Backing Up to May

This summer went by so quickly, I am sitting here, freezing, on an October afternoon wondering what happened!  In order to atleast document some of the occurrences this last few months, I'm  going to recap it all as quickly as it felt like it happened.

In April, we went home to MT for a quick visit of Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and so forth.  As I already posted, you know that it snowed the first day after we got there.  It continued to snow all the way through that Thursday.  Mitch was able to help his dad feed the animals and was glad to have been able to be there to help out.  That Friday, we went to round up all the McKamey cattle for branding the next day.  As you can see, it is not your normal May morning in Montana.  (Although, apparently not entirely unheard of at any time of the year to see this....)

Mitch and his older bro, Mark

Even with all the snow, we hunkered down and rode up to the horses in the back of the truck.  True cowboy style, huh?

Mitch on his favorite horse, Zip.

Saturday was fun, we got to see a lot of family and Mitch had fun wrangling cattle.  I had my usual fun wrangling children.  I can't say which is harder....

That night, we gathered all the neighbors and family back again and had a realy hoe-down at the Smith River Hall.  For those not in the know, it was standard practice at the turn of the century to have a little meeting place in every little community.  Most of these meeting places have been shuttered and are falling apart... but there are a few that are still used by there little communities.  It took awhile to figure out how to get the heat going, but once Jody did, that place was toasty warm.

It was so much fun to see everyone, to dance, to sing Birthday songs, eat, talk and most of all make memories.  The kids had fun knocking down a pinata and eating cake, the adults had fun singing a rude song to Mo and Ruth (turning 40 & 50).

Merrill and Mark sang a song they composed with Mike, Matt and Mitch for their older sister, Monika. 

Amelea and I danced a lot.

In fact, Amelea danced a lot with everyone.  We didn't quit dancing until midnight.  Then, went home and slept for a few hours and got Mitch to airport at 5am.  That was a short night!

Amelea's birthday was on Saturday, so we sang to her at the dance and then had cake and icecream the next day after church. 

She wanted a Tinkerbell cake, so I did my best.

Her favorite gift had to be the Pink Cowboy Hat and the Tinkerbell PJs.

The next week the snow started to finally melt and although it never really warmed up much, we did get out to see Grandpa Les and ride Sadie.

Two days after this, the fateful Saturday.  I jumped off of a bucking horse and broke my ankle. 

The only good thing about it, is that I atleast got the cow stopped from heading back out into the field for the third time.  I also will always laugh when I think of Billy telling me I was tougher than a badger.  Never thought I'd ever be compared to a badger!  It took 5 weeks before I could put a little weight on it and it's been 5 months, and I still have some bruising and it creaks and pops every morning when I step out of bed. 

Mom flew home with me on Tuesday, to help me get from plane to plane and and back to St Louis.  I will ever be grateful that she was able to use frequent flier miles and that she was willing and able to help me. 

One story from that awful trip back to St. Louis:  I'm sitting in a wheel chair with all the bags piled around me and watching Amelea and Isaac run up and down the windows while Mom had Ava were in the Restroom.  (We'd been sitting around waiting for a new plane for three hours, since ours had mechanical difficulties). After the third run up and down the window ledge, they disappeared behind a pillar.  I wheeled around as best I could to try to get a better view of the hooligans.  I frantically looked around for help and here comes Mom and Ava.  I hollered and pointed for her to run and find the Ami and Isaac, so off Mom goes, trotting down the terminal.  Then, she's in a full out sprint... going pretty dang fast for someone her age... She caught them on the ramp for a plane going to Florida.  The gate agent was on the plane checking with the attendants just before taking off.  Holy Crap!  Can you imagine? 

Um, Yeah, my two kids are on a flight to Florida, I'm stuck in a wheelchair in SLC and my husband is in St Louis.  Great evening news fare for all the bored people of America. (That is certainly not something I ever say anymore... I'm bored!  Hah!  I wish I were sometimes!)

Anyway, we made it back all together to St. Louis and of course, there wasn't a wheel chair or a flight attendant at the gate, so I had to hobble all the way out of the terminal.  All the while, I'm yelling about the friendly skies....!

The sisters in my ward went above and beyond in taking care of us.  I was supposed to stay off my foot, so they came in shifts and took care of the kids and brought meals and helped clean the house.  I'll forever be indebted for their kind service.  There is no way that we would have survived without their help. 

Needless to say, May and June passed with me sitting in a chair watching the kids seek and destroy and whisting after all of the projects that I'd planned on doing for the summer. 

I'll post for June as soon as the kids go to bed....