Branding Calves

Each spring, we typically have two brandings. The first one is referred to as the "little branding," which is done closer to the home place; and the calves of the two-year-old heifers are the ones branded. This first branding was done April 21, and the main branding is scheduled to be May 7 and is done in a pasture west of the home place. It is usual for neighbors to come together to help out at brandings, and there is a certain social element to it.

Sam wasn't at this branding, because he was trying to finish up planting the spring wheat before the predicted rain, which did come last night. The rainy weather has made it hard to get the planting done.

After the calves are rounded up and separated from
their mothers into a pen, the branding begins.
Tyler Petrak lets out his lasso to rope a calf.


David McDonnell brings a calf out of the pen to the
waiting "calf wrestlers."


Colin Peterson, one of our hired men, holds the
calf's front leg and head while Chad gets ready to give
the calf its immunization shot.


The kids help out with the calf wrestling when they
arrive home from school.
Sam is at the head of the calf while his dad, Brent,
puts the Ireland Bros. brand on the left rib.


Weston gets a turn and has some help from the
McDonnell sisters. Brent applies one branding iron,
and a neighbor is adding the second part of the brand.


Rachel learns how to stretch out the calf.


Once a calf is branded, he seems okay and glad to
be back with his mom.


After the branding, everyone came back to our
place for grilled hamburgers, salads, barbecued beans,
lemonade, and desserts.
(Sam and Weston and Petrak brothers)


Rachel and her friend Angie prefer eating on the swing.


Barbie takes off the last of the hamburgers for
Danielle to bring into the garage where the guys
are eating at several tables.

Okay, we are thinking, one down and one to go. The menu for May 7 will include roast beef, smoked turkey, potatoes and gravy, and lots more. We hope it will be as nice a day as it was for this first branding.

Where the Deer and the Dinosaurs Roam

These photos are of an interesting fossil found in one of our pastures. It appears to us to be a fossilized joint from some kind of dinosaur. What do you think?

There is proof that dinosaurs roamed in South Dakota. In 1990, T. Rex dinosaur bones were discovered on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in western South Dakota. They found 80 percent of the dinosaur's bones, which were ultimately bought by the Chicago Field Museum and put on display after the whole skeleton was assembled. This dinosaur has been named "Sue" and is 40 feet long from nose to tail and 12 feet high at the hips. The skull was nearly five feet long.

We don't know anything more about "our" dinosaur, but the grandchildren think this fossil is pretty neat.

Easter, Birthdays, and Family Fun

Easter is always a special occasion when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for each of us, and it was especially nice this year as General Conference was on Easter. We were together with family watching conference on T.V. in our family room and enjoyed the sessions. Many of the talks seemed to focus on families. This is a topic dear to my heart, and I thank my Heavenly Father every single day for our family - our seven children and their spouses and our 31 grandchildren.

An additional treat was having three of our married children and their families come to the farm to be with us and Brent & Tauna's family. On the Friday before Easter, Curtis & Marla's family came from Mitchell, SD, and Beth and children came from Spanish Fork, Utah. Ryan & Tani's family came the next day from Eagle Mountain, Utah, so they missed out on the Easter egg hunt and dying Easter eggs; but they were here for Easter and stayed for Brady's birthday on the following Saturday.

Haley, Marla, Maggie, Maren, and Curtis Smith

Joshua, Megan, Amanda, Beth holding Rebecca,
Ethan, and Jared Graham (Todd couldn't come.)

Tani, Ryan, Marisa, Brady, and Carson Ireland

The Utah grandchildren were having their spring break, so we enjoyed having their families here for a full week. The Smiths had to return to Mitchell on Monday morning; but we were glad for the time they were here.

Grandpa and Grandma with the grandchildren:
Marisa, Grandpa holding Rebecca, Brady, Carson, Sam,
Jared, Haley, Maggie, Grandma, Weston, Ethan, Megan,
Maren, Rachel, Amanda, and Joshua
(Seth wasn't available for the photo.)

Grandma loved holding Rebecca.

Grandpa was holding Rebecca during General Conference;
but she got tired and hungry, and here she is ready to
go to her mommie.

We appreciate Beth's decision to come even though Todd's work kept him from coming with her; she is courageous to come with six children including Rebecca, a four-month-old nursing baby.

Isn't Rebecca a cute centerpiece?


We had to take this picture before removing
Rebecca to a more comfortable reclining position.

Saturday, the grandchildren participated in the community Easter egg hunt and came home with lots of eggs and some prizes. Later, the older grandchildren hid plastic eggs downstairs for the younger grandchildren to find. (It had rained and so our hunt was held inside.) They had fun searching for the eggs and finding the candy or prizes inside.

