We have had another great week here. After the branding, the next few days were filled with horse riding and pushing cows out to various pastures. This means several hours of riding and being ready for whatever the weather may do. Well, on one of the days, it snowed/hailed 3 times on them as they were out for about 6 hours. Stephen just loved it! It is so beautiful getting to experience the variety in terrain, weather, topography, etc. There is so much beauty in God’s creation and being excited about getting to live through so many different aspects has been great to participate in. I’m not sure I would have had that same outlook if I were the one riding, but I enjoyed having warm food and a fire in the wood stove for them upon their return.
One thing that I think is a lost art, is letter writing. Before we left, Millie invested in some wax and seals for the backs of the envelopes. It sure makes a beautiful finishing touch. It has been fun sending and receiving mail.
The teams of folks that get to go ride rotates. The Elders have been so sweet to outfit the riders with horses and saddles. The pairing up is always very intentional and thought through and we have been blessed to have really good experiences the whole time. The kids have very minimal experience riding and I realize things have the potential for not going without injury or incident, so I am grateful for the positive outcome each time with so many hours and so many different riders. They come back full of stories and smiles each day. I wish I had a recording of all their stories (because there are always several.)
It’s neat to see how everyone pulls together for branding. There were so many folks here at this ranch for their branding day. And we got to go help a neighboring (1 1/2 hours away) ranch on their branding day. The kids and Stephen had another great time! It was a fun experience. The weather was really nice and we shared a delicious supper after words. We look forward to seeing them at future brandings.
Here’s the week overview video.
The Herzog Herd Adventure 
Just amazing Christina. Real ranch life for sure! Just loved the video at the end. Looks like Stephen is becoming quite the REAL cowboy. Everyone looks so happy! How exciting for Eliza Claire taking those first steps! Y’all sure have amazing weather.
Ranch life…..seems unreal in this day and age but there you are living it out! I’m happy for you guys, especially Stephen. I know it’s hard work ranching but I bet Stephen can’t get enough. He must think he died and went to heaven. I pray the LORD will continue to bless your efforts keeping those youngsters schooled and tummy’s full and for SAFETY each and every day.
PC
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