Tis The Season

Here are a few pictures from Christmas. There are pictures from Ty's Christmas Concert, shepards in waiting for the Live Nativity, and Tricia trying on her new Roboso. We were incredibly happy to get a picture of Pop Pop and Ryanna because she has been in ICU much of the week with a wicked respiratory illness called RSV! She (and Mom and Dad) are finally home - and Ty finally got to open his presents. After looking at the picture, Teryn said that he thinks that Ryanna has his nose! The pictures I DIDN'T get were of Teryn Lee and Holly - what was I thinking - I guess they'll have to wait till next time! I also didn't get any of Clay - because he wasn
t able to come home. We're planning a trip up there soon, so stay posted!

Spittin' Image

Thought I'd post a couple of pictures of Belle! Those of you who knew us when Trish was a baby, will probably have to agree that Belle is the Spittin' image of her momma - and you might even recognize the little sweater Belle is wearing. My mother (G-Gmaw) crocheted that for Trish almost 30 years ago. 'Scuze me - Trish prefers me to be more exact when discussing her age - 28 years ago!

Review of '07

This Blog is taking the place of my annual Christmas Letter. Since I didn't start Blogging until May, I thought I'd add a paragraph to cover January through April.

I often feel that I'm living life in fast forward - and January '07 definately qualified as that kind of month! Teryn spent 3 weeks in South Texas with his parents and sister to help out with health concerns. That meant that I juggled work, and caring for the exotics and our animals. We had 3 snows during that time and of course the goats all had babies too. The combination of the freezing weather and really large babies caused many of them to have low blood sugar - which looks like dead babies and has to be dealt with quickly or they do die! Needless to say, I had a crash course in infant goat resusitation.
We had a wonderful surprise in February when Sierra had a baby donkey. MiHijo is my dog/horse, and I'm having great fun teaching him his manners, and tricks.
Teryn Lee experienced a major victory in March when he won a Cowboy Extreme Competition. It's a sort of Cowboy obstacle course. It was televised in September on RFDTV. He won a saddle and prize money, but most of all, it opened lots of doors in the horse industry.
I went on an Emmaus walk in April, and had a wonderful experience. I highly recommend Emmaus if you've never experienced it!
I guess that's about it for the first part of the year! No pictures - just a lot of old news! Please scroll through the blog for news from the rest of the year! The blog may make more sense if you look at it in reverse order - May is at the very bottom! I hope you enjoy!

Teryn and the Cow(d/h)ogs

Teryn was going to check a pasture! Lucky man, he always has plenty of help! Seriously, Lori and Jake do what Teryn asks them to do and take the place of a man. Bacon just does what she wants!

Nativity Donkey

The Live Nativity is coming soon. MiHijo is too young to carry Mary this year, but he's going to dress up and go - just to see what it's all about!

Cowhog

Teryn is taking the "Cowhog" concept to a new level! Maybe he's spending too much time alone on the ranch!

New Arrival Coming Soon

I hope I will be able to get a good picture of Tricia's belly before RyAnne decides to make her appearance. But until then, I thought I'd share a 'Tyism' with you. Ty told Tio TLee that if the baby isn't born before this Tuesday the Dr. would 'reduce' Trish! I'm not sure reduce isn't more accurate than induce! Stay tuned, I'm pretty sure there'll be lots of new baby pictures soon!

Ty's Surgery

Thought I'd add a picture of Ty in his splint and crutches. He had a condition called Osteo Chondroma, and they had to remove a growth on his femur. He is doing great, but his mom says he is a "demanding patient."

Clay at Work

One stop during our trip was to see Clay at his new job. He said that he really enjoys his work, and doesn't have any regrets about leaving school! He said that Mr. Haverty is great to work with! Also he does leather work, something that Clay has been interested in for a long time. Mr. Haverty helped Clay make some spur leathers for Teryn's birthday. In these pictures he is: riding, washing a horse down after it was worked, and putting cold splints on a horse.

National Finals Cowboy Extreme

Teryn Lee accepting the Champion ship buckle from Craig Cameron. The following are the media resources you can go to if you want to hear interviews, or see pictures and videos!
***The following site has professional photos of the Cowboy Extreme contest. Just click on the site below, If you want to see a picture close up, you can double click on it. http://merrickstudios.morephotos.com/mp_client/pictures.asp

***If you want to hear an interview you can go to http://www.betterhorsesradio.com/ Go to archives and find the interview for June 30 - July 1. Teryn Lee is on the last 10 minutes of the show.

