Holy cow, I cannot believe I let 8 months go by and not one update. It’s mind blowing to me how fast time goes by anymore. So here’s a pile of pictures to remember the last 8 months by. And it still irritates me that I can never get them in the right order. But here’s our last 8 months in a nut shell.
Jordan and I were able to go to Newport for two nights over our anniversary.
12 years and going strong! We have never been a huge “date” night couple. But
it is really nice to get away with just Jordan once a year and reconnect.
First day of “REAL” in person school. Although we all thoroughly enjoyed our
year of homeschooling, they were ready to be back at school with their friends.
We went to the state fair and spent like 9 hours doing
all the things. Kids were able to get these cool face paintings
The view from our house on our anniversary trip. We rented a house instead of staying at a hotel.
It was so much cheaper and private.
Kids first day. They were so excited. And I was so lost that day. I didn’t know what to do without them
at home with me. It was a sad day for me. But I was so happy to see how excited they were to go back.
We were able to tackle our underground sprinkler system project this summer.
It was so much work, but will be very much appreciated next spring. The kids helped like
adults on each step of the project. They are such great helpers.
Quade saved up his money and bought his very own heifer.
Her name is “Gabby”. Gabriella, means one of the angels. It was very cute
watching Quade pick out her name. He is so excited to have his very own heifer.
I was just as excited as he was for him buying his own heifer. He plans to breed her when she’s old enough.
This is the heifer that I just bought. Her name is Heidi. She is so sweet and getting
tamer every day. Quade is really good at being patient and calm around her. He is really liking
the cow thing.
We went riding at the coast and it was a bit chilly. We are trying out a bigger bike for Austyn because Quade has grown out of his current bike. She did really well on it. It is a clutch, so it’s kind
if intimidating for her.
Austyn’s state fair face paint.
We got to go camping over Austyn’s birthday. We went to Alsea Falls
and will definitely go back. So close and so much fun to camp there.
Just some fun pictures of my cows, this one is Ginger.
Heidi
The boys doing the trenching for the sprinklers.
Jordan’s espresso on our anniversary trip.
Austyn’s first day of school. She was so excited to be in 5th grade this year. Top of the school!
Bungee jumping at the state fair.
My delicious lunch on our anniversary trip.
Quade was on a two week quarantine so he was my travel buddy to go
look at a heifer in Bend. It was such a great trip to spend one on one
time with him.
Quade was able to help catch all the fish in my Aunt and Uncles pond.
He loved it! It was right up his alley.
Sand art from our anniversary trip.
China, she’s the sweetest.
All the sprinkler fittings. Jordan and my Dad would call out the parts and the kids and I would
run them to them. We all learned a lot during this project.
Austyn’s state fair henna. She has such good taste on things.
We were so lucky to borrow this tractor to help do our sprinkler project.
So grateful to my Aunt and Uncle for always letting us borrow their equipment.
June
Hay season was short and sweet this year. The kids are such a big help with everything
these days. Couldn’t do it without them. They are old enough now to have their own jobs.
Quade caught another frog this summer and then we fried it up.
Got to go to an Em’s game. So much fun to have a family night out again.
We were so fortunate to get to borrow the nicest bull from our
neighbors. His name is Pickles and we can’t wait to see his handy work
next April.
Jordan fertilizing our pastures.
And we got a new puppy. He is a mini bernidoodle. We named him
Toby and he is the sweetest puppy ever. He will be a small dog, which is a first for us.
Got to go to our first rodeo in 2 years. We were all so excited to
finally get back to one.
Finn’s hair got so long I couldn’t keep up with brushing it. So I took him in to get a “trim”
Keep scrolling for the results.
Quade’s frog leg catch
This year Quade rode in EVERY tractor for hours and hours
for the whole season. He even caught a small cat nap
The boys make it happen during hay season.
Our first calf was born in April. A little heifer, we named her April. I just can’t explain how
fun it was to finally have a calf. I was really bummed with this one though. We were out of town
camping and missed it by half a day.
