Ballensky's 2011 Newsletter

Hawaii Farm Tour

2011 started in a grand way with Mike and Darlene spending two weeks of January touring four islands in Hawaii on a farm tour and now wishing they were back there. It was hard to get back to reality, but for Darlene it was tax time again. It proved to be a very demanding year and she was totally relieved when she got to slow down in May. For Mike, the winter involved trying to race everyone to the elevator with a load of wheat before they filled up within a couple of days. Then the wait was on to hear when the next train arrived to empty the grain from the elevator. Then the race was on again for a couple more days. It was a long winter...also because of the snow and cold. Mike was very happy not to have cows to feed.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Renters House at Hathaway

It started raining and snowing the last day of March and didn't stop until June 15th, leaving 16+ inches of moisture and much devastation. The irrigated hay fields on the river were flooded twice. Then the field that Mike thought he had saved by building a dike after the last 100-year flood, started dying out too because of the high water table under the alfalfa. The one alfalfa cutting that was baled was so poor that the hay is going for a give-away price. You couldn't get in the fields to plant any spring crops and the winter wheat that looked so promising became diseased from too much moisture and humid days. Even though Mike recognized the problem immediately and had it sprayed (some fields twice because the chemical only worked for so long); when harvest arrived, the yields showed substantial loss from the disease.

The Silver Lining in the Clouds

Starting in May, Damian through Ballensky Trucking, managed to secure a job hauling bagged fly ash from Billings, MT to Williston, ND for the oil fields. It is six days a week for a daily log of 640 miles over a 13 to 15 hour day. And then fairly soon he got a second load and for a couple weeks in November he had three daily loads going. Not being able to do anything on the farm with all the rain, this turned into a golden opportunity for Mike and Damian. Because of where we live, the opportunity is available. They put in a long day, but are home every night. Mike was glad to get away from the farm and Damian wanted to spend more time there. Consequently, Damian is gradually doing more of the farm work, in addition to the daily maintenance on the trucks and trailers and Mike just enjoys getting away from it...and he is hoping to save the farm after its devastating year. Right now, Damian has a driver in his truck and is enjoying being home after trucking for two years.

Darlene's 60th Birthday 11-11-11

If you have to turn sixty, Darlene loved her date and it was granddaughter Athena's sixth birthday, but she would not advise doing it. She has definitely slowed down along with the younger Mike. The intention is the same, but not as much gets accomplished. At this time it's pretty frustrating, but she is just going to have to learn to live with it and not try to accomplish as much. Its been such a strange and busy year, but Mike keeps saying "It will get better." Okay, but Darlene is still waiting...

Jason's 10-22-11 "Grand" Wedding

Jason and his fiancee had decided on a 10-22-11 wedding in the Grand Canyon because of his love for the area. They found a working guest ranch in the remote North Rim area of the Grand Canyon, the Bar Ten. Because of Jason's connections to the Grand Canyon, they received permission to hold a wedding ceremony on Toroweap Overlook, 3000 vertical feet above the Colorado River. Mike and Darlene flew into Saint George where Jason and Tam's California caravan picked them up and they bumped and bounced 70 miles south to the ranch on a dirt road for high clearance vehicles. To reach the Toroweap Overlook from the ranch on the day of the wedding, they had to travel three hours over an equally rough road where the flower girl who had never been carsick managed to throw up on her dad's pants. The journey has come to be called the "Road to Hell." However, it was very much worth it and the wedding ceremony was beautiful there. After sandwiches, toasting, and exploring, everyone returned to the Bar Ten for the wedding supper. It was home for everyone the next day, as Jason and his wife had to return to San Diego before jumping on their plane for a honeymoon in New York City.