***If you want to view the Cowboy Extreme race that was televised on RFDTV you can go to http://horsecity.com/videos/online_directory/index.shtml?bcpid=626986556&bclid=716123410&bctid=752475562

Teryn Lee and Holly Sue breathing a sigh of relief after the results were announced! Pictures of the part of the support crew!

Supreme Extreme Cowboy

HE WON!!! It was amazing! I'm posting a few pictures tonight, but still have tons to do before work in the morning. I'll post more this weekend! The pictures are: 1) the new buckle, 2) part of the 'support' crew - notice the blue shirts advertising Calvin - compliments of Triangle Quarter Horse, 3) TLee giving 'Mawmaw' a victory hug!

Muench Bros

Couldn't resist. Had to post a picture of the brothers!

Mi Viejo

Today is Teryn's 51st birthday. We usually celebrate birthdays for a week, and Teryn's started Sunday when Tricia's bunch came out for some lunch. I wish I would have thought to snap a picture! Today, the neighbors made him some birthday brownies. The picture is Teryn with the neighbor kids. We'll see what we find to do the rest of the week to celebrate the birth of the sweetest man in the universe!

My Happy Little Burro

How do you like little MiHijo's smile? I've learned that you can't teach a donkey to smile without smiling yourself! Now that we have that trick mastered, we're going to start learning to count.

Pray for Frito

American Family Radio is currently doing a campaign to get listeners to pray for children in underdeveloped countries. All you do is go to www.worldvision.com, and select a child. They will send you an information packet about the child and his country so you will know specific needs. The only obligation is to pray for that child for 30 days!
It's an amazing campaign because we are instructed to pray for things like clean water, nutritious food, and educational materials. It helps the child, but it also helps us remember how fortunate we are, AND how much we take for granted! Even just surfing on the World Vision site is an amazing education!
'Our Child' is Frito Jean Pierre, a little 4-year-old from Haiti. His birthday is May 15th (our anniversary)! I invite you to pray for little Frito with us, or commit to your own child through World Vision.

Those Aren't Rain Clouds!!!

As we were leaving to go to Chapel this afternoon, we saw a fire truck headed out our way, so we looked back and saw the smoke of a huge fire! We couldn't really tell where the fire was located, but it looked like it could be close to our house, so we turned around and made a bee-line for the ranch. When we finally got to the ranch we found that the fire was about 3 miles south of the house and heading southwest. Hopefully the wind won't change to where it is headed towards the barns or the house. We keep the horses in the 'House Pasture' so they'll graze and keep the grass low, just in case! Anyway, there are 7 firefighters, 3 fire trucks, and Teryn working the fire right now.

The fire lasted about 6 hours and burnt up about 2 sections of land. We're not complaining though! Nothing was destroyed except lots of grass - it could have been sooo much worse! The firemen were able to weaken the fire, then when it tried to jump a dirt road, it fizzled and died! Teryn told me that every few years lightening hits that pasture and burns it! This picture was taken from the carport!

Ty and Friends

Clay's Exciting New Plans

We are very excited to let everyone know that Clay has new plans. He went to see Teryn Lee this weekend, and talk to different trainers in the hopes of getting a job working with horses. He wound up siging on with Clint Haverty, a world champion reining horse trainer. I've included a couple of websites below for those of you interested in learning more.
I'm inserting quotes from different sites that made me particularly happy!
“Mr. Haverty meticulously prepares both his students and horses for all phases of competition.”
"Clint is well known for his extraordinary generosity of spirit and willingness to help his fellow reiners in their time of need. For instance, when Tim Lynch was struggling with a serious back injury, Clint went to his farm, picked up several of his horses and continued the training process at no cost to Lynch. “Other trainers followed Clint’s lead,” says Lynch. “And we were not only able to meet our obligations, but we were also given a peace of mind that helped my recovery.”

It sounds like Clay's new boss is a top notch man, and horse trainer! He's already looking out for Clay's best interests by encouraging Clay to continue with college, and even told him that he could go to college on Mr. Hagerty's time!