Some plastic Easter eggs had notes to exchange
for punching balloons or bottles for blowing bubbles.
(Megan, Maggie, Rachel, Haley holding Rebecca,
Amanda, Ethan, Beth, and Joshua)


The grandchildren after all the eggs have been found.
(back, l. to r. - Rachel, Weston;
middle, l. to r. - Ethan, Kennedy (Steve's daughter),
Megan holding Rebecca, Amanda, Maren, Joshua;
front, l. to r. - Jared, Maggie, Haley, Sam, Seth)


Dying Easter eggs in the garage.
(Jared, Weston, Maggie, Sam, Haley, Ethan)


Joshua and Ethan


Weston placing one of his dyed eggs to dry.


The ten-year-old cousins dying eggs.
(Rachel, Megan, Maren, Kennedy, and Amanda)


Showing the potential for lots of deviled eggs and
egg salad sandwiches!
(Amanda, Weston, Ethan, Rachel, Kennedy, Megan)

Roy & Barbie, Chad, Steve, and Kennedy joined us for Easter Sunday dinner. We had lots of good food with all the moms helping and had both turkey and ham.

Easter Sunday dinner
(Chad, Barbie, Steve, Roy, Sam, Narene holding Rebecca,
Tauna, Brent, Curtis, and Ryan - Tani away from the table;
Maggie and Sam standing behind the table).
The other grandchildren were together eating
at three tables set up in the garage.


Grandchildren at one of three tables in the garage.
(Marisa, Sam, Carson, Maggie, Seth, Jared,
Haley; and Weston at a second table.)


Looking for the preferred flavors of jelly beans
was a reoccurring activity for kids and adults.
(Tauna and Brent)


These cousins have a good time together:
Amanda, Megan, Rachel, Kennedy, and Maren.
(They are missing Shannon. Her family could not come
at this time, since their school didn't have a spring break
now, and Trent had a track meet on Saturday.)
The dress-up clothes and jewelry provide some fun.
Kennedy had gotten all her braids while in Mexico.


The girls had quite a project taking out Kennedy's braids.
(Marisa, Megan, Rachel, Maren, Amanda, Maggie,
and Kennedy)


Entertaining us with their singing.
Here they are "little teapots."
(Megan, Amanda, Maren, Rachel)


Styling hair.
(Rachel, Megan, Amanda)


Megan and Amanda finished the puzzle.


Here they are with their American dolls they
got for Christmas.


Jared taking a turn feeding a bottle calf.
(Megan, Ethan, Amanda, Jared, Joshua)


The grandsons enjoy being outside riding
four-wheelers, playing "Horse," and whatever else
they think of. Here the camera catches them
up on the roof of the Quonset.
(Brady, Sam, Carson)


What is more fun, going up or sliding down?
(Sam, Brady, Carson)

We celebrated birthdays three times. First, Sam had a pepperoni pizza party on his birthday, April 6, with candles on a fruit pizza instead of a cake. Two days later, we had a combined birthday celebration and treasure hunt for those here with birthdays in April: Sam (April 6), Brady (April 10), Amanda & Megan (April 13), and Seth (April 14). The cake had 63 candles on it for their combined ages.

Sam - 13 years old on April 6.
(Do the math: 19 - 6 = 13!)


63 Candles on this combined birthday cake for
Sam (13), Seth (16), Amanda (10), Megan (10),
and Brady (14) - all having April birthdays.


The grandchildren listen to the first clue for the
birthday treasure hunt.


Sam added candles for Brady to blow out on his steak
on the actual day of Brady's birthday - April 10.
(Sam, Weston, and Brady)


Grandma with Megan & Amanda who are wearing their
Egyptian headdresses (turning 10 on April 13).


Seth, Sam, Carson, and Brady
watching Jared's remote control car speed down the road.


Tani got some help from Amanda and Megan
on one page of the Creative Memories photo album
Tani completed while she was here,
and Beth and I sorted photographs.


Grandpa & Grandma with Rebecca.


Rachel was always eager to hold Rebecca.


And Rachel was successful in getting
smiles from Rebecca.


One more smile from Rebecca before she and her
family left Friday morning to go home to Utah.


On April 14, Seth chose an angel food cake topped
with fruit for his birthday.
Here he is blowing out the "16" candle.

We have happy memories of this Easter time and birthday celebrations, and we appreciate being together with family. The last two Easters we were on our mission and have happy memories of that time, too. I am remembering some of the Russian Orthodox traditions. As we went to church on Palm Sunday in Moscow, we saw many people buying pussy willows. We were told the faithful take Easter bread cakes on the eve of Easter to be blessed by the Russian Orthodox priest, and then Easter morning they return home with their cake to have a feast with their families. Actually, we were in Kazakhstan on Easter Sunday in 2008, and all of the Primary age girls were dressed in white and sang a special musical number; and one of the ladies brought Easter cakes to share with the members after church.