Molly's Surprise 11-1-11 Wedding

Mike and Darlene's favorite daughter Molly decided not to tell her parents that she was getting married. She and Ryan Moyer married themselves at the Courthouse in Glenwood Springs, Colorado where they live, after school was done for the day. The family did not know of it until November 21st when a postcard arrived in the mail, the same day she flew into Billings for Thanksgiving vacation. She has been living with Ryan for a few years. They had spent a winter working at Mt. Hood and then guiding in Oregon for a summer before they returned to Glenwood Springs in August 2010 where Molly resumed her 8th grade math teaching position in Newcastle. Ryan bought a whitewater rafting business there. Molly works as a guide for him during the summer and he works in the ski business during the winter. The family has reasoned that they got married so that Molly could use Ryan's business connection to get a free ski pass and he married her to get the health insurance coverage...and maybe they're planning to have kids, but the family will be the last to know!

The Arrival of Damian and Amber's First Child on 11-21-11

Damian and Amber had their 1st child and our 4th granddaughter at the end of an exact 40 week pregnancy. She is Jade Ann and weighed in at 7 lbs, 5oz. We think there is something wrong because she is so laid-back. She cannot be a Ballensky, but she sure is a cutie when she isn't sleeping. Amber is on maternity leave from her Medical Assistant job until February when she plans to go back part time. The baby is so easy Damian thinks that maybe he can babysit until Darlene finishes tax season and gets that honor. It'll be fun to finally have a granddaughter that lives close enough to see more than once or twice a year.

Troy, Ashley and Hallie in 2011

Troy's BLM firefighting work involved three trips to Texas and one to New Mexico before their regular fire season started in Pocatello. Ashley's home health care company kept losing patients and she started job hunting. Immediately after Jason's wedding, she started a new job as one of the registered nurses at the Fort Hall Indian Health Services which serves the ambulatory health care needs of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the Northwestern Band of Shoshoni. Its a ten minute commute and she absolutely loves it. Their one-year old daughter Hallie has been in day care since June and would rather be there than home. She loves the other kids and is a real character. Daycare starting teaching her sign language, which she uses on her parents...who don't understand her!!

A Collage of 2011 Happenings (clicking on picture will enlarge it and show caption)

Links to Other Pages

Wedding Pictures Tamara Posted:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=tok2tam&target=ALBUM&id=5673021969622158833&authkey=Gv1sRgCOOy7vCgkZLjkQE&feat=emai

Wedding Pictures Posted by Photography:
http://www.blog.brandonkowallis.com/?p=316

Pictures of College Friend Posted by Darlene (link has to be copied and pasted in address bar):
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/share/p=575121315851740341/l=3429543028/g=2599573028/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/campaignName=ShareeNewReg_30FreePrints_2010Feb/otsc=SYE/otsi=SANR

Pictures of Hawaii Posted by Darlene (link has to be copied and pasted in address bar):
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/fe/l=en_US/p/Organizer/AlbumID=3099867028/a=2599573028/invalidateAlbumCache=true/s_c=0/s_otsc=SYE/s_otsi=SANR/s_ev20=ShareeNewReg_30FreePrints_2010Feb/s_se=FDR/s_pt=PSP,REP,MMB,DMB,HRS,PRE/s_st=RegReqNu/s_cmpg=ShareeNewReg_30FreePrints_2010Feb#state={%22pl%22%3A{%22uc%22%3A2%2C%22aid%22%3A3099867028%2C%22vp%22%3A%22g%22%2C%22sb%22%3A5}%2C%22ovm%22%3A{%22v%22%3A%22s%22}}

Pictures of Flowers in Hawaii (link has to be copied and pasted in address bar):
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/fe/l=en_US/p/Organizer/AlbumID=3020902028/a=2599573028/invalidateAlbumCache=true/s_c=0/s_otsc=SYE/s_otsi=SANR/s_ev20=ShareeNewReg_30FreePrints_2010Feb/s_se=FDR/s_pt=PSP,REP,MMB,DMB,HRS,PRE/s_st=RegReqNu/s_cmpg=ShareeNewReg_30FreePrints_2010Feb#state={%22pl%22%3A{%22uc%22%3A2%2C%22aid%22%3A3020902028%2C%22vp%22%3A%22g%22%2C%22sb%22%3A5}%2C%22ovm%22%3A{%22v%22%3A%22s%22}}