Our First Snow of the Fall

Well we didn't quite make it through October without snow in Nebraska. Although compared to last year the little skiff that we got was not to bad. It did happen to be on Wednesday the day Chip wanted to wean some calves. The wind was howling as it was gusting to 40-45 mph that day. It was cold cold cold! If the wind wasn't bad enough we also had snow & sleet coming down hitting us. I don't think my horse like riding into the wind anymore than I did. I admit I am kind of a whimp, but I was so happy when we were done and in the nice warm house. Thankfully Aubree was able to go to Lindsay's house while we were outside.

It went really well despite the weather. One of our neighbors, Gary Halsey, came over to help too.

I often wonder how good of help I am on the ranch since I am always taking pictures while I work. I guess I have not been fired yet! It was really cold when I had to take my gloves off to take some pictures. I was thinking to myself maybe I have gone a little crazy with my picture taking as my fingers were turning purple.












It seems like them month of October has came and went to fast. Jenae really wanted to carve pumpkins this year but we never got around to it. Since Halloween is Sunday night I thought we should do something with the pumpkins and I didn't feel like the mess of carving pumpkins so we did the next best thing, we painted them. The girls had so much fun and even thought Jenae was a little disappointed at first that we didn't carve them by the end she was saying "painting pumpkins is way more fun than carving them."

I knew Jenae's pumpkin would turn out cute but was not sure if Aubree would really get what to do. I thought she might just make random marks all over her pumpkin, but she did really good too. She named her pumpkin Dora and painted hair on her and Jenae painted eyes on Dora for Aubree. Aubree went on to give her a mouth and a nose. She later told me she noticed that Jenae's pumpkin didn't have a nose!




Both girls were very excited for Halloween parties today. Jenae's school party is today and I am down to take treats. I am looking forward to getting off work a little early to attend. Lindsay is having a Halloween party for the kids that she watches. Aubree was very excited for that.

Tonight is Trey's birthday party. I just cant even believe he is 1 already!!! Where does the time go?

Tomorrow we are selling cattle and Sunday is Halloween. Looks like it is going to be another busy weekend. It will be a fun weekend though! I hope you all have a great weekend and don't eat too much candy ;-)

October Sunset in Nebraska

It has been such a beautiful fall in Nebraska. Lots of days of sunshine. I have noticed and appreciated the beauty of more sunrises and sunsets this October than I remember in the past.

This past weekend and yesterday we did get some much needed rain.

Today & tomorrow is sounds like we are in for a lot of wind. We are in a high wind warning today & tomorrow. I am missing the 70 degree beautiful days already!

Heather & Brad's Wedding

This past weekend my cousin, Heather, married Brad Tomjack from Chambers. It is crazy to me to think I will have a first cousin living in Chambers now. She met him when he was going to collage in Norfolk. She grew up in the Norfolk area. The wedding was beautiful. It looks like a lot of time went in to the planning and preparation of the wedding.


My Brother's wife, Erin and her little girls Allyx & Brooke. Dusty was at a rodeo, but Erin and the girls made it to the wedding.




My sister Danielle & her family.




My sister, Lacey, & her family



My nephews Kellen & Tyson




Brooke & Riley




Riley & Allyx. They are at stage where they LOVE to kiss each other.




My Grandma Forre and I after the wedding.






Lacey dancing with the kids.




I love this picture of Aubree's big blue eyes.




Jenae & Kyle. This picture really shows how much Jenae adores her Daddy!




Jenae & Bree doing some dancing




My parents at the reception




Jenae was a server at the reception. I was a little worried if she was old enough to do such a job, but she did great.



Aubree LOVED every minute of the dance. She tried really hard to figure out the Macarena dance. It was so cute to watch her try to do the moves like the adults were doing.


I took this picture of Kyle & Aubree dancing right before Aubree wiped out on the dance floor. She didn't seem to mind as she got right up kept on dancing.



Kellen & Brooke having fun dancing!



Before the dance started the kids were running and sliding. They had a blast!




Aubree checking something out on the table along with my cousin, Michael, & my cousin Jason's daughter, Madison. Aubree looks like she is maybe up to no good!

