Branding

The cows waiting their turn...it seemed like they knew what was going to happen to them. It was kind of sad. :( Katee (Linc's cousin) & her family were visiting from Oklahoma while we were there. We had such a good time with them! Here are Katee, Beckett, Sydnee & I watching the boys at work. I'm surprised how brave the kids were...they watched the whole thing!
Lincoln & Brian branding... Brian is the one who introduced Lincoln & I to each other.

How Bulls Become Steers...

Lincoln had never castrated an animal before, but he was a pro. Those extra shifts at the hospital must be paying off! :)

I was in charge of keeping the tally. I probably wasn't the best one for the job though, because I kept getting distracted and having to recount the cows. The blood was from some cow parts that Lincoln gave to Daisy. I was NOT excited about him feeding the dogs cow ears and scrotums, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Lincoln was SO proud of me because I didn't freak out when blood got on my paper & I just wrote right over the blood. It's funny what impresses him. I told him I have had that side to me all along, but that he just never gets a chance to see it! :)

Another job I had was trying to keep one of the cows in the chute. It was so much harder than it looked. I was trying to keep the cow pressed up against the fence, but was afraid it would kick me. I'm sure someone a mile away could tell I grew up in the city! Here's Kyle trying to keep the cows in line...

Daisy's battle wound...Linc's grandparents' dog & Daisy were fighting over a cow part and the other dog won. He punctured Daisy's face on both sides...it was sad.

Daisy sat by me & watched while Lincoln worked his magic on the bulls. About 20 minutes into it, I noticed that Duke wasn't there. I didn't see him anywhere & was a little nervous that he got trampled or something. I walked back up to the house to look for him & found him hiding under a car, shaking like crazy. Poor guy. Maybe seeing the bulls get fixed brought back bad memories of his own surgery. :) He stayed under the car for over an hour! Here's Beckett looking out the window at Duke.

Lincoln after a hard day's work...he liked this way too much!

Looking for Arrowheads

We went to Linc's sister Wendy's house on Saturday afternoon to have lunch and hang out. We ended up going out by their house to look for arrowheads and pottery. I have to say, I don't really have an eye for those kinds of things...but I'm slowly learning. Lincoln did this a lot growing up and he's found some pretty cool stuff. He actually ended up finding an arrowhead this time & was SO excited. Here are Alyssa & I hanging out before we left. I know I look lovely...I got so dirty that day, I didn't even bother showering or putting on makeup that morning.

Here's Olivia showing us what she found. It was so funny, she'd keep picking up rocks & would say so excitedly, "Look at this big piece of pottery I found!"

Here are the kids looking for Indian treasures...

The kids found a place where they wanted me to take pics of them. Here's our nephew Marcus...he was six years old when we got married, so it kind of freaks me out that he is so old now!

I thought this cactus was really pretty. I love seeing big flowers in the middle of the desert!

We saw this lizard in a bush as we were walking. It was so cool looking! Its feet were bright yellow.

Here's the whole gang (minus Lincoln & his mom) riding home in the truck.

Hanging Out On The Ranch

On Saturday night a big group of us got together & went out on the ranch to have a bonfire & to make tin foil dinners. Here's the road we drove on...this place was Linc's playground growing up. I love it out there!

We hiked up to see some hieroglyphs. Olivia was pretty fearless...here she is posing for a picture.

Lincoln is obsessed with stuff like this...it's pretty funny actually. He took at least 30 pictures of these. They look a lot better in person, but you get the idea.

Bonfire

We started the fire just as the moon was coming out...it looked so pretty.

Here's one of the two fires the boys built...oh, I love campfires!!!

Olivia & I hanging out by the fire...she ended up falling asleep in my arms before we left. I LOVED it.

Tiffany (our cousin's wife) looking cute by the fire...

Cooking

Here's Linc cleaning his skillet that he made. That thing has actually come in really handy...he is quite proud of it.

He cooked yummy potatoes for everyone. I couldn't have any, but I've tasted them before and they are GOOD.

Here he is frying up the Rocky Mountain oysters. Mmm...

All ready to serve...see, don't they look just like chicken nuggets?

Eating Oysters

Here we are chowing down on them. I couldn't believe how many people tried them! This wasn't Lincoln's first time eating them...they don't bother him one bit!

Our niece Alyssa knew what they were & ended up eating three of them! She said she didn't care as long as they were meat. :)

I'm not going to lie...part of the reason I did this was just so that I could post it on the blog. :)

I'm not kidding...I liked them & would have eaten more! I really do think that they taste like chicken, although the way Linc cooked them probably covered up a lot of the taste.

Our cousin Becca(yes, she is both mine & Lincoln's cousin on different sides) didn't like it too much!

Our niece Olivia was crying because we didn't give her one. When we gave it to her, she had no clue what she was eating! :)

Here's our friend Jennifer getting ready to try it...I was so impressed that she ate it!

This was definitely a memorable night!!!

Relaxing Sunday

We went to sacrament meeting with Lincoln's parents yesterday morning and then went to the cemetery with Linc's mom. It was nice to have someone with us to take a picture. I pulled some grass off a few other headstones & cleaned them up. My friend & her little boy do this when they go to the cemetery & I love the idea. I want to spend more time doing that the next time I go visit Jackson's grave.

