The Rancher's Sidekick - The Idaho Rancher's Wife

Learning Problem Solving One Stuck 4Wheeler at a Time

March 20, 2017 by Allison

The Rancher’s Sidekick loves to drive the 4 wheeler. All the time. Typical boy, right? I tell him we need to go check heifers, he starts the 4wheeler. I tell him we need to help dad move cows, he volunteers to drive. We say lets of load up in the feed truck and he asks to drive the 100 feet from the house to the shed where it is parked.

To be totally honest, its our own fault. Mostly The Rancher’s, but I am the supporting wife so I will take my share of the blame. For quite a while, we had been letting the boy drive out in the field while we were moving pipe or “help” us drive around the ranch. But it didn’t take too long for him to start asking to drive on his own.

Is anyone surprised?

Nope.

This kid has known how to start the 4wheeler since he was 3 so I guess it was inevitable, right? I thought we had done pretty good to distract him from wanting to go hot-rodding on his own, but once he realized he could actually reach the handle bars and turn the thing, he decided it was time to be a man and drive solo.

So we let him.

There were two important rules. First, he had to stay in low gear and second, he could just drive around the ranch yard where we could keep an eye on him. That was good enough for him! Being a big 4wheeler driver was all he could have dreamed it to be.

That was last summer. Fast forward to now with a few more months of experience and new adventures in driving through the snow and mud and puddles and he decided to go at it again.

It has been a beautiful few weeks lately and what boy could resist cruising around. One afternoon, he decided to buzz around the ranch while we finished tagging and doing chores. No big deal. Until all the sudden the bruummm-brruummm of the 4wheeler was silent. I looked around and there was the 4wheeler, driverless and stuck in the snow. Seconds later, The Rancher’s Sidekick came waltzing back to his chariot carrying a shovel. After finishing the barn chores we walked out to him to see just what was going on.

When we reached him, he started a very detailed and animated story of how he was sure he could have made it through the snow and that it was all ok until, bam! it wasn’t (I’m not sure what the bam! was other than just his dramatics with the story!). So he decided to go and get a shovel to dig himself out with.

Proud momma moment RIGHT HERE! I was so pumped that instead of just leaving the 4wheeler for someone to find or even coming to find us to tell us it was stuck, he knew it was his responsibility to get it out. So he figured out a solution and went to it. I almost thought I could hear the heavenly choir as I had the parenting-for-the-win moment but not quite. We left him to dig himself out as we headed back up the heifer hill to do a last check before heading in.

Our last check wasn’t a very fast check (heifer caught on her back as she finished pushing her baby out which was promptly mothered by some other cow… The struggle is real, friends…). By the time we made it back to The Rancher’s Sidekick the 4wheeler was still stuck but there was a lot more story to tell.

After shoveling for quite a while, he was looking for a better way to get rid of the snow. To his credit, he really did bury the thing so it was going to take a lot of work to dig it out. So his Plan B was to use the hose to “wash away the snow” (I’m assuming he meant melt it but whatever…). But the hydrant by the shop was frozen so that didn’t work. Plan C was to start a fire to melt away the now.

Did you just get nervous? When he mentioned fire, my eyebrows shot straight up and my eyes doubled in size. But I calmly asked how he planned to do that. “Oh, I just started that heater thing (the diesel heater) in the shop and tried to start that square bale string (baling twine rather than the net wrap we use on the round bales) on fire. But it didn’t ever really burn, it just melted. But it gets HOT! I burned my finger! I wanted to use the torch but I didn’t know how to do that…”

Wow… At this point it was my only thought. I was super impressed at his problem solving and critical thinking. School for the win! But I was also terrified at his independence and his own confidence in his abilities. Don’t get me wrong, I was still super proud of how he was figuring it all out, but maybe he was doing just a little too good for a six year old. Like, maybe he needs a little less shop time with his dad. Hallelujah that he couldn’t figure out the torch for a fire!

Ultimately he had decided to go back to the shovel because that was the only way he had been making any progress before. Lucky for him, his dad had a better idea to get him out- the tractor. That little boy grinned ear to ear as The Rancher chained the 4wheeler to the tractor and gave him instructions on driving it out.

