2013 Resolution - Books, Books, Books!

I love to read.  My parents read to us kids all the time and I'm pretty sure they gave me the reading bug.  We frequented our little local public library often and I still go there when I am back in my hometown.  This brings me to my New Years resolution.  Since my kids were born, reading for pleasure has taken a backseat.  I read tons to my kids, but not much just for me. If I am reading it is to update myself on the various volunteer jobs I have taken on. So, I decided surely I can read a book a month?  It proved difficult right off the bat but I made up those that I missed and loved every minute of it.  Here are the books I read and my impression of them.  I hope you find something interesting in the list to check out!

1.  Moneyball by Michael Lewis - Yep I read a baseball book.  I love sports and my husband and son love baseball and I don't know, it sounded interesting.  Plus there was a movie about the book so it had to be good right?  It was a pretty good book.  There was quite a bit of statistical analysis talk that I don't care one bit about so those parts read slow but I loved reading about how the drafts work. And I found Billy Bean strangely refreshing.  I am kind of an underdog cheerleader and in a weird way, so was Billy Bean. Now maybe one of these days I will see the movie.  I can't really see it covering half of what the book does but that is pretty par for the course when it comes to books being made into movies, right?  Overall, I really liked the book and recommend it to other sports lovers like myself!

2. Calico Joe by John Grisham - Okay, I know you are thinking there is a theme here but really it was a book I wanted to read and needed something quick while Lorelai was running through the library so here it is!  Very different from Grisham's other books, which I like a lot, but a good different.  Not at all what I expected.  It is a quick read but has some pretty powerful characters.  Abuse, legends, baseball code and reconciliation.  Would definitely recommend it!

3.  Fireproof by Alex Kava - So this is what happens when I'm in the library trying to pick out a book while chasing my daughter and trying to keep her from deshelving the entire place!  I really didn't look at the book much aside from the cover.  It had fire (go figure) and DC monuments in the background.  Might be interesting right?  It was okay albeit simply written.  But it is a series!  Which I didn't figure out until the end of the book when it stopped in the middle of a happening, only to tell me to tune in to the next one and that there were some previous.  Let's just say I was less than thrilled with myself over my choice. The book is about an arsonist and a murderer.  Who they thought were one in the same but somehow became two separate people by the end of the book.  There is a female FBI agent, Maggie O'Dell, who is trying to catch them at the same time they are trying to catch her. Ta-da! Now I have to read the next probably 5 books in the series to find out what happens!

4. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery - I was looking for a new chapter book to read with Wyatt when I came across this one and just HAD to read it again!  I can remember loving these books as a kid and I wasn't disappointed.  If you have a girl, its a good read for you to do with her.  There are so many good topics you can pull from here to discuss with your daughter.  The modesty of the time, how we used to live so long ago and more. This book was actually three volumes in one and I got curious about the author and how many she wrote.  I had no idea really how very old these stories are.  Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in 1874!  She wrote more than 1,000 stories, poems and other items over her life.  I enjoy her books for two reasons.  Its just plain interesting how folks lived back then and Montgomery's style of writing is very descriptive and allows the imagination to put you right with the character.  Which also makes it a great read for a young girl!  It was a good book when I was a kid and still is!

5. The Hunger Games and by Suzanne Collins -I had to read this just because everyone else on the planet had already read the book and probably watched the movie. I don't quite know what to say about it.  I liked it and I didn't.  I couldn't put it down but I also wasn't totally in love with what I was reading. ?????? I really don't like thinking about people hunting other people and the suspense (I guess that is what you call it) that goes along with it. Maybe that is why I can't give it 5 stars. I am not seeing the movie either in case you wanted to know. If I don't love the book, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to love the movie. And yes, I realize I might be the only one who feels this way!

6. Finding Jack by Gareth Crocker - I love books about dogs. And I really liked this book.  It is a novel inspired by a meeting between the author and a Vietnam veteran. The veteran he met was a dog handler in Vietnam. The book was really quite heartbreaking and very touching.  I love a great book about a man and his dog and the military background, however novelish it was, also added a lot to the story.

7. Heidi by Johanna Spyri - This book has been on my shelf since my Grandma Kohake gave it to me for Christmas in 1986. I wanted a chapter book to read to Wyatt before bed and since I had this one I thought I would see if it kept his attention.  The language is quite different from how we speak or write today and I was afraid he would lose interest fast but he loved it! This is a great classic and I'm glad I read it again and shared it with my son.

