It was told to me long ago that when you have kids your whole life will change, and that was no lie. Most of the time I used to spend with my wife or by myself seems to have disappeared, and for some reason I cannot remember what it was like not to have a kid.

Clancy has definitely been a blessing to our family, and I do not know what I would do without him. The one great thing about all of the activities and work that I do is that he has come to the age that he not only can do it with me but he really enjoys it. People often times ask me how come I have kept my cows or how come I chosen real estate as an occupation, and I must say that being able to share what I do with my family is a big reason why I do it. Don't get me wrong. I sometimes can get caught up in the moment of a big deal going down or a hectic moment during calving or even a week-long hunting trip when I do not get a chance to spend that time with Clancy and my wife. But then there is the moment when we are walking across the meadow irrigating and he will look up to me and say, "We're best buddies, huh dad?"

The other day I was able to take him on a photo shoot of a new listing up in the mountains near the Scab Creek Entrance of the Wind River Mountains south of Pinedale. He would stumble over sagebrush and trip over rocks then holler at dad to wait up so the bears wouldn't get him. A couple of times he would look up towards the top of a big hill and want to climb it. Long before we would reach the top he would tucker out and I would have to be his horse. Every time his out of shape horse would stop for a breather he would just keep on kicking and saying, "getty up dad". It is moments like that I seriously consider taking up real estate in Nebraska. (I hear the sand hills aren't all that steep.)

The other day we were out irrigating on the four-wheeler and I had stepped off to work on a ditch. I had heard some fussing from his direction but was kind of occupied at the time when all of a sudden there was a great big splash and a loud yell. There just happened to be a fairly moist cow pie nearby and he was soaked from head to toe with a few slight smudges of green stuff around the edges. When he finally settled down enough to tell me what was going on he had tripped trying to climb off to use the bathroom. At that point I guess it wouldn't have mattered if he just went, 'cause no one was going to know the difference. But, by golly, he held on and we watered the grass on a little high spot just over a ways.

No matter what I do he always wants to go, and I do take great pride in having him tag along. We have just found out that we are expecting #2 in January, and I am looking forward to having twice as much fun "off the paved road".

Till next time……..