Spring break camping trip at Thompson. It was the coldest camping trip I’ve ever been on.
But it was still fun as always.
Austyn shot her first nuteria. She was so excited.
And I can’t lie, I was too. Proud of my little sharp shooter.
The kids decided to make Jordan an American flag for Father’s Day.
They did such a great job. They planned it all themselves.
Barn owl in Grams barn
Marley and I on her first Birthday. She’s such a cutie pie and
the best baby ever.
Teaching her early to love cattle
Jordan’s sister was here this summer from Virginia. So we
went hiking with them and had a great time.
My cousin and her family were here from Minnesota this summer and they surprised the kids with
Kona Ice as a treat. It was so much fun! These country kids aren’t used to food delivery.
I had to get Finn a coat after his “trim”
Quade being Austyn’s sue chef. Austyn absolutely loves baking. So for one of her speeches
for school she did a baking tutorial.
Austyn and Emma working in the Ablesiever booth during the festival this year.
They rocked it, even during the 100 degree weather.
Chacha had the kids over to shoot bows and Quade thought he wanted to
dress as an Indian.
The kids and I spent 3 hours with Jordan in Jerry’s buying the
supplies for the sprinkler system. They were so bored. And we didn’t even get all the parts.
Jordan got to go on the Gambler 500 again. His car had some troubles
but it didn’t keep them from having fun.
Jordan was able to find a car lift for the shop. He has been waiting
a long time for one of these. He has been loving using it.
Summer fishing with a horrible mustache and a nasty hair cut. Boys will be boys!
My love and I
Weirdly we had so many crawdads in our slough this year. Quade had
a blast catching them. This was a huge one. I started calling them Cheshire Lobsters.
Quade wanted to grow a mullet. It was so gross, so he finally
agreed to letting me cut it into a mohawk.
We had our annual Garner family camp out in Charleston this
year. It was so much fun. We had an in-laws vs. out-laws baseball
game.
My two precious pooches
Here’s Dad making the road down to the river a bit wider.
A little summer fun.
More bow shooting with Chacha
Bored at Jerry’s
Camping at Thompson for Spring break. Austyn is
wearing my my childhood coveralls
Dad and I on the beach
Clamming for Dads Birthday.
Owl the boys found in the barn during hay season
Our “new to us” stock trailer. It’s a beaut, but it gets the job done.
Jordan and Quade went on a hike and they stopped for a snack and these
Greydiggers were so friendly. They climbed all over them. I guess they are use to people feeding them.
Finn’s favorite camp chair
Kayaking down the Long Tom
More fertilizing
My Aunt Debi made Austyn this beautiful dress for the
Scandinavian festival this year. Austyn got to pick out all the fabric. She
loved it.
Kayaking trip
This year the kids wanted to up their game on their lemonade stand. So
we did a hot dog and nacho stand instead. The kids did a very good job making the
signs and setting everything up. And they were very professional with the customers. Unfortunately the sale wasn’t very busy at all so they didn’t make a ton of money. But hoping next year the weather isn’t quite as hot and we have more customers.
Philomath Frolic Rodeo
4-H of July parade in Harrisburg
Jordan took the kids skiing again this year. They had a blast. I stayed home
because I wasn’t feeling well. Hated missing it.
Toby when we first got him. Honestly he hasn’t grown much. I just can’t get over what a good puppy he has been.
Here’s Dad feeding the bull we borrowed. He is such a sweet bull.
Hoping we can borrow him again next spring. And it was just so perfect, all we did was open up the gate and lure him in with some alfalfa. He walked right through.
Summer ice cream break.
Quade getting tips on how to drive the cat
My little Indian boy
This little guy was our second calf. We named him Rusty. The kids got to see
the whole thing. It was so neat for them to experience that.
Quade shooting
Austyn reading to Marley during hay season
Austyn made this cake for Jordan on his Birthday. She did such a great job thinking of everything
he would like in a cake. And it was so delicious.