My little boy & I...I miss him! He would be two & a half & I'm sure would be walking & talking like crazy now.

Lincoln pretending to eat Claire...isn't she adorable?! Her friends are going to be so jealous of her hair!

Claire Claire (that's what she calls herself so that's what I call her now) and her mom Danielle...we love hanging out with Matt (Linc's brother) & Danielle. They have been so supportive of us and teach us a lot!

Me, Jarod & Jayten...I love these boys to pieces!

I drove home from Snowflake while Lincoln slept. I'm still SO THANKFUL to not be on painkillers because I can drive whenever I want to...(& Linc is thankful too!)Daisy slept on his lap part of the way home...it was so cute.

This was one of the best trips we've ever had. We worked hard (mostly Linc did) & played hard & were able to hang out with so many different people while we were there. We can't wait to go back!!!

Sorry :)

We have been able to spend a few days in Snowflake this week...and it has been an AWESOME trip. The night before we left home I called Lincoln bawling. I was completely stressed out...between not feeling well, not having him home for the past 8 nights, & having a ton to do I was not holding up very well at all. He was trying to be a nice husband & listen to me, but also let me know in a gentle way that he was at work & couldn't talk. Well,after having a great acupuncture appointment the next morning and then coming to Snowflake, I'm good again! Lincoln told me today, "I love you in Snowflake." Hmmm...I guess I need to bring a little bit (or a lot) of "Snowflake" home with me then! I have tons of fun pictures to post...here is a little preview. Check out these FRESH Rocky Mountain Oysters (AKA bull testicles) castrated today by my hubby. I didn't know my husband was so talented! We fried them up tonight and ate them. They tasted like chicken nuggets. Sorry to all of you animal rights activists...I'm sure you won't love the pictures to come either. I apologize beforehand...

A Long Road

I've gotten so tired of telling a doctor my symptoms and having them tell me, "We don't know what is wrong with you." At times I realize those experiences have affected me way more than I think they do. My mouth has been bothering me somewhat & as a result, my head has been killing me the last few days. It gets to where my whole face hurts...I hate it. I had an endodontist appointment today & didn't know if I should even tell him that my mouth was hurting again. After all, a TON of bone grew back last month & it's not like the bone growth would reverse itself. It just didn't make sense that it would start hurting again. After fighting with myself over whether to even say anything about it or not, I decided that I should. Right when I said it I thought, "He's going to take an x-ray and tell me that everything looks great & that he doesn't know why my mouth is hurting." and that's basically what happened. I almost started crying. I don't know why...my endodontist has always believed me and has been so thorough in his treatments. I just automatically thought, "I'm going to have to live with this pain, like all the other pain I have to live with." It was such an overwhelming feeling. After my treatment, he told me that he noticed that my two bottom teeth (which are the ones most affected by the bone loss) are looser than they were last month. He did some tests on my bite and realized that my bottom teeth are hitting the back of my top teeth every time I bite down & causing "blunt trauma" to them. He filed them down so they didn't touch anymore...and my mouth already feels a lot better. This whole situation just made me realize how much of a nightmare this whole process of dealing with these health problems has been for me. I am absolutely terrified to be in pain for the rest of my life...especially when the doctors can't find a reason for it. Honestly, that's one of my worst nightmares, because I've lived it in the past and I know how terrible it can be. I can't believe that I freak out about it so easily. Feeling better is still a slow process for me (I seem to be taking two steps forward & one step back constantly...which is good...but a little frustrating at times)& I'm realizing that I have to overcome a lot of emotional aspects of this as well. I need to believe in myself more and believe that I will be able to find the tools necessary to live a healthy, somewhat normal life. Sometimes the road getting there just seems so long...

I Love This Song!

Check out my friend Kristen's song...she is seriously so talented! I was feeling stressed and turned this song on repeat & it did the trick...which is funny because the song has more of a "stressful" theme, but I think her voice is totally soothing! This is one of those songs you can listen to over & over again and it never gets old...I love it! :)

Medication-Free...Almost

Well, I am officially medication-free....well, prescription medication-free. I know, I know that's sad that I'm so excited about that, but it's been such a long time since I haven't had to take anything! I've been off my stomach meds for awhile now, last night was my first night completely off the medication I take at night to sleep & to help my pain (although I stayed up until 4am...yup I'm afraid I have insomnia again), and now I just take a probiotic and Tylenol & Aleve when I need it (which is still almost daily, but I have high hopes it won't be that way for long). Just thought I'd share the news! I hate taking medicine...every time I take a pill I can't help but think that most of it is probably messing me up more. Now let's just hope I can get on a decent sleeping schedule and that I can change my diet enough to make the intense nausea go away!
P.S. My acupuncture "wore off" last week, but I am going again in two days. I can't wait...the difference I feel after I have an acupuncture session is incredible, and now that my acupuncturist has discovered the right "combination" to help my stomach, the benefits last longer and longer each time I have a treatment. Hooray for that!!!