Trent's Colorado State Track Meet

Thursday, May 20, our grandson Trent ran in the 100, 200, and 400 prelims and qualified for the Colorado State finals on the 21st and 22nd. In recent weeks, he had not been able to practice due to a pulled hamstring injury, so it had been questionable whether he would compete in their Northern Conference track meet the week before. However, his coach thought it would be good to use this meet as practice in preparation for the State meet without being concerned about how he might place. As it turned out, he won first in the 100 (with a time of 10.87) and placed 2nd in the 200 (22.26) and 2nd in the 400-meter (49.68).

Trent (in blue) at the Colorado State high school
track meet on the Broomfield team.

Unfortunately, in the State prelims on Thursday in the 200, his previously pulled hamstring was hurt again. He finished the race, however, and still had a time of 22.24. His best race is probably the 100 meter, and he placed 2nd in the prelims. His qualifying time in the 400 meter was 49.17 in the prelims on Thursday but was only good enough for seventh (the top nine qualify for finals).

Trent has had a successful track season in spite of his injuries, and we wanted to see him in one of his meets this year. We had planned to go to the conference meet on the 19th, but it snowed and the meet was moved to Friday, May 21. Sam was able to do some planting on that Friday, so we decided to wait and watch Trent at the State meet. We should have gone on Thursday to watch the prelims. After hurting his hamstring again in the 200 prelims, Trent was unable to compete in the 100 and 400 on Saturday after giving it a try in the 200 on Friday afternoon. Trent managed to cross the finish line with his injured hamstring on Friday; but, of course, it wasn't representative of his best time, and he placed 9th. His coach was proud of him for trying, but did not want him to injure his hamstring further so did not have him run on Saturday. Trent is a junior, so we will want to watch him compete next year.

Last year as a sophomore, Trent placed 1st in the
100 meter at State. This year because of his injury,
he was unable to run in the 100 and 400 and
finished in 9th place in the 200 with pain.

After watching Trent on Friday, we went with Scott & Kristine, Jenna and Shannon to Kyle Lontine's open house. Kyle is Derek's brother who has been called to serve a mission in Guatemala. Sarah and Derek came from BYU to be there, and it was nice to spend some time with them. They also stayed at Scott & Kristine's, and we all went to church together where we enjoyed hearing Kyle speak.

Kristine, Jenna, Shannon, Derek & Sarah
at the open house for Derek's brother, Kyle,
who has been called to serve a mission in Guatemala.


Derek (on the right) with his brothers
Jordon (left) and Kyle (center).

Since Trent was not going to compete on Saturday, I didn't go with Sam, Scott, and Trent to the track meet. Instead, I went with Kristine, Jenna, and Shannon to a safety fair and then we shopped for Shannon's birthday present. Her birthday is May 31.

On the way to Denver, we stopped to see Bill & Karen and got a tour of their new home in Scottsbluff. After church on Sunday, we left Denver and stopped again at Bill & Karen's where we were invited to have a piece of their grandson Cooper's "Dairy Queen" birthday cake celebrating his 14th birthday.

Rachel, "Star Student" in the 4th Grade

Today was the last day of school for the grandchildren in Martin, so their summer break has begun. Rachel came over yesterday to show me a t-shirt she had designed at school with volleyballs and assorted shapes. Today, she was smiling when she came over holding something behind her back. It was a similarly designed t-shirt, but this one was awarded to Rachel by her teacher as one of the two students in the fourth grade picked for their good grades and progress through the school year.

Rachel is wearing the "Star Student" t-shirt
she was presented on the last day of school.

Congratulations, Rachel!

The Big Branding - May 2010

The weather was changeable on May 7 when we had our "big" branding, but they were able to get done in spite of the intermittent snow showers we had whenever the skies turned from blue to gray. Fortunately, there wasn't enough moisture to wet the hair on the calves so the branding continued until all calves had the brand identifying them as belonging to Ireland Bros.

They started the roundup about 1:00 p.m.

The trees on the horizon is where our home is located.
The big branding is held in this pasture west of the
house, whereas the smaller branding that we had
April 21 was closer to home.
Sam is the one branding wearing a maroon jacket.


There was an estimated 50 to 60 who came to
help with the branding. Some of their horse trailers
are shown in this picture.


It kept several cowboys busy roping calves for
all the calf wrestlers.


At one point, someone counted 11 calves on the
ground being branded.


With that many calf wrestlers, it also kept the
5 or 6 branders hustling to reheat the branding irons
between calves. Fortunately they have six sets of
irons. It takes two different irons to make the
"bar - V - open-A" brand.
(Jeff Prang, one of our hired men, is behind
Sam waiting to get the hot irons.)


Sam, our grandson, is the wrestler at the head of the calf
holding it still while immunizations are given
to keep the calf healthy.
All the calves were branded and immunized by
4:00 p.m. thanks to all the good help.


