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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Foundation Blocks in Place

Last night Jared, Tucker, Dustin, Libby, and Toby went up to the ranch for the evening to finish laying the blocks on the foundation.  Jared taught Tucker and Dustin how to lay out each of the bricks and get them in place and how to apply the mortar. 

We were only up there for a couple of hours but we got a lot done.  We saw several deer and Libby and Toby had a fun time trying to sneak up on them while eating alfalfa. 

We also noticed that the spring that feeds the cabin is not providing any water right now.  It has been a very dry year and that is a sign of just how dry it has been up there the past 2 years.  Jared said that is only the 2nd time he knows of that spring going dry. 

Here are some pics of the work we finished.




Monday, August 19, 2013

2013 Summer Events

A lot has happened over the summer and a lot of family and friends have been able to go up to the ranch and enjoy everything it has to offer. 

Dustin took his 11 year old scouts up to do the Zip Line and have a hot dog BBQ.

Tricia took her young women up to enjoy the zip line, dutch oven cobblers, and have a spiritual devotional.

Tucker went up with a friend for the deer hunt and saw a Cougar (Mt Lion) this past weekend. 

Please try to get up there before the end of the summer and fall and see some of the progress we have made and enjoy everything up there. 

Bathrooms-2 8/17/13

Eric, Jared and families went up Saturday morning and started laying the bricks for the foundation of the bathroom walls.  They had to use a bond called Type S Spec Mix to cement the bricks and the footings together.  They were able to finish all of the corners and the bottom row.  We ran out of spec mix right as it started to rain and so we had to leave.  Jared is planning on going up sometime this week to start laying more of the bricks. 

 

 
Thank you to everyone who has helped donate funds to build this bathroom.  We are being as careful and diligent with those sacred funds as possible.  We search for the best price of products and borrow any equipment we can to get the work done.  We have used all of the funds donated and we will now just be doing everything we can to come up with the needed materials to finish the project before winter if possible.  We are doing a lot of work and trying to show as much progress as possible.  I apologize for not updating the blog more frequently and will try to keep it updated.  

Bathrooms

The bathrooms have come a long way since I last posted.  We went up on 7/27/13 and took up cement to lay the footings for the bathroom.

 
 
 We had to get the cement out of the mixer and move it to the desired areas.  Jared would then smooth it out with his trowel (not sure if I spelled that one right?)
 The kids were all there to help!

 Jared had to double check and mare sure we were level all the way around.  We used a laser level from Eric the night before to put in some rebar to make sure we were as level as possible.

 Jared and Tucker finished up the cement while Trent cleaned out the mixers.

 
We had a little bit of cement left over and so we decided to use it around the fire pit.  We used the fire pit since then and it has made the area much cleaner and safer.  

W8 Reunion

At the end of the Family Reunion a lot of people were able to either hike to the ranch or drive up there.  It was pretty neat to see so many people together on the property.  We had a lot of help bailing hay and stacking it.  Everyone also had a great lunch there.  Thank you Valerie for getting that ready for everyone.

Those who went up also got to see where the bathrooms will be and where the pavilion is going to be.  The following posts will show some of the updates on the bathrooms. 

Here are some pictures of everyone up at the ranch and the hay we bailed.

 

 
 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Pavilion, Bathroom, and Trailer pad

Jared rented a Mini-X on Friday night so we could start building the pavilion and bathrooms.  We were able dig all of the footings for the bathroom and get the pavilion area leveled out.  Check the pavilion page for more details and some pictures. 

We also worked on the new trailer pad and got all of the trees cleared out.  It was an amazing weekend and we got a lot done.  Jared was there with Valerie and Tucker and Kerri took Dustin and kids up there.  Trent also went with his 3 kids.  Tricia showed up on Saturday to play with the kids in the hammocks Valerie set up.  We had both tractors and the mini-x working most of the day Saturday.  It was pretty cool to see the end result.

We got everything we wanted done.  This was the most dirty I have ever been while up there.  I had dirt all over my chest and back even though I was wearing 2 t-shirts.  It was a great time and hopefully, when we get the grass planted and growing, it will be much cleaner and more enjoyable.

Thank you Valerie for all of the awesome pictures.



