby.

It's hard to know when to make that call to end the life of a pet, and it's something that I wish we never had to do. But Windy was suffering from bad hips and she was declining quickly. She came into this world on April 16, 1995, and she left this world on October 9, 2008.

Thank you to my two mama's for coming over to cry with me. Thank you, Jason, for taking care of everything because I could not. Thank you, Father, for the opportunity to own such a remarkable horse. And thank you, Windy, for the time that we spent together, the memories made, the person that I became through you, and for Teaspoon. When you died a piece of me forever died with you. I love you and I miss you.

Goodbye my friend.

Reflections.....

Jason and I had the opportunity to go and help out Tammy and Stephen, since they have so graciously helped us out lately! It is their "harvest" time as well and we were helping gather yearlings to take to the sell. Jason had helped on Saturday, but some managed to get out of the pasture so yesterday afternoon we gathered again.

For a little background information, my family has farmed just on the other side of the mountain where Tammy and Stephen have their ranch since the early 50's. Yesterday was my first time to be one the backside of that mountain. WOW! I know that I have posted this before, but it is amazing how much AZ changes within miles of it's self!

ANYWHO...... At one point Teaspoon (my horse) and I were left by ourselves holding some cows and calves while Jason and Stephen were scouting for some more. The view I had was absolutely breath taking!! As I had a few minutes to myself I was praying and thanking God for the opportunity to even be up there, when I started thinking about the ranching life style. Now, farming is hard but ranching....that's a whole other kind of hard.

I was thinking about all the sacrifices that they had made to be up there, everything that they had done without. So many times we want to find our "security" in our checking account, or where we live, or what vehicles that we drive, or how new our farming equipment is.....but here's a family who love each other and I mean really love each other. The 3 kids are grown but they still look out for one another, at Will's wedding his dad was his best man, at Shay's wedding her brothers were her attendants and it is important to Shay Lynn to have her children close together so that they too might have the relationship that she shares with her brothers.

They built this relationship not by buying all the newest and greatest things for their children, in fact, Tammy told me that when the kids were little she would go into town and pick up free cardboard refrigerator boxes for the kids to make forts and countless other stories! But they were given a wonderful life by all of them working together, sacrificing together on that ranch. Now their family is not perfect, but to me it is a beautiful example of what God had is mind when he set up the family.

I pray that someday when I have a family of my own that I too will instill in my children a strong work ethic, the meaning of sacrifice, and what life is really about....a relationship with our Savior.

I wish that I could have carried my camera with me! It was so peaceful and to me, there is no better quiet time then when you're sitting horseback looking at God's beautiful creation!

The Chile Roaster!

I finally have some chile roasting pictures! Yesterday, Tammy and Stephen came back over to help Jason and I again!! Tammy and I roasted 320 lbs. of chile and we were able to get some pictures. Now mind you that we mostly roast green chile, but after we were done we decided that we would pick some red and try it out.



(the pictures are out of order) This is the final product. Red chiles are so sweet and flavorful! More so than the green.









We threw in a green pod just for fun!









This is the roaster in action.






You very slowly turn the roaster (by hand with this one) and let the flames blister the skin.








Close up of the chile while it is cooking.








The idea is to blister the skin but not over cook the flesh. It usually takes only 3 minutes to roast 20 lbs. So why does it take all day to do 320 lbs?!? It's the process afterwards of stopping the cooking by cooling the chili down with water.




This is right out of the roaster.







Thanks again to Tammy and Stephen! It's wonderful to have friends that you can call in a pinch and they will be there. We are looking forward to be able to help you out on the ranch in the next couple of weeks!

AAHHH.....Monday

Yes, I'm actually happy to see Monday and a start of a new week. We survived last week and the weekend! We picked 10 loads of chile, 5 loads of pumpkins, and I have lost track how many bags of chile, well over 100.

God has blessed us with such great friends and family, and we utilized them this week! On Thursday night, Tyler came over and he and I picked up bales out of the field while Jason finished baling. On Friday, Tammy and Stephen came over and she helped me roast chile all morning and we're not exactly sure what Jason and Stephen did.....drove around maybe?? No, they did keep very busy, but it sure felt like Tammy and I were doing all the hard work! ;) But talk about a wonderful friend because she brought with her breakfast burritos and sandwiches so that I did not have to worry about anything extra. Plus she sent all the extras with us on our unexpected trip to New Mexico! Thank You, Thank You, Tammy!!

So to top off a very LONG week, on Friday at 4pm we headed to Roswell, NM to take care of some unexpected business. Long story, long trip! But we made it to Alamogordo, NM around 11pm and could not find a room. Dream works production was in town filming the new transformer movie, they were having a hot air balloon festival on Saturday and Sunday, and a bike rally in Ruidoso. We finally got a room at the third hotel that we stopped at and we we got the very last room there! We had a hay rake on a trailer and we were asked if it was a transformer! I told Jason that we could probably sell it for lots of money!

