E-I-E-I-O

We spent a whirlwind 24 hours at my folks house this past weekend.  They are in the middle of calving season, which is a very chaotic time of year...those mommas and babies come before anything else, even if that means missing meals or eating at 9:00 at night.  It's a very tiring and thankless job and my parents and siblings Andrea and Cameron are very good at it.  I remember those days from when I was little, but can't picture living it now, having constant mud tracking through the house, endless loads of laundry from being out helping mommas have their babies, little calves taking over your laundry room because they need extra care...the list goes on and on.  

Growing up on a farm/ranch you learn about the circle of life a little differently than most people.  The little black baldy above didn't make it.  It wasn't for a lack of trying, my sister did everything she could to try to nurse that baby back to good health but it just wasn't in the cards.  It's so sad because she devoted every minute of spare time she had, even taking time off her 8-5 job to be with that baby, coaxing it to take a bottle, trying to get it up and moving, etc...A sad part of the circle of life on the farm. 

Colter couldn't wait to go out and bottle feed the little baby.  He was also very interested in going to to feed the chickens and gather eggs.  I earned brownie points for being able to catch the chicken for the picture (and immediately hand it over to my sister....)  The big red baby in the bottom picture got the last laugh, sticking his tongue out at me when I said cheese!  

Levi on the other hand, was just amazed at the sheer size of the calf bottle!  Winston isn't much of a farm dog (he likes to protect us from the cows by growling from the sliding glass door at our house), but he is good at keeping his Papa Larry's chair warm for him.

We are looking forward to going back when the mares have their foals later this spring!!