 
Also check out this giant root ball we ripped out, Tucker was pretty excited about it.
 


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Cutting down trees

This past Saturday Jared and part of his family along with Gable went up to The Ranch in the afternoon after the Art City Day parade.  We had lunch up there and then we started working on a new project we have.  We began to cut out trees and make an area for Jared and his family to camp and park trailers.  This will make it possible to begin work on the pavilion.  Plans have been adjusted a little but the pavilion we be even better and a little smaller so it is more affordable and easier to build.  We were working on the area just above where the pavilion has been planned to be built.  We had to cut out a lot of trees which took us the entire afternoon to do it.  We filled up 6 truck loads of trees and still have a pile of cut trees sitting up there. 


This is a picture of us just getting started, we should have taken a before picture but didn't think about it.

We were able to use the tractor to start to level out a lot of the area.  We still have a lot of work to do but we should get it done this weekend.  We are renting a Mini-X to do the work which for those of you who don't know, (I didn't know until just recently and am 28) it is just like a small back hoe.  Here is a picture below of what one looks like. 


We finished as much as we could with the tractor and chain saws and just everything by hand and now we need the mini-x to finish the rest of the work and also we will be getting all of the area ready for  the pavilion and to start laying the water pipes and the footings.
 
We will be going up Friday night and Saturday to finish the work we started.
 
 
We then had a delicious peach cobbler dessert after a chicken salad dinner.  It was an amazing time up there and we are getting a lot done.  It was nice to relax for  a few minutes and just have a hot treat.
 

Enjoy this video of us working.  For those of you who missed out on Tucker working you can get a small snapshot of it here.


This one is of my son Toby enjoying The Ranch.  It was a pretty awesome moment this morning when I say him playing in his room with his trucks and talking about the work he was doing with them at The Ranch.  Both of our kids love The Ranch and get excited every weekend we are going camping there.  We hope they are learning some important lessons while we are there and we hope they can love it in the future as much as we do. 


 

 

Friday, June 7, 2013

June is Here

Jared and his family along with Kerri and her family and Tricia tagged along for the evening.  We were able to get a lot done.  We had an amazing dutch oven dinner which Kerri made.  It was an amazing Chicken and Rice in one dutch oven and rolls made in another dutch oven.  We made a mistake and burnt the rolls a bit but it was still really good.  Email the ranchw8@gmail.com site it you want the recipe. 

We hung out that evening inside the trailers and just played games because it was a little colder than usual.  We got up in the morning to a classic camping breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes (along with Valerie and Kerri having hot chocolate). 

After that we got right to work.  Kerri started to mow the field above the camping area and got rid of the tall weeds there and hopefully a few people can camp over in there now.  We then planted a few more potatoes that Jared and taken up and then Jared an Valerie had to go back home for a work lunch. 

 


Tucker learned how to plow and plowed the old potato field.  He also worked on the field by the cottonwoods.  Meanwhile, Dustin and Kerri took their kids up to the West fence to put in some dancers.  We were able to do a few of them before the kids got hungry and we had to meet back up with Tucker for lunch.

After lunch Kerri and the kids took a nap while Tucker and Dustin went up to the West fence to finish the dancers we had already cut for the West fence line.  We were able to finish that and then we walked back the North end of the fence line and found just one broken line that we had to fix.  Everything else was pretty good other than a few loose cedar posts that we had to try to tighten up a bit.  We then went and worked on the fields with the tractors which we are trying to prepare to plant some more alfalfa seed on this fall. 

Jared and Valerie then met up with us again in the evening for some hot dog dinner.  They took their trailer down and we all headed down right before it got dark. 

Cattle are now on the property so if you are up there and see them in the fields let Jared or Eric know so we can get them out, or get them out if you know how.

Eric's new road!


Memorial Day 5/27/13

The Ranch was a very popular place this Memorial Day.  A lot of family went and had a lot of fun. 

Eric went up on Saturday and planted the potatoes. 

Monday was the popular day though.  It seems like half of the family was up there.  In the morning Erica and Jared use the tractors to make a new road just South of the potato field going to the lookout where Eric would like to make a campsite.  They were able to get it done pretty quick and it is very nice.  You should get up there soon to check it out, I was impressed. 

