Cherry Pickin' Gal

Sydney spent several weeks this summer in Santaquin helping with the cherry harvest on the Rowley farm. She drove a tractor taking cherries from the trees to the warehouse.

This was a big decision for her. She had to choose between two jobs and decided to take the harvest experience over more hours and pay somewhere else. I was really proud of her. 

So she decided to harvest but didn't have a place to stay. And we didn't want her to drive back and forth because of the early hours she'd be working. (4:00am) And we didn't have an extra car. We prayed and had faith that something would work out and she'd find someone to stay with. Sterling contacted everyone he could think of and nothing opened up. Then the week before the harvest started, Farmer Rowley offered her a room in his house. It was a huge blessing and answer to our prayers. So we dropped her off on Sunday nights and picked her up sometime Saturday afternoon for several weeks. 

And it was a GREAT experience!

She also made friends with Claire Rowley and another girl, Sara, who had just returned from her mission and was helping with the harvest as well. They spent a lot of time at the lake.

At the end of the harvest, the Rowley's held a pizza party and games for all their workers and invited our family as well. It was so much fun. 

In an essay for a college application, Sydney said this:

I didn't plan on mowing over a cherry tree with a tractor on my first day at the farm. I realized it wasn't as bad as I thought when I saw my seven-year-old instructor laughing at me. It was a dead tree that needed to come down anyway. Learning to drive a tractor was harder than I thought. 

This past summer I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work on Cherry Hill Farms in Santaquin, Utah harvesting cherries. This opportunity was something I was not familiar with but thrilled to do! Because of my interest in learning new things, I decided that even though this job required long, hard days, it would be worth it. I learned many new skills including how to drive a tractor, how to operate different farm machinery, how to problem solve in crucial situations and that hard work is worth the pain. I had to live away from my family and immersed in an environment that was out of my comfort zone but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

It was exciting to know that my little job on the tractor played a small part in the fruit production industry in Utah. The knowledge and life experience that I got was immeasurable. When harvesting season was finished, I went back home to my family ready to start a new school year. The work ethic I gained in harvesting cherries continues to benefit me in my school work. 

Farmer Hogan's Ranch

For many years, we have been visiting Farmer Hogan's ranch. Last year we switched from being observers to actually helping out with the branding. 

The first thing my kids noticed this year was the cute doggie running around the ranch. 

We all took our positions in helping the calves along.

Camille sprayed for bugs and critters.

Rachel and Bryce worked the gates.

Parker helped move the calves along into the holding area.

Sydney did the paperwork, keeping track of tag numbers and immunization.

Parker at work.

Branding

The ginormous steer was a little sick and needed an antibiotic. I am always impressed with the interest and care ranchers have for their animals. They know them individually, their health history, their habits and behavior. They care about them. 

This is a huge animal. When its head gets swinging, it's like a wrecking ball.

When all the work was finished, we had a big pizza lunch in their nice, new, very large, barn. then it was the long road home. 

Other Hogan farm visits:
2009
2011
2012
2015
2017

Day on the State Capitol Hill

Every year we enjoy going to the Utah State Capitol and spend part of our day with Sterling. 

This year we got a picture with Governor Herbert('s cut out).

We sat in the gallery of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

(pictured is the Senate)

We were too early for floor time though, bummer.

We sat in a committee meeting room and had a quick lesson on the four stops a bill makes on the way to becoming a law.

Committee meeting

House of Representatives

Senate

Governer's desk

We also met Arros, a security dog. He served three deployments and was in combat. He is a super friendly and fun-loving dog. 

We also got to go into the tunnels under the Capitol and see the earthquake stable-izers.

And we looked for some of this symbolism.

We love going to the Capitol and being reminded that our government is one of the best in the world with its checks and balances and separates houses of government. It may not be perfect but it really is one of the best. 

And we're proud that Sterling is part of the process and fights for the righs of farmers and ranchers in the great state of Utah!

Farmer Hogan work day

Life on the Hogan Cattle Ranch. 

Many years in the past we have been to Farmer Hogan's and looked at the baby calves and had fun exploring the ranch.

This year, we were able to actually work and get our hands dirty.

We helped with branding and vaccinating.

Uncle Dave and Cousin Carolyn came with us. 

Here is Farmer Hogan explaining how to keep track of the paperwork.

Uncle Dave, keeping the calf in place while its vaccinated.

(That's not dirt on his arm. :)

Carolyn and Hashbrown working the gate.

Parker, keeping the cattle moving along.

Parker helped out with the branding.

At first, Parker just held the brander but later they let him do the actual branding.

Camille got to do some branding too.

Hashbrown manned the gate, letting the calves in and out of the branding/vaccinating area.

Camille worked so hard. She branded for a long time in the hot sun. I kept giving her water to drink and she worked until the last calf went through the stall. 

Then she fainted.

Twice.

It was actually kind of scary. She said she didn't feel well and then went straight down. I was standing right there and helped her down. We gave her water and she woke up. She drank a little more and then I stood her up. I wanted to get her to the car where she could lie down and get some good air conditioning.

On the way, she fainted again. I yelled for help and one of Farmer Hogan's sons helped me carry her to the car. She was pale but responsive. But she wasn't sweating. I put the air conditioning on full blast! We put wet paper towels all over her and got her to drink a lot of water. She started to feel a lot better.

Phew. It was a little scary. So glad she's OK.

(She didn't feel bad until the last calf was branded and then it all came crashing down. 

(Its eye opening, because with heat exhaustion, you may not even realize you are in danger until its too late. You just have to be really aware of how you feel and making sure you're staying hydrated and not working too hard.)

After the work was done, we were treated to a big pulled beef lunch. All the food we could eat!

Boy, were we worn out in the end. 

THANK YOU FARMER HOGAN!