All of these photos are courtesy our good friend, neighbor, chicken advisor and photographer extrodinaire Karen B. whose name you will certainly find under a blue ribbon for her branding photos at the fair.
I thought this was a beautiful picture of our Middle Bear pasture, looking down on the corrals. A little rain goes a long ways, sure is green.
Tess and Peanuts getting ready to gather.
My bum calf Crackers, all grown up. She is getting to be 12 now, but still gives a good calf every year. Tess likes to pet her.
Looking for cows. Tess says this is a forest
Tess has been waiting all spring to gather for the branding.
Tess, Eric and Pops astride Peanuts, Banjo and Slurpee respectively.
The night before Eric and Tess rode over to the corrals, about three miles, on a test ride and they did fine. We were a little afraid though that she would not want to get up so early the morning of branding, but when Eric woke her up to ask if she wanted to go she immediatly rolled right out of bed.
My hero's have always been cowboys.
I thought this was a beautiful picture of our Middle Bear pasture, looking down on the corrals. A little rain goes a long ways, sure is green.Tess and Peanuts getting ready to gather. My bum calf Crackers, all grown up. She is getting to be 12 now, but still gives a good calf every year. Tess likes to pet her.Looking for cows. Tess says this is a forest Tess has been waiting all spring to gather for the branding. Tess, Eric and Pops astride Peanuts, Banjo and Slurpee respectively. The night before Eric and Tess rode over to the corrals, about three miles, on a test ride and they did fine. We were a little afraid though that she would not want to get up so early the morning of branding, but when Eric woke her up to ask if she wanted to go she immediatly rolled right out of bed.
When asked if she was going to rope calves Tess replied "Not this time."
My hero's have always been cowboys.
I retain my position as junior branding cook. I come from a long line of good branding cooks. Branding cooking really is a skill, even though by the time 3o people have ridden and rolled around in the dust and smoke all morning in the sun they really don't care what they eat as long as it fills the belly, tastes relatively good and isn't carp casserole. I did make deviled eggs (all 10 chickens still a layin') and discovered that fresh eggs are much harder to peel than store bought. Also made 20 lbs of ham, escallopped corn, brocolli/cauliflower salad, and cookies. My mother, chief branding cook, rounded it out with baked beans, french bread, coleslaw, jello salad and watermelon. Of course all the neighbors brought goods too..salads, rhubard strawberry cake, peach cobbler....I'm sure I have forgotten something. But I can guarentee that no body went home hungry.
Thank you Karen for helping me share!
Tess at the Easter Egg hunt in Glendo put on annually by the volunteer fire department . This is the only photo where she is not a complete blur. Since it was snowy outside, it was held in the gym. All the kids waited at one end of the gym and the eggs were spread out on the floor. When the whistle blew, Tess ran all the way to the other end of the gym without stopping. Only after she got there did she remember this was about the eggs. But, working backwards turned out to be the way to collect many, many eggs. She was also very proud that she still had the Easter basket that her uncle Brian and aunt Maggie gave her last year.
This is our new pup! He is three weeks old, so we wont be seeing him for a few more weeks. 
The crew on a spring hike up Middle Bear. Today we are getting more snow.
Tess aptly named him Kitty Cat, although sometimes his name is Frenchup. I have no clue where that came from, or what it means. Kitty Cat used the wicked weather we have been having as an excuse to hang out in the house, so I snapped some photos. He has an enourmous number of toes, but also has enormous patience with Tess.
BUT, how dare we forget that it is spring in Wyoming!
First you find some old pieces of a Gifford Hill center pivot, and stuff them underneath.
Careful! Tess thought this was pretty scary.
Onto the trailer
Cruisin' down the road.
Off again, and carefully turned around.
Spike had a good time in law school and ate lots of girl scout cookies. In 2000, he officially became Spike Palen and moved to Cheyenne. His heart was always in Glendo where his nose was always on the ground and he was thrilled when we moved back to the ranch. He was a hunter of prairie dogs, rabbits and cats. He loved to follow Eric on the horse, and would travel for miles without tiring. His nickname was "the fearless beagle". He was known for his distinctive "Ba-wooo!" his selective hearing and independent attitude shown below.
Shoes which are perfect for dancin'
wait, wait, DONT take my picture!
Coaster riding is the first thing we do in the morning with our jammies on.
Finally, the pose at the end.
Close of up her new freckles, which she got helping her dad stain his new corral gate. We were able to get most of it off her hands, but the stuff on face, pants and boots is just going to have to get worn off. I think they managed to get some on the gate too. 
