Moroni turned seven in the midst of all of the craziness. He had given me a list weeks ago, and yet I had paid very little attention to it. Of course, all of the sudden, we had the fair, and all of the packing it entails, and my little dude's birthday. He also asked me to bring donuts to his class. I had to look all over town because he basically had asked for a whole conglomeration of stuffed animals. Seriously, Dill and I pretty much hit every store in the valley, and other than a stuffed wolf, we found them all. I had previously attempted to frost a fancy cake for Carol's birthday. Ryan and Jazz laughed at how ridiculous it looked for days and days. It made me feel like I had to redeem myself, and Moroni's cake did look much better. Whipped cream frosting was a big hit. He liked his gifts, his classmates liked the donuts, and his birthday went well. Mo isn't too difficult to please.
I don't know what it is, but the fair always brings a ton of anxiety. It shouldn't, but the steers, and heifers in this case always make me nervous. That year that Jerusha's steer went ballistic and stompled over a little kid....yeah, so the anxiety is real. And then that first year that we did pigs...they really didn't want to load and it was a huge fiasco. Oak's pig that year was a big scaredy cat, Ryan loaded beef, and then he came here and loaded pigs without seperating the two, and hauled them south to Logandale. I waited around with the littles just to see if the pigs were even going to make weight...and they didn't. I guess it was a common problem this year. There were a lot of pigs that didn't make weight, and then there was all kinds of talk about their scales being off. Either which way, it was too bad, and yet a lot less work. They were not allowed to participate in market showing, and we did opt to have them do showmanship, simply for the experience.
The beef did fine though, and the first day is always a ton of work. They have to be weighed in, washed, and bedded down with wood shavings. We also had not clipped them yet, and Sage was on the hook to do it. Stetsy did step in and help, but she was actually helping with the running of the fair, and so she couldn't be there the whole time. Sage got Kaitlyn Cox on the phone and face-timed with her for like three hours. Just to get the dum things clipped right. Yeah, Kaity!
So, the first day, was full of bedding and washing pigs, clipping steers, and Ryan instructed me not to bother with clipping the pigs which was a huge load off of my plate. Clipping pigs is a ton of work too. Sage had also been busy, as she was largely overseeing the steers and clipping them. At one point she was walking between the steer barn, and the pig barn, and she began yelling in my direction that we had problems. At the time, she was hefting two large bundles of wood shavings for her animals. I only assumed that she was having difficulty carrying them. I rushed out to meet her and to help her with the heavy load, but she quickly informed me that she was quite capable of hefting the load, but that her problem was the fact that the pants she was wearing had split. A large hole now split right where the seat of her pants was. She had wrapped a sweatshirt around her waist, and yet the material had worn so thin, that it just split worse and worse by the minute.
So, we tossed around different solutions. My first hope was that she had perhaps left a pair in the van. But...we checked and we were not in luck in that direction at all. Everyone else had pretty much left a whole wardrobe in there, along with toys, wrappers, and empty water bottles, but pants? For Sage? It was a "no."
I finally came to the conclusion that I was just going to have to give her my pants. Ryan and I had to leave somewhat early that day because we had agreed to teach the ward how to do some swing dancing at the ward dinner that evening. Honestly, I was worn out already, chasing kids all over the fairgrounds, and giving her my pants would give me an excuse to go home early. So...as I was crossing the parking lot and loading up kids, I yelled at Ryan that he needed to actually meet me at the fuel station to pump my fuel for me. He gave me the oddest look, and I could see that he had quite a few things that he would like to say, but chose to proceed with caution. He finally wondered aloud why he should have to come and pump my fuel for me. I explained that in a few moments, I would be without my pants, and that he certainly didn't want me pumping fuel without pants. He kinda laughed, and did not seem surprised. In our crazy world, ya just never know. I loaded the kids up, and handed Sage my pants. Ryan did take care of everything at the gas station..and my next problem came as I got home and needed to get from the car, to the front door....without pants. I flung a kid blanket around me haphazardly, and it did pretty much no good in the windy conditions.