I still laugh every time I think about this story. I hope its recorded in heaven for me to watch on repeat when I get there because it is a winner! That story right there, is a clear illustration of my son. He loves the ranch and wants to do everything his dad does. Maybe there are some things he still needs to learn to do and not to do, but he isn’t going to let anything slow him down. If there is a problem, he is determined to find a solution. It might take several plans and a little burn on the finger, but he will get to it!

And I couldn’t be anymore proud of that.

That is what the ranch life is really about. Yes we raise cattle, but more importantly we raise kids and the ranch is a tool to teach them all of the lessons they need to make it through this life.

Growing a Kid Crop, Growing a Calf Crop

January 11, 2017 by Allison

2016 will go down as a big year for The Rancher’s Sidekick. It’s amazing how fast kids can learn and grow and change. This boy went from baby to a boy overnight. I know, that’s not how it actually happens , but when you are the momma you just can’t let your oldest grow up. But then one day you wake up and he is going to school and totally ok without you. And then he comes home from school and he can read and write and likes girls and he just isn’t the same kid you sent out the door.
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Click “Read More” for the rest of the story!

Obviously school wasn’t the only place he was growing up on me but at home and on the ranch too. Can I just say how amazing it is to finally have a kid that can help out around the house?! My kids have doing chores and helping since they were little (in our house everyone helps in the home and on the ranch as soon as they can walk… not really, but young… I believe in teaching my kids how to work). But The Rancher’s Sidekick can actually really help now. Like do a job on his own. And not like the I’m-doing-my-chores-but-mom-really-does-all-the-work-because-I’m-too-little-to-do-a-good-job kind of on his own.

Can you tell I’m pumped?

This may be as freeing as potty training!

Ok, I may be dramatizing things a bit, but it’s so nice to have him growing up and able to have a little responsibility and him handling it so well. Proud momma here.

And then there’s the growth he’s had on the ranch. There’s a reason I call him the sidekick because he goes everywhere with his dad. In fact, this last summer, he would wake up early to make sure that he wouldn’t get left behind. There were very few day that he didn’t go about to work with The Rancher and stay out there all day. And he wasn’t just a tag along but actually helped get the work done. I couldn’t believe the stories he would come home telling about his adventures throughout the day. In fact, I would sit there, eyebrows raised at The Rancher, when I would hear about how he had pushed the cows all alone out on the range. It seems just like yesterday I would have to go with him if he wanted to ride and now all of the sudden he isn’t just riding by himself but pushing his own herd of cows! Of course, The Rancher would smile and beam with pride at his growing boy and slowly my heart would slow down and I could see that our boy really was growing up and he is becoming someone I am so proud of.

Now, it complete transparency, he is still a typical little boy that is currently in big trouble for not listening to his momma. And he absolutely drive me crazy with all the boy noises, farting, burping, and how he torments his sister. But, as we are all a work in progress, I can’t help but be so pleased with his progress.

Ya know, on the ranch we are all about growth- we’ve gotta get out calf crop BIG. We select genetics to grow big calves and to have cows that milk well to grow big calves. We have genetics to have calves that grow big out on the range and desert and genetics to have low birthweight calves that will gain fast. We supplement our cattle with protein and mineral to help with nutrition to grow big calves…. Its all about growing big calves! At home we are worried about growth too, but less about physical growth and more about what kind of people our kid crop is becoming. We want to see them grow into hard working, responsible, caring, and committed people. We want them to grow into people that

So far, I think we are doing pretty ok!

A Family Cattledrive

November 11, 2015 by Allison

Oh boy was this a crazy summer! With all the ropings, family events, community activities, and building a house we were running in every direction. To help things out, the cows decided they didn’t need much moving for the summer. For real… Between the field rotation we were on and the rains it seemed we hardly had to move the cows. The unfortunate thing about that was that I didn’t have many opportunities to ride with the guys or take any photos.

On the one chance I had to saddle up, the whole family got to tag along. We really weren’t even moving to new field, just pushing the cows to a different trough. So even though it wasn’t too much of a ride, it was perfectly short enough that we knew they would last and have a great time. We have my old horse from when I was a kid that The Rancher’s Sidekick has claimed. And the Ranch Princess bounced around between me, Rancher Sr., Cowboy E, and The Rancher. It might not have been much, but we made a few good memories.