We made it back home the next day around 7pm and Jason baled hay until 11:30pm. So on Sunday we slept in, he raked more hay, we napped, and then we picked up more bales until around 8pm last night.

Just a little side note, we are now down to just 2 dogs. Cash bit one of our biggest fresh chile customers on Wednesday, so now we just have Cody and Milo. It's really strange not to have Mimi's dog, Coco, or Cash around anymore!

Power of Prayer

This morning my sister-in-law, Jodie, and my niece, Brooke (4 years old), came over to pick up some roasted chile. Brooke needed to use the bathroom so we came into the house and while Jodie and I were visiting Brooke went into the bathroom 4 different times. So Jodie went in to check on her and told her that they were fixing to leave and that she would stop and pick up some medicine for her. Brooke told her not to worry about it because she had already prayed!

Have you prayed today? ;)

No Rest for the Wicked?

Reading other blogs inspired me to write about our "not" so restful weekend. And for once we did not have any rain! Wow....who would have thought that out here in the desert?

Let's begin with Friday.....that morning "we" picked 3 semi loads of chile, 100 bags of chile, I roasted 160 lbs. of chile, and shipped 2 semi loads of hay. I also finished cleaning and putting back together my disastrous guest bedroom. Then we loaded up a trailer with hay and headed towards Wet Stone to deliver more chile and hay. With 8 ton bales of alfalfa hay pulled by a gas pickup.....the going was slow!! Those hills around Benson are tough! But we finally made it and we were able to see Travis and Nicolette's house that they are going to be moving into soon. We had dinner with them, and got home pretty late.

Saturday I started out by roasting another 160 lbs. of chile, plus I am having problems with my big roaster with the motor on it, so I had to switch to my little roaster (which I just picked up a few days before that) and hand turn the it.....little more work involved with that, and we were only able to pick 1 semi load of chile because our crew was small. I did some more cleaning on the house and then looked into my Green Chile Bible for some good recipes. Then Jason calls.....

Jason: What's for lunch?
Me: Oh, I've made buttermilk chile cornbread and pollo ranchero!
Jason: Wow! Something new and we aren't even having company over!

When I called him to let him know that lunch was ready, he asked if Nicolette was there. So we ended up having company for lunch! We both had a great time with them and the kids, and I really enjoyed rocking Heidi most of the afternoon! ;) After they had left I roasted 120 lbs. of chile and we took them to Elfrida. We ended up getting home late again that night.

Sunday, we slept in!! Papa called and needed Jason to help get a ram out of the pen of ewes. When he came back we ate breakfast and then he went out to rake hay and I started some more house cleaning ( I know, I know, we should have gone to church!). I hung a new blind in the guest bedroom, washed that window, and then I shampooed the carpets in that bedroom and the office. I also made these really good sugar free peanut butter oatmeal cookies. After Jason finished raking the hay, we left to go the the mountains to have picnic with my family. We ended up in Turkey Creek and the water is running and the grass is so high that you can barely see the cattle! BEAUTIFUL!!!!

On the way home, we had to stop at a Border Patrol check point which they were in the process of setting up. Anyway...people we everywhere and here is how the conversation went between Jason and the agent.

BP: Good evening. US Border Patrol. Where are you heading?
Me: (oh no!! How's he going to answer?)
Jason: Home.
Me: (whew)
BP: Where's home?
Me: (Oh NO, he just had to ask!)
Jason: Cochise.
Me: (whew)
BP: Where are you coming from?
Me: (OK, here we go....)
Jason: Turkey Creek.
Me: (oh...THANK YOU, LORD!)
BP: Have a nice evening.

as we drive away.........
Jason: I don't like to be questioned.
Me: No kidding.

Fun times this weekend! This week looks to be our busiest of the season. This morning Jason already has an order for 90 bags of chile, and, hopefully, we will have a big enough crew for 2 semi loads as well. We start shipping pumpkins on Wednesday, I have chile orders to take to Tucson on Wednesday, and out of 240 acres of alfalfa - 180 acres have been cut and will need to be raked and baled probably by this weekend. Oh well, looks like next weekend we won't be doing much resting either!