Ryan and I had a good time teaching dancing that evening, and our ward participated pretty good. Ryan and I have been invited to do that for many youth groups, and wards, and it is super awkward when no one will participate.
The heifers and steer showed well, and Sage did get a blue ribbon, but they really did not place in either market or showmanship. Sage especially was flawless in her showmanship, and I was kinda surprised that he did not rank her up there with the best. I know she was disappointed too.
So, the pigs were another story. Oak's pig is and always has been a stinker. She was picking fights with all of the other pigs. She was just as mean as possible and was snarling, squealing, and biting at the other pigs. She caused all kinds of problems in the ring, and then somehow in the midst of all of the pig fights, Chlo ended up somehow on the ground, underneath a batch of fighting pigs. Luckily, the judge pulled her up off the ground and so there were no injuries.
Oak's pig is sold, and we will fatten him up for a bit longer, hopefully Chloee's will sell too. The girls made good money on their beef. Sage made really good money on hers. What a huge blessing! Just when she is graduating too! I am really grateful.
So, when we got home, Ryan decided that for spring break, we should go out on the range and work on waterlines. He opted to rent a side-by-side, so that the kids could have some fun, and then he did expect the kids to work. He claimed that he was going to only make them work until noon. Anyhow, the first day that we went out, it was blowing and raining. We stopped at one area, and I got the van stuck. Of course, Ryan was able to get me out really easy, but he seemed a tad bit frustrated. Yeah...I have that effect on him sometimes ha ha! He tinkered a bit on the water in that area, and we finally gave up and headed down the road. By this time, it was blowing, and raining, and really cold. All of the kids besides Jerusha had hunkered down in the van, and pretty much were just annoying each other.
Ryan wanted to check the water at horse, and then we set up camp at headquarters. I absolutely love headquarters. There is an old ghost town there, and rocks for the kids to climb on. It is gorgeous too. Ryan helped me pitch a tent, set up a bed, and we got the kids all set up to sleep inside because of the cold and rain. We started a fire, and Ryan cooked us a dutch oven dinner. It was so good. Seriously...so good.
Our bed was awesome, and Ryan is kinda like a heater. Dill of course, was right in the middle, so we slept great. Dill had earlier promised that she was going to sleep with Jazz....and I was very positive that she was not going to do that...and I was right.
Jesse came with us, and he sat around and told scary stories for hours. The kids did not seem too scared. Jazz got up in the night because she had gotten burned earlier from the fire. She was kinda rummaging around and looking for the aloe vera, and Jesse jumped sky high. Ha ha! The only person that got scared was Jesse.
Jazz ended up tipping the side by side on its side. Luckily no one was hurt. Dill got a few scratches, but they were really lucky.
So, I would like to explain a miracle that took place while we were out there. Somehow, I got an email from Jamie that she would like to call that day. It was her pday. She usually does not call. We were out of service, and so the fact that I even got her email was a miracle in and of itself. But...I figured I would just have to drive for almost 45 minutes to get service to talk to her. Honestly, I did not even care, I was just excited that she wanted to call. I sent Jerusha and Jazz around to try to find phone service. They had zero success. I finally got a text out to sags to try to find out when she would be calling. We miraculously were able to email back and forth some as well, which was a complete miracle. We had a time set up, and I just began watching the clock. Ryan informed me that it would be a whole lot closer to just go with him to Cat Claw and so he could check on that water, and that there was phone service at Cat Claw. He also claimed that he had made calls from the lake. The lake was a lot closer, and then the kids could swim. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical. Nothing was more important to me than that call. If she was wanting to call, she was needing her family, and I did not want to fail her. Anyhow, we start toward cat claw and the lake, and it is slow going. The roads aren't the greatest, and then to top that off, we had a huge ball type deal on the back of the truck so that Ryan would have some air to blow in the lines of the plugged waterpipes. Anyhow, it was taking forever, and I will never forget checking my phone every two seconds to see the words "no service". It was just this blaring reminder that my kid was far away from home, needed me, and my one connection to help her was failing me every single mile. The range is really beautiful this year though, and the wildflowers cannot be beat. And, of course we saw a herd of bulls and a herd of cows, which always makes us all happy. They were fat too.