A New House

June 7, 2015 by Allison

Big things are happening, folks! BIG THINGS! I (and The Rancher of course) am building a new house! It has always been a dream to build my own home and this summer we are making it a reality. I’ve wanted to share my news with you for so long but I wanted to make sure it was really happening. I mean, how rough would it be to make that kind of announcement and then be devastated by reality?! Heartbreaking, I’m sure.

Like any house building project it’s been simple. No big things to mull over. No learning curve to overcome.

Ya right! It’s been crazy prep work that we’ve done over the last year. But honestly, the toughest decision has been the “where” of it all. A place that gives us a nice view, our own space and definitely on the same side of the old highway as where dad works (because yes, my kids have scooted their little bodies across the road by themselves!). We found a treasure of a place when The Rancher had the idea to build where another old, old, OLD house stood. It had trees, the view, the yard and most importantly, it’s in the right side of the road.

When we finally realized this was the summer to build it meant we had to get to work making a place for a house. The old house (commonly called The Broken House by my kids because it really was old and broken) hadn’t been used for more than storage in 30 years. I would say nobody lived in it, but that’s not entirely accurate- there was a a few happy families of rats and mice and all sorts of other yucky creepy creatures.

It had been our plan to keep and remodel a lot of the existing house but unfortunately we could see it just wasn’t sound. With my luck I would have put in my pretty new cabinets and shiny new appliances and they would all go crashing down if we left the old structure. So we had our work cut out for us. The whole house had to come down to the bare basement. My vote was to just take a match to it. Or push it all in with a bulldozer. All very fast and certainly effective. But being the smart man that he is, The Rancher wanted take it apart more carefully to save every thing that was good. We were able to save all the good lumber in the floor and walls along with the outside walls. We actually just lifted the roof off (ok, more truthfully, we made the roof cave in) and cut the outside walls down to use later. Where, I don’t know but there are done walls ready to make some kind of shed…

The demoition part of our project began at the first of January. I’ve never been so delighted and so satisfied to punch a whole in the wall. I’ve also never been sore like i was after swinging a sledge hammer like that for so many days! It took months to take down walls, clean it up and move on to the next room to do it all over again. But all the sudden the house was gone and we were digging for the foundation!

Ironically we had to put things on hold for a couple of weeks at the beginning of Msy. I say it’s ironic because there was too much rain that it slowed us to a stop. I NEVER would have thought we would have rain like that for so many days. It was so hard to not cuss the rain because we have needed it so badly for so long! I didn’t dare tell the man upstairs that his answer to our prayers came at an inconvenient time…

Eventually the storm clouds parted and my floor was laid! And then I blinked and the walls were up! It’s been incredible to watch it unfold right in front of me. I am so happy, so excited and so (happily) stressed.

And unfortunately that is why my little blog has been somewhat neglected. I’m just pulled in so many ways and throwing a house in the middle of it all didn’t help! But maybe I can appease myself by sharing it with you here. You want to hear about how a rancher’s wife puts a house up, right? I’m sure there are life lessons being learned that are worth someone reading about!

The old house… Taken as The Rancher took the porch roof off.

The upstairs completely gutted. At this point we took out the windows, the final studs and then began taking the outside walls down.

No windows or doors…

Goodbye old house!

We borrowed a track hoe from some great neighbors to do the work. And I have to say that being able to operate this is a serious talent!

The walls are going down!

A last look from the inside.

The roof fell in…

And no more house!

Footings- the first new construction!

Pouring the foundation walls…

The floor system in (and beautiful green EVERYWHERE!)

The first wall up.

The best little helpers… They have loved every bit of this!

More walls

Beautiful progress!

The Last of the Association Branding

May 28, 2015 by Allison

How about a little different post? Still lots of pictures but instead of a wind up with some sort of an interesting story, lets do a commentary. A running commentary to let you know what I was seeing when I took each picture.

Ready?

Riding in the herd…

Brothers… The little brother was pestering the older brother, the older brother took down the younger brother and commenced the Chinese torcher tap. Nothing but true love there!

The Ranch Boss just had his 87th birthday and refuses to stop. He may slow a little, but he is determined to never quit.

I just thought this blaze was funny… Like, bummer birth mark or something…

You find cowboy style and personality everywhere. Some cowboys go simple and some like bling everywhere, even by their horses slobbery mouth.