Peter took his bees up and you can hear them buzzing already, hopefully they will get some of the chocolate flower nectar.  It seems as though he has double what he had last year but we would have to check with him on that one.

Grandpa sent a message about the weekend: Gramma and I went up with Ginny and Janae and had a wonderful time. The hay field looks great and is growing fast and they got some spuds planted that should do well after the nice rain storm we had last night. We left a little early but Eric an Jared were building a road to Eric's favorite spot to camp. I am anxious to see how it turns out. Love to all..

A lot of the family went on a hike.  They hiked up to Nellies and had some awesome pictures in the flowers and on the mountain.





 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Camping in the Rain

This past weekend Jared was at The Ranch with some of his Family and 2 groups were up there as well. 

Jared took work off Thursday and Friday and went up Thursday morning by himself.  He was able to finish all of the fence line on the inner East fence and the South fence.  He also did some tractor work and made a new tent/trailer spot on the North end of the long alfalfa field.  Kerri, Dustin, Tucker, Libby, Toby, and Colby went up on Friday evening.  Eric was already up there with a ward father and sons group that was camping there.   A scout group from Syracuse, UT came down as well and camped out. 

We got right to work and finished the East fence.  It only took an hour and then we were able to just hang out around the fire while Tucker worked on the potato field.

http://youtu.be/d0YRUZRIS_U

It did rain during the night.  We were all dry cause we were in trailers.  The scouts and ward groups were not as lucky, they got rained on all night in their tents but no one complained.  Although it was raining in the morning we still decided to work on the West fields fence.  It was in pretty good condition with only a couple of breaks in it.  We finished that in the morning and then we went up to talk to Doug and Pat Weight.  They were working with their new tractor and getting a new hay field ready to harvest. 

We had lunch and then the rain kind of stopped for a while.  Dustin had to take his trailer down so we tried to hurry and get out while the roads were still dry.  Trent came up for lunch with us and brought Brinley and Porter with him.  While we were driving down we ran into a truck left in the middle of the road.  The keys were left in it but it wouldn't start and no one was around.  We hooked it up to a truck and pulled it out of the way.  Then we made our way down and then with about a mile left on the dirt road we ran into a guy that had a small trailer pulled over to the side of the road.  We stopped and Jared had to help him get the trailer hooked back up to his truck and then we followed him down to Diamond Fork. 

All in all, it was another great weekend up there.  It is very green right now so go check it out if you get a chance before it starts getting too hot. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

May 3-4 weekend

Jared and his family went up to the ranch this past weekend.  They all stayed right where the pavilion will be built.  It was a very nice weekend and didn't even get too cold at night.  We also had our first scout group go up there.  They were able to do a hike for the 2nd Class badge for scouts and also pass off several requirements they needed. 

Jared and Trent were able to do some work on the tractors and were able to work on the fields and on the road a little bit.  The next time you go up you will notice that the new road by the cabin has gravel on it.  It is very nice.  They had done just past the cabin on Saturday and will probably be done by the end of this week.  It is much safer now to drive that road. 

It is a going to be another dry year so please be very careful.  We can have fires right now but we may not be able to have them later in the year.

Jared spoke with John and Chris Child who have property just bellow us and they have again requested that we all drive very slowly by their place.  They said that when people drive fast they kick up dirt and dust and it makes a mess of their set up they have by the road.  Please be respectful so we can have a civil relationship with our neighbors up there.

Everything else is going great up there.  There will be some groups going up there in the next couple of weeks so check the calendar and just communicate with Jared or Eric if you want to stay the night up there so we can make sure the groups are out of your way.

Also let Jared or Eric know if you are having a group go up there so we can get it on the calendar.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Tangled, Rusty, Messed up East Fence

This Saturday a lot of work was done but it did not cover a lot of fence line, just a lot of work due to the mess that we had to deal with. 