I Love The Fall

I really do love September and October. It brings back good memories of county fair (showed horses so I was able to stay out of the politics!) and of corn harvest. One of my most favorite memories of growing up as a "farm kid" was spending time with my dad on the combine harvesting corn. Love It!! Love the smells, the sights and the sounds.....I highly recommend trying it! ;)

These days I'm no longer showing horses, my dad now has his corn custom harvested, and we don't go corn but I still love the fall! We started picking chile last Friday and things have been crazy. And the crazier things get, the happier Jason gets.....yes, I said "happier". I do count my blessings!! And I have fired up the roaster and have gotten a few bags roasted. I had a couple yesterday come and get 80lbs. of roasted chile and they told me that it was the best chile that they have ever had! Last year they canned some of it and gave it away as Christmas gifts and everyone asked where they had gotten the chile. They told them that it did NOT come from Hatch, NM! I just love it when people finally realize that chile doesn't just come from Hatch, and that it's actually better from Cochise, AZ!

We will start picking pumpkins next Wednesday. This year has been so odd! This is the latest start to chile that we have ever had, and the earliest start to pumpkins that we have ever had! I'll get some pictures of chile/pumpkin harvest, and of my chile roaster.

Oh yes...I mustn't forget....along with the chile and pumpkin harvest we are still putting up hay. Well, we are trying, but it won't seem to stop raining. They say that as soon as you plant hay then the rain will start, well.....they are RIGHT! But as my new favorite quote says, "Life is not about learning how to survive the storm, it's about learning how to dance in the rain!"

So if you'll excuse me, I have some dancing lessons to attend to! And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNIFER!!

Craziness!

I know that for the most part those who read this blog all ready feel the way that I do. However, having said that you MUST watch this video on you tube of Obama. If there was ever any doubt in you mind about if he has "faith" or not, this should clear it up pretty well for ya! I can not comprehend the fact that we as Americans would even consider such an ANTI-American and ANTI-Christian for our President. Also, Obama is counting on the Christians NOT to get out and vote this November.

http://www.youtube.com/v/4FCNKwHRCQM


Anyway, on a little lighter note.....today Jason and I went to my brother's house to practice shooting our bows for our up coming elk hunts. Well, actually we had planned on going up to Turkey Creek, but it was raining so we ended up staying at their house. Their house is in Sunizona and it sits right next to Turkey Creek. Lots of farm land all around, not many houses. As we were playing around a small blue car drives up the road close to their by one of their pivots. It goes up the road aways and stops, 7 guys run out of the creek to meet the car carrying big, bulky bags, then the car comes back, and the 7 men run back to the creek. We all look at each other, and the first word everyone thought of was drugs. We called the border patrol, but we called the Willcox station not Douglas, so then we called the Douglas station (government for ya) and waited. I guess it was about 15 minutes later when the BP showed up, and about 30 minutes later they had all 7 men caught. Thanks only to Jason, Preston and my Dad! After lunch they including another BP agent went back up the creek to see if they could find anything and found several burlap sacks all tied together. They were empty, but they definitely had been carrying drugs. Plus, that was the second time that morning that that car had been by the house. And I'm talking maybe 200 yards from their house!!

So back to Obama vs. McCain, we NEED the right to own guns! Most people don't understand that, but it is so important. So I'll leave you with this.....By not voting, who are you electing?

Special People

Do you have a special person that when after you talk to them you always feel better? Well...for me that is my cousin Sarah. Even though we don't get a chance to talk very often we always laugh, cry (most of the time from laughing) and just have good conversation. So this post if for you Sarah, I love you so much, I am so proud of you, and I'll never forget "35"! LOL!! It was so wonderful to talk to you today, and I can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks. Hang in there!

Romans 8:28

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's been a crazy day, and I have been shown love in so many different ways! My mom and I went riding this morning, and I got to ride my new-to-me saddle that Jason bought for me. As we were headed out for our ride, my brother called me and wished me Happy Birthday and said that they wanted to come over.

As we were riding my sister, Stacey, called me and wished me a Happy Birthday. After our ride, Preston, Jodie, and Brooke showed up and they gave me some really cool hunting stuff and some Mary Kay stuff as well. But the fact that my brother picked out my present was the best gift of all.

Then I fixed a quick lunch for Jason, and got on the rake tractor for a couple of hours. I had just walked in the door when our neighbor, Tina, and her baby came over with a card and flowers! As she was fixing to leave, Jayne and her kids showed up with a cake and presents in hand. Then later on Helen came over with more gifts, and John Deere gifts and a wild flower lip color at that!!

So, THANK YOU to all of my very loving and thoughtful friends and family! You all sure know how to make a girl feel special! And I love all of you very, very, very much!!!

And.....Happy 35th Anniversary, Helen & Virgil!

Pictures

O.K.! This is for Stacey, so I better see a comment from ya! ;) This is the cake that Janette and I worked so hard on for Stacey and Rocky's birthday. Hence, the Happy "46th" Birthday. On Rocky's side we did a mining theme, and on Stacey's, well.....I just had to do a monkey theme. And there is a awesome story that goes along with the monkey theme, but I definitely have to tell it in person! Right, Stacey?!?