Yesterday was a very nice relaxing day around the Whitaker house. We were all a little tried and feeling lazy so we skipped church. I feel bad when we don't make it to church when we are home but I try to catch a couple of church services on the radio and spend a little time reading the Bible. I know it is not the same as making the effort to go to church, but it makes me feel a little less guilty if I do those things. It was so nice to have a day at home to get caught up on house work and to do a little baking. The girls and I made caramel apples, OK maybe it was Jenae and I that made the caramel apples, Aubree was being a little too helpful so she got to hang out in the living room with Kyle while he watched a little football. We read a lot of books and watched Black Beauty.

Wild little riders

Jenae and Aubree riding side by side.


Aubree doing a good job of getting Beauty to go the speed she wants her to go. Usually Beauty will ride side by side like in the above picture at what ever speed the horse in front of her is going. Sometimes they get going a little faster than Aubree is comfortable going. She used to just scream when she went too fast and she would say "I wasn't screaming...I was just breathing" Now she seems to have figured out how to pull Beauty up and has even figured out how to get Beauty to change directions. I am pretty proud of my little Cowgirl who just turned 3 a little over a month ago. My thighs hurt just watching her trot all over. Beauty does not have the smoothest trot but it doesn't phase Aubree. She just squeezes her little legs and away she goes.


Jenae working on her trick riding with Comanche. I got to admit I am a little nervous about her standing up on a 3 year old horse. He is not tied to the fence. She has no fear, which is not always a good thing! Her Dad & Grandpa think it is great :-)


Jenae on Comanche. She is thinking that he will be her Pleasure horse when she gets into 4-H in a couple of year. He really looks like a Western Pleasure horse in this picture.


Jenae has decided that she likes to help with the evening chores. She is pretty good help with getting everything grained.

What a great day!

It was 70 degrees here in Chambers Nebraska today. It doesn't get much better than that! It is so nice to be able to go out and enjoy the fall this year. Aubree and I spent most of the morning in the house but we were about to enjoy the afternoon outside. Kyle helped me work in the yard while Aubree played in her play house. When Jenae got home from School we headed over to Chip & Marilyn's so Kyle could practice his steer wrestling. The girls of course had to ride too. It was a fun day. I will try to post more pictures tomorrow.

Another Busy Weekend!

I am sure if I go back through my blog postings one common theme would be how fast the time goes. I can't believe it is Monday already in the blink of an eye it will be Friday again. Not that I am complaining about the work week flying by but I just wish live would slow down a bit.
Friday night we met our friends Matt & Heidi at the Chambers Corner for supper. It was the first time I had been at the Corner for supper since the Cafe in town opened up. It was a nice time. It is always fun to get together with friends for an evening and what is better is that I did not have to cook supper :-)

Saturday we got up bright and early. Kyle's cousin, Mat, invited him to go to the Nebraska/Texas game. I had Kyle drop the girls and I off at my parents house on his way to Lincoln. It had been so long since I took time out of my busy life to visit my Grandparents and I thought it was the perfect opportunity. I also was wanting to take some pictures of my sister's kiddos and my brother's family. It was one of those days where we tried to cram so much into one day that it felt like we were always on the go.
We hurried when we got there to get all the grand kids rounded up for a quick group photo of all of them. It was so cold and windy but they were great sports.
My sister, Danielle and I took a couple of the kids in to visit my Grandma Forre before dinner. We had a nice visit. The kids enjoyed playing in Grandma's toy box!
Mom and made a good dinner then it was off to Albion to visit my Grandma & Grandpa Noble. Their health has really been declining the past year (my Grandpa just got out of the hospital he had been there for over 3 weeks) and my Grandma is not in good enough health to be able to care for Grandpa. My Grandpa now lives with my wonderful Aunt. She lives just a few blocks from Grandpa & Grandma's house so my Grandma comes to visit my Grandpa every day. It is so neat how in love my grandparents are. We got to my Aunt's house about the same time as my Grandma did. I heard my Grandpa say to her"Hi Babe...How are you doing today?...You look good today" and Grandma went right over to him and gave him a hug & a kiss. Very sweet for being married over 60 years!!! We had a nice visit with them but it was getting close to game time and my Grandpa is a HUGE Husker fan so we thought we best keep moving.
Back at my parents it did not take long for me to decide that the game was not looking good for the Huskers. I really thought it was going to be a different outcome. After the game we went out and got some pictures of Danielle's boys. It didn't work out to get pictures of Dusty & Erin's family. Maybe next time!