Jared, Trent, Tucker, and Gable left early in the morning and started to work on the East fence moving North from the South East corner of the property right by the old coral.  They worked all morning from 8:00 am-2:00 in the afternoon.  They were working on the Child's portion of the fence because they don't work on it and we want to keep their cattle out and the cattle grazing in our side in.  They found many assorted lines of barbed wire.  There was a lot of rusted out lines, broken lines and it was all just a mess.  They also had re-plant T-Posts with just a hammer because they forgot the post pounder.  They were able to finish a couple hundred yards of fence.  Then they stopped for lunch.

In the afternoon Shane and Deanne drove up with Grandma and Grandpa along with a caravan including Ronda with her 2 sons Garrett and Mckay.  Valerie went up with Dustin, Libby, Toby, Tricia, and Karlee.  Some of us helped finish the east fence line up to where our portion of the fence is located.  We finished at about 5:30. 

Everyone else stayed back by the water and played with the kids and just enjoyed the awesome property.  Valerie was on the tractor disking for a couple hours and has nearly finished the entire big field by the cottonwoods. 

We stayed up there for dinner and we all had Tinfoil Dinners (or as I like to call them, Hobo Dinners).  It was a very nice day and made us realize that summer is just about here.  It is still kind of dry up there and hopefully we get a couple of rain storms soon.

This weekend Jared and his family will be going up along with Kerri and her family and staying the night on Friday night.  Dustin will be taking up a scout group up for the night and taking them on a hike up to Nelly's Spring.  It should be a great trip and hopefully we will have some pictures to post next week. 

The main gate to Wanroads is also open so now people can go up any time.  The gate to the flat iron is locked so just check with Jared or Eric to get a key to get into the fields if you want to get into that area.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Turkey Hunt, Disking, and Fence Move

A lot was accomplished this last week.  It was stormy a lot of the week but Friday and Saturday it dried up just enough to be able to go do some work. 

Jared and Valerie went up Friday afternoon and started working very quickly.  Valerie got on the tractor and was able disk most of the big cottonwood field.  It looks really good and with the field still being a little wet it looks great.  She was able to get all the way up to the tree line and make it is about ready to spray for weeds and then plant alfalfa.   Jared got started on moving the east field fence line which was right by where Valerie was disking.  He pulled out 3 railroad ties/cedar posts and planted them back in the middle of the old steep road.  He also pulled out a bunch of T-Posts and planted them in the ground as well.  He pulled down the fence line from the Flat Iron Gate all the way down to where Peter's bees go.  Anyone who has not done this does not realize how much work that is and he did it by himself with a little help from Valerie when she finished disking. 

Dustin went up early in the morning with some of his family to go on the Turkey hunt.  They saw a lot of Turkey but were never able to shoot anything.  It is very fascinating to call them in and hear all of the Turkey around when you just stop to listen and hear what they do.  Dustin's family left at 11:00 after the Turkey stopped responding to the calls.

Trent, Tucker, Gable, and Trent's kids went up at 9:30 and started working on the fence Jared had started moving.  Dustin joined them at 10:30 to work on the fence.  They were able to get the entire fence pulled down that was needed.  They also pulled out all of the T-Posts and cedar posts/railroad ties.  Trent and his kids had to leave at that time and Kerri with Libby and Toby came up for lunch and to finish helping a bit.  They then were able to put the barbed wire back up to then fence.  There is one gap in the fence that still needs to be finished but some of us are going up on Wednesday 4/17/13 to finish it in the evening (if the weather lets us). 

Gable was a lot of help and it was nice to have another person there to help get it finished.  They would not have finished everything if Gable was not there.  We continue to invite anyone that wants to come up with us to just let us know, we may be calling some of the younger grandkids this summer to see if they want to come help us. 

We then had to leave as a storm was coming.  It was a great day and a lot was accomplished.  We wanted to get all of the fence repaired around the property but we at least got that fence moved.  There are several purposes for moving the fence.  First it is to prevent trespassers from cutting through that fence.  That is where most of the people have been cutting the line and riding four wheelers in the fields and also letting their cattle into the property to graze on the hay fields.  Jared also does not want to have 2 different roads cutting through the property.  We now just have one road so there are not multiple access points to get into the property.  If anyone goes up the old steep road they will not be able to get very far because it is no longer a road that a car can drive on.  It is just a fence in the middle of what used to be a road.  We hope that some grass and trees start to grow in what used to be a road. 

