The Barn

The Barn

Oh I have so many memories of the barn!! I remember when it was just the barn without the "wings" on it.  Mom and Dad's room was the upstairs part with the window facing the field.  The boys and I shared the other half of the "hay loft." My bed was right against the railing that went down the stairs,  I remember waking up one night thinking I had spiders and snakes crawling all over me and yelling and crying for someone to get them off me! Scary.  I always used to go into Mom and Dad's room and pick up Tyanna out of her crib after her naps.  I didn't like Mom to let her cry and always told Mom I would hold Tyanna if she would just let me go and get her.  

 

One night while Mom and Dad were gone, I can remember hearing the granary door creaking, it was so loud it totally freaked me out, I thought someone was out there moving the door and thought for sure they would come to the house next! We always used to look out Mom and Dad's window and watch that huge timber wolf try and coax Luke to come out past the sewer, also watching the Moose eat the hay out of the hay stacks.  Dad would go out on the front porch and shoot his gun and they would just stare at him, not even move.  Some days we were not even allowed to go out and play because the moose would get pretty aggressive.  

 

Mom and I spent many days in the fall canning, canning, canning, for some reason I remember that we always did tons of tomatoes! It was heaven when I got a new room downstairs when we finished the addition.  The door always creaked and I remember it being pretty cold in the winter.  One Christmas Mom had us all stand on the old brown couch and totally convinced us that we could see Santa flying through the sky in his sleigh.  She could "see" him so clearly that I have a perfect picture in my mind of Santa that night.

 

The old brown carpet in the Living room. The plywood walls in the addition. The kitchen window looking into mom and dads "new" bedroom".  The white weasel which always lived underneath the stairs in the pantry, that was a scary place!  Then when we turned it into the actual barn, I remember steers running up the stairs to get away from us as we tried to chase them out.  One actually jumping out the hay loft window. Didn't there used to be a porch on the front?  Aaron peeing in Mom's cowboy boot while sleep walking, that was HILARIOUS!  Aunt Renetta watching us while Mom and Dad were in the Philipines, and we all had the chicken pox! Oh so many memories, I may think of more later! Teija

 

Before the barn was a barn, it was actually our house. I don't remember living in it, I was two when Dad built the new one, but I do remember my brothers saying, "Kayla our house is going to be a barn." I didn't believe them and remember being so mad at them for saying that there were going to be cows and horses and pigs in our house. I was so confused and thought I was going to have to live -literally- in the barn, which was actually our house, with the animals. Kayla

When I was probably five or six Ezra and Aaron dared me to go sit on our milk cow. We were standing right there by that fence post and they kept egging me on. I told them she would stand up, and chase me. They assured me that she was asleep and I was too little for her to even notice I was on her. I eventually did it. Scared outta my mind, I crept up behind her, (she was really tame, and   probably was sleeping). I hopped on and she stood up super fast and I fell straight the ground, and then ran as fast as I could to the fence. I thought she would charge me and kill me or something. I ran to my brothers who were laughing their heads off at me. I remember hating them SO bad. Kayla

Milking the cow was a chore. Miss Molly though. Molly was a steady girl. Offered more than any other girl at the time. She was kind (sometimes moody), warm, loving, ate less than many others, would come when she was called, didn't mind being locked up, etc.

I still hate udder butter...Especieally when it was cold. Nothing like milking and getting blood on your hands and in the milk.This milk tastes like crap. Never new why...When it was really cold I would put my hands in Molly's leg pit (like arm pit, but legs. When it was really bad I stuck me head in there. Should have worn a touque.   How many cows died in there? No problem though, just tie em up to the ski-doo and put em in the dead pile.  Fighting with Stephen and Jessie was always fun. Too many memories there.

Also before my mission the power line fell down...how does that happen??  I remember standing on the top step of the wooden ladder, on the fully hoisted tractor bucket, on a frog on the bottom of the lake. We used a pully and rope to hoist the line back in place. I thought I was going to die.Miss butchering cows out by the barn. I was so cool to see dad shoot them and cut the necks. It was fun to skin them and stuff. Cutting dad's hand was fun too. I felt bad. Renetta was nice to help out.

