A Trip to the Ranch

While Landon's parents, Marty and Diane, came to visit us in Tooele at the end of July we were able to go out and visit Landon's Great-Uncle Frank and Great-Aunt Margaret. Uncle Frank is Landon's Grandma's brother and is currently serving a mission for the church on the church ranch just outside of Tooele. We took the whole family along so that the kids could see the animals and the ranch.

The very first thing the kids noticed when we got to the ranch was the four-wheeler. They all climbed on and pretended to drive it. We took a cute picture. Next was feeding the chickens.

I was impressed that the kids weren't all that afraid of the chickens. Levi was really excited to see them and kept telling me "Mom, chicken.....Mom, chickens....I feed them." Ellen and Trevor jumped right in there too.

One of Uncle Frank's boys and his kids come out to visit the ranch regularly and hooked up a rope swing in the barn. Landon was the first to try it out.

Ellen LOVED the swing. It took her a few tries to figure out where she needed to be on the rope so as not to drag her feet. She was a pro by the time we left.

Levi couldn't be left out of the swing, so Daddy had to help him.

Trevor's turn!

There were 4 baby owls in the barn as well. When we went out we found one of the babies on the ground, fallen out of the nest. It became Landon's job to put it back in its nest.

Great-Aunt Margaret holding the poor baby owl. It was really weak and we had our doubts that it was even going to make it.

Landon preparing to climb the ladder to put the owl back in its nests.

I tried to take a video of this while we were there but it didn't turn back. When Landon got up close to the nest the other three baby owls began hissing at him, loudly! I have never heard an owl hiss like that. They were not happy to have him so close to their nest, even if he was returning their sibling. Landon was a little nervous they were going to try to peck at him or bite him, but they were more bark than bite. He was able to put the baby owl back in the nest without injury. We really had didn't think this bird would make it, he was so weak by the time we got him back in the nest, but we Ellen received a letter from Aunt Margaret last week and she was happy to report that the owl was doing well and still living in the nest with the other three.

Uncle Frank and Aunt Margaret also had a couple of horses at the ranch. This one is Lady and she was very gentle. We were able to get all three kids up on her back. They didn't get to really ride her, but just sitting there was excitement enough for them.

We were also able to help feed Lady and the other horse, Champ. (Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a good picture of Champ. He was a little bit more feisty than Lady and I had to watch the kids closer when they were around him.)

While we were there I figured it would be a good time to prove that Mama was there too, with Kat in tow. We went all out and took a full on side shot of the 35 week pregnant belly.

When we returned to the house after the tour of the barn and other out-buildings the kids once again climbed up on the four-wheeler and started playing around. Uncle Frank was nice enough to take them out for a ride on it. They all squealed and giggled with excitement as they zipped a little circle around the house.

After the ride we went in and had ice cream and talked about family a little. It was a really nice visit that I am so glad we were able to make. I grew up with horses both at my house and at my Grandpa Kunz's just a half-mile away. I also grew up going to Oregon to my Grandma and Grandpa Hill's farm at least every summer and spending significant time helping them around the place. It has made me sad to think that my kids up to this point had never pet a horse or fed chickens. My Grandma and Grandpa Kunz have been gone for 10 years now so my kids never got the chance to see their horses, and I have found it very difficult to get to Oregon to the Hill Farm. This made me extremely happy to see my kids get to experience a little bit of the things I remember doing as a child at my grandparent's houses. What an awesome experience!