Evan Visits the Farm

Evan was in town last weekend with Steven. He was taking Evan back to meet Janae on Monday and I asked if Steven would bring Evan to Haag's farm in Indianola. When they arrived to Haag's I could see little Evan sleeping in the seat. I opened the door and he woke up, a little groggy, and I asked him if he wanted to go to the farm - which he of course wanted to do. I was glad because I thought that maybe he would be a little crabby after waking up but he was not that at all!! So here are some pictures that we took of Evan at the farm. With each picture I will try to remember some of the funy things that Evan said at that point, or at least things that made me laugh!

This is Evan petting Dusty. We walked into the arena so that we could go to the side of the field to see the horses. When we walked into the arena Evan said, "There's no poop in here." He was right but it made me laugh that he actually noticed that! Bob was nice enough to get May and Babe all ready and take us on a hayrack ride. Here Evan is looking at the horses pulling the hayrack. At one point in the ride he saw some poop on the ground and asked how horses pooped - I don't know what his obsession with poop is but it was just funny that that was his first question about horses.

This is Bob asking Evan if he wanted to lead (is that the right word?) the horses and he said "no." I think he was a little scared! When we stopped back up the barn after one trip Bob asked Evan if he was done or if he wanted to go for another ride. Ean thought about if for a little minute and put his finger up and said, "Okay, one more ride!"

After we were done with our "one more time" hayrack ride Evan said to me "come get a picture of me petting a goat." So we went out to the goats so we could get a picture of him with them. It didn't work out as easily as I think he had in mind. (Note - Alex will seriously hurt me for this picture but I couldn't resist!!!)

Checking out the goat thinking this is going to be a lot of work.
Finally when Alex caught one Evan wasn't too sure if he really wanted to pet it or not.
Still a little unsure.
Enjoying it a little more - or maybe not!!
Then of course he was done with the goats and wanted me to take his picture with the cats. So here he is with the first "nice kitty".

Then with two nice kitties - well cats really.
Bob had some of the horses in the barn and he asked Evan if he wanted to ride (sit on) them. At first he didn't know if he wanted to or not but he eventually did. Here he is sitting on Katie.
Then he wanted to sit on Thunder.
Look at that smile!! Then he wanted to sit on May.
And then on Babe. He thought that this one was the biggest of all of them! I can't remember how the conversation got started but something to do with the horses kicking and Bob said "they better not I will kick their butts" and Evan, pointing his finger as to scold Bob, said "that's not very nice! They will kick your head off!" We all had a good laugh at that!

A quick shot of Aunt Mindy with Evan on "the biggest horse". When I was standing by him he told me "horses have big butts. Cats have small butts and goats have little butts." I said, "Yep you are right."
When Evan was finished sitting on every horse in the barn, he decided that they were hungry and he needed to feed them. Here is Alex helping him give them some food. Notice how Evan is pushing down Alex's left hand - Evan did not want to get that close to the horses and I think he was a little scared Alex was going to get even closer but he warmed up after a couple minutes.
Some of the cats have had some kittens so here Steven is handing Evan one to hold.
So excited to be holding the kitty!

Then he decided that the cats were hungry and told us that they really like hay - so he was feeding the cats hay!
Getting some more hay for the cats! He pretty much filled that dish with hay and dirt!
Steven told Evan that it was time to go and he started crying (who would really want to leave their Aunt Mindy?) so I took a picture of him all sad! We told him to say bye to the kitties and he did and then Steven was carrying him out to leave and he said, "I have to say bye to the bucket calf." So we took him back over to the bucket calf and he said bye. Then he had to say bye to all the horses in the barn and then finally had to say bye to the goats. I know it was a stalling tactic but it was still really cute!
Daddy, Evan and the horses. When asked what his favorite thing was he said, "The horses are my favorite, and the goats are my favorite and the cats are my favorite!"
Here he is all ready to go home. He has poop on his shoes and poop on the left leg of his pants. We have no idea how he got poop on himself because no one else had any on them. Well, Steven got some on him from Evan when he was putting him in the car. Anyway, of course he noticed the poop but wasn't too concerned. I guess that just goes to show that no matter how close you watch a kid they are still going to get into #&*%!!!