Anyway, we get to Cat Claw and the "no service" indicator on my phone was still lit up. So, Ryan keeps going, right on past and in a few miles we finally catch a glimpse of the lake. It seemed to me that the longer we drove, the farther away the lake seemed to get. It was like chasing a rainbow or something. I was always thinking it was just over the next ridge, over the next hill, and it seemed to be moving farther away. And then the stupid "no service" light wasn't budging, and I found my spirits sinking lower and lower. Finally, it dawned on me that Jamie was serving the Lord full time, and was entitled to miracles and blessings. I began to say a silent prayer. I explained that regardless of anything, God could connect phones and enable this phone call to take place. I knew He could, and I kinda settled down a bit after that. I have seen many miracles in my lifetime, and I kinda expect them I guess.
Ryan and I are different in some of our driving styles. He pushes his trucks and vehicles to their limits. I am always of the mindset that it is better to walk a bit passed sandy spots, or trecherous locations rather than get stuck. Anyhow, the lake was within walking distance, and yet he goes plowing through the sand, and yep...tires spin. I took that opportunity to hop out and run up on the hill to see if by some miracle, I could get service. I sat down on a rock, and 2 bars, 3 bars lit up. Tears of relief came. We were also later than our appointed call time, and so I emailed her, and told her I was available if she needed to talk. She immediately emailed back and explained that they were later than she figured, and still had someone to drop off. She told me she would be calling within the next half hour. I attempted to call Jerusha who had gone down to the waters edge to see if the service was better her direction, and she did not answer. There was no phone service down at the water's edge. The fact that I had service was a complete miracle and answer to prayer.
Her call came through and sounded crystal clear. She was crying and homesick. A very typical emotion for anyone so far away from home for the first time in her existence. She cried, I listened, and did my best to lift her spirits. Ryan wandered up and gave her some great advice as how to best utilize her time, and I hope by the end of the conversation she was able to pick herself up and keep going. The fact that her email was received and her phone call came in was a miracle. God does care about and take care of His missionaries. I am so grateful that she can call if she needs us. That is a huge blessing.
The kids swam, collected shells, and we watched the weird herds of wild donkeys as they made their odd noises. Jerusha found a good place to dive, and Ryan went and swam around with the kids. The air was hot, and dry. The lake was a nice place to cool off and play. I sat in the shade and read a bit. It was so nice to just spend time together as a family. Dill named the wild donkeys "Ichabob's" and she was quite mesmerized by them. I was quite annoyed with them instead. They are taking over the range, and I am sure there are all kinds of laws protecting them, and so no one gets any good out of them. They just hee haw around, and multiply, eating all of the feed. Actually this year there is plenty, but the searing heat is going to change all of that very soon. They were always soon to swoop in though, when we would get water going. Our efforts help all of the wildlife, whether they are annoying, or useful or not.
There is an old mine out there, that Ryan and I went in. I am not the adventurer that I used to be. I found they low walls, dark interior, and bats pretty off-putting, and I could not wait to get out of there. Ryan was in the mood to explore, and when he and I got seperated because he ventured past a cave-in, I used the opportunity to leave. It was creepy in there. I love the history out there though..the old homesteads, the old corrals and water troughs. It is completely fascinating to me. Anyhow, Ryan did finally come out, and he had brought some rock from the walls with him. They completely crumbled easily in his hands...that reassured me that getting out of that joint was the way to go. He agreed that maybe hanging out in the old mine was not the safest or best idea.
So, then we get home, and it is the Bundy Easter party. After the fair and camping trip, I was partied out, but we did go, and it was fun to visit with the family. Thank goodness we are back together. We still pray about the men locked up nonstop. They should be out and free. They are not dangerous criminals.
