Living on a ranch sure has it's bonuses. Josh and I like it because we live on a quiet street, we are surrounded by land and beauty, and our neighbors live at least 1/4 mile away from. Our boys really like it because we have a ditch that is used for a lot of fun activities, hills for sledding and slip & slides, old historical spots for playing fort in, and lots of area to roam freely on ATV's.
As parents of 4 boys, we are so privileged to live on a ranch. It provides many opportunities to teach our sons how to work, and it gives them just as many opportunities to play. There are year-round ways to work and have fun--but our favorites are in the summer, when we take advantage of the cool ditch on hot days, and the chance to go on 4-wheeler rides on cool evenings.
On one such evening at the end of May, we went on a family ride to our cousin Janoa's house, which is 4 or 5 miles away from our home. All the boys put on their new helmets they got at Easter, and got their ATV ready. We have accumulated so many motorcycles and 4-wheelers over the past few years, that everyone has something to ride PLUS there's a few extra!
Josh rode a 4-wheeler and I rode a motorcycle with the boys along the drive. Even Shorty came on the ride with us (he's standing in the photo next to Ammon), running all the way to Janoa's house. We were completely surprised that he would (and could) go that far with us. Since I was at the tail-end of our line of riders, I watched Shorty's back legs try to keep up with the speed of my boys riding. It was hilarious to see! I laughed so much on that ride! We stopped at Janoa's house for a while, visiting with her, and Shorty drank lots of water and cooled down, before we headed back home. It was a nice family ride together!
Ammon has a new love of motorcycles, beginning last summer. He always preferred 4-wheelers until then, but he purchased a small motorcycle last summer from a golfing friend. He enjoyed riding with his dad, and his friends, and he grew to love motorcycling more than 4-wheeling. This summer, Grandpa gave him a little bit bigger motorbike as trade for Ammon changing pipe for him all summer. He likes the extra power and height that this motorbike has!
Jonah's 4-wheeler is one that Josh purchased from one of Jonah's friends. The younger boys were always taking turns on the 2 smaller 4-wheelers we had, so Josh knew that we'd need to get another one so that they could all have their own. Sometimes this 4-wheeler does strange things, and it seems to be not working more than it is running. Jonah started out riding his 4-wheeler on our ride, but then it died, and he ended up riding the rest of the trip with Josh on a 4-wheeler. It was already starting to act up before we even left, which is why he has a grumpy face in this picture:
Micah's 4-wheeler is a loaner one from Grandpa T. One of the two 4-wheelers that the boys rode on last year was really small, and Grandpa thought it would be better to have a little bit bigger 4-wheeler for the boys to ride, as well as any other grandkids who came to visit. Micah loves this 4-wheeler, and rides it quite often. He enjoys going fast down our driveway and rides it fast down the lane. It makes him happy, and he has no fear when it comes to speed. Good thing he wears his helmet!
Kanyon has really enjoyed riding 4-wheelers this year. He rides one that we've had since Ammon was younger. Beginning this spring, he was riding his 4-wheeler almost every day. He liked riding it down the road and around the gravel pit and up the driveway and in Grandpa's field. He loved roaming and feeling like a free spirit while driving it. Like Micah, riding the 4-wheeler made him SO happy! He's had to be grounded from it a few times, though. He's gotten in little wrecks 3 times on the road--driving into the ditch or into a fence. He also has gone places on it that he didn't tell us, and we didn't know where he was. One time when I told him that he ALWAYS needs to tell us where he's going first, his response was "Well, Shorty knew where I was!".
Josh has passed on his love of riding ATV's to the boys; he's enjoyed riding motorcycles and 4-wheelers since he was little. Even the motorcycle accident when he was a teenager, which caused him to have paralyzed vocal cords, didn't stop him from riding or hinder his love of riding. I'm so glad that we have the 4-wheelers for our boys to learn to ride and the space for them to ride them often!
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