Our cows moved from one pasture to another across the Weiser River. The cowboys didn’t really need our help but we hopped on the four wheeler and invited friends to come out for a hotdog party. It’s the evenings like this, when I get to tag along with the work and look at the beautiful land we are responsible for that I feel truly blessed and grateful to live an agricultural lifestyle. So much of this industry is difficult, discouraging, out of our control, expensive, and heart breaking and it’s easy to get discouraged and question whether or not it’s really worth it to make a living this way. Trust me, first generation farmers don’t get rich even if the prices you see in the grocery store are high. The cost of starting up a ranch is tremendous and permeates every single area of the operation.

At the end of the day, though, rather than going on and on about the challenges, I want to focus on the incredibly awesome parts of our line of work.

I get to drive my girls around on a four wheeler and invite friends to come along with us. We get to pretend we’re actually helping move the cows.

We get to see scenes like this–that could be straight out of an old western film.

The river was just right for the cows and horses to make it across without any trouble, but too high for the four wheelers to cross. My hubs really didn’t need it, but I’m so glad he asked me to come along and help. I get to work alongside my husband, and my girls get to work and learn with their daddy.

Its a beautiful life, isn’t it? Literally for the landscapes and figuratively for the lessons it offers.