Break up was fun. Working on the skidders was always fun. Pulling wrenches with dad was fun. {Pressure washing was fun, can still taste grease and dirt in my mouth.  One time dad and I were working out there and I smashed my head 3 times within a few minutes. I kicked a bucket from the barn almost to the house, I swear.  How about the time Ez and I were fighting about who carried the milk to the house. I pushed him and he grabbed my head and took it to his knee.

Trampoline basketball was awesome. Wild windstorms were fun.  I miss the stars. Coming in from milking in the morning and seeing the stars, or at night. Also, taking the garbage out to the garbage bin, box, what did we call it? Going out was sometimes so nice because the house was so hot. Then going out and seeing the stars on those cold nights was nice.  Also the northern lights, seeing them from the house was nice. Aaron

Obviously all the cow milking and doctoring. One time a cow died in the middle of the night and it was so cold, she literally like froze with her leg sticking out through a couple stall railing things in the barn. Dad had to saw her leg off, cause even with trying to pull her out with the tractor he couldn't get her out without majorly damaging the stall/barn wall. Kayla

Sometimes the snow would get so high on the side of the barn from Dad plowing,we could almost walk right up to the roof. I remember climbing up there and jumping off into the snow banks. Snow also reminds me, sometimes it would drift so bad and high that the cows would walk over the fences and get out.There were a few times we had to spend the night at my Aunt Eileen's, because we couldn't get in the driveway from all the snow. Kayla

I love these pictures. cows, horses, more cows, some dead cows, butchering cows, feeding cows, more dead cows. Driving the tundra down and up the banks of the old sewer. Playing out front as kids. fixing things outside. I can picture the skidders in the background, guards torn out and helping Dad fix them and wash them. Also awesome games of 500 up with the cousins. I remember thinking Dad could hit a baseball so far when we were young. We had the pitching thing dad made and we would set the pitching machine up and hit the yellow balls. Playing basketball on the trampoline dunking pretending we were Michael Jordan or Shawn Kemp. Also we would pick the absolutely rainiest, coldest, windiest, day in the spring to clean up the yard, and trees and stuff around the house. Kayla burning herself in the fire (never to be outdone by Aaron though). I remember playing out there sword fighting or something and Aaron fell in old gas in a bucket and he got it in his eyes. I felt really bad and cried out there. Sweet sledding and king of the tube around the house and the snow piles. The old tractors, our terrible garden and swans flying so low it felt like you could just reach out and touch them. I also remember having Tyannas? Birthday out there and Grandpa Gwilliam was there, she got this pink three-wheeler thing I think. The cats in the old swing set, dead beef hanging from them and pulley procupine quills out of quincey's legs (I thought Dad was the bravest person ever). Mom yelling from the house that lunch was ready and having awesome sandwiches or something for us to eat when we were butchering or working out there. Overall best memories are working and playing! Two things we did a lot but made the best memories. Ezra

Love this place! So many times milking the cows! Molly, Millie,Big,Rose,Girl Hobbles,. All the times playing hide and seek in the barn as kids! There would always be Hay in the loft and we would find the cats up there.I remember just slighty when we lived in there just the living rm where we had the christmas tree and stuff. I remember moving from the Barn to the new house,carrying boxes over it felt like such a long walk.A place I thought was creepey was the little storage area under the stairs mom would have us get stuff outta there and for some reason I thought it was scary. Tyanna

Always having some type of farm equipment out on the lawn. Dad would be fixing it on the grass there and mom would yell at him for spill the oil/gas whatever and killing the grass. Hauling those graineries with dad behind the GMC and making the cement they stand on. Writing my name and hand print in the cement when it was wet with kayla and tyanna. Definitely Saucering around the barn yard with kayla. Jumping off the roof into the snow pile. Donuts on the fourwheerer on the ice by the barn. Waking up in the morning and seeing all the cows out on the lawn and thinking well... i'm gonna be late for seminary. milking the cows, feeding siliage to the steers when its frozen on the outside and steaming in the middle, then having that yummy smell in your gloves for the rest of their existence. fixing those fences and rigging them with whatever we could find (old gates). dad being really frustrated with the fact that the grain in the graineries weren't getting enough air flow and all the grain was going to go bad. trying to figure out a way to dry it out.  Janae