Christmas Traditions

 Cote,Brexton and Nixin visiting Santa!

 Of course we have our long standing Gingerbread House tradition. The kids love it more each year. Nixin was very determined this year. She knew exactly what she wanted to do.

 Cote is a pro by now but you can see he still enjoys it.

 Brexton was very excited to do a train this year. He told me it was his most favorite ever!

 Job well done!

 Today we did Christmas cookies. Nixin enjoyed cutting out and decorating her cookies. She made the star below for her G-Mama. Like I said, if sprinkles are an indication of love then.....I am loved!

 Cote and Brexton decorated theirs when they came home from school. Cote was excited to eat his cookies and Brexton was excited to decorate and eat his cookies.

 Brexton made this star for me.....notice the number of sprinkles on mine? Luv it!

It is important to have family traditions. Life can sometimes be hard and throw us a curve. We experience joys and sorrows within our families. Traditions are constants in our lives. During our hard times we can participate in our family traditions and we can also remember and reflect on the joy we experienced being together and the love we have for each other. I'm thankful that my parents started many family traditions like these that we are still participating in today!

My First Roundup!

If I had composed a bucket list participating in a roundup would have definitely been on it. The cattle had already been rounded up and brought to the holding area where they would be branded,wormed,vaccinated and the bulls castrated. Our neighbors Bill and Marla Patrick along with Bill's mother Dee lease 100 miles of land just outside of Superior where they are raising some cattle. My neighbor Teri had participated in bringing the cattle in and she got an invited for me to tag along today.  

 If there is a windmill you know I am going to take a picture of it. This is a working windmill that Toy built. The water was pumping into the holding tank and into a pond behind where I was standing. This is not the holding area we were working in today, we drove up to this one to hang a sign that Teri made.  

 When Bill was younger he would swim in this holding tank.

 Here's one of the no parking signs Teri made.

 Frank preparing the fire for the branding iron and their coffee.

The branding!

 Teri vaccinating a calf.

Bill and Marla

This calf is still a bull in this picture but.........

 Teri is holding a testicle from the calf that is on the ground.  They cook them in the fire and the men  chowed down like there is no tomorrow. I was told for my initiation I needed to taste this delicacy. I did it and it tasted like chicken. I have to say chicken I will eat again but this other was a once in a lifetime experience.

Waiting for Toy and Devan to rope the first calf of the morning.

 

This is Black Jack, a one year old Jack Russell and he herded those cows all over the place. At one time he was moving 12 cows at once.

 Meet Toy who works the ranch and Joleen a beautiful Palomino getting ready to rope.

  Toy's cute daughter Devan roping a calf. She works full time with her Dad and she can outride and out rope most guys.

This little calf,Sweet Pea, got separated from her mama when she was only 3 days old and she walked all the way down a canyon till someone found her and called the ranch. Frank picked her up and has raised her at the ranch house for the past 6 months. Two days ago he took her out to the holding corral with the other cows who did not accept her. Sweet Pea got to go back to the ranch house today. When Frank brought Sweat Pea her milk bucket she drank the whole thing without even coming up for air. I think she is adorable.

It was a fun morning and I was glad I could participate. It reminded me of being in Panaca, Nevada (my mom's one town) during the summertime when I was a child. Still on the bucket list is to ride out and bring the cows in........Next time!

My Parents 60th Wedding Anniversary

 On May 24th 2011 my parents,George Paul Wimsatt Jr and Ina Mae Wadsworth Wimsatt celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary!

As part of our celebration held in July (I will have another post about that) I'm happy to say we had family pictures taken and I wanted to share some of those pictures on my blog.

I am blessed to have the most wonderful parents and as a result of that a great family. Unfortunately,not  many marriages last for 60 plus years in the world today. I'm sure if you asked my parents they would tell you it wasn't always easy,that at times it took hard work.  Why have they endured? Because they love each other,have the same goals and eternal perspective,keep their covenants, are committed to their family and each other and most importantly they are both selfless. 

My Dad is selfless,dedicated,a hard worker,talented (he can fix,cook or build anything and do one heck of a job,sings and has a beautiful voice)humble,has a testimony, a sense of humor and he will always have your back even when you don't deserve it. 

