Misc. March Iphone Pics

I may have been out of the blogging loop, but I just discovered you can sync your iphone pics directly to your blog! WooHoo!  That's awesome!  I am getting really bad about carrying my DSLR around and usually take so many pics with my iphone.

 St Patrick's Day!!!

Of course the Leprechauns visited!

And we made rainbow cookies again.  Grandpa joined us for dinner of corned beef and cabbage!

The boys and I stopped for Shamrock Shakes while in town.  

Carter had an assignment to write about the person in his life that is worth their weight in gold.  He chose his brother. He wrote 1 1/2 pages about what a good person and brother Alex is!  Melt my heart!!!  I love how my boys are best friends and I should add that the girls are pretty good friends too!

My Birthday was in March.  The kids took me to my favorite place to eat in Iowa so far. 

 Nadya was at a  sleep over so Hallie's Best friend joined us too. Alex ordered their

garbage burger and didn't come close to finishing it. 

Grandpa went to school for Grandparents' Day.  

He had to bop around four different classrooms to visited everyone.

Alex interviewed and wrote a report about Grandpa.

 

And calving season officially began which kept Doug pretty busy.  He checked on his cows twice a day.  Once in the morning and once at night to make sure they were doing okay. Sometimes I would join him.  This little cutie was born on my birthday.

Meet Stormy.  This is actually Grandpa's calf, but Doug and Alex found him in pretty bad shape as he was born during a March snow storm.  His mom had died and left him cold and wet in a pile of snow which is not great for a young calf.  Doug, Grandpa and Alex spent hours working on him trying to warm him up and get him to eat. It was quite a learning experience for Alex. I was a little worried because Doug didn't think he'd make it.  It looks like he is taking the bottle in this picture, but he didn't.  They had to tube him for a few days before he finally decided to suck.  I am happy to report that stormy is doing fantastic and all of cousins have enjoyed having a bottle calf around.  This is stormy the night we found him and after he was dry and warm.

Country Lesson #1

Alex and I learned what it means to work cows.  

Until recently, I had no clue. 

I definitely was not raised in the country.  

First you round up all the cows.  Grandpa baited them with yummy Hay.  

Then you sort the cows into smaller groups.  This was quite entertaining.  It involves waving and whacking a stick around and making funny loud noises. 

Alex had a front row seat.

 Next  you lead the cow into the cage.  Some cows do this easily, others not so much.

Some don't seem to mind the cage, others kick and object.

They get  vaccinated and wormed.

And the lucky ones get released back into the pasture. 

The unlucky bull calves get castrated.  

Colin had that lucky job and Doug held the tail.

Alex helped too. 

Yuck!

We took a break for lunch and called in an order.

Alex enjoyed watching and helping.  I enjoyed taking pictures.  

Iowa

The  day before we left for Iowa was a whirlwind. We really didn't have time to stop and process everything; we were too busy preparing for our departure.  We were both doing okay until we hit Iowa.  Well, actually Alex had a hard time the night before in the hotel where he cried himself to sleep.  I wasn't quite sure why he was crying.  Whether he was upset over losing his grandma, or the fact that this trip was not his idea of a vacation or if he just didn't like our hotel. Or maybe it was a combination of all three.  He never said.  He just started crying at bedtime so I snuggled in next to him and stayed that way all night.  That night we stayed in a hotel that was new to us.  It reminded me and Doug of being in Russia.  It was an older hotel, pretty good in size with very few guests.   It was a little bit creepy to the girls,  but really the accommodations were adequate and we dined alone the following morning for breakfast.  (Always a plus with kids.)  It was your typical continental breakfast with bagels, cereal, biscuits and gravy.

The next day as we continued our drive to Iowa, we found that the closer  we got to Iowa, the harder it was. Usually it is the opposite. The closer we get, the happier we get, but not this time.  I think in some ways, the drive was where we started our grieving process.  Even though my mother in law was sick with cancer, her passing was sudden and caught all of us off-guard and we certainly didn't have time to grieve prior to leaving. So as we inched closer to the farm and the sights were becoming more familiar, reality set it.  We were beginning to realize that life at the farm wasn't going to be the same without Grandma being there. (Which it wasn't.) But we did find comfort in what was there.....  Most importantly, our family.  The farm house was full of family, just how Grandma liked it.

  We all enjoyed cuddling the little ones and we waited patiently for our turn with the newest addition.

  Oh baby Elliott how adorable you are.

And there was comfort in the usual farm activities.  

Feeding the cows is a favorite for my kids. 

 Although there is nothing usual about feeding  fries  to the cows,

 it just happened to be what the littler cousins had left over from lunch.

This was the first time I had ever traveled to Iowa in the winter.  I lucked out.  I've heard the horror stories of Iowa winters, but the weather was about as good as you can get for January.

There was some snow, just enough for a small snowball fight with most of the family.  I didn't get any pictures of that though. It was too fun to watch! But it was definitely a highlight. 

 (Gwen, can you send me a few pics?)

And we even had a couple of great sunsets.

There is something so peaceful and beautiful about those Iowa sunsets on the farm.  

It was a short trip for us.  Once again we found ourselves not wanting to say goodbye, and  at the last minute we decided that I would drive back alone with the kids so Doug could stay back another week to help finalize a few things.  The kids were absolutely amazing in the car.  The drive (all 1150 miles) was quiet and peaceful as the kids stayed pretty plugged into the television.  I broke the drive up into two nights and we made such good time on day one that we arrived in Cheyenne early enough for a nice dinner and swimming. Swimming was another highlight on our trip.  Well, it was a highlight for all of us except for Hallie.  Unfortunately, she had to watch as she forgot to pack her swimsuit.  :(   She had a great attitude about it though.  

Saying Goodbye is Hard

Saying goodbye is never easy.  I've been behind on my blog as a result of not knowing what to say or not wanting to officially post about losing my mother in law.  I've struggled with what I want to say, how I want to say it or how to express how dear she was to us, but the truth is-I can't.  I can't begin to put into words how much we will miss her other than to say we are grieving, we are missing her everyday and we were extremely blessed to have had her in our life. Jessica, (Granddaughter to Ada Fay) wrote a farewell that very much captured their relationship and shared some of their special memories.  My children have many memories of their Grandma and the special moments that they shared together, I just wish they could have more.  It is my hope that they remember what an angelic person she was and how lucky they were to have had her for a Grandma.  Their time with her may have been cut short, but it was not wasted.   She taught them so much about life, love,compassion and family.  She did this quite simply as she was a simple person.  She gave each and every one of us her time.  Time to enjoy the simple things in life with her.
 She was very involved with all of her Grandchildren and knew just how make each and every one of them, (and everyone else too) feel special. Whether it be cooking your favorite meal, taking turns baking a yummy dessert with you, or spoiling you with homemade pie for breakfast!

She never missed an opportunity to take a break from her daily chores to cuddle up and read with a  grandchild. I think it was one of her favorite things to do as she would do it often.  I know my children enjoyed climbing up on her lap to read a book and some bonus Grandma time too.  And when they got too big to climb into her lap, she would find other ways to read with them.  She had a love for reading that she shared with all of her grandchildren. 

She was always looking for an excuse to sit down and rock a baby.  You could often find her happily rocking and cuddling babies.  A crying baby meant it needed a grandma fix.   And if you were too big to be rocked she was on the sidelines cheering you along, celebrating milestones and encouraging you to do the right thing or teaching you a lesson or two along the way.

You could always count on a story at bed time.  Grandma's stories were the best.  My children all have their favorite story and I've encouraged them to write them down.

The farm will not be the same without you Grandma.  You are missed more and more each day. 

 We Love You!