And so it begins...: At The Ranch 2018

Sent Max and Becca a pic to show we had arrived

Holy cow do I have an amazing family.
This summer, instead of going on our annual family rafting trip we were able to experience a different kind of family bonding experience…a week at the ranch. Jay was unable to go on the usual rafting trip and there was back and forth discussion of what we should do in terms of the rafting trip. We tossed around a variety of ideas; going on a smaller version of a rafting trip, going on the original trip minus Jay, foregoing the trip altogether...but then it was suggested that we go and actually spend the week out at Jay’s ranch helping him work on his property.
We all preferred this idea for a number of reasons. Mainly because of all the time and sacrifice Jay has put in over the years to create these family rafting trips for us. It was definitely one of the times it was nice to pay it forward and do something for him. Rafting without Jay just doesn't feel right.

With this new plan in place it was just a matter of solidifying the meal plan, and we were able to make it happen. There were a few little bumps in this planning, for example getting Annette out to the property was a little bit of an obstacle. I ended up driving out and picking her up…and also driving her home and back to the ranch. Other than that, it was a fun and interesting time. A bonus was that Jeremy and Krystel were able to attend this trip with their two sweet girls.

Annette and I arrived a little bit before people. We even had stopped in Maupin at the Oasis and ate some burgers and milkshakes...

When we first arrived at the ranch I was a little overwhelmed with how un-kid friendly it was...like sliding doors opening up to a sheer drop! But this was quickly remedied and we were able to allow the kids to be in the house, versus stuck outside or in the pole barn as I had originally resolved. They all sure love their cousin time!

We got to Jays property before anyone else, so we decided that we would hang out in the pole barn and sat and talked until our cousins from Idaho arrived.

Brent and I had planned to stay out there for the whole week. We allowed ourselves enough time to stay if Jay needed extra help, or be able to split up and take the unhelpful children home, while Brent could stay with the older boys and help a bit more.

We did a ton of fun things to keep the kids entertained and able to explore Uncle Jay’s ranch. We took a little ride out to feed the baby cow…not quite a calf anymore, if you ask me. Still, the kids were entertained by this. The older boys were mostly entertained with riding on the ATV and UTV.

We also took a ride out to the painted hills. We ate lunch at the hills and this ended up being perfect. They had a nice grassy shaded area that allowed some of the hot people to cool off in the sprinklers while we ate lunch and others did a quick mini tour of the other hills within the loop.

We stopped and swam in the river too. It was neat little spot and the kids loved it. Thankfully we all had brought an abundance of floaties and things to bathe with in the river.

Also not pictured, but we had a movie night. Max and Becca brought the projector and a selection of family movies. We enjoyed a little theater vibe one of the nights.

My pictures uploaded scattered and out of order...but I tried to arrange them in the most chronological way I could...(some photo cred to Krystel and Becca! thanks for always taking great pictures. Muah!)

Mitch driving us around the property and beyond

Emmett was napping for this first little excursion to feed the cow, so Brent stayed behind with him.

ATV tutorials and instruction sessions..

August jumped down and grabbed someone's hat that flew off their head

Throughout the week he groups of people seemed to rotate and slightly overlap. The Baertlein’s and the Olson’s left, the Metschan’s showed up and left the next day.

Brent, the boys and I stayed behind and tried to help Jay with more tree watering and preparing in case the wild fire that was burning in the distance made its way to Jay’s property. I did go ahead and take Annette back to Portland, and then turn around and come back to Jay’s. It was a long day. I stopped in Sandy and picked up some salmon and rice and veggies for dinner. So we had a fancy dinner from the camping stove, and I also picked up a little something for dessert too.

It was fun the next couple days. Jay took us to the fire tower on the big muddy ranch property. He also showed the boys how to use the hose on his fire engine on the property. In case the fire was getting too close, we were only about an hour away and could get there faster to let the cows out and soak his trees.

We got to witness another epic rattle snake incident in the road to the fire tower. We were riding the ATV's in the road and a truck coming the opposite way stopped ahead of us. Then we saw the man get out of his truck and go grab a shovel from the back of his truck. Then we saw Jay and this man pounding at the ground.

We were motioned to come over and take a look. Jay took the time to explain that as he was slowly driving by the snake it was striking at his tire. He usually leaves these things alone, but he needed to take care of this before the boys rode by. Thankfully his neighbor was coming by as well and jumped into action. We cut off the head and buried it, and bagged up the body to take it with. Jay was thinking of having the skin stretched and mounted. He said he really hadn't seen very many that close to his property. Little did he know that the following week he and Brent would find one nestled up in the crack of his pole barn. Right where we had our tent set up during this family week!!

Anyways, we moved into the little truck trailer and took down our tent. Not because of the snakes, but more because of the wind and smoke.

I did miss rafting. Like a lot, but this was fun alternative to do with the family and be able to do something for Jay who really has provided us with some wonderful opportunities over the years. It felt nice to help and see how excited he is. Plus going out there now and seeing how far the property has come is pretty cool too.

We ended up building a ton of the cairns. Emmett would knock them down, because at this time his favorite outdoor activity was throwing rocks. That and running like a wild man...

My boys in blue...

Yup. That is us...in all our not showed in a few days glory.

The rest of the summer we made a few more trips out as a family to water trees and help with small little house projects. Brent also took a couple trips out with a boy or two, or by himself to help Jay.

One of the trips while we were watering the trees we separated. I drove with Mitch in the UTV and were watering trees on one side and Brent went ahead and was watering trees in this weird kind of loop area. As I was out water the bull got rather close to us and was watching us. When Brent showed up he said we should steer clear of the bull. I may have over reacted a bit, but I wanted to be DONE. Something about a bull following you and grunting is unsettling.

The next time Brent went out with only Emmett. He took the UTV and was watering some trees we hadn't gotten to the week before, when all of a sudden the base of the UTV apparently came off. He ended up putting Emmett on his shoulders and trekking it back to Jay's house. Thankfully Jay showed up and they were able to get the UTV. Now it is back in use and all fixed. Still, it is pretty hot out there and Emmett isn't very light. So Brent got a good work out that day.

It will be awesome when it is all done and we have some more gathering out there. It sure is beautiful.