Roundup starts today out at the company & Jim had to work last night.  So I was trying to be a devoted ranch wife and get everything ready for the day - early this morning.  I get up early & get things ready for myself to get to work & then start lunches for Jim & his dad.  Then at 6:30 a.m. - still dark outside, I head for the barn to catch the horse and get him saddled.  I know ~ sounds like wife of they year material, right?  The cats ran to great me - of course I figure they are out of food & just want me to refill the dish.  The horsed follow me to the barn also & I'm thinking this will be an easy job.  In the summer we leave the top half of the barn door open so the air can flow through & the cats can come and go.  Just inside is the lightswitch:

So I turn the light on and see a saddle on the ground - I'm thinking this is kind of weird, the cats don't usually knock them down:

I put my hip against the bard to undo the latch & my head is in the barn - then I see it!!  Hanging on the halters right above the lightswitch is the biggest raccoon I have seen in my life!!  I just about had a heart attack right there in the barn door.  I just back away & then peer around to look again & sure enough he is still hanging there & staring right back at me - I think he was just as scared as I was.  I knew he would get mean if he was cornered so I headed back to the house for the gun.  Just as I am going out the door with the gun - thinking the whole time - I don't want to do this, I see lights coming down the Jensen lane for home.  Yeah - it was Jim!  I meet him in the driveway with the gun & said help.  Maybe seeing you wife standing in the driveway with a gun when you get home is not the best sight in the world, but it is not the first time for Jim.  He was my hero and shot the darn thing & then saddled his own horse for roundup.  This is the aftermath of the barn:

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but he was huge.  Megan posed for a shot so that you could see how big he really was:

I know they are cute & fun to watch, but when they won't let you in the barn & they are making a mess - what are you to do?  In my defense, he also looked even bigger when he was 2 feet from my head!!

Homecoming Week 2012

Homecoming week is finally over!!  What a crazy busy week we just survived.  Shelby is freshman class vice-president this year so we were a little more involved.  She spent the Friday before at the school after practice working on the window & wall decorations - that was stressful.  Then we spent Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday night on the float that she was in charge of.  Cleggs let us use their trailer & Cunninghams let us build it in their garage - thank heavens for that with all the wind we had last week.  The freshman had the mi-devil time period as their theme, so we built a castle on the float - lots of cardboard & spray paint!  

Then Megan painted some awesome fire for the back and we burned the tiger dummy at the stake.  

The cheerleaders made a sign for the front:  Freshman 2016

Despite the windstorm, it looks pretty good - good job Freshman - tied for 2nd on the float, won the dummy contest, & place 3rd overall in the class competitions. - Way to go Shelby!

The Cardettes opted to ride bikes in the homecoming parade:

Here they are all ready to go:

Shelby played volleyball in Grace on Wednesday night & I took a video or two:

Then Megan had a date with her favorite friend Til on Friday - they actually went to our house with another couple & rode the 4 wheeler & Ranger up Williamsburg & back down Gravel Creek.  They cooked hamburgers & played board games & came back to town for the football game.  The Cardettes & the cheerleaders danced together at half time.  Lighting is horrible, but here are a couple of shots of Megan dancing:

Saturday was the Homecoming Dance & Til came to pick Megan up after the Priesthood session of Conference:

Whew - I'm ready for a break!!  It was an extremely busy week, but what else is new.  Hopefully life will slow down for the next few weeks, but Homecoming 2012 was a win for my girls.

Dream Big

Dream Big

Click on the link & you can see Megan singing at the Grays Lake Reunion on Sept. 1, 2012.
She has a talent - at least this mom thinks so.  I love it when she shares it with others!
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