March 2008

We headed south of Houston to south Texas on Thursday morning and made it there about 5:30 p.m. We ran into rain all the way to Corpus Christie. It turned off when we got to Victoria Texas. We met our friends Robert and Gracie Goodwin for dinner and had a great visit! Friday, we got the bulls and display set up and spent the day meeting other exhibitors and friends. We ran into lots of snowbirds that had flocked there for winter vacation from the cold up north! We were surprised to meet several very nice folks from Canada. We had shrimp with the Helle family and enjoyed the fire works that started off the Rio Grande Livestock Show and Fair. Saturday morning we prepared the bulls. This was a blow and go show. So it didn't take us long to prepare for the 2:00 AOB show. Hot Rod was selected Reserve Grand Champion AOB bull. Meaning (All Other Breeds) He had to show up against every other bull that did not have enough for a breed class. So we showed against, Maine, Braunvieh, Limousin, Charolais, Simmental and several that I didn't know what they were. Starwar won his Class and also his Division so we had two bulls in the Final Drive. We were very much surprised and also very proud of the boys. Luis had family emergencies so he did not make it for the show so we were disappointed that he didn't get his picture taken with his champion bulls. The boys showed very well and handled like young gentlemen! ha Arnold came to help us show and he did an expert job. He will show his Blue Roan steer this week that he got from us last summer. Sure wish we could have stayed to watch that show, but we had to get home to the cow maternity ward! Jack, Crystal and Cody stayed home to man the fort thank heavens! They would not let us pack up until 5:00 on Sunday so that left us getting into San Antonio about 1:30 a.m. and of course it's day light savings time so that extra hour of sleep was missed! Doc Gilg enjoyed the cattle show and the trip. He really had a friendship with Starwar. He was his pick of the bulls. We also picked up Nakita and Pearls with their calves from Mike's so we had a full load. We stopped in Cleburne and surprised Diann for lunch. We didn't get to see the grandbabies but guess we will have to plan another trip! We are home now and enjoying beautiful weather. It is actually warmer here than it was down in south Texas most of the time we were there. In fact we actually have a day without wind! We were very blessed to have no tragedies at home while we were gone. The light pole shorted out and started a ground fire that Cody and Crystal extinguished very quickly thank heavens! So glad they were there when it happened. Always something to keep life interesting! ha


TLCC Hot Rod Reserve Grand Champion AOB Bull	TLC Starwar Class and AOB Division Winner

Luis Castillo and his son with his bulls.	Starwar and Joan, Hot Rod and Arnold Ochoa showing in the final drive. The Charolais bull won Grand. He was owned by the Mitch Thomas family a local Charolais breeder. Congratulations Thomas family! We enjoyed our visit and the competition! Mitch was our judge in Tulsa one year!

Abbie, Sharon and Dale Englehart, Merle and Dewayne Nikodym	Hot Rod, Paragon and Starwar in their stall.

Mike Helle, Abbie and Doc Gilg	Ochoa Family

TLC Starwar and Doc Gilg	Arnold Ochoa and TLC Blue Boy

March 12 Another beautiful day here and the green grass is peaking out from under the brown landscape. We had two more calves born yesterday and also had a new one early this morning. We have four left in the calving pasture for this group. Sounds like we will get bull buyers from Arkansas today. Always ready to show cattle. Especially when it's 70 degrees out. Roger and Randy Bennett came and purchased three young bulls today! Thank you for your business Bennett Family. We know the boys got a good home too! They picked off three of the top bulls too. The wind came up and it's drying things out again! The pens you can actually walk in them without muck boots now.
We missed some birthdays while we were gone. Happy belated birthday to niece Brenna, and grandson Phillip. Gosh our oldest grandson Phillip is 10 years old now. Time does pass us by if we let it!
March 13 Another pretty day here in Oklahoma. We sure hope our friends up north get some relief from all the ice, snow and cold wind soon. I am shopping for a drag of some sorts to start dragging pastures. The old bed springs have about seen their day of service. ha Three Fullblood cows are walking the pasture this morning looking to deliver their babies today. Then there will be one left in that group to calve. We got caught up on making all the tags for the babies born while we were away. Now it's capture them in the barn and weigh them and tag them. We will average out their birth weights. Most calves will gain at least 2-2.50 pounds a day on their mothers. I took pictures the other night before sundown of some of the new calves and we have already had a call on one of the little heifers we call Heidi. Named her after her momma, Heidi Who or registered name TLC Whoa Girl. Rox showed her and renamed her Heidi Who. Heidi is a half sister to TLC Turk too. We finally got two bull calves from Turk and they are beautiful! Will be taking pictures of them real soon! So watch for their preview! ha
Ran into a pretty cool sight yesterday with all kinds of neat stuff.. My Cowboy Shop - View All Listings - The ultimate Western lifestyle one-stop shop! I also found the Westfall Horsemanship web site.
Recently an email was sent to us with a video clip of Stacy Westfall and her horse Roxy. Not just any horse and not just any rider. She did the reining pattern bareback and with out a bridle. I am going to add the video link for you and when you get done watching it I hope you have a tear in your eye like I did. She dedicated the ride to her father that had recently passed away. Please enjoy this awesome video. It's very humbling to see someone that can communicate so well with their horse. http://www.westfallhorsemanship.com/index.php?page=seeus&action=category&id=2 March 14^th Stacy and Roxy will be on the Ellen DeGeneres show! We hope to see them and we hope you will watch them too!
Our friends Jon and Erika Janett in Switzerland have a neat web site and some great pictures of the their Scottish Highland and Braunvieh cattle in the mountains! Check them out at www.janett.ch/index.html


Desiree and Erika in the mountain pastures.	Jon and Erika with one of their Highlander bulls	Erika and Jon with his black Stetson Cowboy hat in their Mountains in Switzerland..

