6 Months Old Today

Hannah is six months old today. I guess time flies when you are having fun! She is becoming more vocal all of the time. She can say "ma ma" but we don't know if she knows who or what she's talking about. She can sit on her own if she will stop wiggling long enough to do it. She's always on the go, so stopping to sit in one spot is not on her agenda. Lately she has been rolling across the living room to get to her toys or to tear apart my plants. We will be going to the doctor this week so I will update you later with all of her new statistics. Here are six month pictures for you to enjoy. She is a little girl of many expressions so that's why we have shared so many pictures.

It Won't Be Long

Hannah is going to be crawling before we know it. She practices her push ups all the time when she is on the floor playing. Sometimes she even gets her knees up under her and tries to move. She has become pretty proficient at rolling and is already getting into anything at her level. She moves pretty well backwards on her belly but hasn't mastered going forward...yet.

Hannah went to her first Klamath Basin Potato Festival today. We woke up to snow this morning so I wasn't expecting it to be very warm today. I thought, "We'll go and see how it is." When we got to Merrill this morning it was 41 degrees and the wind was blowing. We did a little bit of shopping and then got bundled up to watch the parade. I lasted for a few floats and then decided it was just a little too chilly so we went into the Civic Center and looked at the booths and exhibits. I didn't even feel like the free lunch was worth standing in line for and I'm a sucker for BBQ. Needless to say we didn't last too long. It could be that I was still frozen from watching Tulelake's homecoming football game last night where it was in the low 40s and windy.

Seeing Black

It has always been my dream to have a herd of registered Black Angus cows. For the past five years we have been running a small herd of commercial Angus cows. Pasture has been getting tight for us and it has been a hassle with a new little one to be moving the cows from place to place. We decided to sell off our herd this coming spring and buy just a few registered cows this fall to keep at the house.

This was the weekend to buy the registered cows. Hannah, my Mom and I spent three long days in the Redmond-Madras area. My best guess is that there were 350 animals for sale over the course of the three days. By the time I was done all that I could see was black. They all started to look the same and it felt like I couldn't tell one end from the other. We went to a sale each day and came home with three new cows. They are a little bit on the old side but we have to start somewhere. It wasn't really in our budget to buy the $40,000 top selling animal. My Mom spent some time watching Hannah while I sat through the auctions. Hannah did really well overall. She is currently on car seat strike so we will probably be hanging close to home for the next few days. We made it home late last night and picked up the cows today from our friends Ty and Brooke who hauled them home for us. They seem to have settled right in with the rest of the herd. We are expecting a calf out of one of them early next month.

All bundled up and ready for the sale on Saturday. She could hardly move in the suit.

We're ready to go look at cows!

Hannah and I trying to find the cows we want to look at and then trying to decide which to buy.

The munchkin clan. Brooke, Cade, Hannah and I.

Hannah and I at the sale on Sunday. It got very rainy and cold shortly after this picture.

Hannah trying to give me a kiss!

First Snow

Today was the first snow of the year on the Basin floor. I know this post has nothing to do with Hannah but it's snowing in September! Here is a picture that doesn't really do the big flakes any justice. The blurs you see in the picture are the flakes and you can see the big curtain of snow in the field. I thought the picture did showcase how confused the seasons can be around here. We still have green grass and a field of alfalfa yet to be cut, the trees are turning colors, and it's snowing. Is it summer, fall, or winter? I'm not really sure! I must have jinxed us by hooking up the feed wagon today!

5 Months Old Today!

Hannah is five months old today! Sorry no picture. We spent all day in town running errands and didn't take time for a photo op. Hannah is a happy little girl stopping traffic where ever she goes. She flashes her little smile and people stop to talk. I think she already knows what she's doing! She can be cranky and ready for a nap but take her out with people and shes ready to charm them.

Here's the latest on her new tricks:
Hannah has tried a couple of foods to date. She's been eating rice cereal, bananas, and avocados. She is getting close to being able to sit on her own and crawl. Ben has been trying to teach her to walk and say "Da Da." No luck on either of those yet. She has been exercising her lungs lately. We were in Bi-Mart on Saturday night and Ben was in the very back of the store and Hannah and I were in the front and she was yelling loud enough for Ben to hear her. She loves being read to and is trying to explore everything by putting it in her mouth. She thinks that the dogs are absolutely hilarious. The dogs wrestling or Ben playing with them is the only thing so far that elicits a spontaneous laugh out of her. She's growing up fast and getting to be more fun every day!

Check-up at the Post Office

Hannah has a fan club at the post office. Every time we go in there the gals come out front to say "hi." They frequently weigh Hannah and today she came in at about 14 pounds. It's kind of hard to tell for sure with all of her clothes on. I think they just want to hold her and weighing her is a good excuse! I haven't remembered the camera for our weigh-ins but took a picture when we got home instead. Only in a small town...

First Food!

Hannah had her first food today. I finally broke down and did it. She has seemed ready for awhile now but for some reason I have been hesitant. Ben was home this afternoon so we tried it. Hannah did great. She opened her mouth for the spoon and then grabbed it and shoved it in. I think it was time for her to eat! If I could figure out how to put video on here I would show you how it went, but here are some pictures instead. Rice cereal...mmmm!

Ben Shoots Coyote

Ben got a new scope for his rifle and took it out hunting for the first time last night. There is a huge coyote population in the rocks next to and behind our house. We haven't had any problems with them getting to our calves, knock on wood, but our neighbors have. Last winter Ben put together an electronic caller that would bring them into him. He took it out with him last night but the batteries were dead. He then tried his mouth call and it broke. He was actually able to call it in using noises he made with his mouth. I was quite impressed when he came in and told me. Today we went back out so he could get a picture. It was a good sized female.

Long Week at the Fair

It was time again this week for the Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair. Of course it was Hannah's first fair so we thought we would take in the sights. Thursday night we watched the football games. Tulelake was playing Chiloquin. We left at halftime of the varsity game because it was getting to be too painful to watch. It seemed like at that point Tulelake had more yards in penalties than they did offensively. It turns out in the end Tulelake won the game. Saturday Hannah and I went back to the fair and looked at the exhibits and animals. We watched the parade with her cousin Wyatt, Uncle Jared, Aunt Ivy, Grandma Bevie, and Daddy. We of course had to partake in a famous Dough Boy. This morning we went back to the fair again...luckily it's free to get in. We watched some of the sheep dog trials, thought about watching the greased pig contest but it was way too crowded, and then went to the church service. We had lunch with Daddy...oh yes, and another Dough Boy. Now we are home resting and trying to recover from our big week. It won't be too many years until Hannah can have an animal and I will get to spend all day every day there!

Hannah @ the parade

Family Portraits

We had Sara Bagg, Hannah's Calabash Tutu (adopted Grandmother in Hawaiian) take some family portraits of us. Here are a few. Enjoy!