8. No Easy Day by Mark Owen - I know there was some controversy surrounding this book but I wanted to read it and it was good. Very good. Navy Seals are amazing men. They have the ability to push themselves past points the rest of us can't even imagine. Vividly remembering 9/11 and the aftermath all the way up to the death of Osama Bin Laden, I don't really care about those who worry about the truths of the book. I do care wholeheartedly about all those in our military and thank each of them for their service. No matter their job, their stories are tremendous and important and help me better understand what they do for us every day. This is a book to read.

9-11. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder - My son is very interested in how people lived way back when. We have actually been through the first six books in the series and let me tell you.  If you think you are having a bad day, read one of these. Life somehow doesn't seem so hard! I couldn't handle all the wool! It makes me itch just thinking about trying to stay warm in that stuff! Both my kids love these books.  They call them the Laura and Mary books.  Read them with your kids.  Start at the beginning and work your way through the series. It is a fantastic piece of our history!

12. A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout - I saw a small article on the author and book in O Magazine and it seemed really interesting and wow was it. I couldn't stop reading the book. I had to find out what was going to happen next. This woman lived through hell. Literally. I don't know how she did it. I kept thinking to myself that there was no way I would have survived what she did. No. Way. This woman has a spirit that is nothing short of amazing. She is a fighter and a hero. This is a great book and if you have a book club I would highly recommend it.

I'm very glad that doing this has me reading again and even reading some wonderful books with my kids. I love that I can still enjoy some of the favorites from when I was a young reader.  Happy New Year everyone and I hope 2014 is full of blessing for you and your loved ones!

Vacation 2013 - Huntington, WV!!!!

Its already been about a month since we got back from vacation and I'm just now getting around to posting about it.  But, as always, I have reasons.  Namely school started the week we got back and we have been running ever since!

My brother and his family moved from Arkansas to West Virginia a year ago and although they have had to make a few trips out this way for various reasons, we had yet to visit their new place.  The 14+ hour drive was a little daunting to us.  It was to be the longest we had ever taken with the kids but decided to break it up a bit going out and spend a couple of days seeing the sites along the way and it was super easy.  What made things even easier was having my Mom, Aunt and Uncle all back at our house taking care of the dogs and a few things around the house.  Can't thank them enough!

Our first day out we planned our overnight stop to be in the St. Louis area.  Got there in time for dinner and swimming at the hotel.  The next morning we hit the Gateway Arch.  This was totally on Wyatt's bucket list in life and he loved every minute of it.  I kept thinking as we were loading into the little pods that he was going to freak out but he just got more excited every minute of the three it took to get to the top. 

 

If you haven't ever been to the Arch (and yes, you need to go up in it to get the full benefit) it is truly a wonder.  The shear magnitude of its height from the ground leaves you awestruck, but wait till you get to the top!  There really aren't words to describe the view and how being that high up in the air makes you feel.  Other than brave of course!  Lorelai rode up just fine although she preferred to stay on the floor when we got to the top and not climb like a crazy monkey as her brother was.  This was my third trip up and I would go again.

After the Arch, we were off to Louisville, KY.  We were so excited to be headed to Louisville at the same time as some good friends and ended up at their hotel.  We don't get to see the VanLaeys family often enough so seeing them on vacation was a bonus!  There were a couple of stops we wanted to make in Louisville.  First up, baseball!  My husband and son are pretty avid baseball fans and they wanted to see the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.  Really neat place!  There is a ginormous bat out front that can literally be seen from the interstate.  Makes it pretty easy to find once you park the car. 

 They have a museum that has everything from life size models of professional baseball players to a pitching machine that lets you see just how fast those guys can throw the ball.  I have new respect for my sister's boyfriend who is a catcher!  They had an area with bats from famous players that you could hold and tons of other things to look at.  The tour through the factory was really interesting and I was floored by how many bats they turn out in a year.  1.8 million!!!! Who in the world is using that many bats?!  Another neat part of the museum is the batting cages.  You pay a dollar and can choose from numerous bats made just as your favorite player would use and in the cages you go.  I think Mike and Wyatt could have been in there all day!  Wyatt even hit a couple of them and the guy running the cages said he doesn't see many 5 year old that hit the ball so it made Wyatt's day when he actually did.  This is a definite must see in Louisville!