Clay will be living near Denton, about 1 hour from Teryn Lee.

www.havertyranch.com
www.nrha.com/media/20050119a.html

Amazing Chivo

Chivo isn't a puppy anymore! He is an amazing, awesome guardian dog! We've seen him at work a couple of times - mostly around Bacon (the pig). The other day, though, Teryn gave Chivo a test! Teryn was riding a colt, and he knew the goats were across the hill from him. So he snuck up very quietly and hid behind a bush, then started making strange noises. Chivo did his job! He barked a warning to the goats and they bunched up, then he got between the goats and 'the threat.' He didn't attack, his MO is intimidation! Chivo has a very low, menacing, loud, bark/growl that would scare anything in it's right mind away! The attack might come when he gets older, and if the threat doesn't go away. I can't describe how amazing it is to watch him do what just comes naturally!! On a lighter note - when we feed him, Chivo comes up to us with a 'smile' on his face! I tried to get a picture - but anytime there is something out of the ordinary, he is on the lookout and doesn't cooperate!

Bacon Thinks She's a Dog

Due to popular demand, I am posting a couple more pictures of Bacon. She was resting under the trailer with the dogs when the first one was taken. Teryn was shoeing a horse and they were waiting for the 'hoof candy.'

Carlsbad Trip

Last weekend Ty, Sky, Teryn, and I went to NM to see the bat flights out of Carlsbad Caverns. There were probably close to 800,000 bats that flew out of the cave,it was pretty amazing!! We camped out at Lake Brantley and had a great time. In this picture, Sky is teaching Ty how to make a fire with a spark from a flint. I think that was Ty's highlight! Sky said his highlight was getting to swim in the lake!

Our Multi-Talented Pig

I've been wanting me to make a post about Bacon,a feral hog Teryn caught last spring. She has become quite a pet! Bacon follows us everywhere we go on the ranch, weather we walk or ride, she's always right there! In this picture she is helping Teryn gather cattle. Teryn teases the other cowboys that at least his 'cowhog' doesn't chase rabbits! The other morning the dogs were barking, and when Teryn looked out the window he saw a coyote (probably wanting to eat our 1 remaining hen for breakfast), anyway it was Bacon who chased it away! She also serves as "boar bait!" Twice we've had feral boars visiting at the house. We're pretty isolated out here, and it can be a little scary when I'm home alone, but the truth is I feel very safe with Bacon outside guarding things! She would intimidate anyone and make them go away!

The Remuda

Teryn wanted me to upload some pictures of our horses - they're a colorful bunch! Teryn and most of our old horses retired at the same time, so we wound up buying 3 young horses when we moved to the ranch last year. The new horses are :Snort & Huey - both sorrels, and a beautiful Blue Roan. We had 2 weanlings - Dun Bar's last babies. They are Chispa, the Gruella (the most beautiful horse we've ever had!) and Gus - a dun clone of his Dad!

Update on MiHijo

MiHijo is now 6 months old. We weaned him about 2 weeks ago, and I've been playing with him alot so that he'll bond to me! I got the clippers out the other day and trimmed his ears. I also try to walk him as often as possible. During our walks, I look for obstacles to manuever around. In these pictures we went up the side of the dump. The path down was pretty steep, normally I would have just slid down on my rear, but MiHijo stayed close, and I kept a hand on him to steady myself.

Where's Chivo?

Can you pick out my guard dog? You might have to double click on the picture to enlarge it! Chivo blends right in with the goats! We're finally letting him run with the does, and he stays right with them. We don't know if he's had to defend them yet - but he's definitely big enough now if he needs to fight!

The Snakes Are Crawling!

Our Summer Moonsoons are back - Thank Goodness! BUT along with the blessing of rain comes the 'curse' of snakes! The other day Teryn saw six! Last weekend Ty was walking around and saw what he thought was a rattler. He got 'Pop', then Ty killed it. It looked like a rattler, but it acted different, it didn't bother to rattle, and it had a strange blotch on it's forehead. We did a little research and confirmed that it was a Mojave, one of the top 10 most deadly snakes in the world (according to Ty)! So if you want to come see us - please do - BUT wear your boots!

