Our Easter

Happy Easter! 

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, but a very busy one at that!  Friday afternoon I took off so we could run some errands in Miles City, and get groceries for our Easter dinner feast we were preparing on Sunday.  Saturday was a very busy day for Wesley & me.  We got up that morning & fed as usual, then rode to the pasture our heifers were calving in and sorted off some of the cow/calf pairs (7 pairs to be exact) and moved them to another pasture.  That took about an hour for us to do since we have to move slower since the babies are only a few days old & slower at traveling across the pasture (which, by the way, is the cutest thing ever)!  Then we came in for a quick bite to eat, and headed back out to ride the pasture that our older cows are in & tag the babies that need to have ear tags put in them.  We took the pickup & horse trailer out to this pasture since its faster to get there by pickup than riding the whole way, then took our horses out & rode.  Well back up to us loading our horses onto the trailer.  Wesley had just shod Reno (my horse) about a week ago and I was leading Reno to the trailer when I decided to stop & cinch him up.  I didn’t realize the trailer gate was swinging open toward him so he stepped back to avoid being hit.  Where did he step?  Right on my TOE!  Oh it hurt so bad!  I was barely able to walk to the pickup to get myself in so we could go ride.  Wesley kept telling me to take my boot off, but I was too afraid to see what my toe looked like.  He finally yanked my boot off convinced me to let him take my boot off & have a look at my toe.  It wasn’t broke because I could move it, but the (warning – a slightly graphic image will be talked about now – read at your risk) skin on the top of my big toe was ripped off, and I was bleeding.  GREAT!  Oh well, at least it wasn’t broke.  So, in true rancher’s wife fashion, I did not sit the ride out but instead continued on with my husband riding thru the cows & making sure no babies needed to be tagged.  My sweet husband was telling me all kinds of ways to try and alleviate my pain while riding; from putting pressure on it to not putting pressure at all.  After our ride we unsaddled the horses, and headed home to doctor my toe.  With a lot of peroxide, and Wesley’s tender touch, my toe was bandaged & on its way to healing.  It is pretty bruised still, but I can at least put pressure on it.  I can’t touch the top without it throbbing, and I’m pretty sure the bluish/purplish color will mean that I’ll probably lose my toenail on that toe, but hey, at least my toe isn’t broken, and its not swollen anymore!  Saturday evening Wesley & I colored Easter eggs (to decorate the table, and to have deviled eggs, and feel like kids again)!  We had some pretty fancy Easter eggs adorned with our names, the dogs names, our brand, his parents brand, and their dogs names!  We had a friendly competition of Easter egg coloring between my Granny, Papa & Mom and us and let’s just say that WE WON! 

Sunday morning we got up early so Wesley could feed before we headed off to church.  We celebrated our Easter services in Colstrip, then headed home to start cooking Easter lunch for ourselves & Wesley’s parents.  We had a delicious lunch ensemble we were going to make and it turned out just like we planned.  For appetizers we had a vegetable & relish tray, a cheese ball  & crackers, and deviled eggs.  The main course consisted of prime rib cooked rare (by the BBQ Pit Master himself – Wesley), homemade mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, a salad, dinner rolls, and lefsa (lefsa is a Norwegian dish made by taking potato tortillas and putting butter and brown sugar on the inside & rolling it up to enjoy.  I learned to make it from Jewel, and she learned from David’s Mother, Wesley’s grandma Davenport.  One day we hope to pass the recipe down to our children.  For now we use premade tortillas.  But I’m going to have Jewel teach me how to make the homemade Lefsa tortillas.  She knows how to make them from scratch).  For dessert I made two pies – an apple pie & a pecan pie serves a la mode, of course.  Wesley did an amazing job searing & smoking the prime rib.  We put a wonderful dry rub mix on the prime rib, and he seared it so it got a nice crisp outside, then slow smoked it.  It took about 2 hours and we had a beautifully prepared rare prime rib to serve!  We enjoyed laughter and conversation with Moo Moo & David on Easter Sunday afternoon.  That evening Wesley & I played some dominoes, then watched the conclusion of the tv mini-series The Bible. 

We are getting more & more babies around the ranch daily, and are pretty well on our way into full calving swing for this season.  Before you know it we will be branding, haying, and it will be fall in the blink of an eye.  I can’t believe it is already April!  Where has the time gone?

As for an update on my Popo – things are about the same.  He is slowly trying to regain his strength back, and is able to sit up in a chair for a couple hours a day before feeling too exhausted.  He was able to have his catheter removed so that was a step in the right direction.  A couple days ago he walked down the hall at the hospital and that was a big accomplishment!  He has another bone marrow test this Thursday to see how his cells are doing, and he should be starting his second round of chemotherapy this Friday.  We don’t know when he will be released from the hospital, but I’d assume not until he has all of his strength back.  He & my Meemaw seem to be getting by pretty well at the hospital.  I send them pictures of things happening around the ranch, and of the ranch papers we get up here to give them something besides junk gossip magazines to read at the hospital.  Plus it helps them pass the time.  We are praying for good results of the bone marrow test this Thursday. 

We hope everyone had a very Blessed and Happy Easter weekend!