Our second stop there was on my bucket list.  As you can see, we are checking things off left and right on this vacation!  Here is the story of why this stop is so significant to me: While most little girls were probably playing with dolls or friends or whatever, I was parked in front of the tv on certain Saturdays with a pile of American Quarter Horse Journals from our farm vet, watching horse racing.  I would sit and flip through those magazines and absorb every move the trainers and jockeys and horses and owners made.  My favorite race was the Kentucky Derby.  It wasn't the hats that drew me in, it was the horses. 

While I had never been to the actual Derby, I had pretty much watched every race on tv since I was old enough to walk (or so it seems) and being able to visit Churchill Downs was pretty much the best thing ever.  This is a stop to make, even if you have never watched a race in your life.  I promise you will tune in from then on out.  Once we got our ticket, we were taken into a large room with an oval shaped movie screen above and watched an amazing video about the Derby.  The tour following took us to the paddock where jockeys mount the horses before the race. Riders Up! On the main grandstand building around the trim are the names of every horse that has won and the year.  I had to find my favorite and get a picture taken. 

Then it was on to Winner's Circle and the track.  We walked down the alleyway and when you emerge you are literally along the outside rail almost to the finish line.  I couldn't believe it!  There was seriously nothing between me and the track but the rail.  You have no idea how much I wanted to just take off running down the track!  My conscience got the best of me and just stuck my foot under and felt the dirt.  But you have no idea how close I was to running!

After our Derby experience it was off to Huntington.  The kids slept and Mike and I watched miles and miles of tobacco and horse farms go by.  We were ready to get to my brother's and have a couple of days to hang out and not stay in a hotel.  Plus, my brother is a pretty darn good cook and I knew there was going to be something on the grill or in the smoker at some point!  My brother's house is so stinking cute and Lorelai fell in love with their screened in porch which she called her green house.  Mike may have to put a screened in porch on our house just for her after this!  West Virginia is one of those states (probably like Kansas for a lot of you out there) that you just don't think about visiting.  And just like my state of Kansas, West Virginia is beautiful.  Huntington sits on the Ohio river and while the town has seen better days due to the economy, it is really a neat.  You have all probably seen or heard of the movie We Are Marshall. 

Well, Marshall University is in Huntington and where both my brother and sister in law work.  Marshall has a really nice campus and in the middle is the memorial for those who lost their lives in the plane crash.  Pretty sobering.  My brother took us down to the Ohio river which was quite beautiful.

I didn't get to do much shopping but one of the days the boys all decided to go to the Planes movie so my sister in law and I and the two littlest kiddos walked around this really great town square that is full of quaint little shops.  My sister in law bought some cupcakes at a little bakery there and they were to die for.  Yum, yum and yum!  There is so much I'm probably forgetting about now.  Really the best part of it all was spending time with my brother and his family. 

Playing baseball in Uncle Tony's hilly backyard!

Walking the stairs along the Ohio River

I have two nephews who are amazing little guys and I love them!  And if you could hand pick your sister in law, mine would be it.  We are so blessed to have her in our family.  Our visit was short but perfect and it seemed time to head home way too quickly.

Lorelai and Landry finding some shade

Brayden and Uncle Mike checking out the view on the Ohio River

Our drive home was to be pretty fast and furious with only one overnight stay so we could get home in time for school activities starting the next day.  We made it farther than we thought we would and stopped in Columbia, MO.  We found a great hotel on the edge of the MU campus and had a nice time swimming one last night and watching a baseball game and eating popcorn.  We made it home to spend a little time with my Aunt and Uncle before they headed back home and then off to Meet the Teacher Night at school.  Whew!

Vacations can be pretty stressful but I think we found the secret to a happy vacation for our family.  Don't plan too much!  We did just the right amount of tourist activities and then got to hang out at my brothers and regroup before the drive home.  When the kids are asking to stay on vacation, I think it was a success!

Hanging out in the top of the Gateway Arch!

Kohake Girls Weekend!

I'm pretty blessed when it comes to family.  Both Kemper and Kohake sides care enough to know their family members.  It is a need that not every family possesses and it's a precious one.  On the Kohake side there are a lot of us girls, and they are busy women.  My Grandma was a Hulsing and that name has sort of taken on a trait all its own.  If you have ever spent any time with my Mom's family you will know what I'm talking about.  They are hard working, talented, wonderful ladies that can cook like you wouldn't believe and really could probably run the United Nations like a fine oiled machine if given the chance.