Kyle spent then night in Lincoln and got up early yesterday morning to come back and pick the girls and I up. We got home around noon and it was the perfect day to get some yard work done. I am on a mission to get my garden spot in good shape before the weather really changes. I have a lot of raking and tilling left to do but hope to work on it a little bit each day until I get it done. Kyle was good help with some of my yard projects. It is so nice to have him home more. He and Chip moved some cattle around in the evening. I had been out working in the yard and Jenae decided she wanted to go in the house. She had been reading a book last I knew and Chip went in the house to see if she wanted to have her help move the cattle and found her sound to sleep on the couch. I guess she was played out from playing so hard with all of her cousins the day before.



All of the Forre Grand kids.
Top Row L-R: Tyson (Age 6) Jenae (Age 6) Middle Row L-R: Kellen (Age 4) Cooper (Age 2) Brooke (Age 3) Bottom row: Aubree (Age 3), Riley (Age 1), Allyx (Age 1)



My sister Danielle's 3 boys L-R Kellen, Tyson, & Cooper


My two little sweethearts!

Some people!!!

It amazes me the differences in some people and the society we live in. Some people you have mishaps or incidences with are understanding and willing to work with you and help you out, for example our trip to Pocatello, ID this past spring when Kyle & I had our fair share of troubles along the way. There were so many strangers that went out of there way to help us out. The situation I am about to share with you show the extreme of the other side of how some people can be.
I spent most of the morning on the phone with a client. He called first thing this morning to ask if the towing coverage he had on his vehicle would cover a friend's pick up if he was driving. He went on to tell me that he had hit something on the way home from a rodeo in the middle of the night and it went up under the pickup and broke open the gas tank. They had to call a tow truck to get them towed off the interstate. I did some checking and found out his towing coverage would extend. There was a dealership across the interstate and they got the pick up over there and were waiting for the pick up to be fixed. About 20 minutes later I get a call back from him. He had left his horses on the trailer that night since it was a cement parking lot. He wanted to get them out and let them get some exercise. Some idiot had parked his pickup right behind my clients trailer. It was a huge parking lot and he could have parked anywhere but he choose to park right behind the trailer. Since the pickup was in the repair shop they had no way to pull the trailer ahead. My insured tried to squeeze the horse out and the horse ended up putting a dent in the guys pickup. The guy eventually came out to find his pick up with the dent and insisted on calling the cops. The guy said his deductible was $750 and that my insured need to pay cash or put it on his credit card since he was from out of state.(They were in TX) The cop basically bullied him and said if the guy wants to press charges he would have to write up a ticket for negligent something or other or my insured could just pay him and be done. I talked to both the idiot guy and the idiot cop and said we would submit the claim under the homeowners policy. The cop tried to tell me my client failed to report the accident and I think that was one thing they were going to ticket him for. I said to the cop "how did he fail to report it??? He didn't leave the site of the accident? He was here when the guy came out and found his pickup" The cop was a real jerk and would not respond and handed the phone back to my insured. I could not believe it!!!He knew I was right and apparently did not know how to respond to me. When I tried to talk to the guy to let him try to put through a claim on my insureds homeowners policy he was also a huge jerk. My client to avoid getting a ticket decided to just pay the jerk and be done. I told him to ask to see his insurance card to verify his deductible before he paid it. The guy did not want to show the card. Can you guess why??? Because he only had a $500 deductible not a $750. I was on the phone with my client when I he finally got to see the card. I heard my client say "come on man.... you said your deductible was $750.....let me just pay you the $500." They guy said "Nope I want $750 because I might not even get it fixed!!!!" Some people!!!!! I know there are a lot of good law enforcement people out there, but I can not even believe how this cop totally abused his power and bullied someone like that. It it probably because it was a Nebraskan and they know the Huskers are going to stomp all over their Horns in a couple days. Go Big Red!!!! Teach Texas a lesson :-)

I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around. I hope both the guy and the police officer get what is coming to them someday KARMA!!!!

I asked my insured why he paid the $750 and he said that was the only way the guy was not going to press charges. That really does not seem legal to me. I would love to hear from any of my lawyer readers on there thoughts on this situation.