"The Flood of May 2008"...

Okay, well I don't know if flood was the proper word to use but if you live back here in southwest Nebraska you know we had a lot of rain over the past weekend. Kathy called to tell Alex and me that if we were going to the farm to be careful because there was water over the road. Friday night we drove out to the farm and it didn't look that bad so we thought the water over the road Kathy was talking about was probably just a little bit in one spot. Needless to say we were wrong! The following are some pictures that we took on Saturday. Of course I didn't have my camera so these pictures were taken from my phone and I don't have as many because of memory but at least we were able to get enough to get a pretty good idea. I forgot all about going out on Monday and taking pictures of the same spots. By Sunday there no longer was water on the road and the fields off to the east and west didn't have water standing in them.

This is us heading south of Indianola towards the farm.
This is a picture of the hay feeder in the pasture along the river. It's just across the road from the farm to the north.
We drove out to the diversion dam and stood at the end and I took this picture. It really doesn't tell me much because I never saw what it looked like before the rain and I didn't go look at it on Monday. Anyway, I am sure there are some people that know what it looks like regularly that will appreciate this photo.
We are headed back into town now. This is a picture of the field off to the east all under water. There is a river that is not captured with this photo but it is off to the right (south) of this photo.

Driving through the water on the road.
This is a picture of the field on the west side of the road.
A picture of the road as we are headed back into town.
Alex and I went out to the cemetery north of town but took the highway road. As we were leaving the cemetery we saw this. We drove down towards it and took some pictures. I believe that this is Coon Creek and it is up over the road.
This is a picture of the ditch and the field north of the road from the picture above.

****So I was able to find two pictures from Monday night. Both of the pictures below are of us headed back into Indianola. As you can tell by the photos the water pretty much had vanished.

New Employee

Last week Mama Cat took a day off and spent some much needed time with her grandson. While I was slaving away at work she brought my nephew in to see me. By looking at the pictures you can tell he was much more interested in "work" than playing with me. I think it must run in his blood - Grandma, Dad and Aunt are all employed by the elevator but the other Aunt and Uncle have at one time been employed as well. I think it may be safe to say that he is already on his way...

Here he is inspecting the test weight and moisture machine, making sure it's all up to par.
Making sure everything in the front looks good.
I think it is all ready to go.
Grabbing the sample.
Pouring the milo in the machine to get tested.
Making sure all the grain goes in.
Looking at all the other samples of grain the elevator has taken in.
Break time.
Needing a little assistance.
Goofing off.
While Evan was at the elevator we did get to play a little - it wasn't all work!!

He is growing up so fast and I love that we get to see him as often as we do, although sometimes it seems like forever inbetween, but we really are blessed to see him as much as we do. He turned 4 in April and I know - it is so hard to believe that he is that old!! He is such a little cutie. And he's so smart! While he was at the elevator we had a sample of wheat on the counter and then a milo and a corn truck came. I was so impressed that he knew the difference between the three grains! Maybe that is normal for four year olds, or I was just a slow learner, but I was impressed! Okay, I am done bragging on him - for now anyway!!

Only in Nebraska!!!

Only in Nebraska can we have a blizzard on Friday and by Sunday it is nice enough to go golfing! Sunday we helped work calves and then when we were done we decided that such a nice day shouldn't be wasted so we loaded up the clubs and headed off to the golf course! It was absolutely beautiful out and we had a great time. Ryan and Steven beat Joseph and me but it was still fun anyway! Don't worry - a rematch will definitely be taking place!

Broseph, Steve-O and Step
Hole number 1
Teeing off.
Steve-o's turn.

Broseph getting ready to tee off.

I must say that I am not the greatest golfer on the planet but I do enjoy playing - I don't get crazy and throw the club or cuss and swear at the ball - yet! I am pretty calm still but I am sure there will come the day (if I play enough) that I may become embarrassing and people will not want to golf with me. But then again I might stay the same cool, calm and collected golfer that I am now!

The cheaters.


Last hole for the day
This could be why we lost! Talking on the phone while playing golf - seriously!??!