Sorry for no pictures but we will get some when we finish the road.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Spring tooth

One of Jareds favorite jokes is about a tooth brush. "You know why the truth brush was invented in the south?" "It would have been called a teeth brush if it were invented anywhere else."

Anyways, Jared took Dustin, Libby and Toby up to the ranch on Saturday morning to do some work. It was an awesome morning and it was great weather for working. We took up the tractor in order to start working and getting ready for the hay crop this year.  Jared quickly got to work spring toothing the long hay field.  When you spring tooth you are basically weeding an entire field. The equipment just pulls out any weeds, breaks up any mounds or cow pie in the field, while still leaving the alfalfa in the ground.  It only took him a couple hours to quickly finish the field and then go to eat lunch.
 
Meanwhile Dustin and the kids worked on the fence north of the flat iron. We were able to get most of it done before lunch and also worked more on our grill pad we started last fall.  The kids will only work for a couple hours (especially Libby) and then they need to eat or drink or just go somewhere to play.  They do all right though and they love helping and learning about the tools.  Libby had a great time learning about dancers and would dance with all of the dancer posts when she walked by them.  She thought it was the funniest name for a tree post. 
 
Valerie, Kerri, Karlee, and Tucker came up for lunch at one thirty.  We had an awesome lunch which included sandwiches, chips, oranges, apples, and cookies.  We then went back to work. Tucker and Dustin finished the fence which started from the gate above the water spigot all the way over to the gat to the flat iron. Jared started to disk the big cotton wood field. Everyone else played on the tire swings and Karlee pretended to be a deer, lucky it was out of season or else someone may have made a mistake and shot her. 

We hope to go up again this Saturday to finish some more fence repair and field work.  We would like to finish all of the fence line around the hay fields this weekend.  We will have cattle grazing up there this year and we really need to keep them out of our fields so we can have a good crop.  We had to leave quickly when it started raining and also we had to get back for priesthood session.  It was a great Saturday and we would love any help this weekend.   Trent, Dustin, Tucker and all 5 kids will be going up Saturday morning around 8-9, please let one of them know if you want to go up in the morning so we can open the gate for you.  Jared will be coming up with other family around 1:00 if you would like to follow him up.

I never had an opportunity to work on things like we do up at the ranch while I was growing up and always loved the outdoors but just never had a chance to learn what I have now learned as an adult.  Let your kids know when we are going up and we can try to make room for them in our cars so they can go with us if you cannot come.  Gable is going to be going up with us this summer and we would love to have anyone else that wants to come.  All that is required is your own lunch and willingness to work and have fun.  I have learned a lot in the few years that I have been allowed to work and play at the ranch and I have loved every minute of it.  Kerri always teases me because a lot of things we own I say we can use at the ranch, we even bought a house closer to the canyon and I brag about how it will take us 10 minutes less time to get up there.  I truly enjoy knowing that I will have somewhere quiet to teach my children life's simple lessons and hopefully help them apply the work ethic and principles we learn up there in their daily lives.  We hope everyone can truly enjoy what it has to offer this summer. 
 

Friday, April 5, 2013

First of the year Trip 3/30/13

Jared, Valerie, Karlee, Tucker, and Beau all made a trip to the ranch last Saturday.  They just wanted to check everything out.  It was really dry and most of the roads were clear of snow.  There was just some snow in the shady areas of the property.  It was a great Saturday.  We are going up Saturday 4/6/13 and taking up the tractor and Jared will disk some of the fields and spring tooth them (I will have to explain that better when I actually know what it entails).  We will also start working on the fence lines and repairing all of the fence since there may be some cattle grazing there this year.  They walked all the way around the property and most of the fences are doing pretty good with not a lot of major breaks.  We should be done fixing them by the end of the month.

 
 
 
 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Half way up Wanrhodes

As it snows outside my window at work I thought I could post about our Family Night trip up towards The Ranch on Monday 3/18/13.  We had a last minute idea to drive up Diamond Fork and just see how much snow was up the road.  Jared, Kerri, Dustin, Libby, and Toby all went up there.  We saw a lot of deer everywhere.  There was no snow on the road or on any of the fields. 