The Perfect Day

Today is going to be The Perfect Day! Actually I have about 10 different perfect day scenarios, so this is only 1 in 10!
I already started some Ascedero cheese. 'Emma' came over the other day and showed me how to make it. This will be my 2nd batch. The first batch wasn't nearly as good as hers. But I've given it some thought, and have (maybe)figured out the glitches! I wrote an article on how to make Ascedero Cheese and plan to submit it to Mother Earth News and Country Woman Magazine in a couple of days - after I have played with cooking it a couple more times.
Anyway, I'll be finished with the cheese in about an hour, then I'll go play with MiHijo. We weaned him this week and he is lonesome, so I'll go 'bond' with him!
This afternoon, we'll go to Alpine. They are having Camp Meeting at Paisano Baptist Encampment. Camp Meeting started about 100 years ago to provide remote ranching families an opportunity to get together for praise and worship. The families would tie their milk cows to the backs of their wagons and head out, sometimes taking days to travel to Paisano. I wonder if I should take my milk goat? I'll have to think about that one! Anyway, once there, everyone camped out for 2 weeks and enjoyed fellowship and daily worship services. It became a sort of family reunion for many of the families. The tradition continues today, and we're going tonight! My friend Karen asked if I could stay after the worship service,and sing and play some old time gospel music on my mandoline. I can't wait - AND - I can hardly imagine a more perfect day than that!

The Swimming Hole

Teryn and Sky cleaned out one of the tanks at the back of the ranch. It's taking forever to fill up, so it's still shallow, and a great place to go with the neighbor kids to play in the water!

Metate y Mano

Ty came out a few weeks ago and was walking in the creek where he found an old Indian Grinding Stone and the Hand Stone that goes with it. You can't tell from the picture, but there is an indentation on the stone from many years of grinding down herbs and berries. I'm gonna have to go back there and see if I can find some arrowheads!

Ramblings

I Thought I'd update everyone about all the goings on, here at the ranch. We've had a couple more bobcat attacks lately. Another weanling goat was injured in the exact same places as the first - the inside hind leg and an ear. This goat wasn't hurt as bad as the first - who is now doing fine. Also we are now down to only one hen - I suspect again, due to a bobcat. The other attack was on a beautiful yellow manx tomcat. He was cut up pretty bad, but seems to be getting better! Teryn found a nest of baby bobcats between the house and the goat barn a few months ago, but he couldn't bring himself to kill the kitty's. Some thanks for his kindness!!!
The Escuela de Espanol is awesome! We sit in a circle and talk, gesture....and laugh- it feels surreal!! Almost as if we were back in time a couple hundred years, trying to talk to the Indians. Last night we talked about bobcats, and how to make Ascedero (a Mexican cheese made from Nightshade - a poisonous weed that produces yellow berries). Emma and I are going to make some this Thurs.! If I don't post for awhile - you'll know we did something wrong, and got poisoned!! Last night I dreamed in Spanish. I remember waking up briefly from the dream, and almost saying something to Teryn in Spanish before remembering and switching back to English!
MiHijo had a little operation yesterday! I think we will be seeing a much milder attitude soon! We gelded him in the pasture by the road, and were happy to see him up by the house pens this morning eating grass - it's about a mile walk, and the walking is really good for him! We'll wean MiHijo in a few weeks, after he heals from this operation. Once he gets weaned, I'll be able to really start teaching him tricks - I can't wait!!!
We've been doing bible study daily! The other day we went across the road to Morgan and Michelle's house and had some supper, then did a bible study with them! We really, really, enjoyed their procedure of reading passages, and then having each person discuss how the passage applied to their life! Oh, and the supper was great too! Teryn and I are so happy that we are FINALLY understanding the bible. The wisdom there is incredible! When upsetting things happen, we sure are tempted to react as our human nature dictates, but when we respond in the way that the bible teaches, we are ALWAYS happy with the end result!
Don't know if you can tell or not, but life at Saucida Creek ranch, in Pinto Canyon, is incredibly satisfying! Enough ramblings for now! Hope you all have a great week!