We took the kids to the hills with their motorcycles to ride.
We bought this heifer last Spring. She came halter broke and is so friendly. Her name is
Ginger.
We put rocks in Grandmas flower beds. It looks so nice. And we got to use this
cool electric wheelbarrow.
Here is the almost finished project the kids made Jordan for Father’s Day.
They did 10 stripes for how many years he’s been a dad. It was so cute. And then they added the stars.
Quade holding Toby on our way home from picking him up. Toby is the first dog that
Jordan has actual known about before we’ve gotten him. Always a surprise with me and animals.
Late night fishing trip. This fish was really neat, it was almost see through.
Another whooping crawdad
We got a door on the workshop part of the shop. It looks so nice. Jordan’s next step is insulation, wiring, and sheeting the inside of the workshop portion.
Coast trip
Rodeo kids
Painting their Father’s Day flag.
Garner camp out
Here is poor Finney after they butchered his haircut. He was humiliated.
I didn’t even recognize him when they brought him out.
Exploring tide pools
Setting out the irrigation. We won’t be needing to do that anymore on the yard. I’m so excited for the underground sprinklers and we are getting a new lawn mower too!
Geocaching on our Spring Break camp out. We had never done that before and it was so fun.
Quade and I went on a date one evening. I took him bowling and to dinner then we watched a
movie at home.
The kids were so blessed to be able to spend their Wednesdays last year during homeschool with a
retired school teacher. She taught them Language Arts and did so many cool art
projects with them.
Random old motorcycle mom and dad bought.
Austyn is starting volleyball and is looking forward to it. She hasn’t really had a volleyball season since COVID started. She is doing amazing in school. I’ve never seen her so dedicated to her school work before. She is rocking it! I’m so proud of her. She is so happy to be back at school this year. She’s much more social than Quade and needs more social interaction with friends. She is excited to start 4-H this year. She decided to take a pig to fair. We are all pumped to start this adventure. Quade is too young so he will raise on for us to eat. Austyn and Quade decided to dress up for Halloween together. They are going to be Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad Wolf. I think it’s so cute that they still want to dress up together. They wanted me to make their costumes like I use to do too. But now that they are bigger, it’s too hard to make them and it ends up costing way more than if we had just bought the costume.
Quade is doing great in school too. 3rd grade is typically a year where they teach more responsibilities with the kids and he is loving that part. He is doing flag football right now and plays the center position mostly. His understanding of the game is getting better as the season goes on. He has taken a huge interest in the cattle lately. And I love spending time with him doing cow stuff.
Jordan is able to go to Minnesota again to help design some new rigs for the fire station. It’s a big honor for him and it’s a fun trip too. He will be going mid November for a few days. He is as usual always busy with some type of project. I think he is transitioning into more fall type projects, meaning things out of the rain. So I think he will probably start working on the shop again. We still have our firewood to do for this year. The sprinkler project took priority over the wood this summer.
I have adjusted to the kids being back at school. I’ve started working out again in the mornings after I drop them off at school. I really thrive on a scheduled routine. I’m love the weather change. I felt like we had such a long summer that I was ready for the next season. Although this was an amazing summer, I still love fall the best. Earlier this year I went through some health issues and was able to overcome those and understand how to avoid them in the future. So I’m really trying to stay aware of my foods and do some sort of exercise. It’s just so easy to fall off the wagon and then get into this negative health spiraling out of control. But I’ve done a great job keeping up on myself and I’m hoping to just get healthier and stronger. I am so thankful for our little life out here. It honestly couldn’t be more perfect. I love watching the kids grow and learn, and what great kids they are. Jordan is always so successful at what he does on and off of work. My dogs and cows make my heart happy. We are blessed beyond belief.
Hope you all are doing well. Sorry again for the extended absence. But that’s life! Hoping to be more on the ball now that there is a schedule back in place.
