Track

Heading to Sioux Falls (about 90 miles away) tomorrow to watch Courtney throw in the Howard Wood Relays and then back again on Saturday to watch her run.

I took some neat pictures of a creature that was in our window well and will post them as soon as I find time.

Babies

I got 900 of my baby pigs in today and I am down to about 40 cows left to have their babies. Our mama cat even had her babies but I have yet to find them. I love spring with all the new life around.

Shooting Sports and Track

I finally got some pictures of Courtney at the track meet and took some of the State Shooting Sports meet this weekend too.

My nephew Nolan at the CMP range.

Nolan and his mom Cheryl (my sister).

Courtney shooting her .22 pistol.

The kids did pretty good at the State Meet. We had a good time and the kids had fun too...that's the most important part....having fun!

Courtney throwing shot put at the Watomas in Watertown.

She got 2nd place.

She also got 7th in discus. My sister was there and gave her a few pointers and she threw the discus farther than she ever has....thanks Aunt Cheryl! She also ran a few relays and they got 4th and 5th in those. It was a cold and windy track meet....typical for this time of the year.

Where has the week gone?

Wow, I can't believe it is Thursday already. I have been pretty bad about updating my blog....lack of time and energy!

Courtney had Spring Concert on Monday night...it turned out pretty good. Very short and sweet.

Tuesday I was able to slip away for a few hours to watch Courtney's track meet. There were 15 teams there so it didn't get over until about 9:00. Courtney got 2nd place in Shot Put, she threw pretty good! She struggled in Discus and I am not even sure if her relay teams placed.

We are "trying" to get all the equipment ready for spring work. We have had a few minor problems but I think we have the planter all ready to go and are still working on the sprayer.

Calves are still coming like crazy....I had 11 new ones yesterday! I think I am down to about 50 or so left to calve.

Courtney and I are heading to Pierre this weekend for the State Shooting Sports Match. She qualified in 3 archery's, air pistol and .22 pistol.

I had better get back at it....sorry about the lack of checking in with you all. I am hoping in the next few weeks things will slow down a little and I will catch up with what has been going on with all of you.

Track

Courtney had her first track meet last week but I had to loads pigs so I missed the first meet. Tomorrow will be the second meet and I plan on getting to this one.

She did really well last week...she got 1st in shot put, 5th in discus and 1st in the 4 x 200 relay. She is also in the Medley relay but they did not place last week. It was a very small meet so this week may be a little more challenging.

Prom

Prom was on Friday night...all the girls looked so pretty in their dresses and the boys were so handsome in their tuxes. Chad and I chaperoned the dance and part of the after-prom party. I am glad we did so we could hang around and watch all the kids. It was really fun! We were supposed to stay until 6am but they had plenty of help so we left at 3am.

Jeremy's girlfriend Stephanie is a senior so he got to go to another prom too. Here he is with her in their "ride" to prom. He thought it would be fun to pick her up in the tractor.

This was her first ride in a tractor. She is such a great gal and such a trooper for going
along with it.


Jeremy and Stephanie

Courtney and Ben

Courtney and Jeremy

Cesarean

My sister Cheryl and I did a cesarean on a cow yesterday. It was really interesting. She used to work a Veterinary tech so she was the brains behind the endeavor...I was just the "help"! We saved the calf and it was a huge bull calf. Thanks alot Cheryl....we appreciate all the help you give us! I would have taken pictures but my hands were a little busy at the time.

Pops Concert

Last week Courtney participated in the 90's Pops Concert at school. Every year the choir and band pick a decade and put on this concert Last year it was 80's and this year was 90's. Anyway, Courtney sang her first solo...."Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams, and she did a great job! She usually has a part in the song where she sings a solo....usually just a line or 2 but this year she did an actual solo....the whole song! I was in tears it.....it was sooooo good!

Prom is this coming Friday. Chad and I are chaperoning the dance from 9pm to 1am and then the post-prom party from 1am to 6am. We passed on the trip to Minneapolis directly following the post-prom party. I think we will both be exhausted come Saturday (well, more exhausted then we normally are anyway)!

Back to Work

Back to work again today full force! We had 4 more calves today (I now have over 50 calves-about 1/3 of the way done now) and we sent out 4 loads of butcher hogs too. I had our friend Frank come and help...thank God for him!

Easter

We had a great Easter!

The 4 of us got to take part of the day off to go to church and then have dinner with Chad's Aunt Betty, Aunt Linda, cousin Nancy and his mom and dad. We then visited my Grandma for a little bit. It was a great day and nice to get some "down time".

Bad Day?

You know it has been a bad day when you file a claim on your cell phone that is not working right and pay $50 to get a new phone...... and then your new phone goes through the washing machine that same night.
UGH!

Mud!

This is what I have been dealing with the last few days.

MUD! Here I have the 4-wheeler and calf trailer stuck in the mud.

The calf that I was hauling with the 4-wheeler.

I guess it is better than snow but I am really getting tired of mud.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Sorry, I have been really bad about checking in with you all....we have been just crazy busy around here since our return from Vegas!

We are in the process of taking butcher hogs out and getting the barns ready for a new batch of feeder pigs. We are also busy taking care of cows and calves (they are dropping calves like crazy), helping my father-in-law haul some beans to town and we are trying to get things ready for spring planting.

Some days are pretty overwhelming for me but I am taking it one day at a time and trying to get through it all. Chad is starting to help some but is still limited in what he can do. He had a check-up yesterday and is starting to get his range of motion back and is now starting on some strengthening exercises. They tell him 4-6 more weeks before he can do much lifting.

I am really thankful that I have Jeremy to help on the weekends and Courtney to help keep the house livable and make meals. I am also thankful for Chad's dad who is just a phone call away if I need help and for the good friends we have who have offered their help if we need. I may just have to call them and take them up on their offers!

Suzie

Our old dog "Suzie" died while we were in Vegas.Here she is (left) pictured with our new dog Madyson.

We put them in the garage every evening and let them out first thing in the morning. Poor Courtney was the one to find her dead and called me....she was hysterical...poor girl (we got Suzie when Courtney was about 3 or so). We called Chad's dad and he took care of Suzie for us so Courtney didn't have to deal with it.

We knew her days were numbered, she was very arthritic and getting pretty slow. She has been a great dog for us and we will really miss her.