My Mom is selfless,loving,talented(sews,cooks,writes,crafts and so much more)has a testimony and love for her pioneer heritage and ancestors. One thing my Mom excels at is making every outing,activity or  family tradition the most special experience for everyone involved.

I always knew my parents could do or fix almost anything. If it wasn't fixable I knew they were there to support,encourage and love me through it. 

Now you have a little glimpse as to why I am so blessed. ENJOY!

 The gang is all here!

 From left to right,my younger brother Craig,me,parents and my older brother Paul

 Adding my husband Steve and Paul's wife Joanne. Craig was feeling a little lonely but that will change in December when he marries his fiancé Tracey!

 From left to right-Chris holding Ryann,Ethan,Jeni,Joanne,Paul and Justin

 From left to right-Trey,Jenna holding Montana,me,Steve holding Nixin,Brinton,Brexton,Charlotte,Cote

 From left to right-Miranda,Craig,Joshua,Hannah

 My parents with their posterity-grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Granny's Mustard Pickle

What a fun experience we have had! My Granny,Lois Wadsworth, was many things all of them wonderful! She was known far and wide for her superior cooking. There are so many things my Granny cooked that I personally adored such as pies,cinnamon rolls,chocolate cake with cherry frosting,chicken noodle soup with her homemade noodles,bread (to die for) and tuffies from the bread dough,donuts,the veggies straight from her garden(you could have corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes from the garden for breakfast and I always thought that was so cool) and I could go on and on and on. One of my all time favorites was mustard pickle.

My parents grew a garden when they lived in Descanso and they did a lot of canning at that time. They used to can Granny's chili sauce and mustard pickles from the veggies they grew. As a result even after my Granny passed away we still enjoyed her recipes. Recently we were talking about mustard pickle and we decided we would can some. Trey and Jenna were very interested also. All through the summer we looked for pickling cucumbers with no success. Finally Jenna found some and my parents ran right out and had to fight for the last 16 pounds at the farmers market! You go Mom! My folks gathered all the ingredients together, I got the jars and we assembled together at our home with Trey and Jenna to can our mustard pickle with Granny's recipe.

We made three batches yielding 11 pints each. Not only do they look so beautiful they taste just like Granny's! It was fun being together canning our mustard pickles. I couldn't help but reminisce about wonderful childhood memories spent in the kitchen with my parents and my Granny. Priceless!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUTTER!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my boy Cutter (on the left) he turned one year old yesterday November 3rd! He is maturing into one intelligent,strong ball of energy! He and I are currently taking agility classes through Good Dog and we both enjoy it immensely!

It was time for our annual Pumpkin carving and chili dinner. This year I still made the chili but we got together at Scott and Carrie's. I thank them for that as Steve and I  have had a busy two weeks. It was a fun filled,perfect night and as you can see by my photos a grand time was had by all.

Boys love to carve pumpkins and make silly faces. You will see that Miller is pretty excited about  the entire pumpkin experience.

Don't let this adorable,innocent little girl,our Gracie, fool you....she is a little pistol! Julie has her hands full. We know that Gracie will be able to hold her own with the Gunnell boys or anyone else.

Brinton was relaxing after throwing Nixin and Brexton's  fabulous Happy Birthday parties.

We loved Mallory's ruffles and lace and she was happy with Aunt Amanda.

Ma-T was here this year with goodie bags for the kids! As I said Miller lovin the experience.

I don't think Cash wanted to touch the insides of the pumpkin!

Trey working on their pumpkin surprise.  Everyone loved it except perhaps Montana....you'll see what  I mean.

Miller showing us all the light inside his pumpkin.

Miller and Cash making sure the light was still shinning. LOL!

One of the few pictures I hve of Cole he was so busy playing ball with the big guys.

Trey and Jenna's pumpkin surprise is Montana! Last year Jenna was pregnant and they carved a fetus (Montana) on their pumpkin...this year the fruition.

This is how Montana really felt!

Can you guess who is the alien pumpkin?

Much better than that slimy orange thing my mom and dad stuffed me in.

Chillin!

Obviously Miller gets some of his enthusiasm from his big brother Martin.