Just Try It!

Photographing our family is not easy.  We have Chase who will not sit still or look at the camera.  We have me, who usually blinks, looks away from the camera, and am generally not photogenic.  Spence is the third worst; he wouldn’t quit talking.  Ree did pretty good, because she’s and baby and just looks cute. :) Hayes on the other hand, must come from another family, because he can smile and look nice when there is mayhem all around him.  With all of that, Maren was still able to get some pretty good shots on Mother’s Day.  Thanks Maren, you’re a whiz!

The Jay & Trish Platt Grandkids

The Birthday Buddies

Last year Chase didn’t get much of a birthday since we were still in the hospital having had Ree the night before.  So this year, I tried to make up for it with birthday celebrations galore.  On Ree’s actual birthday, we pretended it was Chase’s also so he wouldn’t die of anticipation; which he almost did anyways.  Chase got up early that morning and started squealing about the balloons, streamers, and of course presents.  They each had king and queen crowns to wear with matching scepters.  Ree thought it was OK, but Chase really thought it was cool. 

On Chase’s actual birthday, we were branding.  He loved it and didn’t want to leave, even after he fell in the tank.

Then on Monday, we had a barbeque at the park with all of the Platts and Jacksons.  Chase was equally excited for this event.  He woke up jabbering about balloons (again!), piñatas, cakes and the part-e!  By 3:30 be was begging me to go to the party which wasn’t until 5:30.  We had a great time except for the fact that it was super windy and freezing cold….ahhh, St. Johns!  He got the balloons, he got the piñata, he got the cake; but what really made the party for Chase was his FAMILY!  They all mean the world to him.

Did I say he loved his crown?  It was really Hayes who loved it!  (just kidding Hayes, I know you are going to hate that I said that) Chase just loved it more on Hayes.

Here’s Ree on her birthday. 

Her faces always make me laugh.

She’s watching the hummingbirds at the feeder.

The piñata is always the biggest hit with the kids (and with me!)

T’s ready to give it his best shot

Spence spun all the kids till then were sick then let them rip.

The cousins graciously let Chase do the final destroying and the dash for candy (laced with playground sand) ensued.

Ree and Papa Bruce.

Ree with her new phone and new headband.

These last four photos were taken by Spence.  He had Hayes reenact his soon-to-be famous swing jump.  Spence and the uncles dared him to see if he could jump out of the swing and make it over the black, rubber edging around the swing area.  I had my back turned, but from the sounds of the guys, he must have nearly made it.  Unfortunately, he was a few feet short and took a pretty good hit when he his his feet and skidded into the edging.  Spence swears there were pieces of his shirt left on the black plastic. 

Here’s where he landed.

Then here is where he hit the edging.

Here is the face he made when it happened (great acting job)

Hurt but proud…can you see it in his face?

I wanted to write here that the wind quit immediately after the party, but it didn’t.  It blew all the way through to today.  Damn wind.

Happy Birthday to my 9 year-old Cha-ching and 1 year-old Ree Beans (aka Toilet Water…yes, she’s already started throwing things in the toilet)!

Branding with no Dust…Hallelujah!

We couldn’t have asked for a better day for branding (well, there was some wind, but I can’t even complain about it at this point).  It had rained and drizzled for several days, so there was absolutely no dust.  The sun was shining and we were all coming off of a “thank goodness for rain” high. :) The guys had gathered and branded some the day before so yesterday was just to finish them up.  I decided I better get myself and the kids out of the house and go up to the white corrals for the festivities.  It is always fun (I can say that because I don’t actually do any work); I think the guys would say that too though, if you asked them.  There is a lot of satisfaction that comes from getting the branding done.  Of all the jobs on the ranch, I think everyone enjoys branding the most. 

Everything went fairly smoothly until about the last 20 minutes when Kevin’s kid got his hand caught under a rope and then while I was consoling him (instead of holding onto Chase), Chase went backwards into the tire drinker.  You wouldn’t think he would fit, but he folded in half and went under.  His feet and head were together in a jackknife and he was completely submerged for a second.  I grabbed him but he slipped out of my hands and went under again. Then Kevin pushed me out of the way (OK, he didn’t push me), and snagged him out.  He was pretty scared, but fine once we got his wet clothes off of him and dried him off.  The worse part of it was the smell. :) Have you ever smelled the black sludge at the bottom of a drinker??  I had quite recently, because while we were waiting for more vaccine, I took Chase and the McFee boys over to look at the goldfish.  On our way back, they stopped at a similar tire drinker and were pulling the blanket weed algae out of the drinker.  First Everet slung the sludge-laced algae and flicked black goo all over the front of me, including my hair and face.  Then Chase decided to get in on the act and gave his algae a wild swing and let go.  His algae, just like velcro, attached itself to my hip and backside.  So at that point, I was well aware of the dreadful smell.  It was clinging to me everywhere. So when we finally got Chase home, I washed his hair three times before I could get the smell out.  I might be being a little dramatic here, but I think I might have an overly sensitive olfactory gland; so I can’t help it! :) That and the fact that it reminds me of some of the putrid diapers I change and the smell gets stuck in my nose for hours!  With all that, still a great time!!!