The sisters!

My Mom lost her Dad when she was a teenager.  He had rheumatic fever as a child and the enlarged heart he was left with just didn't hold out.  My Aunt Monica was only 4 years old at the time and his death left my Grandma and their four daughters and their farm behind.  My Aunt Joan put together a book some years ago about Grandpa Kohake and from what I read about him, it seems a lot of their hard working, caring traits came from their Dad too.  Needless to say, its been nothing but girls for a very long time.  In 2007, my Grandma Kohake passed away after what seemed a very short battle with cancer.  I truly believe she lived a very full life and although she wasn't on this earth as long as we really wished her to be, I knew her well and was very glad of that.  I only wished she could have met my kids.  I was just pregnant with Wyatt at the time of her death.  Florence Kohake

Not having my Grandma around was very tough for my Mom and my Aunts but as always, they found joy in a not so joyous situation and decided to hold yearly get togethers of all the girls in the family.  So, each year someone takes a turn to host the event and the sisters, granddaughters, grandson's wives and all great granddaughters (and the occasional great grandson) have a fun weekend together.  We laugh, eat fabulous food, talk about our grandparents and our lives and there is always some sort of shopping going on!

This year we met at my cousin Chalea's house on Table Rock Lake.  She has a beautiful home on the South end of the lake and it is always fun to visit there.  My Mom traveled down with the kids and me (see, there is always a boy in the mix somewhere!) and after we zig zagged through what seemed like half of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas we made it!  The first evening we just waited for everyone to arrive, visited and ate some yummy food (homemade pizza!).

Making pizza

The next morning we headed out for a trip to Eureka Springs, AR for a day of shopping, food and hanging out.  While the ladies stopped at a local fabric store, I took my kids across the street to a small park in Holiday Island.  The main attraction being a very cool static display of a military helicopter. 

Then it was off to Eureka Springs!  My cousin works at a fabulous store called Vintage Cargo and that was our first stop.  If you are ever in Eureka Springs it is a must see and you will find some fantastic items for your home.

The group outside Vintage Cargo after doing some shopping!

Of course all our shopping made us hungry so we were off to a quaint little tea room for lunch.  The Simply Scrumptious Tea Room and Emporium is amazing!  Don't let the Victorian themes and china scare you off.  This is a place my husband would love to eat!  Have you ever had strawberry soup?  It was a first for me and holy cow its like heaven in a bowl.  Lorelai couldn't get enough of it!  The entire meal, atmosphere and service was top notch.  Truly a place to go back again and again.

Lorelai and the Strawberry Soup.  Yummo!

Lunch at the Tea Room

The waitress showing us the desserts.  Holy cow were they fabulous!

After lunch it was back to shopping and navigating the streets of Eureka.  Eureka Springs is a one of a kind place.  It's literally built into the hills so the narrow streets sometimes go straight up (or down however you want to look at it) and the quaint homes are built right along the streets in manners that make you ponder their existence.  There is a lot of Victorian flair about the place in architecture especially.  The buildings are old and pretty amazing and walking along the sidewalks that mimic the roads is not for those out of shape.  Luckily there are plenty of places to sit and people watch and great little stores to duck in and have a snack or drink.  It is really a pretty cool place! 

The stairs right below me were pretty much straight down!

After hanging out in Eureka all day, we spent the evening at Chalea's looking through old photos and documents belonging to my Grandparents, catching up with my cousin who wasn't able to make the trip this year, via Skype and just chit chatting over life. 

Lorelai and Chalea coming back from checking on the neighbor kitty

Lorelai and her little friend Booger the dog :)  She called him Hamburger!

Wyatt and Talula.  That was one full bird after a weekend of treats from the kids!

Sunday after breakfast we all said our goodbyes and headed back home, looking forward to next year.  I know these weekends are always a lot of work for the hostess but the alternative is Facebook or email and even phone calls just can't compete with spending time with each other.  The importance of family sometimes gets lost in our lives today.  We are too busy, live too far away or just don't want to put the effort forth.  As I said earlier, I'm lucky.  Or blessed.  Or both.  Every family needs a Girls Weekend!!!!!