March 14 Today was spent cleaning up the web site news page! If you think we have been busy with cattle this past year you are right! 2007 News page is full and overflowing 2008 News so I made two more pages.. Archived 2006 and past also. So now it will speed up pages a whole lot!
I made a quick trip to Claremore to pick up Opie from Jessie! He is ready to become a steer instead of a dog! I am sure Jessie will miss him but not as much as he will miss her. He went in the pen with some other calves and was surprised to see some the same size as he was. The cows all had to go over and check him out too. He is one lucky calf to be alive! He was premature and weighed around 25-30 pounds when he arrived and today weighed in at 250#. He was too little to even reach his momma for milk, so the next best thing was graduate him to bottle calf, and Jessie was kind enough to offer her love and services. Thanks Jessie you will make a good mother some day from your caring experience with bottle calves! It was another nice day today! I didn't see much of it outside but it was sure not coat weather for a change, in fact I had the windows open for some fresh air!

March 15 Burr.. cold and windy today out of the north! It started out about 48 degrees early this morning and now it's down to 44 and wind chill.

Skip and Dana came from Searcy Arkansas today to pick up the two beef steers that they will be feeding out. They had friends there that were related to some of our Braunvieh breeder friends the Larry Yates in Texas. It's a small world sometimes. They fell in love with Opie so he got a brand new home too! I am sure that Skip's wife will fall in love with Opie's sweet nature and we know he will have a good long life as a pet steer. Some things are more important than monetary gain in this life. Some how everything always works out when you trust the man up stairs to handle your life! Thank you Skip and Dana for making the long trip to Oklahoma! We appreciate your business!

Crystal came today and they are feeding and caring for cattle so guess I'd best stop and fix up some lunch! Abbie thinks that I don't cook until we get company! ha I wonder how he survives! ha

So have you picked a candidate for President yet? Wow this is going to be some kind of mud slinging ho down battle. They might as well strip them down naked and let them in a mud wrestling contest! The two Democrat candidates are arguing who has the "Most experience to be President." I believe the cook, butler and maid that travel with them has about has much experience as they do. Probably better common sense too! Being married to the president is not the same as being the president. Of course Billary makes you think she was in charge when ole Hill Bill was suppose to be presiding over our great nation. If she can't keep her husband from turning to other women what makes us think she can handle our country? She literally scares the hell out of me! I shouldn't say that and stay politically correct but if we stay too correct we will be having some sorry "BIG CHANGES" in our land of plenty. Life as we know it as Americans will change dramatically. We only think we have high housing, grocery, energy and fuel prices. We are finally catching up to the international exchange rate. Ten years ago fuel was $5.00 a gallon in Switzerland. Yes and they have a good rail system for passengers and freight. They ride bicycles and they drive small economy vehicles too. We have all but taken passenger trains off the path of small town American. They have turned them into Cowboy Trails and Bike Trails for tourist. We are spoiled Americans and expect way too much too easily! Tighten up your belt folks this going to be an trail ride you will tell your grandkids about. The good ole days before, "Green" was a cool color in the pasture or tree grove, and PETA was run by a few old ladies for the humane treatment of dogs and cats, not run by the "$Rich and the Famous."

