June 13-14  Friday the 13th went okay.  I worked on pictures for the display board and we needed some stuff from Wally world so we had supper in Pryor.  Kyle actually cooked tonight! ha  We had oriental food!  It's a pretty day today at least the wind is not blowing 90 miles an hour.  Took a few pictures the other night of Linse who is the spoiled kid in the barn.  She is coming along and will be in the show ring not far off!  She is a Turk baby and we are pretty proud of her so far! ha  He sure stamps a cocky and curious attitude on them.

June 15-16  Rained again this morning!  It's a muggy 91 degrees out today!  Grilled up pork chops for the guys today.  We spent a real relaxing day for a change.  I was going to go out and bush hog but the air is not working in the tractor and Abbie thought I might have a heat stroke! ha  I worked on our friends Franklin and Brenda Jones web site today as they had moved their site to a new host on me!  Check them out!  Great people from Central Texas!

 Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Perm it Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Sur charge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Tax, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax and the one I didn't see that I know is still out there is a DEATH TAX.  It's a wonder they don't tax us before we are born...ha    Talk is that if the Democrats get elected we will be paying more taxes too!  Lord help us!  There may be a Breathing TAX on the air we breath!

June 17-23  To say we had a good time in Texas at the 9th Junior Braunvieh Nationals would be an under statement.  The four daughters and their families met us there to help us participate.  Justin, Dalton and Dalya from Nebraska.  Kyleigh came for moral support and baby sitting services of the little one's that are too young to pull around a calf. Phillip, Clayton and baby Olivia from North Carolina.  Logan and Baby Grace live at Cleburne so they were not far away! Brock came with Cody, Kyle and me with the cattle.  We went from 67 degrees and rain storms to hot 95 degrees and dry conditions all in one day.  Everyone made it safely though and we had a great time.  The little one's managed to lead a calf in the Pee Wee Divisions too.  So everyone got a ribbon and a big smile.  Of course we were the "Thorne" in everyone's side again.  The kids did really well the Obstacle Course, Quiz Bowl, Showmanship, and the Show on Saturday was almost more than my heart could handle!  We were so proud of the little guys how they handled their heifers!  Brock, Justin and Phillip rose to the occasion.  You can see the results at the News Page.  I sit up late last night to try and find a decent picture to put on.  My camera is having problems for some reason.  So was lucky to get what I got.  The low light in the arena was part of the problem, but the refreshing air conditioned facility kept us all pretty relaxed.  It was out with the cattle that it got warm!  Even with five fans on six head of cattle it was warm.  Kyle and Cody were great help and they took over the charge of caring for the cattle.  Much better help than I have ever had at a Junior Nationals.  Last year after putting up with cool rooms, whining mothers and obstinate kids I had almost decided to quit trying to support the event.  Thank heavens our grandkids are getting old enough to take the reins.  Kendall laughed and told me that he thought we would be starting to look towards retirement and then he looked at the stair steps of grandkids and said this is going to go on forever. ha  The only wreck was me and Dalya in the Pee Wee showmanship.  She was latched tight onto the strap and when we turned the corner TLC Gracy decided it was time to bolt.  Crazy thing is she had went through the obstacle course five times the day before with all the youngins and didn't attempt anything.  To make it a five second ride would about get the action! ha  She bolted and Dalya would not let go of the strap, I tried pushing her out of the way and tripped over her and went for a summersault over her.  I came up and landed on my feet. Gymnastics are not in my sports background but that heifer helped this old grandmother do a floor exercise. ha  I would gage it at about a 7 score! ha  Abbie was standing right there and after I made that heifer back up for about 10 paces to prove to her that she was not dealing with someone that was going to let her get away with the bad behavior I gave her to Abbie and went to console Dalya who had a whole crowd around her.  She is a tough little character and I guess she must have some of my genes to hang onto that strap that hard! ha She got a worse bruise on her head from a table later that night! I hope that the action didn't get caught on video tape! ha  I will be buying it back at the next Junior Nationals in the State Baskets! ha  Knowing all those poor souls that we irritate so much with our kids and cattle! ha  We went with the intentions of having a good time and that is what we had.  Shareen and Wade brought me an awesome Oak Windmill for a mothers day gift and we ended up adding it to the State Basket and of course it cost us $200 to get it back!  It all went to a good cause though!  Stephanie you did a great job as always and you put a lot of hard work into the program! We Salute You!  Congratulations to all the kids that participated and all our kids that pulled TLC cattle we were extremely proud of how you presented yourself and the cattle. Zach, Brittney, Sydney, Cody, Rashele, Reighly, Justin, Phillip, Brock and Kyle.  We were so pleased with your performance we stopped off and purchased a First Class Show Rig for Thorne Ranch Cattle Kids for next years transportation to Lincoln NE where the 10th Annual Junior Nationals will be held!  I think we can hold about 15 in good comfort!  Sure hope the air works! Won't our aluminum show trailer look good hooked up! ha

June 24  It's hot and muggy here today! I got part of the mowing done and attacked the laundry piles yesterday. Friend Sheila came by last night and we cruised around the pastures looking at the cattle.  She thought we had progressed quite will with our breeding program.  It's not done over night that is for sure.  It takes a lot of planning and plain hard work to continue to keep up with trends in the cattle industry.  We have always tried to stay moderate in all categories.  Being extreme in any category will get you into trouble real quick.  We also continue to base all our faith in our momma cows.  Larry Struthoff commented that Annie had to have a tremendous female for a mother as he had never seen a Polled Lighting that good.  Sometimes things click and thanks to our friend Roger's suggestion it happened that way! ha  Sometimes a higher judge in the sky has something to do with it too! Brock held everyone in amazement at his showing skills!  He handles his cattle way beyond his years.  Marilyn said she would like to see him up against the seniors! ha  Well he was up against the seniors in the final drive!  We all were so proud of him.  When he saw that he was getting covered up by another exhibitor and he just pulled Annie out and stuck her in front! ha  Way beyond his years! ha  The good Lord takes care of little children! Justin has shown horses but not cattle so we were really impressed with him learning so quickly how to place their feet and handle his heifer Carolyn.  Philip got to show at KY last year and he picked right up what he had to do again this year and he and heifer Gracy got along really well.  Now he wants to get their two Braunvieh heifer calves broke to lead that they have back home in North Carolina.  Dalton has a Charolais bucket calf at home and now he wants to break it to lead! ha  We are planting little seeds with these kids and someday they will have a big crop of great memories. 

June 29-30  Sunday was a pretty relaxing day.  The guys have been busy with cattle.  I sprayed thistles in the pastures and mowed the yard into the dark hours.  But it will be done for another week hopefully! We took a new picture of TLC Ali's Vincente today.  He had not been on a halter since Ft Worth so he thought he was pretty untouchable for awhile.  Plus he has been breeding some selective cows so he thinks he is beyond being a show bull again! ha  Kyle stuck him pretty good though and we caught a really nice picture.  You can see him at his very own page now!  We are preparing to A I breed heifers this week!  I cleaned the garage out today and defrosted the freezers so I could load it up with fresh beef.  Nothing quite as good as home grown beef!  We said good bye to Paragon today as he found a new home in Chouteau OK and a pasture of Angus cows of his very own.  How lucky can you get. ha  I get way too attached to them sometimes.   But when they get good homes you can say good bye!  It's when you sell them to someone that does not feed or take care of them that you feel regrets.