When they called to give us a head count for how
many would be coming to eat, we moved the
serving tables to the utility room and set up
more tables in the garage. We could have used more
mashed potatoes; but we had plenty of roast beef,
smoked turkey, corn, salads, rolls, lemonade,
hot chocolate, and a variety of desserts.
(Sam is pouring some lemonade.
Seth is standing in the doorway.)


Blossoms on the apple trees
(photo taken May 18)

Our spring weather has vacillated between rain and sun, cold and warm, and even dropping four inches of snow on the morning of May 12. I have not planted my garden yet, but it is tilled ready and waiting. The guys have struggled to complete their planting due to the weather and the fields being too wet. Yesterday, Sam got the big tractor stuck on a side hill while trying to plant corn, and it was a job to get it out. The ground below the top 4 or 5 inches was mud for several feet. All this moisture is good for the spring wheat, though.

Transform or Restore?

What kind of change do you want in our nation? "Transform" or "Restore"?

One cannot see what is happening around the world and in our own country without being concerned about the future of our grandchildren with the huge national debt they will be inheriting unless our leaders change the direction our country is headed. Today, news reports are showing videos of the protests in Greece which have resulted in violence as Greeks feel the results of the economic collapse in their country. Three deaths are being reported this morning. Bankruptcy is threatening other European countries as well. What will happen to our country as our own national debt keeps rising?

As of May 5, 2010, each United States citizen's share of our national debt is $41,950.17, according to a non-government website based on data from the U.S. Department of Treasury. Our national debt has continued to increase an average of $4.13 billion per day since September 27, 2007.

I recommend you check out the website, U.S. Debt Clock in real time, which shows our current national debt at $12.9 trillion and counting. (Click on the underlined phrase to go to this online source.)

Our government keeps getting bigger and bigger and more in debt. What needs to happen to turn this trend around? An obvious answer is be informed citizens and vote for responsible leaders.

As individual families, we should pay off credit card balances each month and not get debt ridden. It makes sense to have a minimum of a three-month supply of food and other essential survival items in case of an emergency whether it be the loss of employment, a health situation, a natural disaster, or a national collapse of our economy.

I don't mean to be a doom-and-gloom person, but we should not be misled by those who are altering our history because they care more about their own power and position than preserving our constitution and Christian morals.

In order to watch in the evening, we have begun to DVR the Glenn Beck T.V. program; and it is alarming to hear the original audio and video clips revealing the goals being pursued by many in power who want to "transform" our nation. Beck's goal is to "restore" our nation to what the Founding Fathers intended and to preserve our constitution. Whether you agree with Beck or not, one cannot dispute what many people in power intend when we hear their own words telling us. Each Friday, Beck has begun an educational show he refers to as "Founding Fathers Friday." This coming Friday, his program will be about George Washington. I recommend you watch it. Here is an interesting quote from our nation's first president:

"Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness." (George Washington, Circular to the States, May 9, 1753)

I want to be an optimist; and I appreciate this quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president of our church who passed away January 27, 2008 ("Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley," p. 410):

"Of course there are times of sorrow. Of course there are hours of concern and anxiety. We all worry. But the Lord has told us to lift our hearts and rejoice. I see so many people . . . who seem never to see the sunshine, but who constantly walk with storms under cloudy skies. Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine."

I am grateful for my many blessings including the blessings we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America. Still, I think it is important to be aware of and informed about world and national events and be involved citizens doing what we can to preserve our freedoms and way of life. This is a legacy we desire to leave for our posterity.

We Had a Nice Sunday

We always appreciate times spent with family sharing activities and events. Yesterday (Sunday), Weston called to ask if he could ride with us to church. His family was coming in their van. He watched a movie as we traveled to Rosebud, so our conversation was limited; but it was still nice having him with us. Weston is no longer in my Primary class since he is eight and in the senior Primary, but I enjoy having him and Rachel's participation in our combined singing time. We have now learned half of the songs for the program the children will be participating in this fall.

Now that Seth is 16, he was advanced in the Priesthood yesterday. Seth has recently been selected as one of eight students from our area schools to participate in a science/medical related program this summer at Georgetown in Washington, DC. He is excited to have this opportunity.

Proud grandparents with Seth


Jaret Allen proudly showing his baby brother,
Jacob, the newest member of the Rosebud branch.

We missed our usual Sunday Skype visit with Doug and family yesterday since their Internet is not connected yet in their new home; but we had a nice phone visit instead. We did have a Skype visit with Scott and got updated on their upcoming events and Trent's successes in track.

Rachel called to invite us to come to their family home evening, which began with a Cinco de Mayo themed Mexican meal with appropriate background music. After we ate, Rachel presented an interesting lesson about the Hutterites, a religious group with communes in eastern South Dakota.

Looking ahead for this week, I will continue scanning photos for the Martin Centennial book getting it ready for publication for 2011, Sam will be keeping busy with planting and other farm activities, and we will have our big branding on Friday. Since Barbie will be gone, we will have the branding meal in our garage again. These rural brandings become somewhat of a social event as they bring neighbors and friends together helping one another with this annual part of raising cattle.