Wow! It's been a while since we've updated this blog. Let me try to catch you up on what we've been doing this year. 

JANUARY

We got the opportunity to go to Boise for the Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher (YF&R) conference.  We are our county’s YF&R chairmen.  This conference consisted of meetings, workshops, dinners, auctions, and Autumn’s favorite part- a tour of the state capitol.  Chris’s favorite part was lunch at Tucanos Brazilian Grill.  Another fun aspect was that Autumn’s sister and brother-in-law, Amanda and Roderick, came to the conference with their county, so we got to visit with them.  Okay, I’ll admit it, Autumn and Amanda even skipped out on some of the workshops and went shopping.  You can’t go to Boise and not go shopping, though!  

FEBRUARY

It was cold!

MARCH

Chris and I, along with his parents, made a mad dash to Montana for a bull sale. We travelled part of the way and stayed in Bozeman, MT one night.  Then we went the rest of the way to Lewistown the next day, bought a couple Gelbvieh bulls, then turned around and drove home the whole way that day.  The second day’s travel time totaled 17 hours. Boy, were we glad to get home!

At the end of the month, Autumn got the opportunity to go to Lewiston, Idaho for the Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Conference.  She attended workshops and got to know more women from around the state. Her favorite part was the tour of the sea port, as Lewiston is the most inland harbor in the country.

 Autumn (right) standing in front of Lewiston, Idaho             

APRIL

We celebrated our 8^th anniversary!

MAY

May has been our most exciting month this year. It began with Chris's youngest brother, Shawn, coming home from his mission! It was an awesome day, and the whole family got to go to the airport to meet him, then go to an aunts house in Salt Lake for lunch. We are having fun getting to know Shawn again. He and Chris and even working together this summer!  May continued with Tip's (the dog) surgery, branding, Shawn's report at church, taking the cows to the range, the last day of school, and finally Memorial Day. 

Happy at the airport!

Tip's surgery was actually the last week in April.  He had a 2 1/2 pound tumor on the top of his head that we had removed.  They used a laser and everything went will until the next week when we were branding cows. Given that Tip's head was stitched up across the whole top, we probably shouldn't have let Tip help us with branding.  Whether Tip got kicked or whether he was just being too active, we aren't sure, but somehow his stitches popped open!  We called the vet and Chris’s sister, Kimmy, and Autumn hopped in the truck with Tip and lots of rags and started the hour long drive to the vet.  Of course as soon as we put Tip in the truck he got excited, which made his head really start to bleed!  Autumn went into panic mode, and was so grateful for Kimmy’s calming effect and effort to minimize the bleeding.  Thankfully, Tip is recovered and doing well now (but that sure wasn’t fun to clean up).  He’s actually a lot happier and active, but can you blame him?

Tip, right after surgery.

Shawn did a great job with his report in church, but the best thing about it was all the family that came to listen and support him.  Several families came from Eastern Oregon, so it was a fun and busy weekend spent with lots of family.

This year, the cows actually went to the range in two different groups, on two different days.  But of course, Autumn had to work both days and couldn’t go.  Chris said the cows went easily and it was a lot of fun, as usual (unlike last year, which was a disaster).  And Autumn did get to go help move some from one field to another at Cow Camp another day, so that appeased her a bit.

Kimberly, Dustin, Aubrey, John, Shawn, and Chris take cows to the range.

As much as Autumn enjoyed this school year, she was still happy to see it go.  She had a great class this year and will miss her kids.  However, by the time the end of the year assessments are finished, students and teacher alike are beat and ready for a break.  Autumn plans to work in her classroom a little bit throughout the summer, and by the time it’s back-to-school time, she’ll be excited for it.

Autumn’s last day of work brought her family that night.  Her sister, Ginny, and her family, Frank, Morgan, and Sydney, came Friday night and stayed until Tuesday.  Highlighting their visit was the Memorial Day festivities at the Chesterfield Townsite.  We enjoyed touring the houses, making butter and handkerchief dolls, visiting the bake foods sale, and of course lunch!  Autumn and Ginny even participated in the 5K race that day.  They didn’t win, but we were close…to last place, that is. 

Kimberly Banks, Autumn, Ginny, Giny Knox, Chelsea Holbrook, and Aubrey Banks enjoying the 5K race on Memorial Day.

JUNE

Chris’s birthday was the next week, so while Autumn’s parents weren’t able to come for Memorial Day this year, they did get to come the next weekend for Chris’s birthday.  It was actually his 30^th birthday, so Autumn threw him a surprise party.  Family, friends, and coworkers enjoyed a wiener roast at our backyard fire pit, followed by cake and ice cream of course.  Well, we are already well into June and summer is going by fast!  It’s only going to get busier, too.  Right now, evenings are filled with building fence on our property.  It has been fun to see a well being drilled there and now we wait for the power company to get us power to run it.  The well is for livestock, but is where we will eventually put our house.  We look forward to Autumn’s nephew, Darin, and nieces, Morgan and Sydney, staying with us for a few weeks this summer.  We also have family reunions to attend and camping excursions to plan.  Hopefully, I will keep this up better and fill you in on all our summer fun as it occurs!