Rattlesnake Roundup

As a "Yankee" living in Texas I am constantly being introduced to many new things. Christmas parades, fried okra, as Heath says "a REAL rodeo", all sorts of plants that could easily kill you and yes, The Rattlesnake Roundup. We had the opportunity to attend the annual Big Spring Rattlesnake Roundup, what a show! It was really quite fascinating. The reason for the Roundup is to obtain the venom from the rattlesnakes by "milking" them. They use the venom in making anti-venom and also for research in other medicines. Pest control also happens to be a lovely side effect of the Rattlesnake Roundup.
There were all sorts of rattlesnake paraphernalia to purchase and also the floor show where death defying acts were taken place, crawling in a sleeping bag full of rattlesnakes, the Kiss of Death, and the world famous snake handler Jackie Bibby swinging rattlesnakes in his mouth. Pretty impressive, but definitely not some thing that I'll be training for anytime soon!


In the other half of the building they had all the rattlesnakes in this "pit" and they would put a bunch in a bucket and send it over to the next guy.

He would then milk the snake to extract the venom.

Then the snakes would continue down the line to the chopping block. Watch out!

And then onto the skinning station. After she was done cleaning them up she would take them directly over to the concessions booth, where they would chop, bread and fry them.

Certainly no Rattlesnake Roundup would be complete without biting into some deep fried rattlesnake. Yum!

Fun, Sun, RUN!!!

This last weekend we loaded up the Jeep and headed to Moab, UT. Charlotte, Annie and some friends of theirs were running in a half marathon and we all decided to show up and cheer them on (we also needed a good excuse to get together for the weekend)! Heath had the idea to leave Big Spring on Wednesday evening and depart on our 13 hour trip hoping that the children would sleep the whole way. Well the children and the dog did very well, but I was trying to sleep in the back seat between car seats, while Heath was a rock star and drove us the whole way there while downing caffeine and pistachio nuts and listening to his MP3 player really loudly. Thankfully, we arrived safe and sound.


We showed up Thursday morning and spent the day with Cory, Susan, Heather, Spencer and Charlotte. There was swimming, horseshoes, and yummy Chinese food. Friday was filled more family - Mom, Dad, Nicole (who surprised us all!), Annie, Derik, Jessica, Levi, Stacy, and Rachel. We played games, ate a lot of good food and had a grand time. Saturday was the race and the girls got up bright and early to get bussed up the canyon to the starting line, and about noon we all headed down to the finish line to see them come in. What a feat! I'm so proud of all of them, but especially Charlotte! She made up her mind to run 13 miles, trained for months, pushed further than she had before and completed the race with a wonderful time. She truly is amazing! After the race we had more yummy food and birthday cake for Levi.

It was an awesome weekend and worth the time, money, and distance to see everyone and we are looking forward to it next year.

I've Been Tagged

Weeks ago my sister-in-law tagged me and since I'm very slow to get anything done here I go!

This was taken January 18, 2006 in front of our house in Rexburg. We lived in this house while we managed apartments...what an adventure! This was a typical amount of snow that would fall in a days time in Rexburg (and yes this is the very reason that I've been loving the winter here in Texas). That's me all bundled up in front after I came out to take some pictures of Heath who had been snow-blowing that morning. It's so funny to think back when we were first married; going to school, before kids, before "real life". It sometimes seems like I'm looking into a different life. Oh the things that life brings to us, life truly is an adventure.

Here are the rules
1. Go to the 4th folder where you keep your pictures on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the photo.
4. Tag 4 fellow bloggers

I tag Annie, Hollie, Susan, & Danielle

Growing Like a Weed

Its hard to believe that Thomas is already 6 months old! He's growing so fast. He's sitting up by himself, eating solid foods, trying to crawl, and jabbers all day long. And big news for the week...His first tooth finally came in! He had his 6 month check up this week and is doing well. He's up to 18 lbs, 12 oz and still 27 inches long. He loves to watch is big sister and he just laughs and laughs at her. I know it wont be long before I'm chasing him around the house.

El Diablo Bees

It wasn't 10 minutes after we got home from church on Sunday when we got a phone call. It was a panicking woman who lived in Highland South with a SWARM OF BEES! AAAHHH! Well, Heath was ecstatic. He jumped in the car and headed over to his dad's place to pick up all his equipment.

So Heath and Rayford were off to save the day...so they thought. They showed up to the house and got ready to hive the swarm (this requires the mass of bees to be shaken from the branch into the hive body). This process is USUALLY quite easy and is done without any major complications. Apparently, this particular swarm of bees had been there for several days, were cold, hungry, and agitated! So, when the initial shake hit the bees, they were off! Heath, who was not wearing a veil, was stung in the eyebrow and the eyelid twice, and then on the hands about 8-10 times. Rayford was stung on his right hand and arm at least 17 times, and a few times on his left hand-he was smart and wore a veil. And all Heath can say is, "All in all, it was a lot of fun!" He was happy and grateful for a new hive of bees, and after the bees were well fed and happily settled in their new home they have turned out to be very nice bees.

Heath's eye was swollen shut for a day and a half and Rayford's hand and arm were also very swollen. This is the second swarm they have picked up this year and Heath can't wait for the next call.