Estudiantes de la Escuela de Lingua

Tonight we started the "Pinto Canyon School of Language and Fun!" Any of you who want to come are invited - but NO ENGLISH!!! We'll be meeting on Sunday evenings at 6:30! After the language classes, we'll have a potluck. Hopefully we'll learn Spanish, but if not, I know we'll have fun, and the food is always delicioso!

Teryn is 100%

Teryn went to the Dr. today and had some xrays. It's official now, his hand is healed! The Dr. told him he doesn't even need to do PT!

Home

It was a great trip, but it sure is good to be home! Our neighbors, Morgan and Michelle took care of the animals while we were gone, and even put a delicious supper in the fridge for us when we returned! What a treat for two very tired travellers!!

While we were gone, a bobcat got into a pen that held a milk goat, a billy, and 9 weanlings. Luckily it only chewed up on one of the babys! That baby is eating and walking around, so he should be OK. We don't know why the bobcat didn't massacre the entire pen of babies. Maybe the billy chased it away, OR maybe little Chivo intervened. It's a mystery, but I think my little puppy is the hero of the story!

Extreme Saddles

The first picture is Jerry Diaz (a Legend in the horse industry) and Teryn Lee - the 1st and 2nd place saddle winners. The 2nd picture shows Teryn Lee's "Extreme" trophy saddles. They're sitting on a sign that Marsha (Marks wife) made welcoming Teryn Lee home.

MO Cowboy Extreme

The 1st picture was taken when they announced the 2nd place contestant and we knew Teryn Lee had won. Notice Cameron's very subtle poker face!

The 2nd picture was taken during the finals. Tlee is riding bareback and doing an uphill jump. The bareback ride was a REAL big challenge for most of the contestants. Teryn Lee took it all in stride. He told the interviewers that it wasn't really a problem for him because he rode bareback a lot when he was a kid cause he was too lazy to saddle his horse!

Father's Day Stories

TERYN'S MEMEORY - Teryn couldn't identify one favorite memory, but had lots of good memories. He said that even though his dad worked really hard, he was very involved with the family. His father taught Teryn mechanics and welding. He also went on lots of hunting and fishing trips where they shot ducks and doves and caught bass, catfish, and trout. Every year his family went on a major vacation to a different state. Usually they camped out and did a variety of outdoor activities. One favorite trip was when they rented a jeep in Colorado, and went to the back country. Teryn was very athletic, and his father went to all his games and was even his baseball coach during grade school. Teryn also went with his father to check wells during his Elementary and Jr. High years. Teryn has a lot of fond memories of good times.

CINDA'S MEMORY - My favorite memory about my father happened when I was in kindergarten. I doubt if he even remembers it, but somehow it captures the essence of childhood for me! 'Daddy' picked me up every day at noon and took me home where 'Mommy' had lunch waiting. Our home was about a quarter mile up a dirt road, and behind our house was a huge irrigation ditch. In my mind the ditch was at least 6 foot high.

One day he picked me up and it was raining cats and dogs! He was afraid to drive the pickup to the house for fear of getting stuck, so he parked the truck by the front fence. We took our shoes and socks off and made 'mud boots.' Then we climbed to the top of the irrigation ditch, and walked hand in hand to the house.

I guess 'Mud Boots' is a favorite memory because it was just me and my father, and I felt very special climbing on that high bank with him in the rain. That just goes to show that it's the simple things in life that really matter!

I have lots of other good memories! One of the top has to be 'Surfing' the rapids of the Guadalupe after he tied his old clunky surfboard to some trees on the side of the river. Another good memory was when a friend and I rode our horses 15 miles to Mineral, and her dad and mine met us at our place and we all camped out.

I could go on and on, but I'll end this post by saying, it is a gift to know how to work AND play. It's also a gift to know how to make a child feel special! I'm blessed that my father has both those gifts!

My Sweet Dorse (Dog / Horse)

These are the current pictures of Mi Hijo. He is 4 months old now, and can: pick up all 4 feet, stand tied and lead - sort of, and come when I pat my thighs. In the picture I am 'molding' his actions so that he will eventually 'smile' on command. How do you like the saddle blanket! I want to be sure and desensitize him while he is little, so that I can handle him easily when he's big! He looks like a bonafide nativity donkey with the saddle blanket, and it won't be long before he will carry Mary in Michael's Mountain Ministry live nativity. I sure have a lot of plans for the little guy!