Get Along Little Doggies

I didn't get to spend as much time back home as I had wanted after my Grandma passed away.  It just didn't seem right that I had to rush out and then rush back home.  So the kids and I headed back out 36 hours later to spend a few days just being in the sunshine and fresh air.

Wyatt and Grandpa on a bike ride

When you live in a very small town, one of the big pleasures as a kid is to ride your bike pretty much wherever you please.  I took Wyatt's bike with us so he could experience the same.  He doesn't ride it as much as I would like at home and I think its just not as fun when you have to constantly be watching for cars and you can't just take off and ride without Mom two feet from you to keep you safe.  Plus, they just don't build sidewalks anymore like we have a Grandma's!  He had a blast!  Grandpa got on his bike too and off they went.  My small hometown has a wonderful museum with fantastic sidewalks that are pretty deserted in the evening and they rode circles and chased each other all over that city block.  I so wish he could do that every day!  There is a huge main street that runs through town and is one of the "funny" things about Logan if you ever visit.  Yep, we park in the middle of the street!  So cars create a median of sorts down the middle of town and then park on either side too.  This makes for a big ol place to ride your bike.  You just have to watch for the occasional car, golf cart (that's you Miss Barb!) or tractor or other implement and you are good to go! 

Lorelai taking her baby for a walk in the yard

I was so excited to find out that we were to be working cattle while I was there.  Most might think I am crazy, but this is absolutely one of my most favorite things to do!  First thing we got them all moved to the pens which actually went relatively smooth.  If any of you have moved cows, there is always a renegade in the group that does not want to go with the others!  We got lucky and had them all where they should be in an hour on the first day and much of the same on the second.

Good looking mama cow

My Dad and Uncle Marc waiting for a mama cow to find her calf in the bunch

We worked around 90 head of mama cows and their calves over the two days.  Vaccinating, ear tagging and notching, banding the boys and treating for flies.  Then sorting them all to their new pastures.  I had planned to leave the kids with my Mom while I helped but she ended up with the flu so they came along.  I'm sure I am not the only mom that has sorted cattle with a 30+ pound kiddo on her hip!  Lorelai was NOT happy with the loud mama cows the first day.  As you will hear in the video, if you separate a mama cow from her calf, just like us humans, they start bawling and bawling and bawling until reunited.  Then put 60 head of them doing this all at once and it can get pretty loud.  Wyatt's job the first day was to run the boy calves from the chute to the pen where their mama's waited.  The second day he ran them up the alley to the holding pen after they were ear tagged.  He did this job with gusto.  Then he would sit in the weeds and wait for the next one to be ready.  Those calves played a game with him and would run up into the holding pen, wait for him to sit down and not pay attention and then creep back out into the alleyway.  He wouldn't notice them until they were standing right next to him and he would hop up and back they would go.  It was pretty funny!  The little man sure saved us old folks from having to walk that alleyway over and over.  He even got to spend some time doing it with his cousin.  Two peas in a pod!

Ooops!  Sleeping on the job and the calves are out!

Lorelai's favorite spot.  Outside the pens and safe in the Ranger!

Grandma's feeling better!

Because my Mom was sick, we just hung out at the farm most of the two days.  I took the kids into town for story hour at the library and we just wandered about in the fresh farm air.  I spent some time looking over all the photos my Grandma had hung on her wall above the fireplace over the years.  Lots of love in that family of hers.  There was also the book she had made for us kids when we were little.  She took a photo album, the kind with the pages that peeled back and you would put pictures underneath and smooth the page back down, and filled it with pictures she cut out from magazines of animals and things she thought we would like.  Some times its the things that you can't buy that bring you the most joy.  I imagined her flipping through her farm magazines and thinking us kids would like to look at the picture of that cow or duck or kitten. Forever. And she took the time to make that book.

The last night I promised the kids I would take them to see some kittens.  Wyatt loves cats and since his Dad is allergic, I try and take every opportunity I can to let him play with them.  A friend of mine had kittens they were taking to the 4-H fair soon so we went to their farm and the kids got to play with them. It was pretty special and I was so thankful Janet and her family took time out of their busy evening to let us see them.

It's a pretty busy time on the farm right now.  Grandpa is busy finishing planting milo and then it is time to harvest wheat.  Not to mention more cows to work, grass to mow, and other things they are all trying to catch up on.  I would love to be there to finish those cows and I have always loved harvest time.  If you have never had the chance to experience wheat harvest, look up a farmer and ask for a combine ride.  There is something about being a part of harvesting the grain that becomes the bread on your table that you just don't forget. 