On her (their) birthday, we went out to eat at Claim Jumper, and this is them enjoying all of those candles. We had our fingers crossed that the smoke detectors wouldn't go off!



They were the good sparkler candles, so they had to blow hard! :)





This next picture is kind of gross, so if you have a weak stomach you might not want to go any further. This picture is also for Stacey.



Coffee Pot has acquired a new sore under his chest. Not sure why or how it happened, but here it is.






And this is sweet 27 year old Coffee Pot who is enjoying is time out eating. If you look closely on his back he has a hitch hiker! That bird was just chillin on his back as he walked along.

What a crock!

"What a crock: Blaming biofuels for food prices ignores reality." That is the title for an article in Western Farm Press. The article is quite good, and the title cracked me up! I think that biggest thing here is people ignoring reality! Everyone wants to cry wolf on ethanol raising food prices, but no one wants to take a look at the real data of whats really happening in our markets. So let us look at what happened in 2007 with corn....in 2007 U.S. farmers produced a record 13.1 billion bushels of corn, 22% of which was used for ethanol.

Still, there was enough left to meet domestic needs, achieve record exports, and have a 10 % surplus. What?!? Did I just write surplus? Had not a single bushel of corn gone to ethanol, food prices would still have risen because of the tremendous burden of $100-plus oil, burgeoning world demand for grains, and crop failures due to drought and other disasters.

And speaking of burdens, this afternoon Jason and I were figuring our input costs for our wheat this year. When we came to fertilizer, Jason said that a particular kind that we used we had purchased at roughly $500 per ton, and now it is over $1000 per ton. Unbelievable! I hate to beat a dead horse, but......crude oil again plays a mighty big factor in our food prices.

If you like imported oil......you're going to love imported food!

Don't Worry About Tomorrow

It's been on crazy week around here! So much to do, and not enough of me to do it! Ever feel like that? It started a week ago when we went with Helen & Virgil to get Janette from the airport. It's so good to have her home again, although she has all ready left again.......but it's still good to have her in the states.

Monday, Janette helped me decorate a cake for my sister's birthday. We had so much fun and she learned how easy it really is. After words I took dinner to Jason out on the tractor, and ended up staying out there with him until after 11pm.

Tuesday, I baked over 11 dozen cookies and then Jason and I went to Tucson to celebrate Stacey's 22nd birthday. We had a great time, and got home again after 11pm.

Wednesday, I went back to Tucson to help Janette move out of her apartment. I had a great time hanging out with her and eating at Chopped! Ran back home, helped unload Janette's belongings, then went home took a shower, and Jason and I went to Dan and Kristel's house. We had a great time there as well, but managed to get home after 11pm.

Thursday, I was supposed to pick up Janette at 6am to work on a pivot but didn't actually get up until 6:30am. So around 7 I picked her up and around 10am we were finished. Nicolette and her two babies came over to Helen's house so we spent most of the day with them. I took Jason some dinner again on the tractor, and then ended up driving tractor for a little while. We finally made it to bed by 8:30pm, and it was wonderful!

Friday, I was supposed to be at my mom's by 8am but I ended up driving tractor for a little bit in the morning. Left my house, got to her house around 10:30am and my mom, sister, and I starting cooking for 125 people. We were asked to cater an anniversary party for my sister-in-law's parents for Saturday. I think I got home around 6:30pm or so.

Saturday, I met my mom and sister and her friend in Willcox around 9am. We finished making beans, spanish rice, chicken enchiladas, chile relleno bake, green chile meat, two kinds of salsa, guacamole, and 3 edible fruit bouquets. We only had one accident....I was trying ever so carefully to move on chile bake from one oven to the next when the rack tipped over and chile, cheese, and eggs went every where! But God does work miracles, b/c for one thing my mom just laughed and the other is that we had 2 chile bakes left over! We didn't feed 5,000, but we did have food left over! I left there around 8pm, and came home to lighting, thunder, and a little rain.

Sunday, Jason was supposed to teach class this morning, which he has been preparing for all week. However, with the rain last night and 50% chance today, he is instead baling hay. Thank you, Papa, for covering for him!

So in a nut shell, that has been our week! And I'm going to close with a verse that was a going to be part of Jason's (now Papa's) lesson....

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble! Matthew 6:24

A Few Days Get Away

Jason and I ran away to Flagstaff, AZ for a couple of days this week! We had such a great time. On our way there, we stopped at an antique store in Payson. Actually, we passed it and Jason turned around and I was HAPPY! It was a huge store with lots of cool stuff, but found it to be pretty pricey. I'm to cheap.....don't really like to pay a lot for "junk"! But as I was wandering around Jason found me and he had 3 books in his hand. All of them were about women and ranching. How sweet......bonus for sister-in-laws who enjoy those types of books as well!

