Learning to barefoot trim...

Jared started teaching T.J. how to barefoot trim today. He wants these kids to learn early how to really take care of their horse. First he showed T.J. how to pick up the horses foot and get into place.

Jared just got that new stand 2 days ago. It's more comfortable on the horses foot to rest it on there then to have it held up in between Jared's legs. Plus it doesn't kill Jared's back, which is a good thing.

T.J. started out by cleaning out the hoofs. Cody held the horse.

After Jared did the clipping and cutting, he showed T.J. how to rasp.

Jared finishing up the last hoof. It's so funny to see the horse laying his foot on the new stand. It looks like he's getting a big pedicure cause he seems so relaxed.

All finished.

Afterwards Cody walked Tabasco around the yard for only a minute. After you barefoot trim you can't ride for 24 hours because their foot is a bit sore. Cody wanted so bad to take Tabasco on a walk. He loves animals and loves to take care of them.

T.J. did really good for his first time. He didn't clip or work on the angles yet but that will come with time. It's crazy how big these boys are getting.

My $75 Steal...

Our treadmill that we've had for years finally died and I've been looking here and there for a new one. I love walking on a treadmill when I don't have the time to head to a park or the river bottoms to get my steps in, so I desperately wanted one. Yesterday I decided to jump and KSL classifieds really fast and look what I found...

An almost brand new treadmill for $75 dollars! When I saw the ad I jumped at the chance to go grab it. The lady I got it from said it's about 3 years old and only been used maybe 10 or 15 times cause she hates to exercise. She looked it up on line and could have sold it for 3 or 4 hundred dollars but didn't. Cha-ching! I was so excited!

Notice Hunter's way of walking on there. He thought he could get away with using roller blades and "ride" the treadmill.

All the boys took turns trying it out. T.J. walked on it with his football helmet to start strengthening his neck muscles for football season. (Very good idea!)

Our old beastly treadmill. I swear this is one of the first treadmills ever made. It's so heavy. Good bye ol' thing. Good riddance.

Jared hauled the treadmill away but first had to stop at his parents. So the boys rode in the back sitting on it.

I love my new treadmill. It works great, folds up, and is quiet. And best of all... was a great price!

It's Football Time!

We just got back from signing T.J. up for FOOTBALL! I can't believe he's old enough to play. It seems like it was just yesterday when we told T.J. "only 3 more years until you can play." Jared wanted him to wait until he was 10 to start. When they are too young, they just get hurt. Well, in 2 weeks, T.J. will be 10. He made it.

Doesn't he look so cute! And so old!! After we registered (which costs an arm and a leg! Thank goodness it included the jersey, pads and helmet.), he got fitted for his helmet, pads, and pants. He said first thing that those shoulder pads make him sweat. Just you wait little buddy!

We got the boys all jerseys to wear to the games and I got a hoodie. T.J.'s practice jersey number is 67. When Jared played in pee wee league he also had the number 67. Cody is number 7 (like John Elway) and Hunter liked 16. Hunter was the only one who got a purple jersey. T.J. wasn't too happy about playing for Riverton because their colors are purple and black. He'd much rather play for Bingham like Jared did and wear blue. But, we go where we go.

I can't believe T.J. is old enough to do this. I was never into football when I met Jared but slowly it's growing on me. I always said I'd learn the game when T.J. plays. Guess that time has come. I was having major anxiety signing him up. I feel like this is a huge step in his life. The beginning of a possible career maybe. T.J. loves football almost as much as Jared. And that's huge! It will be fun to see where this takes T.J.. It was crazy reading all the fine print and signing a release so he can be treated by medical professions... even surgeons if need be. There's the other part of my anxiety with this. I pray he never gets hurt bad enough for that, but it is football. Hopefully his large size will help. He's going to play lineman because of his weight and size. I think he'll do good. We've been practicing running and sprinting at the park the last few weeks, trying to get him ready for those long, grueling practices. Tryouts start Aug. 1st and then it's good bye to our fall days cause you know what we'll be doing most of the week. That's right... FOOTBALL!

P.S.... We almost had Cody playing this year, too. I know he's only 8 but he's the same size as T.J. and we want him to get into sports more. He's a little unsure this year though. Cody has a hard time trying something new. So this next year we want him to work with Jared and T.J. learning techniques and such and then try next year. When one of the coaches saw Cody and found out he wasn't signing up he begged Cody to change his mind. Said they need big kids like him for his age. There's no doubt Cody would be out there knocking everyone over. He already does that with me. That made Cody feel good, but still nervous. Maybe next year.

The Turkey Named Jeffery

Jared bought some turkeys last year to breed. We have one tom and 3 hens. They started laying eggs this spring so it was time to start incubating them. We collected about 10 of them and put them in. Every day you have to turn the eggs at least 3 to 7 times, plus make sure the temperature doesn't fall below around 100' and that there's enough water in the bottom so it's humid in there. Needless to say you can't forget about these eggs. Well, we kinda did. We have the incubator downstairs this time so no one bumps it but it's like they say, out of sight, out of mind. Sometimes we were lucky to turn the eggs three times, but usually it was twice.
After two weeks we candled them and saw we had five fertile eggs. Two weeks to go until they should hatch. Well, it got worse from there. Not only were we forgetting to always turn them, they ran out of water for a day or two, the lid was partially off so the temperature went down, and Jared was having the boys turn the eggs; mainly Cody. That doesn't seem all bad except they aren't the most careful with them and any little rough movement or drop can kill these babies. We thought for sure we'd killed them, so we didn't expect anything and didn't do anything the last 3 days where you are supposed to increase the humidity and leave the eggs alone.
Jared was working downstairs on the computer almost two weeks ago when he heard something. It was a baby turkey that had just hatched. He was walking around in the incubator and his egg was making tiny sounds. Jared came running upstairs and said "Well, there's a turkey downstairs." Took me a minute, then it dawned on me. I couldn't believe it. I grabbed my camera and ran for a picture. 
Jared got a box, hay, food and water and the heat lamp before we took him out.

Here he is in the incubator walking around. He was still a bit wet, and because we didn't always have the water in there and didn't increase the humidity, the shell was kinda stuck to him. Oops! Jared could just pull it off though.

When Jared took the cover off I snapped this picture really fast. He tried to hurry as fast as he could but that little turkey darted right off the incubator and onto the cement floor right after I snapped this. Thought he would have died from that.

Nope. He's ok. Phew!

His new home for the next  to 8 weeks. We didn't expect him to live. Birds don't do well unless their in groups. Turns out he's the only one that survived. No other turkeys hatched from this batch. (Still can't believe he even made it.)

The boys were so excited to hear the news. Our first turkey we've ever hatched and we did a horrible job this time of incubating. Cody named him Jeffery after the turkey on Charlotte's Web. Cody takes care of him every day and loves him so much. And to this day, he's still alive and kicking. He's the toughest turkey I've seen. If he can withstand all that before he was born, then falling onto cement, and still be alive, we've got a good chance he's going to be around for a while. (At least 'til thanksgiving.)