My Grandma

My Grandma with her parents.  This isn't the first big bow I have seen in her hair as a child so either Grandma liked them or Great Grandma!

Today, just six days shy of her 96th birthday, my Grandma passed away.  Its been expected, hospice was called in five days ago, but it somehow just doesn't make it any easier.  She was a very special lady to me and I have always felt I was sort of a younger but taller version of her.  Much taller. When my brother and I were little she often told us she was going to put bricks on our heads to keep us from passing her up.  For those of you who knew her, that didn't take much as she was quite a tiny little lady. I wanted to get some of my memories down and I'm sure I will think of more as family comes in and we visit.  And I pretty much feel like I'm not going to do her justice in describing her.  She was small but mighty, country but refined, stern but tender. Most importantly, she was my Grandma.

My Grandma was a great cook.  She had a locally famous raisin cream pie that she always made for church functions and at times it would disappear before they had it all plated up.  When my brother and I were sick when we were little, she would just show up at the back door with our favorite dish.  Her meatballs for Tony, red hot salad for me.  One thing she didn't make but always had for us kids were Fruit Loops!  She had an old coffee can that had a circus picture on the outside and she would keep it full of Fruit Loops.  I'm not sure why she started getting us Fruit Loops or really when but we spent a lot of time around her kitchen table eating bowls of the stuff.  I always thought it was interesting that she boiled her hotdogs to cook them.  I know, random thought, but she would put a pot on the stove and boil them.

Great Grandma Dolly and little Wyatt

Catching some winks with Great Grandma Dolly - Lorelai as a baby

There were a lot of grandkids running around the farm, especially for holidays, and from time to time, we got into trouble.  Grandma had some fruit trees in her yard, namely a peach tree.  Several of us got a wild hair to pick all the great fruit we could see for Grandma, nevermind it was as green as grass when we did it.  Oh boy was Grandma hot.  Holy cow.  And chasing the chickens.  That was a no no too!  It was fun though!

Grandma hated sticker weeds.  To the point she would head to the pasture to pull them.  Yep, would walk out to the pasture by the farm and just pick sticker weeds.  Many years ago she got started picking up all the sticks and branches that had fallen in the tree row just across the road from her house.  Piles and piles of sticks and branches.

She was never one to want her picture taken but I caught a smile.  I always thought she looked good in that color.

She had a great love of animals.  I really think she had a soft heart for anything with four legs.  She had a lot of barn cats when we were little and when it was time to feed them, she would walk across the yard hollering, "Here Bitty, Bitty, Bitty!" and those cats would come running from every direction.  She would be followed by a herd of cats all the way to the barn where she would feed them usually some sort of leftovers she saved for them.  Dry food was just not good enough for them.  She made them gourmet meals of sorts.  And she always had a dog.  I really think she loved dogs.  The cows always seemed to know she was on their side too. 

One of my all time favorite pictures of her.  Look at the size of that HUGE bow!

Grandma used everything to its fullest.  It was probably due to the era she grew up in but she didn't waste anything.  She would also save everything.  Lots of things we would just throw out today or put in our recycle bins, she kept.  I'm sure each item had its own purpose she was planning on.  Like milk jugs around your garden plants or old rags for the animals to lay on.  She lived a pretty frugal life.

We spent a lot of holidays together as a family.  Like I said earlier, there were a lot of grandkids around and many of us about the same age.  She would always get us matching pajamas for Christmas.  We would open them and then all have to put them on for a picture!  Oh boy those were the days!

Family picture from a couple of years ago at our annual Kemper Family Farm Weekend

I don't remember my Grandma ever venturing far from the farm.  She would go to town to get groceries and do some shopping in the surrounding towns but never went far.  I'm not sure why.  She had quite an adventurous life (or so it seems to me) as a young girl so maybe she felt she got all the traveling out of her system early on.  Maybe there is another reason.  But she just seemed to be most at home on her farm.  She used to tell me stories about life when she was younger.  I distinctly remember her telling me about a Shetland pony they had that loved to just stop cold while you were riding it and she said you would just go flying right off the front.  She loved to watch Wheel of Fortune and play solitaire.  The deck of cards she used was so worn you could hardly read what was on them and there were finger grooves worn on the sides.  She was given new decks but would never use them.  Must have been something about how those worn ones just fit in her hands.

