Jiggs, NV

I forgot to stick this picture in there. This isn't a super good picture but its of Briggs driving a truck. We had so shuttle trucks up to the branding pen so Dave was driving this nice mega cab cummins and put Briggs in it while he walked around to put Caden in the other door, came back and briggs was going crazy driving it. He had his feet in the bottom of the steering wheel and his hands on the top of it going crazy. Dave said it was the cutest thing ever and we better blog about it because its probably as close as he will ever get to driving a nice truck :)

Last weekend we made a little trip to Jiggs, NV which is about 30 or so miles out of Elko. Every year Krista and Kole and their family go there to brand some of his bosses cows, and each year it seems they talk more of us into going. My parents and Amy and her family usually go to help, and this year they all talked us into going. We weren't really much help- there was plenty of help but the kids sure did have a great time. The weather wasn't exactly the best, but it still made for a good time. It was good to just get away and kick up our feet.

Here's a picture of what we went there to do..

Kaylee was helping my dad supervise to make sure they were doing it right.


MMM.. dinner!!! Those of you that have perhaps castrated calves know what that is! The Indians that came to help saved every last one and fried them up on the fire from the brander and ate them. They are also known as "Rocky Mtn Oysters" (I know.. sorry to make you hungry!)

Our nephew Kale eating a raw one!!!!

(Just kidding!! Hes the only kid I could get to pose like this for the picture and it almost made me throw up to take the picture. Some of the kids did eat them after they were cooked, but not us!!)

The girls spent a lot of time on the horses. They really liked them.

Especially Kaylee. That's all she wanted to do while they were branding!! Shes really into writing books right now and I bet I have found a dozen books shes written about her riding her cousin Kandices horses named Stanley and Denny and how nice they were and it was so so so so so so FUN! (that's what she writes in the book)

We went on a few little hikes.. But we forgot the pack for Briggs so Dave made this out of our jackets so we didn't have to carry him. He actually really liked it.

There was a Hawks nest on the other side of this rock so Kaylee and Dave wanted to see if there were any babies in it so they had to climb out on this big rock and look over the big cliff. But there were no babies.

We did a lot of this. Just off this hill there were a ton of pot guts, so we would all line up with our guns and it was like playing "whack a mole" It was way fun. There was one that was like 10 feet away that kept poking its head up and Kaylee would try getting it. She came pretty close but I don't think she ever got it. Oh, and that sheep thinks its a dog :)

Sunday we went for a drive to see some beaver ponds and so some fishing. It was a pretty event full drive out to them. It was probably a 45 min drive on dirt roads and my kids get car sick. Kaylee rode with Krista and she was nice enough to let her sit up front so she was fine. But us in my dads truck, quite a bit of us packed in there- not so good. Aspen started puking.. luckily my mom was holding her and found something for her to throw up in so it didn't make a mess. I was trying to find a wipe to clean her up when Briggs who was on my lap started throwing up everywhere. Then it kept coming, and coming, and coming. I don't know how that little guy fit that much in his belly!! Needless to say I was covered in puke!! (One of the many joys of mother hood- right!) I couldn't even open my legs or the puddle on my lap would get on my dads seats! And of course I had put the wipes in the back of the truck. Dave was nice enough to give us his sweater to wipe us up a bit. But we made it and it was super cool!!

Caden showing us where a beaver had been chewing

One of the beaver dams.

My dad found a nice comfy place in the grass after the little hike in to take a little snoozer..

You can imagine in the desserts of Nevada there are lots of crawling things! The older kids caught all kinds of snakes, a few lizards and some scorpions. They were nice enough to let the younger kids take turns holding the snakes. There was also a baby pot gut they had and made a home and Kandice I think brought it home. Its name was Alvin and they loved playing with him, and feeding him lettuce.

Here is Caden holding a snake. He really liked it and was so proud to show grandpa!

Aspens always been afraid of snakes, this was really her first time liking them that I know of. She got to really like it and wanted to hold it a lot.

Kaylee with one of the bigger ones they caught!! - Sorry for putting Krista in a panic attack. (She has a serious phobia of snakes- although she does manage it really well :)

The rest of Sunday we went on a drive to see an old homestead that looked really fun and some more beaver dams but just as we got there a serious blizzard hit and it was snowing like crazy and cold and windy so we didn't even get out of the truck. A few of the guys did to take a quick peek then we headed back to the bunk house. It was a great little get away. Thanks Krista and Kole!!!