As we pressed on our journey, we happened into a saddle shop in Camp Verde. Jason was like a kid in a candy store! They had lots, and lots of stuff as well, new and used. We ended up with a few used items and headed out.

Our destination was actually Mormon Lake which we made it there safe and sound. We met up with the Smith's and others, ate some dinner, visited, and then headed to our room. Tammy had booked our room for us and we were in the Roundup Rooms. It was a long building with four rooms. Tammy's dad was on the end, then Stephen's parents, then us, and another room on the end. Very small, but quaint rooms with a good bed. We bunked down for the night, and we were both reading the new books that Jason had purchased when our "other" neighbors showed up.

First they come stomping down the front porch, opened up the door to their room, the man (excuse me for including this, but you need to the full picture) passed gas loudly, then they began their conversation. It didn't take long to figure out that they were intoxicated. Bonus! The walls were paper thin, so it was like they were standing in our room.

They couldn't believe that the room didn't have a TV! And how small the room was, and that he promised to get a better cabin next time. And how they would like to have room service in the morning that included champagne......like they really needed more to drink. Then the door opens, and someone leaves, comes back, and now we get a radio blasting!

Finally, Jason gets up and gets dressed and goes back down to the restaurant to see if you could change rooms. Small place, and the reservations office was closed this time of night. Some punk of a kid told Jason that they were all booked for the night. So Jason comes back to the room, and we decided that maybe things would get better.......well, they didn't. Things got so X-rated that we packed our stuff and drove 30 minutes into Flagstaff! And we hoped that Stephen's parents hadn't heard anything b/c it was so loud they might have thought that it was us!

We ended up with a great room in Flag. The next morning we called the lodge to let them know that we did not spend the night there last night, and to cancel our room for that night. The manager was very kind and helpful, wanted to know who Jason had talked to b/c they did have rooms available and we should have been moved, and that they would give us a free night. All of that was great, but we decided that we liked our quiet room in town!

Later that afternoon, we went back to the lake for Will and Trisha's wedding. It all turned out very well. Except, that she didn't have a photographer and I ended up taking a lot of pictures with another girl. Actually, I had a lot of fun doing it, but it's not that same as having someone who knows what they are doing! I sure hope that they turned out, but we did take an awful lot of pictures! (sorry, Will) And I got some more good Hagen time! That is one of the cutest little boys ever!

We took our time coming home yesterday, we went through Cottonwood, to Jerome which is a cool little town. It was established in 1876 (same as A&M I was told) on a mountain side. Now, if you have ever been to Bisbee that is steep, but this is insane! Cool place to see if you ever get the chance. From there we went to Prescott, to another saddle shop. Again, Jason- kid in a candy store. Then we headed back home around Roosevelt Lake, which is almost 100% full! It was beautiful, but it really made us just want to be on the lake fishing!


We really had a great time just exploring this wonderful state! You really don't have to drive long before the scenery changes. And between Steve Lindsey (the pastor who did the ceremony) and Jason, I laughed almost the whole time! And if you get the chance, ask Jason about the girl who hit on him! He'll try to blow it off, but I've got witnesses and good ones, Tammy and Stephen! Tommy saw it too, but he thought that it was cool....not so much me though. ;)

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Here are some pictures of wheat harvest before the rain set in. This is Jason in the combine in front of me on the grain buggy.
"When you're the grain buggy driver the view never changes." If you look closely you can see another combine heading towards us on the left of Jason.
We were able to get some help this year, and that is R.L. fixing to dump his load onto the buggy.

OK.....can't believe that I'm going to say this, but this rain sure is a pain! We have 60 acres of alfalfa that we can't get baled and out of the field, and wheat that is too wet to get out of the field. It has been cloudy all day, everyday, since Saturday. But I guess that the bright side it is only 60 acres of alfalfa, and 100 acres of wheat. How can rain be such a blessing and a curse all at the same time? And I also can't complain too loudly knowing that the people in the Midwest would trade our problems for theirs any day!

Just a quote that I found that made me think of some women in my life!

"If a woman is sufficiently ambitious, determined and gifted - there is practically nothing she can't do." -Helen Lawrenson

Praying for our Nation

I'm not one to get in the middle of all of this political mess. And since Jason and I turned off our TV, that has been one of the MANY blessing is not hearing about day after day. But I feel that this is important enough. Check out www.focusonthefamily.org if you haven't already and click on the link that on the bottom left that says something about "Dr. Dobson and the 2008 candidates".