When I got up close I realized that he had his name on his spurs- AWESOME! And he has some cool red top boots peeking out. That’s like cowboy lingerie, right there!

Horses on the range- its a beautiful site.

There isn’t a better place for kids to be than out in the middle of nowhere branding.

The Rancher’s Sidekick always has to be in the middle of it all. At the point in the day he had proclaimed it his job to stand on the leg so it wouldn’t move. Don’t know that we needed it but I’m glad that he found a job he could rock.

The saddle- a cowboy spends many long hours in this seat… It better be just to his liking!

Just a boy giving shots, but once again… its a great place for a growing boy to be.

Dragging calves in…

Sure glad he has a cap on that… Sometimes people get unintentional vaccinations

Thank goodness for back pockets because when your hands get full there is always a place to hang your tagger and your clips.

We always load up toy for the kids. In fact I think there ends up being a whole sand pile worth of toys out there!

And then sometimes they end up hauling more than just dirt. The Rancher’s Sidekick started gathering up discarded nuts and taking them to the dogs. I’m glad that was all he was doing with them…

The Rancher’s uncle… I’ve known him for quite a while and he has ALWAYS had the mustache. The length of the handle bars has varied over the years but it is truly his signature!

I know he wasn’t really posing, but I tease that everyone is so used to striking a pose for me that it is just second nature to stand picture ready!

How many boys does it take get a calf down? Lots… and still the calf will give ’em a run for their money!

It got dusty… no surprise. And it looked cool.

Gathering the herd in for the after lunch branding. Taking a pit stop at the watering hole…

Rancher Sr. doing what he does best. He has become such a great friend. I love having him for a father-in-law.

When you ride next to me you are going to have your picture taken. And I love them even if you aren’t looking at the camera!

Cowboys make beautiful photographs… I love my job!

Cows scattered across the range- this is why we bring so many cowboys. And this was only one small corner of our beautiful world. I love having wide open spaces for an office!

Boys in the dirt… need I say more?

We could see a storm moving over the mountains and it was a stunning backdrop.

Love the dramatics of the sky. Having a non dusty windy day was incredible!

A look at the scene from herd side…

One of my favorite cowboys.

Every week there are a few new faces around to help and enjoy the cowboy lifestyle.

A different perspective… But appropriately, looking up to a cowboy

Cute. I love cute calves! Especially the baldy calves.

Drug by the heels. If only he knew what was going to happen to him.

Sisters make the best friends.

Her parents had better be ready for this beauty to grow up. Check out those eyes!

A little saddle bling with your brand on it can never be a bad thing.

Just taking a minute to visit with a friend. Kids and horses were meant to be together.

Any guesses what this coffee can is for? Oh, just to gather nuts in… Calf nuts…

Should we be concerned that there are no adults in this picture?

J4… When the ropers bring in a calf they shout out what brand to put on it- Rocking-A, AE, J4 , Bar over the hip, K+… and many more

When you pester the big boys they just might decide to hog tie you. While I was taking this picture I could hear them saying (in more colorful language) that they unfortunately didn’t have enough rope to finish the job on this growing boy… It was his lucky day, that’s for sure!

Chaps- a functional and fashionable part of the cowboy wardrobe…

Checking out the herd…

This girl will show you how its done!

Following the rope back to the cowboy- my cowboy in this shot…

Looking for the unbranded babies…

A little war paint for a tough day of work!

Enjoying the Monotomy

April 6, 2015 by Allison

Are you tired of hearing about our somewhat monotonous life lately? The cows have babies, we check the cows, we tag the babies, we feed the cows, we go to locomotive and then we repeat it all… Nothing crazy or extraordinary is happening so I don’t have stellar stories for you. I guess I could make one up… Would you know the difference? Don’t worry, I won’t…

On this sunny day the kids and I loaded up in the truck to truck down to Locomotive. Sometimes I like to go just because it gets the kids out of the house so they can’t destroy the house so much. Seriously, I am ready for summer for them to spend all of their time outside. I feel like a make ZERO progress… I’m sure no other mom has had that problem, right? I heard a saying the other day about how trying to clean the house with kids around is like trying to brush your teeth while eating Oreos. Yes. Truth.