Skip Grace & Dana McMillian

from Arkansas

Opie & Skip

March 16-18 Rain rain go away come again another day. The water is over the bridge and roads are being washed out all around the area. It was suppose to stop this afternoon and it only kicked in to higher gear instead. I made it to the Butcher shop with Skip's steer this morning. I had to go north and then back west to get to the highway. It was boiling under that bridge too and may be around it by morning if it keeps this up. Abbie and Crystal weaned and worked the first group of fall calves yesterday so there is some real unhappy cattle around the place last night and today. Feel so sorry for those babies and the momma's too. I remember when I sent off the girls to college I kind of wanted to ball and run the fence too. I took Holly into see the vet this afternoon as she kept coughing. Guess she has some bronchitis and Stan gave her a shot and some pills to add to her food. The microwave died today so I looked at a new one at Sears. They certainly have gotten too many to choose from these days. They used to have about three functions now they do everything but stir up the pie. Funny how addicted we are to speed cooking anymore. We had a visitor yesterday to look at Fall steer calves from Keota. Enjoyed your visit Curt. Hope you can find some calves for all those kids and parents. Ran into a cool sight with some beautiful pictures. Deb Little Photography We are going to exchange links on each others web sites. She has some great pictures of wild horses, birds, flowers and butterflies.
We send our love, prayers and sympathy to the family. Our sister-in-law ArLou passed away this afternoon. She is going to be missed by us all. We know she is in a better place now though. Free of pain and suffering....
March 19 We had customers stop by this morning, Ashley and Jerry Dillon. A father and daughter looking for a Simmental heifer to show this coming year. Real nice folks and we hope they will come back soon. The calls have been coming in today from all over looking for Fall calves. One call from Southern California and one from west Texas. Always nice to hear from folks that found us on the web site. Or just saw our sign and dropped in to see what we have to sell. I worked on books and financial reports all day and think I might even see the light of day tomorrow. I have so much yard work to get done yet and that rain did bring on the green grass. In fact the front yard is mostly weeds but it looks like it is almost time to start up the lawn mower. First I have to charge up my battery and sharpen my blades. ha We go from no grass to grass over night here, especially when it rains six inches and it warms up to 60 degrees. Abbie and Crystal put out hay today. Our hay pile is diminishing fast. We still have about 100 bales to haul from the lease place but I am sure they are standing in water now. So we will be hoping for dry weather for awhile so we can haul that home. They are talking more rain this coming East weekend. Speaking of Easter... Someone sent us a beautiful Easter Lilly bouquet. All it said was Thanks on the card! So thank you Thanks for the beautiful plant whom ever you are! Happy Easter to you too! Sure wish we had some little kids to decorate eggs for this year, but sounds like the grandkids will all stay home this year. I think I will kidnap Dani Leigh for a day or so this weekend! She called the other day and said she was free for Spring Break and wanted to visit and ride horses. My kind of grandchild! One who loves horses as much as I do
March 20-24 The pears trees are blooming and the wind has been blowing blooms off today. It sure has dried up the water puddles quick. We are busy with cattle and calving. We had three born today. Two ET babies and one natural calf out of Mick. Pretty little heifer with a white face. Seems like here lately that is what everyone wants now for show heifers. Of course ours are all just being born now. Had a call from a Lady in Pennsylvania today looking for a replacement steer for her son who lost his to black leg. We just happen to have two yearlings left that were being saved for butcher beefs, so now it's try and find a ride to Pennsylvania. Dani Leigh came over and we got those cookies baked on Saturday. She was afraid the Easter Bunny would miss her if she spent the night. ha Abbie has been surgically dehorning heifers today. Brian stopped today and we loaded up on vet supplies and more tags for new calves. We have around 63 calves born already this Spring. So we go through the 50 tags to a bundle pretty quick! I had planned on getting some new pictures of the fall calves but the wind was so terrible. Their tails stuck straight out in the breeze! So I opted to wait for a still day! We fed around the place before dark and Abbie is starting to give donor shots tonight. Who ever said life on a cattle ranch was boring!


New baby Turk & Linda ET heifer	Pear trees in full bloom. It frosted last night.	Tee and Wily running after I called to them. The yard is starting to green up!

This email about says it all about our old friend common sense! I thought you would enjoy this!

My parents told me about Mr. Common Sense early in my life and told me I would do well to call on him when making decisions. It seems he was always around in my early years but less and less as time passed by.

Today I read his obituary. Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance.

For Common Sense has served us all so well for so many generations.

Obituary
Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, why life isn't always fair, and how, on occasion, maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin, sun lotion or a Band-Aid to a student; but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm a Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing. Author unknown

March 25 -31 I have returned from the trip to Nebraska. Picked up Delynn and Olivia in KC at the airport and then proceeded to Kearney to spend the night. We had lunch with Leona and dinner with Kent, Shawna and Kyleigh. We met all the family on Saturday for ArLou's memorial and celebration of her life! All the Davis cousins got together that evening and had a great time! I didn't do much besides babysit most of the weekend! Isn't that what grandmothers are for? Sunday the Herrington cousins got together at Bill and Beck's for a feast that Beck prepared for us all! I had all but two grandson's there so it was pretty wild with all the little one's. They all got along famously. Delynn, Olivia and I got up to snow yesterday morning in north central Nebraska. We had to sweep off the doors and windows before we could even get the truck started so we traveled in various weather conditions all day. We ran out of snow north of Grand Island and into rain until we got to the Kansas border. We had a battery go bad so we hooked up a new one in Grand Island! Thank heavens it didn't leave us stranded! We kept track of the tornados and storms in Oklahoma that were tracking northeast. We made it back to OK land about 9:30 exhausted! So good to be home! Today we got the lawn mower going and Delynn chopped down the weeds. Sure helped the looks of the place! Olivia is resting and catching up on all her missed naps today! She thought Papa Abbie was A okay too! She follows him around knowing he will play with her!
We had word from Roger and Cowgirl won the Montgomery County Livestock Show in Texas. This is the second year in a row that a TLC heifer beat the toughs at that show. Great job Rachel!


Shareen, Diann, Delynn, Shawna and Joan	Brenna, Shareen, Diann, Beau, Delynn, Shawna, Mom & Dad	Bill and one of his Tierney colts!	Four daughters and their daughters.

Remember to welcome strangers, because some who have done this have welcomed angels without knowing it! Hebrews 13:2