Another Beautiful Fall Weekend

Another Beautiful Fall Weekend it was! I do not want to jinks it but so far it has been the most perfect fall in Nebraska. The evenings are cool with highs in the day time of about 70 degrees. The trees are so pretty right now. All the leaves have changed from green to different shades of red, orange and yellows. From what I saw on the forecast this morning on the news, it looks like we are in for yet another awesome week!

Well I am officially done canning for the year. I finished the last of my jelly making on Friday night. I really enjoy canning, but I think I kind of burned myself out of it this year. I am sure I will be anxious to get back to it next year :-)

Saturday morning the girls and I got up and tried to get the house in order. Marilyn made ribs for dinner & they were awesome. Ben is pretty sure she could put the BBQ Restaurant in O'Neill out of business if she wanted to ;-) After our belly's were full we had to run Jenae to the Chambers Corner to meet up with her classmates for a friend's birthday party. It sounds like she had a lot of fun. Saturday evening we had my cousin, Heather's bachelorette party. Jacque came down to watch Jenae, Aubree & Riley while Lacey & I went to the party. It was a really nice time. Lots of laughs and good food!! I think Jacque got along good with the kiddos. Jenae said they had lots of fun. Little Miss Aubree gave him a couple of challenges and one time she told him "Sometimes I don't listen to my Mommy either" She can be such a challenging child at times and other times she is a perfect little girl.
Usually no in between :-)



Lacey is Heather's Matron on Honor and she was the main one in charge of the party. She hosted a very nice party for Heather. She put lots of time in to make it a special night.



Danielle, Linda, My Mom, & Erin visiting in the Kitchen. So much good food the kitchen was the place to be!



Heather in one of the games. It was a relay where you had to do all sorts of silly things including putting on a large bra and pair of panties over your clothes while blindfolded!



Connie & Renae having a good laugh!



Heather opening her gifts.


Kyle had been in Waco Tx Since Friday. He placed on his first steer but no luck on his 2nd steer. He got home Yesterday about noon. I thought we should do something fun on 10-10-10 so we took the girls out to Lambert's Pumpkin Patch. It was so much fun and a beautiful day. The girls got to ride the Molly Trolley, ride on the hay rack out to pick out their pumpkin, feed over ripe melons to some cattle, eat a caramel apple and walk through the haunted forest. I got a lot of good pictures. The Pumpkin Patch is no to far from Hope & Ben's house so we stopped by for a quick visit then went to Chip & Marilyn's for another quick visit. The day went fast!

Jenae riding in the Molly Trolley.


Aubree thought she was big stuff getting to ride in the Molly Trolley.


Kyle and the girls on the hay rack headed out to the pumpkin patch.


Kyle & the girls in the pumpkin patch.


Kyle making sure Aubree was happy with her pumpkin.


Aubree with her perfect pumpkin!!


Jenae checking out all the pumpkins!


We told the girls they could get a pumpkin as big as they could carry. Jenae made sure to get the biggest one she could possibly carry.


Jenae with her perfect pumpkin.


Aubree enjoying a caramel apple.


The girls and I in front of the haunted forest.


The girls were pretty wide eyed in the haunted forest!

That evening Jenae & Aubree went in the chicken pen to gather the eggs. Aubree started screaming at the top of her lungs. It was the type of scream that she was in pain. I heard Jenae yell "Run Aubree Run!" as Jenae was running out of the pen. Kyle dropped what he was doing and took off running in the pen to find out what was going on. One the the roosters had her cornered with his feathers on the back of his neck standing up. We are not sure if he pecked at her or if he just scared her. When I asked her what happened she said "the rooster buk(ed) me with his buk(er)" For those of you that do not know much about the egg business every couple years you have to get new laying hens. When you order the female chicks they guarantee that 95% of them will be females. Well this year we ended up with 3 roosters. While they are pretty with all their rooster feathers they can get mean. So our roosters may not be around much longer if they have discovered her mean side. Time will tell what their fate will be!!!


After our big weekend both girls were so tired! I gave Aubree a couple of book to look at in bed while I was downloading some pictures to my computer. Once I got my camera started to download them I went to her room to read to her and this is how I found her. I don't think she even got the books opened before she fell asleep.
I hope have a great week and are able to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather!!