Little Ranchers

Our back pasture is adjacent to an old-time cattle ranch. It happens to be owned and run by a gentle-spirited cowboy named Bob - who attends our church. Erik has gotten to know him fairly well in the last two years, as they have sat together in the same table group at men's Bible Study. He called last week to see if he could "hire" our little ones - along with another family's little ones - to help pick rock to form a passage over a bog. We could see come new spring calves, drive a tractor and put in a few hours of work. Of course, we said "yes!"
Sadie - farm-girl in braids and overalls, riding the fancy blue tractor.


The kids had a blast riding (and driving) the little four-wheeler and giant tractor as they explored the ranch and saw a calf that had born that very morning. As they were driving around, Bob noticed another heifer who was preparing to give birth to her calf. She was very uncomfortable, pacing in her little area with tail high, grunting. He was confident she would deliver while we were there. So we stayed close as we loaded rocks into the tractor. Our friend Dan watched with binoculars and let us know when he could see little white calf feet emerging. We drove close, all piled in a pick-up bed, and found a place to watch - without upsetting the laboring mama. It didn't take long! We witnessed the amazing delivery of a healthy calf - watched mama lick her baby clean and nudge him to stand - within minutes! It was so cool! So neat for the kids to see! And me, too!


Calf - fresh from his mama
Standing on wobbly legs, a few minutes later.

Afterwards, we left baby to find his mama's milk and returned to pick more rock. After two loads, the kids were rewarded with four dollars each. Two were to keep, and two went into an envelope to "give to the Lord." It was really sweet.

We love living in Wyoming!


Our hard-working crew. Even baby Jonathan helped pick rock!

(I should give credit -- the pictures came from Dan's camera, and since he is actually a professional photographer on the side, you should probably know that! Credit to Living Water Photography. :))