Preston turns 3!

I know only 6 months behind. I still feel the need to blog about things in the order that they happened. So in case you are confused, Preston's birthday is in July when the weather is warm and we can wear shorts and sandals. Even though I am writing this in December, wearing a sweater and needing a blanket.

Birthdays are a big deal at our house. Parker will go through each month of the year and want to know who has a birthday. We go through our own little family and the grandparents and some of the aunts, uncles and cousins that we can remember off the top of our heads.

When I asked Preston how and where he wanted to celebrate his birthday, he replied at Grandma's house.



And when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, Parker had already brain washed him into Lightening McQueen.


We invited Grandpa and Granny Rayburn over to Grandma Linda's house for lunch and cake and ice cream.

Preston is a laid back type of guy. He is also a tough guy that often takes being "played rough" by his older brother Parker. He likes to eat good food and will often be the last kid left at the table cleaning his plate, while the others are too busy to eat. He is real good to take along with you, he just rides in the cart or car. He often entertains himself. He likes going to the Library and playing his older brother.

Farmer Jane

So my Mom is from Ut and it is a big deal to have and hold family reunions. This past year it was (her turn). What this means is that the reunion planning takes turns among the siblings of her parents. She and her sisters planned the reunion. My Mom wanted all of her family to attend since they had a little more control over where and when it would be held.

I really considered going with my 2 boys, but I have a great fear of flying. I get panic attacks just thinking about it. I have discovered drugs for these attacks, but flying would really put it to the test. When I realized it would cost about $1000 for the 3 of us to fly and the thought of backing out because I was having an attack. That was more money than I was willing to risk losing. My Mom loves my boys, but I don't think she would have taken them alone for 10 days with out me all the way to Ut. So that would have been 3 backouts on the flight.

My fear of flying could be a whole other post. If you really want to know let me know.

So I came up with a suggestion. Send my dad and I will help Lee milk the cows and hold down the farm.

So I moved in for a long weekend and played the part of farmer Jane.

I soon realized why our farming ancestors were able to eat bacon, meat and potatoes. They worked it off. I was assigned to feed the dry calves. I hope I have my terminology correct. These are the calves that no longer drink milk. Instead they eat chop and hay. I had carry their feed to them. The truck would only get so close to the trough. And bedding them really worked up a sweat. I lost 2 pounds that week;)

The boys just tagged along with me. They thought it was great. Uncle Lee was our boss. We checked in with him after breakfast and got our assignment. Then we made lunch, hung out for part of the afternoon and then went back to do evening chores. It was a lot of fun.


We also helped with the bottle calves too. My boys jumped right in to help.

Riding the back of the truck was definetly a highlight for the boys.

Parker was in charge of watering the calves. He also found a new drinking fountain. In fact one day he disappeared from the house and took a walk to get a drink.

And these were my surroundings as I was lugging heavy bags of feed and making sure everyone had water to drink. To me it is a little bit of heaven on earth. Maybe I am biased because this is where I grew up and this is what I call home.
Well that about sums up our farming experience. Sometimes both Jim and I wished we lived closer to help out when needed. It was fun and I am more than willing to do it again.