We could see some snow up higher on the mountains in the shady areas.  We decided to drive up Wanrhodes and see how far we could get to The Ranch.  We saw a lot more deer as we drove.  The road was mostly dry and there was little snow anywhere.  We were able to drive about halfway up to the ranch and we made it right to the Bee Flat.  (The Bee Flat is the open area/field with the log fence along the side of the road)  We were almost to the white cattle guard marking the private property beyond that point.   It was getting a little muddy and dark and we just did not want to rip up the road or get stuck at night.
It was a very nice trip and it made all of us anxious to be able to get up there soon and start enjoying the nice weather.  Hopefully this new snow fall does not push us back too far from what we want to do.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

2013 Ranch Goals/Projects

This year we hope to get quite a bit done.  We have just a few goals we would like to accomplish and may add to it as we go through the year.  These are listed in no particular order although the Pavilion is always the priority.

Begin (and hopefully nearly finish) Pavilion
Finish West Fence-cut and staple dancers & install gates along the fence line
Fix the upper dam and Build a new lower dam
Run water from the lower dam to the grass field by the pavilion
Run water to the potato field
Plant a larger garden including, potatos, tomatos, squash, corn, etc
Install a 'man gate' to the grass field
Make a parking area above the grass field
Build a wood shed/cover for fire wood
Build outdoor shooting range
Create small camp sites around the property
Rent a wood chipper to spread wood chips on the road
Move East Field Fence

This is a lot to do for one year but if we can do half of the projects or at least get some of them started then we are on track to greatly improving our future experiences there.

This also means that we have to do the yearly work as quickly as possible which includes repairing both the inner and outer fences.  We  hope to be finished with all of that by Memorial Day 5/27/13 so the rest of the Summer and Fall can be dedicated to the new projects we have.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Tucker on a date Snowmobiling

Tucker took a date to The Ranch to go Snowmobiling on January 1st.  He said there was about 3 feet of snow and it was all white.  Hopefully that will help all of the vegetation this year.


West Fence Boundary Completion

This post has been a long time coming.  After an entire Spring, Summer, and Fall of effort we finally finished the West Fence.  The wire is strung up the entire way.  We still need to add a lot of dancers and a couple gates in a few places but it is all done for the most part.  It looks amazing.  Many people helped complete this project and and put forth a lot of effort and money to help better the property.

There are many benefits for having this new fence in.  We can now have livestock up there and contain them in our property.  We can also keep cattle from surrounding property owners out of our property.  The fence will help with trespassers and keep the area a little bit safer.

We will be able to finish the fence line very soon with the few dancers that are needed as well as the gates we would like to install.

Thank you to everyone who helped and for any groups that helped work on the project, it was a huge endeavor and goal we had and it felt really good to complete it.

We are trying to get some pictures of the completed project up soon.

Tractor Retrieval November of 2012

It has been over 3 months since we last posted something on here and there have been things happening at The Ranch since that last post.

We saw our first snow fall in November and we had to hurry to get the tractor and potato planter out of The Ranch so we could work on them both a little over the winter since they both have a few issues.  Tucker and Dustin went up early one Saturday morning with Jared's truck and Eric's trailer.  They were able to drive all the way up with the trailer to the Miner/Child property line and left the trailer there.  They drove the truck all the way up to the cabin and then had to walk in the rest of the way cause the road was so muddy.  Everything was amazing and peaceful.  There were no sounds accept for Dustin's heavy breathing and Tucker sliding in the mud.

They finally got to the tractor and made a joke that now they had gone all this way and wouldn't be able to start the tractor.  Tucker tried for about 3-4 minutes to get it started but could not get it to work.  He was getting frustrated and then laughed cause of the previous joke that had been made.  Dustin then had an idea to pull it out of gear and then push the starter button, the tractor roared to life, Tucker could not believe it.  The potato planter was picked up and then a few minutes were enjoyed just looking around at the beauty winter brought to the ranch.

When they got the tractor and truck back down to the trailer they loaded everything up and then took a few minutes to shoot a .22 Rifle.  They left early and got home by 10:00.  Very well worth it, now we still need to get the tractor and potato planter worked on a little so we can be ready to plant this spring.