Spring Has Sprung!

Spring is in the air, well actually spring is in the air one day and the next wind and rain and snow is in the air. Such is Springtime in Wyoming. The kids and I just spent a wonderful weekend with Mom and Dad on their new place in Lusk. Calving is going full bore on The White Ranch, babies were bounding all over the place. I love calving season, and even helped by taking the early morning heifer check; it brought back lots of memories of being out in the brisk, early morning air with just the stars to keep me company as I made my check of all these first time mamas. I always enjoyed the peace and quiet of this early morning check, but that was back when we raised Hereford cattle and they weren't at all bothered by my intrusion into their maternity ward. Not so much these crossbreed cattle that Dad now has, these girls were not at all impressed with me intruding in on them. Several times I felt the breath of a nervous heifer in my back pocket, not a very comforting feeling! The kids were ecstatic when Grandpa brought a premie calf to the house to bottle feed for a couple of days. Kade called him "Calfee", not real original, but it stuck! They loved my story of all of the babies that Dad has brought into the house over the years to thaw out in the bath tub, and especially the one that stayed for a long enough time that Grandma had to make a diaper out of a large garbage bag for him. It made for great conversation when company stopped by! The only part of calving that I'm not enjoying is night calving for Mike. It's been a long couple of months for all of us and I can't wait for this month to be over so that he'll be home every night! It sure has put some things I perspective for me though, like the fact that I am so unbelievably grateful that I don't do this parenting thing alone. I have such a greater appreciation for what single parents go through. And I have a much greater appreciation for all of the things that my amazing husband does for me. I'm going to try real hard to make sure that I tell him this more often. I am also so appreciative of the fact that my kids get to experience ranch life at it's most real; even if we're not on a ranch full time, we do get to enjoy the lifestyle and that means so much to me. So much of who I am I owe to being brought up as a ranch kid, there really is nothing like it. Our Ag kids learn good work ethics, responsibility, respect for the land and what it produces, what it means to work together as a family to accomplish a common goal, as well as how to play together as a family. Calving season is such a great example of this, along with a couple of months of running on little to no sleep! More than anything calving season is just another wonderful reminder of God's plan for our lives because it means new life. New life is at the heart of what we all are ultimately seeking, and it's found in Jesus; "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live even though they die." John 11:25. I love that on the ranch I can see God's fingerprints everywhere!