I'm going to miss her something terrible.  She has just always been a presence in our lives, even if a quiet one.  She was my last living grandparent and I'm so glad she was there to meet my children and they her.  She seemed to take such pleasure in watching her family grow.  She had 4 children, 13 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.  Wyatt asked me tonight if Great Grandma Dolly was in heaven now.  Yep Buddy, she is.  She is.

Grandma on her wedding day.  She was MUCH shorter than my Grandpa.  I wish I knew what she was standing on in this picture to make her look so tall!

I'm already adding more stories since I posted this last night.  Things just keep coming into my mind and I don't have a great memory so I have to get them down on "paper" so to speak before they are gone. 

One day when I was at the farm, quite some time ago, Grandma was out by the road working in her yard.  She had her wooden garden cart with the big wheels and was picking up sticks and weeds.  I was out there probably messing with my horse and went over to see what she was up too.  As we were walking back to the house, we came through her yard and there was a small patch of these little tiny purple and yellow flowers.  Just randomly in her yard.  She stopped and stared at them for a moment and then told me that her mom loved those kind of flowers.  She said she had never seen them in her yard before.  They were violas!  In the middle of the yard just randomly sprinkled about.  I made a comment about her being named after the flower.  She said nothing.  I had always wanted to use the name if I ever had a little girl and got the chance two years ago.  Lorelai Viola came into this world exactly like I expect her Great Grandma did.  Full of determination, stubborn to the very middle and the sweetest little thing you ever saw.  I'm so happy that I got to use her name!

Spring Visits to the Farm

My kids are totally in love with the farm. They can't get enough of the animals, tractors and wide open spaces.  Not to mention the grandparents that spoil them rotten when we are there!  One of my favorite times to head to the farm is calving season.  There are new babies every day! We got the chance to go for a visit right as calving was getting underway and let me tell you.  There is nothing cuter than a brand new baby calf.

This little guy was actually a twin and his mama only took his sibling.  This means she would only let one calf nurse.  So, he was brought back to the farm to wait until they had a cow that needed a calf.  He was such a cutie pie!  Wyatt named him Shocker on account of the WSU Shockers playing basketball later that day.  I just loved the enormous cowlick he had in the middle of his head!  Lorelai was a little overwhelmed by him, even though he was smaller than the two dogs she shares a home with, but felt safe enough to help make him up a bottle of milk.

And carry it to within 25 feet of him....

But it was Wyatt who got right in there with him and helped feed him a meal.  This baby was new to bottle feeding so it took us a bit to get him to suck.  It seems a little silly.  Hungry calf, bottle of milk, but they do need help figuring it out, just like human babies.  So, you kind of have to back them in a corner and sometimes use your legs to pin them tight and then use your hand to open their mouths and stick the bottle in.  Usually you get them sucking and they figure it out pretty quick.  It doesn't take them long to drink a bottle.

I could do this all day long.  Bottle feed these little babies!  And it is so sweet to get to see my kids experience this for the first time.  Wyatt is old enough to remember, Lorelai will hopefully change her mind about cows in the next couple of years.  If not, we might just have to stick with domesticated pets for her!

One of the highlights of our trip for the kids was getting to hike through the pasture to see the coyote den that Grandpa found while trimming out trees.  

The den is so unassuming.  Its there in the background behind Wyatt, the dark hole.  It looks so small and not like much until you climb up to it and peek inside.  It is so deep you actually couldn't even see the back of it.  Nice little hidey hole for some coyotes!

We then took a bit of a walk through the trees to check the spring - which actually had water in it. Good for Western Kansas.  The drought has done some serious damage to pastures and farmland out there.  

Our last adventure of the day was a tractor ride up the road to check on the the neighbors big red Hereford bull.  Grandpa has been filling Wyatt's head full of stories about a big red bull so we had to go see what one looked like. Lorelai drove and I have to tell you, she is not getting her license any time soon!

You can't beat kids having fun, fresh air and wide open spaces.  We had a blast and can't wait until our next trip.  The babies will all be on the ground by then and I'm hoping the temperatures are warmer.  We will have to go check on Shocker and his new adoptive mama, the big red bull and climb some fences to see how far we can see.  There is no limit to our fun!