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I feel that these are crazy times for the US. This election makes me more nervous than I can remember. Then after listening to Dr. Dobson, Obama really scares me! As Christians we need to come together and stand united. It is my personal opinion that we are voting for the "lesser of the two evils" this November. When I listened to Obama speak over the Internet, not being able to see his face, I could hear the evil. I could hear the voice of man who wants God to have NO part in our nation. And I fear the day when the United States turns its back on God.

After listening to his speech and if it bothers you as it did me, please tell someone else to listen to it. We need to know the hearts of these men and women that we will be voting for this election. I read a bumper sticker just the other day: Be smart about voting, Hitler was elected in a free election!

We need to be praying for this nation, and praying for God's wisdom in whom we should put in office.

Horse Camp & VBS

WOW! First of all, where did June go?!? I guess I've been a little busy! Let's see.... Last week was the first week of horse camp. There were 10 kids from the ages of 8-10. Everything went fairly smoothly for handling city kids, and at the end of the week they had to take a test which they all passed. Reflects well of the teacher I suppose! ;) There was one boy who liked to tell me that he couldn't. If you know me, that answer gets you no where and that I'll show you that you CAN do it. When I asked some others about him they told me that he had been violent towards animals, had ADHD, but they had seen some improvement in him. On Friday, part of their test was to demonstrate to me how to properly groom a horse. When it was this boy's turn, he had the soft brush so he was able to brush the horse's face. It happened that I was the only one watching him, and as he very loving brushed the horses face he bent down and kissed her. Needless to say, I let him take a little extra time when he was grooming.

Vacation Bible School...... it has been so much fun! We are doing a Veggie Tales theme this year, The Pirates Who Did Nothing. My mom and I are doing the story and the snacks which are together. Each day we have silly costumes, which keeps the kids interested in how we will be dressed. Tomorrow I am the Sea of Galilee. I tell the story of when Jesus walked on water. Today the main theme was that God is always in control. I'm sure that I got more from this lesson than the kids did. But isn't it wonderful just know that God is in control. In our world where everything is changing so fast it's nice to know that we, as Christians, can have a peace about everything. Sometimes that's the only way that I can get any sleep at night.

Also, last week we had a really great time with Jennifer and the kids! Now Jason always gets lots of lovin' from R, but this trip, even I got some good lovin'! A and I were able to drive around the farm on the 4-wheeler and check all the dripers at the pumps. We also saw LOTS of jack rabbits, quail, and even a coyote. Then to finish the week off, I even got lots of good lovin' from Baby Hagen! He even cried when I left him! OH, that just touches my heart. :)

Well, I guess I better start memorizing some more of my story for tomorrow. Here's a little preview:

Welcome to Spyglass Bible Theater, where true heroes reach out to Jesus! I've got to warn you, it's a little wet in there today. In fact, we're about to go underwater! Everyone take a deep breath and hold it, so your cheeks are puffed out like this. (demonstrate) If you've got a good deep breath, I'll let you jump in one by one.

"It's Been A Long Month This Week"

That's what Jason told his mom last week. I've decided that it is going to be a long year this month! We officially have our first field of alfalfa under our belts. On Monday morning we were up at 2:30 am, at the field by 3:00 am, and quit baling at 7 am. Came in for some breakfast , went back out and picked up bales off the field. Came home for lunch, took a little nap, and then back out to work. Tuesday morning, up at 2:30 am, at the field by 3:00 am, and finished baling at 7 am. Came in for some breakfast, went back out, and picked up bales. (actually, we had to call the vet to come get my mare up, but that's another story for another day) Came home for lunch, took a little nap, went out and finished picking up bales. YEAH! First field done! Luckily, our second field won't be ready for another week or so.

For some reason or another, June has always been crazy and this year is no exception. The next three weeks I have horse camp, VBS, and horse camp. Plus, all the duties that have to been done around the farm. Then the first of July we should start harvesting our wheat. Needless to say, we are going to be very tired and, hopefully, not to grouchy! I'm glad that Jennifer is going to be here at the very beginning of all of the ciaos! Allison, I want to know how you managed to get such a long vacation!! And, um, just maybe you have room for one more?!? ;)

Oh my goodness, the UPS driver just arrived and my pup Milo jumps into the truck. Before I could get up there to get her out, he reached down to pet her and, you guessed it, she relieved herself right there in the UPS truck!! I was SOOOO embarrassed! And of course it was a new driver that I have never met before! Thank you, MILO!

Input Costs

This is for all the "ethanol haters" and people who think that us farmers are just cutting the fat hog. On Wednesday, Jason order a tanker load of diesel. This is red (actually it looks more pink to me) fuel and it is not legal on the roads. It has always been cheaper than gas. Well...... the price on Wednesday was $4.22 a gallon, by today, when we actually got the load, it was $4.32 a gallon! It went up .10 cents in 1 full day!!! My bill was $17K! What in the world is going on?!? And Jason and I are small farmers compared to a lot of people, so you can only imagine their fuel bill. Fuel is always one of our lower costs as well, but, you know, these farmers are just getting so rich with these high corn prices. Did I mention that Jason and I aren't even growing corn.

