Wrapping up Baker, MT

     Here we are, at the end of our summer in Montana already! Thanks to extremely slow internet after we moved out to the Standard's ranch, blogging took a major backseat. Today is a travel day so I'm using it to try and do a few posts to get caught up. It's hard to stare at a screen when driving through Idaho and Utah though - so much beauty to see!

     The small taste of ranch life we got was just enough to make us love it but not get sick and tired of the hard work! In September we helped with 2 pre-conditionings. Basically, the cows are rounded up and the calves are given booster shots and whatever else needs done. There was about 20 to brand and a couple that needed de-horning. 

Here come the cows!

     The pictures I have are only of 1 day-Eldon had to work the second time so I didn't take pictures. Actually, Makayla took most of these. This was a small day with only 140 calves to run through and they were in a small pasture so it only took an hour or so to round them up and get them into the corral.

We were shocked and impressed with how these guys hung in there and helped!

     Since the calves were smaller then cows and could back out of the chute, Makayla jammed a bucking bar in behind them as soon as she could so they couldn't back up. Michael grabbed it on the other side and helped hold it. Makayla struggled a little because the bar was heavy and the calves were pretty rowdy but she did a fantastic job, even when she got poop on her jacket. That was the last straw for Emily😉 . Ethan marked them with chalk, which was not really necessary except that it gave him a job and made him feel needed.

Getting the whole 9 yards!

     Eldon caught the head and gave it a shot it the nose, Mrs. Standard injected growth hormone in the ear, and Noel gave it a shot in the shoulder. You can't see Bessie who ran the head catcher and helped Makayla, or me who was spraying them with de-wormer (I think it's what it was anyhow).

So many people swarming around for a job :)

     There was 20 calves that hadn't been branded in the spring so those were roped and we gave them the work-over on the ground. They were a lot bigger then a few months ago which meant it was more of a challenge for the wrestlers to get them down.

Eldon and Emily in action.

     Eldon helped wrestle and Emily followed Jacob around and marked each calf after he gave it a shot. Each person had a certain color so it was easy to tell if a calf was done or not.

Poor traumatized calf!

Picture of most everyone who helped round up.

     We promised the children a trip to the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum once the 2 oldest could say Psalms 37 and the 2 youngest could say some key verses. They finally earned it and we had a great time! It's creation-based so they were thrilled that everything was true instead of having to ask us about every sign since most places these days includes evolution. The staff was interactive and very eager to share their knowledge with us.

Fossils are just cool!

A Tasmanian Devil

They were given a small activity book to complete then earned a pin at the end.

Mini bike fun

     A friend from church gifted us a mini bike this summer. I was fairly against it at first but finally caved and now I freely admit that it was a good decision! Between our 2 oldest and 4 of the Standard children, that little bike has been ridden for miles and miles. One day Eldon tied the Garmin on it and it had 23 miles at the end of the day! And fixed over and over too, lol.

First Baptist Church of Baker

     I'm trying to do better at taking pictures of places we've visited so hopefully it will jog our children's memories when they look at them! This is the church we attended all summer and are thankful God led us here on our first Sunday. Every one of the children (as well as Eldon and I) made friends quickly and were so sad to leave. They loved Sunday School and the singing, which consisted largely of old hymns that I've been teaching them for the last year. It was fun to see that pay off and watch them sing along from memory. Eldon and I especially enjoyed the Sunday School discussions and the fellowship before and after church. We're going to miss to miss everyone but are so blessed to have spent 4 months here and look forward to coming back sometime.

 

Love hearing this group play and sing together!

      Happily, the church picnic happened when we were still in Baker. We had perfect weather this particular Sunday afternoon at Medicine Rocks State Park. The food was delicious too!

Lots of talent here!

Ethan loves Mister Daniel, as he calls him 😊

Ethan and Jason played nicely for hours with our broken down outside vehicles.

Meet Morgan, Mason, and Makayla, famous trick riders!

     One day these girls spent hours dressing up themselves and their horses. Then they even put on a show for me which involved standing up, riding backwards, and trying desperately to get a horse to rear 😂. 

     We've had a great time in this little one horse town and can't wait to come back - when it's done snowing!