So we drive with dad. The Rancher has a bike stashed down with the cows to buzz around the cows we quick. The kids and I take that time to do some exploring. We find sticks and rocks and tags and occasionally something cool like old plastic pipe. Ya, know… typical childhood treasures. We throws rocks and take walks while trying to avoid the poop and not chase all of the cows away. Its kinda hard for me to take ranch pictures when I can’t find the cows… This fine day we stopped by the troughs to throw rocks in they overthrow ponds. I’m pretty sure I was the coolest mom that day!

They threw rocks. I snapped pictures and this is what we ended with!

Monotony can be nice sometimes… You enjoy these photos and I’ll go whip up something a little crazy!

Feeding as a Family

February 18, 2015 by Allison

Feeding- the pass time of winter. If there is one thing you can guarantee we will be doing this time of year it is putting the hay out. The tedious redundancy gets to The Rancher. He just feels like it eats up his time, doing the same thing over and over. Hmmm… He wouldn’t make a good house wife (I’m pretty sure I have said that one before). Having to cook and clean up after people over and over… I’d love it if feeding only took two hours of my whole day.

Despite the fact that feed isn’t The Rancher’s favorite ranch chore, it may be one of mine. Lately Rancher Sr. has been gone on the weekends quite a bit while he supports Cowboy E in his last season of wrestling. That means that The Rancher either gets to feed on his own or I jump into help. I LOVE any opportunity to prove to my cowboy that he needs me, so of course I head out to help him. Really its more than that- I love to get out on the ranch, love to drive through the cows to see how they are doing, and I love the photography moments I get. But more than that I love being able to take the kids out with us and work together as a family.

Living and working on the ranch is so much more than a job to us. There is no separation between home life and work. Sometimes that has its problems, but there are way more blessings that come that makes it worth it. The best take home of all this for this ranch momma is the memories we are making every day. I love looking into the tractor seeing The Ranch Princess jabbering to her daddy. I see her getting excited at the cows, the horses, and the few baby calves. I can just hear her saying, at the top of her lungs, “Look daddy! COWS!!” (actually its more like wook daddy, tows… so cute!) While we drive between fields The Rancher’s Sidekick has picked up battling thumbs in an intense game of thumb war. I’m pretty sure that he is cheating more and more each time, so maybe we should stop with that one… He pals around with me on the 4 wheeler as we cut bale strings, begging to drive. Even stomping the mice as they come out of the bales has become a fun memory!

Sure life on the ranch can be redudant. Every year has the same seasons of calves, seasons of changing sprinklers, seasons of moving cows and seasons of working cows. But the best part about life on the ranch is that we get to do it as a family and spice up the redudant moments by making memories. We feed cows and enrich our souls. That’s what we did today!

Working Til the Cows Come Home

January 25, 2015 by Allison

Winter. It has so many mixed emotions that come with it. So many different emotions. So many opposing emotions. And when you have them all mixing in one house, it can get a little crazy. Take my house, for example…

I love winter. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we got married in January, so I just have so many lovely memories in the midst of a blizzard. Or it could be because I genuinally love winter activities- skiing, sledding, tubing, making snowmen… Yep, love it all. I did grow up in Montana where it was likely that winter would begin before Halloween and end just as school was getting out, so winter was just a part of life- a BIG part of life. I just might love winter, though, because life slows down when there are blizzards and snowy roads and heaven forbid, you think you better stay home! Yep, I even love the dramatics that come with it.

My love and enthusiasm is shared by my kids, who PRAY for snow, sometimes even in the summer. Its not likely to happen, but with the faith of these kids anything could happen. The Ranch Princess has to take the snow in small doses, only as long as her bare hands can handle the cold because she REFUSES to keep gloves on. But she still loves it. And then there’s The Rancher’s Sidekick. He thinks that just a skiff is enough to stop EVERYTHING and play. He hangs on to every last bit of snow like its going out of style (actually, I guess its going even faster than that!) and we sled down the hill hitting as many patches of slush left. Yes, we love winter and snow and all things cold…

But then there is The Rancher. All of the sudden, he has grown old and decided, quite logically, that we can do without winter. Winter and snow and all things cold aren’t that great for business. I can understand that crazy blizzards are terrible to calve in and hard winters are hard on momma cows, but really… a little snow is cool right? But there is another reason The Rancher doesn’t want winter and snow. Its mostly, like 87.9%, because that means we have to feed cows. Part of it is just because we want the hay to last as long as it can. I get it, that’s how I feel about cooking dinner. If I don’t do it, the groceries last longer, I’m so sure… But in reality, he hates doing the same thing day after day. Every morning he spends hours feeding all the cows and has to turn around and do the same thing day after day. I’ve said it before, The Rancher would make a terrible house wife.