This is a shout out for all of you Aggies. In the Farm Futures magazine there was a report on study done by Texas A & M. The study found the high oil prices, not ethanol, is the driving force behind higher food prices. The TAMU study dispels the food-vs.-fuel debate. I knew that I liked A&M!

I don't know how people farm who are not Christians. There is not a day that goes by that I don't find my self "on my knees" casting my anxieties upon God. Besides our input costs going through the roof and praying that we will be able to pay the bank back, the weather has been strange. The last 3 days we have had wind up to 50 mph, which is very hard on little chile that is trying to grow. We are behind anyway due to the cold weather this spring, and we have already lost some of our crop to the wind. Last night it started to hail, not a lot, but it made it hard to sleep. I'm not sure at this point how the chile survived, I'm afraid to ask!

A few days ago, when I went on that field trip, it was about 96 degrees. Today we have reached a high of 64 degrees, the wind is blowing, and it has been sprinkling on and off all day. We did get about 1/2 inch of rain, which wasn't a bad thing because, luckily, Jason decided not to cut our hay until Monday. Sometimes the only thing that brings me comfort is knowing that God knows our needs, and He is going to take care of us. It may not be how we have planned, but He is still in control.

On a little happier note, I did discover a very cool cleaning tool today! I used Pledge with lemon on my shower door, and it removed the soap scum like you would not believe! So since it worked so well on the door, I used it on the whole shower. It removed all the soap scum that I have tried to remove with a number of different cleaners. Also, it's kind of like giving your shower a "spot free rinse" like at the car wash. My hope is that it will help keep my shower cleaner, longer! You should try it!

For Janette, this verse is simple but I like it.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."
John 14:1

My First Field Trip

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a fourth grade field trip! My friend, Jayne, invited me to go along with the class to the Cochise Stronghold. Her, Janette, and I have "run" the particular trail that they wanted to hike, so Jayne thought that I would be a good addition to the adults. However, I did not realize that I was going to be leading this expedition!



Yesterday just happened to be the hottest day of the year, 96 degrees. So we head out about 10 am, I think, and we get started along. I guess in my naivety I thought that fourth graders could handle a 2 mile hike up to the Half Moon Dank and back. Well...... not even a 1/2 mile into our hike, I started noticing how red most of the kids faces were. We did stop and rest for a few minutes here and there, but by the time that we made it to the 1 mile mark I was a little concerned. Two boys that were close to me we really red in the face, and when I asked them if they had water, of course they said no. So I ended up sacrificing my water so that we would actually make it back with some of the kids still alive.



We rested about 10 minutes, asked the teacher if we should turn back or go on, and then we preceded up the trail. I don't think we had hiked 5 minutes, when I realized that half of the group had turned around. So are now small group continued on. It was HOT and by the time we got to the the Half Moon Dank, there was not much water between all of us. I hadn't had any. We rested 20 minutes and headed back down, which is so much easier and faster. I felt fairly confident that we would all make it back down since everyone had survived the trip up. Wrong.



Two or three kids fell as we were heading down. Nothing major, just a few scrapes, and then about 3/4 mile back down we stopped to rest and poor little Katie was so hot and thirsty, and out of water. I was carrying a water bottle for another little girl so I let Katie have a drink of hers. Boy, did I get some dirty looks!! But I just looked pleasantly at her, thinking that she had met her match! Katie drank a little, then the little girl, THEN she passed it to the boy behind her who said that he was thirsty. HA, who won that one?!? We finally made it to the 1/2 mile maker and waited for some of our group to catch up. When the teacher finally came she asked if I could run (and I do mean run) back down to camp and get the father of the boy who was about to pass out!



So I took off, soon realizing that I myself may pass out because I had become very, very thirsty! I prayed the whole way down that God would give me the strength to make it back. (Again, the hottest day of the year!) I ran most of it, but the last part of the trail is mostly sand so it was difficult. However, I made it back to camp, grabbed some bottles of water, and we headed back up. The boy didn't pass out, and they were walking back down by the time we got to them.



But poor Katie, she had gotten over heated and was sick to her stomach. I felt so bad! I guess only having 2 kids get sick isn't too bad. I guess that I'm not a very good guide. I wonder if they'll invite me back next year?

It's A Goldilock's World!

I was reading one of Jason's Farm Future magazines and I came across an article by Steve Ford titled "More mouths to feed". If you are at all interested you can go to www.FarmFutures.com to read the whole article, which I would recommend.

