JOHNSON, Party of Six!: 4th of July

4^th of July Weekend

Saturday we moved cattle from here at the ranch out to the Mabey Ranch, which is about 10 miles North as the crow flies. Our help consisted of Dirk, Jeslyn and I. It had to of been the hottest day of the year…it was scorching and miserable! The cows had never been there before and weren’t too happy to be going. To make matters worse we had 3XM (a bull) with the herd for clean up and every chance he got he was trying to turn the herd around. I am not proud to say this but many tears and cuss words later we finally pushed them through the gate. Although we weren’t finished yet, the water trough was still another couple miles North on the other end of the pasture…Ugh! We decided to take a little break and loaded the horses in the trailer and headed for home hoping everything would pair up and settle down some before another drive. I so badly needed to get to my baby, I was full and was in desperate need of some relief. Dirks mom kindly tended for us. She even had a delicious lunch ready for us when we got there. She is a good lady. We went back out early evening and of course they aren’t right there waiting for us instead they were in the very southeast corner pushing on the fence. We gathered them up and headed them out…we finally did make it. It wasn’t a great day all in all but a lot of lessons were learned that day. I tend to want to forget about all the rough times in my life but this day in particular I need to remember…remember how not to be and how not to treat the people I love.

A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn. ~Author Unknown

Sunday, we ventured on up to Victor to spend the next couple of days. We had intended on spending the entire weekend up there, but with no lodging available in the valley and the cattle drive we opted for an overnighter instead. We stopped in Swan Valley on the way and rented a nice little cabin to stay in that night. We made good time and the drive up is always a beautiful one. Our first stop was Clyde’s to deliver a bull and to drop the trailer so we weren’t dragging it around everywhere we went. This is where I start to document with pictures although they are few and not the greatest. I will need to do better next time. Clay had his first pony ride on Snowball.

We then met up with Brooks, Sara and their boys for a weenie roast and to let off fireworks.

Cute little Clay and Wes, they are 4 months apart. I hope they become the best of friends.

Brothers…hanging out and enjoying the company!

The next day we met up with Dirk’s cousin Katherine for the annual parade. It was your typical small town parade, with my favorite float being “Mater”. After the parade we went to the park but it was so crowded with people that we didn’t stay long.