So The Rancher prays for winter and snow to evade us as long as possible to put off that dreaded day of feeding cows. But eventually, the day comes. Even without the snow to hurry it along, the day comes that the cows have just gone through all of the grass and the cows must come home. The Rancher must have struck a good deal with the weather maker/grass grower because the last of the cows only came home a few weeks ago. Those fat cows managed to stay a whole extra month longer than last year. But home they did come and of course we helped (because we are the best help around!) and of course I took pictures and of course I’m gonna share them with you.

We could call this a sunset cattle drive. When you start moving cows at 3:30 in the after noon at the beginning of January and have several miles to go, its likely that you won’t make it until the sun has set. Especially if you have slow cows. I guess they figured everything is supposed to run slower in January, like molasses… In the cowboys defense, this was the second group of cows they were moving for the day. They figured that if the horses were loaded they might as well get a days work out of them. So from the desert to the home ranch they moved cows, squished through the mud, and tightened up their cinches, working til the sun set and til the cows came home.

Vaccinating in the Rain

October 10, 2014 by Allison

We gathered… we sorted… we weaned… we hauled… and then we vaccinated. Not all ranchers do it, but we do. Its like with kids- not everyone has to, not everyone chooses to but we think its well worth it. There are two times a year that we have all of the calves gathered up that we can give them their vaccinations- branding and weaning.

In the few years that we have been back to the ranch this is one of those areas that I have really jumped in to help. Maybe that was because the first year we weaned I was big and pregnant and that was about all I could do. But there is the nerdy medical side of me (the one that likes to think that I can be part of the at-home-vet crew) that likes to give shots… I don’t know why I’ve settled myself in here, but I did…

Having the new chute was so nice. So so SO nice! It was fast, it had an awesome neck bar so I could give shots without my hand potentially getting hurt, and even better we didn’t hurt any calves like we have in the past with the old chute. Thanks Moly Mfg. for the Silencer!

One of our vaccinating days we had to wait for a break in the rain. Lucky enough we got a few good hours of dry work in before the rain stared again. But the rain didn’t dampen any spirits. Especially any of our little helpers. These kids of mine love to come and help and don’t mind being hours at the chute with bawling calves. In fact, they each find a hot shot or a stick and find a place to poke the calves as we go through.

It was a great few days vaccinating, but its great that its over. They’ve had their booster shots and now its time for them to grow, grow, grow!

2014 Stone Rodeo

August 6, 2014 by Allison

Raise your hand if you have heard of the Stone rodeo. Ok, don’t really. Someone is going to think you are crazy… but good for you if you have! If you haven’t, now you are!

The Stone rodeo, practically a Holy Day in this area. Stone, Idaho is the tiny gathering of homes and ranches near Snowville, Utah and good ol’ Holbrook. The community is so small that there isn’t a single church, bar, post office, or gas station. But any good town full of cowboys will have some rodeo grounds! But don’t let the small town setting make you think that this isn’t a quality rodeo. Or the fact that the square arena is closer to an egg shaped! Amateur rodeo or not, they ride hard, rope hard, and sometimes fall hard!

These rodeo grounds are used just the two nights of the Stone rodeo. Now days the bleachers are all permanent, but back in the day they had to haul in seating. Except for those that bring their own, and I don’t mean a camp or lawn chair. Days before the rodeo, the arena is lined with pick-ups reserving their spot and getting them front row seats!

The events at the rodeo are entertaining for everyone to watch or participate. We have roping for all the hometown cowboys, rough stock for the crazies and dreamers (aka The Buckaroo), milk calves for the kids, and wild horse riding for the brave (or drunk…)! Every year I can guarantee two nights of hand-clapping-side-ache-laughing-country-good-time-fun!