But I want to quote some of what he said, becuase it is exactly our feelings as well.
"I still can't get over how critical our society is of farmers. When we aren't being accused of harming the environment, we are targets of those who think we make too much money and consequently need no farm programs. There are others who think we do economic harm to the world's poor. A few years ago our critics argued that government programs were causing us to overproduce, depressing world food prices and hurting small farmers in the developing world. Now our critics say that biofuel subsidies result in world food prices that are too high, hurting urban poor in the world."

He goes on and asks the questions, do we have a moral responsibility to feed the world cheaply? Does that responsibility outweigh the need for a renewable and domestic alternative source of fuel? The food vs. fuel concern is very real. However, US corn production has expanded much more quickly than the ethanol use for corn, BUT (this is for everyone who blames ethanol for high food prices) prices have remained high DUE TO INCREASED FOREIGN DEMAND for US grain, meat and dairy exports!! It gets so old to hear people complaining about ethanol and our food prices, how about our demand on exports and the price for crude oil?

There is "talk" about the government stepping in and cutting corn prices, which is all fine if the cut crude oil prices as well (which they won't). The input prices to grow any crop are unbelievable and cutting corn prices won't change the cost of food for the better, but will cause food prices to go up because farmers will not be able to produce corn and survive! My uncle put it best the other day when he said that one day the rational people of this country are going to have to take over! Unfortunately, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

In the words of Mr. Ford, "It is as if farmers are the three bears and we live in a Goldilock's world, but one where there is no porridge that is just right."

Road Trip

Last Wednesday my mom and I left AZ and headed to Sanger, TX. It was 1pm before we actually left Cochise, so we decided that we would try and stay in Big Spring, which is about 8 1/2 hrs from our house. When we made it to Big Spring, there were no rooms. So we continued on to Sweetwater, and luckily found a room on our second try. (Just a little plug for the hotel we stayed at. The Best Western was very clean, and the people were very nice! So if you ever need a room in Sweetwater, that's where I recommend!) By the time that we got to bed it was 2:30am. At 5:30am I got up and by 8am we were on the road again. This a picture of my mom texting my dad. I just think it is so cute that they text each other!


We made it to Sanger, exchanged pickups, and then mom and I hit the antique stores. We ended up spending several hours "antiquing", and eating lunch in the Tea Room of antique store in this picture. We do not have antique stores like this in AZ, so we had a blast! And I found an old wagon wheel that I am going to make a table with. Very excited about that! We also passed by the Texas Motor Speedway, so mom had to get some pictures of that for my dad.















We passed this rig 3 different times, but just wanted to show everyone how "wisely" our politicians spend money! This is a Mercedes-Benz.







We had a really great trip, and I enjoyed showing my mom Texas. She just couldn't get over how green everything was. And I was sad that we didn't have time to stop in and say "hello" to everyone, but it was one of those, get there & get back, trips.

2 Vets, 1 Day!

OK .....here goes my first post! Thank You, Allison, for the beautiful design. And thank you, Jennifer, for the encouragement!

Today has been a rather lively day, and it all started yesterday. Yesterday my mom, sister, and I went to Phoenix to attend my cousin's graduation from Grand Canyon University. We left Tucson at 9am and returned to Tucson 9pm. I was so tired that I decided just to stay at my parents' place for the night instead of coming home.

So this morning, my mom, sister, and I went to a local nursery to pick up some flowers. And with over an acre of flowers to choose from, it takes some time. By the time that I arrived home it was 12:55pm, and I had to have our dog, Cash, to the vet by 1:30pm. He had a run-in with one of our local javalenas a couple of weeks ago, and he needed to have the 8 staples above his eye removed. I think that we arrived around 1:40pm, which I thought was pretty good, and we were back home by 2:10pm.

(This is Cash when I brought him home from the vet. He has a mangled ear, and, lucky for him, he still has his eye. The vet said today that his scares shouldn't interfere with his social life!)

From home, Jason and I left and headed down the road to go and check on our friends' horse that had hurt his hind leg. They are gone to CA right now, and asked if we would be "on call" basically while they are gone, which we are more than happy to do. I received a call today; they left yesterday. After we had washed and examined the wound, we couldn't decide whether or not it was a snake bite or if he had just hit it really hard on something. The swelling was pretty bad, and he was having some trouble walking. So now the tough decision, do you call the vet or not? After talking with Dan & Kristel several times, we decided to go ahead and take the horse to vet. We hooked up to their trailer and then after a few tries we had the horse loaded. (He is only a yearling & I think he has been in a trailer twice). Long story short, it was a bad bump. He now is resting at our house so that I can give him his antibiotics and clean his wound everyday.

Now, I'm going to bed!

The little colt not only had a hard time getting in, but getting out proved to be challenge also!