Wednesday, July 20, 2011

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger..

July 20, 1991 was a tragic day for our family. My brother Tim (18 years old)  had gone to the desert with a friend to ride ATV's. They were on a leisurely ride, when my brother's axle broke on his bike. The axle severed his femoral artery and he bled to death. There was no alcohol, no drugs, just quite simple a tragic accident. For those of you who don't know the story that is it in a nutshell. That day will never be forgotten, nor will our parents ever be the same. It's the one day in my life I will never forget where I was, or what I was doing, time stood still. How were we going to make it through? But more so than that how would my mom make it through. Well she has struggled and struggled over the years, and will never make it through to the point where she is healed. The scars are forever there and the heart is forever broken. My father is stoic and strong..but really doesn't need to be. Our family is so close yet was torn apart. Mom and dad separated and everyone had to pick themselves up and do it.

The tragedy changes the way you view life..it lessens the way you love. There is always guard there, trying to cover the wound that is open for eternity. No one's problems seem big enough to really matter, these are the daily struggles you deal with in a loss like this. I have tried to soften my approach in life to make people feel like their problems matter, but it has been a struggle.  There are family occasions, weddings, parties, babies, puppies, and ALWAYS someone missing. I would give anything for him to have met Ron, for him to have met the dogs, the nieces, the sister in law. It's easy for some to say he is always there, it harder to believe it. As I have watched my mother struggle over the years, I have learned to endure the pain, and to quit the fight. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff, too short to be in bad relationships, too short to be unhappy, too short to work with people you don't like. It is simple ...Life is too short PERIOD. We get caught up and complain, about this and that, but frankly the truth is I wish my brother was here to bitch about with me...unfortunately he never had the opportunity. So just remember when things seem tragic, or hard...there is always something worse, or someone suffering more. It's easy to lose perspective of what's important, so maybe this was the lesson from the tragedy, we need to try hard and love deep, and don't forget to just say the three simple words I LOVE YOU daily. I remember when my brother was leaving for the desert that day, we passed on the stairs and said BYE have fun...I never thought that would be the last time, but I'll tell you there is never a time when Ron and I part that we don't say I LOVE YOU ..because God knows...it may be the last time.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The grass is always greener..or taller

We just returned from a dog trial in Tremonton Utah. The grass was too tall really to have a good trial, but the field was nice and the people even nicer. The range ewes were savvy and quick to outwit the over grassed border collie. Open didn't fair well with 17 scores the first day out of 50 dogs.

Our stars of the trip were K9znewe"Lace" taking second in the nursery where she got a qualifying leg.

BUT ...Our even BIGGER STARS were Ron and Sweep and Ron and Jesse. You really could see the open dog experience coming out in these dynamic pairs. The grass was no problem and the fetch even less of a problem. You could see the experience shine through and there was no way Jesse and Sweep were going to let those sheep go!! Ron did a good job handling on the drive and an even better job when he and Sweep got to the pen. I knew in my head Sweep would get the job done if Ron could keep him calm. Sweep has always been a good finisher but Ron had never been to a pen with Sweep!! As a team would they got the job done!! Ron had a 5th place finish with Jesse in round 1 and had a 5th. place finish with Sweep in round 2 not too shabby considering he has gone to the post with Sweep once! I was so thrilled for the three of them and Ron was too!!! Good job baby!! Open is not too far off!!!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Phase 3 of the "Raising our own" campaign!

We decided this year we were going to raise our own food. This would consist of a beef, a bunch of  cornish hens and a pig! Angus the beef is  3 weeks out of the freezer. 2 weeks ago the cornish met their maker, and in the freezer they went. This weekend our new girl arrived. Meet Babe!

Babe gets a bath!
Babe plays in the dirt

People think we are ridiculous and crazy that we have these animals to raise and butcher for food. After Raising the beef "Angus" we will have approximately $4.00 per lb. into all that meat. Let alone the quality, have you tried grocery store meat lately? Have you seen the cost of food?? We are so fortunate that the ranch next door with the exception of the cornish hens has all these animals for sale at various times. We have somehow been able to stagger the animal raising in a way that we have never been feeding all of them at once. When one species was ready we would butcher and get the next. The cornish hens were at full weight in  approximately 4 weeks...at .92 per bird how can you go wrong!! So all we are saying if you have a chance to raise your own food and have it processed your way...do it.. it's worth the reward!!