PS…this is going to have a lot of pictures…sorry!

The calves are looking extra cute this year!

The men have to talk things over before we start (aka b.s.)

Hayes helped on the ground.  He vaccinated and sprayed this year.

Chase loves Trey’s new puppy Rojo.

Ree had to watch from the truck while I took photos.

JC waits for a calf.

T and Chase are all smiles.

Spence holds the calf on Spanky.

Hayes gets ready to ride.  It was a short ride.  Maybe next time.

JC holds while Spence brands.

What can I say about my oldest??? Still a cutie pie!

Hayes got a little training on the nordfork.

T takes his ride.  He shouted “Yes!” after he came off.

Kevin holds for Spence and Ole.

Ole roping

Ree spent a little time in the dirt/manure after she was released from the back of the truck.

My favorite shot of the day.  I love the flaming brand!

Chase, not to be outdone, takes his own ride.  He was already off by the time I took the picture.

Hayes waiting for a calf.

Spence using Ree as a human shield.  Ha ha

Spence bringing one in.

Ree wanted Hayes to hold her in between calves.

Spence roping on Spanky.

Besides the ranch, we love living here because we are close to a lot of family.  What would we do without cousins?

Here’s T, Chase and Hayes hanging out at the infamous tire drinker where all the business went down.

Did I mention it was Chase’s birthday?  He couldn’t have asked for a better day! (trough dunk and all)

May 2011

As I sit here writing this, I can hear the rain dripping off our roof and onto the ground.  It causes me to reflect on the many blessings in my life.  The first one today being the rain that we are so desperately in need of.  I pray that it will continue until it quenches our parched earth.  Spence says the cows have been doing poorly.  We’ve had many die because there is no nutrition in the old feed.  We have started to feel desperate about our situation, and rain is the only answer.  With rain on the forecast today, we have been intently watching the skies to see if anything would develop.  By afternoon, all we had was a few sprinkles and a lot of wind.  But by evening and now night, the rains have come.  It’s been raining off and on for hours and hopefully it will continue in the night. 

I have many more blessings in my life.  The free country I live in (which I take for granted a lot of the time), enough food to eat, a roof over my head, vehicles to carry me around, and pretty much a comfortable life where all of my needs are met.  I have family around me, parents (on both sides) who love and support me, and our little core family that brings me so much joy.  Having a new baby in the family (not so new anymore!) has really made all of us (in the Spence Platt household) feel a lot of gratitude.  We are continually amazed by this strong little spirit  that has entered our home.  Because of Chase, we are also in awe of the physical and mental development that goes on at such an early age.  The rest of us (those of us without disabilities) are so blessed to be able to walk, run, think, eat, and speak without hardly any effort.  Chase, with all of his struggles, is still such a blessing in my life.  (even though today I was cussing he and Ree for all of the poop they are producing! :) Having Chase has brought such perspective to my life.  It has made it easier to see  the true priorities in my life and discard the some of the “fluff”.  It has helped me to “stop and smell the roses” simply because we aren’t able to keep up a very fast paced lifestyle with him around.  It was a very hard decision for us to have another child after Chase.  It seemed like we were barely able to keep our heads above water caring for this little boy.  But wouldn’t you know, of all of us, Chase enjoys Ree the most.  He is constantly in stitches over some funny thing she is doing.  I’m sure she will be keeping him entertained for many years to come. 

I am in no way a perfect anything…mother, daughter, wife, citizen, church member, child of God; but I am thankful for the opportunity to continue trying to improve my life in a way that will show our Father in heaven that I am truly grateful for this life I have been given. 

My top four things I’m grateful for:

 

I didn’t want to post his last picture because of the embarrassing cobwebs all over the front of our house (they ruined all the backgrounds of the pictures I took that day), but I guess that’s life isn’t it?!! (Most of the pictures taken around our house look a little bit redneck!) I guess we are!