October here and nearly gone.

The days are getting shorter and these last few weeks and months seem to be flying by way too quickly as well.  Hope fully that is the same for January & February when we are getting a blast of the real cold stuff.

October has been a busy month for us. We were trying to get caught up on a few things after spending time in September celebrating the marriage of our youngest daughter Stacy to Dan Romanyk.
  

They couldn't take their real cows to the wedding site so Stacy incorporated these ones into the wedding. (The guests had to find their cow to know their table number.)



 

We usually sell our cull calves in September but this was pushed back to early October.  We were really happy with our steer calves netting $1085.00 for us.  Now I know that you will hear of other calves bringing more than that this year.  But remember this is the bottom half of our male calf crop.  Included in this were the March calves, twins, ect.

 

The bulls that will sell at Simmental Summit on February 24, 2014 are being fed down at Beechinor Bros., Bentley, AB.  We did keep 5 back at home that we will display at the National Simmental Show during Farmfair International - November 3 -9, 2013.

 

We made a quick trip to Iowa over the Thanksgiving weekend to visit Crystal and Jon.  During our time there we were able to take in a Hereford sale at Perks Ranch, Rockford, Illinois, Doug, Mary, Wade & Brie are great people if you are ever in the area.

 

 seen the corn get harvested                                                                                                

and enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in Crystal and Jon's new home.

 

After returning home it has been full days of getting the feed yard full, working on fall show and sale cattle, picturing cattle for the fall sale catalogs, and trying to get everything in place before winter arrives.

 

We have some exciting breeding pieces (as Rob calls them) and a display of cattle for the National show that we are real proud of. We will be out and about for a lot of November so we hope to see you at one of the cattle events.  

 

 



Happy New Year

Welcome to 2013.  I am not sure where the last year went but it sure seemed to fly by.  Time for blogging was limited, so I will try to be more diligent this year.  Or maybe teach Rob how to blog.  It seems when we are so busy that we sometimes forget all of the great things that happened in the last year so here is a recap.

January

• Calving begins and the first calves of Elegant Force and Sure Fire arrive.
• Rob and I attend the National Western Stock Show - first time in over 20 years.

February

• Mom & Dad celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary
• Drayton Valley Livestock Show committee folds after 20 years. :(

March

• Revolution sons sell well at Red Deer Bull Sale.  Bulls sell to Alberta, Manitoba, and New Brunswick.

April

• Crystal and Jon are married in Independence Iowa.
• Stacy & Dan Move into their new house.
• We get tickets to see Garth Brooks at the Calgary Stampede.

May

• Dad celebrates his 75th birthday.
• Spring rains bring early grass for cows to go to pasture.

June

• Robs mom celebrates her 80th birthday.
• We display cattle at the Alberta Simmental Association Tour and annual meeting.
• Bathroom renovation is completed.

July

• Garth Brooks Concert at the 100th Calgary Stampede.
• Stacy and Dan are engaged.
• Meet Brandon Callis and his family after many stories from Crystal when he was her judging coach.
• Celebrate Uncle Jacks 70th birthday.

August

• Rob helps Jon & Crystal at the Iowa State Fair, while I attend Ryan & Nanita's wedding.
• Attend pasture tour of Mappin Simmentals.
• Attend annual meeting of the Canadian Simmental Association in Nova Scotia. 
• Rob judges National Young Canadian Simmental Association show in Nova Scotia.

September

• Crops are harvested - poor quality from hail damage.
• Steer calves are sold = net $950

October

• Beautiful fall days to finish off some of those projects.

Res. Jr Champion @ Farmfair 2012

November

• Cattle shows take up most of the month. 
• Quick trip to Iowa to see Crystal and Jon. 

December

• Stacy buys her wedding dress, with a surprize visit from Crystal.
• Checkers sale is amazing - High Country has high selling heifer calf  @ $25,000 and her momma sells for $20,000
• Year ends with embryos and semen selling at the New Years Resolution Sale

Commitment and Your Word

Commitment is a word that seems to have a different meaning than when most of us were growing up.  Rob and I can remember that we were taught that when we said we were going to do something, you did it.  Even if you found out early on that you really didn't like it.  If you joined a team or a group you were there until the year ended.

Growing up in the Agriculture world a "man's word" and hand shake was how most business got done.  I still panic a bit each spring wondering if some of our pasture rental is available as we deal with urban owners who are used to lawyers and contracts.  You just wonder if someone else came along and offered them five cents more if our deal would be over.

Their Wedding Day

50 Years ago today, a couple of people I know gave their word to each other and a commitment for life.  My Mom & Dad are celebrating their 50th wedding Anniversary.  Now I know that probably 99% of those that go through a wedding ceremony have good intentions to keep their word and commitment....until death do us part, but over 50% aren't able to succeed. I 'm sure if you could figure out all of the reasons why, you could be a very wealthy person.

50 Years Later

I like to think that part of the reason that they have made it this far, is because they knew that there would be hard times but staying and working through them was far more worth while than giving up.  Today we live in a throw away society.  Take out food, most everything is disposable and not enough people take responsibility for themselves. 

Rob and I have had good role models.  His parents enjoyed 59 years before his dad's passing, my parents are at 50 and we will celebrate our 28th this year.

We hope that when Crystal and Jon are married in April  their goal is 50+. 

Congratulations Mom and Dad, we hope you are enjoying your second honeymoon. We also want to congratulate Uncle Jack & Aunt Gaylene who are also celebrating their 44th Anniversary today.

It's Starting to Look A Lot Like Christmas

I know that there is always discussion on when is it too early to decorate for Christmas.  For many of our American friends it is the day after Thanksgiving.  For some of my Canadian friends it is after the first snow fall....but that could mean October some years.  For our family it is when I (Dee) gets around to it.  Rob isn't a big fan of puatting up outdoor lights, so that is usually my job as well as transforming the house for the holidays.

This year I am just a little bit behind.  With Christmas falling on the weekend, it seems like I have less days to do everything.  We were away most of November at shows and sales, and the first weekend in December was spent buying a dress for Crystal and Jon's wedding along with some Christmas shopping, This weekend we are excited to attend the wedding of Scott Harvie of Harvie Ranching and Kerrie Bennett and then next weekend we are at the 17th Annual Checkers Sale.  Check out Lots 47, 48, and 49. Those 2 weekends will be like having Christmas with our cattle family. 

My cow snow globe - handmade.

Snow globe and cows in the bathroom.

I did do a few things last night and hopefully the rest of it will get done on Sunday....depending on how the wedding goes!