BB Cattle Production Sale

My parents have recently become owners of a cattle ranch in Connell, Washington. They co-own it with Joe Bennett. Joe's dad Bill Bennett has been in ranching his whole life and has gotten quite a reputation in the Hereford (a breed of cattle) world of superior genetics when it comes to cattle. Bill and his wife Norma decided to retire this year and Joe needed a new partner. My parents were honored to be approached by the Bennett family and have had such a great time learning the ranching business.

Every year in February, BB Cattle has what is called a Production Sale. Our cattle are not sold to feedlots. They are sold to other ranches for breeding. The sale is actually an auction held at the ranch. They added an online option this year. So you could purchase BB cattle from the comfort of your own home. Or just watch the whole thing like Ryan and his kids did in Kentucky. We had a retirement party for Bill and Norma the night before the sale. It ended up being the who's who of the Hereford world. It was really fun to see a bunch of people that had worked with my dad over the years and all the ranchers,executives, etc that had known Bill and Norma for the 50+ years they had been raising Herefords. We found out that night that Bill has registered the most Herefords ever in the American Hereford Associations database.

My sister Lisa let us use a couple of RV's from their fleet for the weekend. They own a Alaska tourism business and they rent RV's out in the summer to people who want to drive around Alaska. Can I just tell you that I want one now? Do you even know how much I loved sitting in the back knitting or making sandwiches all while we were driving down the road??? LOVED IT!!

Getting ready to leave for Connell

Troy loved driving around on his tractor. Sorry some of the pictures are poor quality because I didn't always have the camera and would have to use my cellphone.

A few of the bulls
This baby calf had been born the day before a little premature. He was so weak that we had to help him stand up.

Mad loved watching her daddy ride around and scrape the pens and the driveway on the tractor.

Not the greatest picture of Troy, but it's pretty much the only one of me that night so too bad for him. This was at the retirement party.

So many cowboys... So little time... hahahaha!

My Dad's boss Craig Huffines is the President of the American Hereford Association. And of course my Mom. Can you believe how skinny she has gotten? I know!

My Dad and Norma. Someday I want to grow up to be Norma.

Derek and his new Fiancee Natasha (I'll blog about that soon!!). That is a terrible picture of Natasha. I promise I will get a picture on here that does her justice.

Gosh they are cute!

This was taken on our way home at a place called Judy's in Royal City. We have always wanted to stop there because there was a sign out front that said Judy's Great Food. I wouldn't say it was great, but it was good. haha!

I didn't get any pictures of the sale because I was in the RV with Nick J most of the actual sale. He was having seizures that day and missed the whole thing. Poor kid. He is doing a lot better now.

oops...

This picture somehow got deleted from the previous post. I can't believe it! It's pretty much my favorite picture from the trip. I just love these two. I can't imagine life without them.

Utah 2010

We had our first family vacation just the three of us last month. We spent four days in Utah and had an absolute amazing time. My best friend Amy and her family were there for a winter ski vacation so we decided pretty much at the last minute to go and meet them in SLC.

Tiffy's brother Blake was kind enough to let us stay at his house. We got to meet his girlfriend Estee (WE LOVE ESTEE!!) and hang out with them a bit. It was so great to see Blake. I hadn't seen him in years, but we definitely are kept up to speed on each other's lives via our amazing Tiff. So it was really fun to talk in person and discuss how cute our nephew and nieces are.

Okay so we took a ton of pictures. The next part of my blog is a sampling, if you can call 26 pictures a sampling! haha!

Our first stop. Troy was in heaven. A Sonic and In and Out on the same street.

Maddie and Kaleb together at last!!!

Madison loved her Mimi!

Our first night in SLC, we drove around for hours with Megan. I wanted to show Troy everything. We had a blast. You can't help but have a blast when Megan is around.

Prom picture #1

Prom picture #2

I bought this headband for me, but how cute is it on Madison?! I'm going to figure out how to make the flower. Its a zipper. I know! I'm obsessed with it.

SHE IS ALREADY SNEAKING INTO MY PURSE!!

I worked at the Sundance Resort when I was in college. I loved working there. Driving up Sundance canyon was the highlight of my day. The people I worked with were so fun. It was just a great time in my life. I was so excited to take Troy and Mad around Sundance and show them somewhere that meant so much to me.

One of my favorite views!!!

The BYU bookstore. Amy and I used to go here pretty much everyday and get samples of fudge which you now have to pay for. I don't remember ever paying for it which is why we went everyday. We would also go there to buy pens. We have a weird obsession with pens. I know this isn't the best picture of Amy, Kaleb, and me, but did you see Madison. Too cute!

Pretty much the only picture of Amy and I together and I had to cut the kids out of it. And yes that is a Twilight poster behind us. haha!

Isn't she just so stinkin' cute?! I can hardly stand it!

I love this picture! It was Troy's attempt at a family picture. Maddie could barely keep her eyes open because the snow flakes kept flying at her face.

This is the Christus statue at Temple Square.

Every time I look at this picture I crack up laughing. The walkway up to the Christus statue is a long curved ramp. So Troy thought it would be funny to freak me out on the way down to act like he had let Madison roll down by herself and her stroller fell over at the bottom. Unfortunately for Troy, I saw him laying her over on her side. She was a great sport about hanging there while I got a picture. hahaha!

Can you even see us in the corner? Amy did a great job fitting us in.

I love this temple. I love the history. I love the architecture. I love the symbolism. I love that my parents made sacred covenants here. I love this temple.

Madison thought she was so cool riding this horse. I guess on her first ride while I was in the bathroom, another boy jumped on the back and tried to get a free ride. Troy kicked him off and the kid acted like Troy was the meanest guy ever. haha!

The new SLC t-shirt. I mean seriously! Who thinks of these things? I know someone in my family would. My brother lives in Kentucky and wants to make shirts that say I heart KY. And there is a little town in Ireland called Muff. My dad wants to open a dive shop there and call it Muff Divers. haha! Don't steal his idea. He will do it one day, much to my mother's dismay. Poor Eva.

A swim in a pool and a night in a hotel...

We decided around 11 am on Wednesday that we were going to go to Eastern Washington with my parents and brothers to visit the ranch and see Annie and Jeff. We had a blast! There was snow the whole way from Snoqualmie Pass to Connell. Troy was in heaven. I didn't get any pictures of Madison with the cattle because it was so darn cold. We'll be back over in a few months so maybe I'll get some pictures then. We stayed in a hotel with a swimming pool. We were so excited to take Mad swimming for the first time. The water was a little cold so she didn't last long, but it was fun while it lasted. We then went and had some take out Chinese in my parent's room or as Eva put it "Party in Room 134!!!". Mad didn't got to bed until almost midnight. She sure loves to party. ha!

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house with a bunch of our family. Lucy and Shawn even joined us for the evening. Mad loved opening presents. Well really I should say she loved opening one present and then she would ignore all the rest and play with whatever the toy she opened was. Her cousin Noah did a great job of helping her open the rest. Christmas Day was spent at our house. We woke up and open presents together and then had my parents and brothers and Lucy and Shawn come over for brunch and more presents. All in all a great holiday. We are so grateful for all that we are blessed with!

(No he wasn't neutered. He got a flea bite, which we found out later he is allergic to, and chewed his fur to the skin. So he has to wear this cone until it's healed. Poor Kaiser.)