I (Dani) have often thought of writing a blog but have never had the time. I still don't so this morning at 4 am I decided I would start. What better time than the present!
This first post will simply be a "short" version of Daltons and my adventure in life.
Dalton came to LATI for college for welding in 2007 and being a ranch kid, he had to bring his horse. He was referred to my folk's place for boring "Pedro". I wasn't there the first time he and his roommate stopped by to check out the facility my folks owned. I did hear all about that visit from my sister! The "hot" college guys who had stopped by and one was going to keep his horse at our place.
Being so into horses and ice skating back then, I was just like "oh cool". But come August when Dalton stopped to settle in Pedro.....
I can still see it so clearly! This tall skinny man with a determined stride walking his jet-black horse to a pen as my sister and I drove up the driveway. All I could think was "DANG he is HOT!"
As life went on I found myself in a little pickle as I really liked Dalton but so did my sister. Thankfully, Dalton only had eyes for me (silly me, I just didn't know that yet). Then one day Dalton brought his roommate over to hang out while Dalton and I rode. My sisters eyes were caught! On Dalton's roommate! Crisis averted!!!!! Dalton and I had been on a few dates but now I felt like I could relax more.
Fast forward to 2009, I was going to graduate high school! I was deciding between LCCC in Cheyenne, WY or SDSU in Brookings, SD. Dalton, my mom and I went on a long drive to Cheyeene to complete the entrance exam into their equine programs. I got in with a FULL ride scholarship! So of course, I choose LCCC. I prayed Dalton would follow me there and he sure seemed to want to go but we had to have "that" conversation. I was so nervous, although I have no clue why!
Needless to say, we found our way to Cheyenne together. We lived in hotels/motels for a few weeks and as school started, I made some friends. One of those friends was from MN so we hit it off and she and her husband asked if we wanted to stay with them till we found something to rent. It was a true blessing!
We stayed there for a good while till we found a house we could afford to rent. In April of 2010 Dalton asked me to marry him! I said yes, if you couldn't figure that one out. ;)
We were married in August of that year on the family ranch. It was a celebration people talked about for years to come!
For my last year of college we moved to another house and barley saw each other with my school schedule and his work schedule. So, when I graduated we talked about doing something together again. He found a ranch hand job in Colony, WY.
In May of 2011 we moved north. The Jensen Ranch was a wonderful place for us to live and connect after college! We were able to work together almost every day. I worked mainly in the office of the ranch but was able to get out and tag calves, doctor, and make hay with Dalton.
In 2012 we needed another change, but mainly a pay increase if we were going to start a family. So Dalton and I began job hunting. I wasn't long and God put the perfect opportunity in front of us. Dalton's former welding instructor gave him a call and said LATI was in need of an instructor for welding. So we packed up once again and headed back to Watertown.
Dalton started teaching welding in the fall of 2012 and I found a job in the kitchen at LATI, not wanting to be off schedule with Dalton ever again.
We found a little acreage to buy just outside Hayti, SD. It was a perfect fixer-upper for Dalton and I to work on.
Again, God works wonders! LATI had just started an Equine Management Program that year as well. I finished one year in the kitchen and moved right into teaching and being in charge of that Equine Management Program!
In 2015 we had our first baby boy! Our hearts were full, and life was rolling beautifully!
In 2017 LATI decided to shut down the Equine program and I was going to loose my teaching job. Dalton had been talking about wanting to get cattle and start ranching again so we looked at some land around our area but it was way to expensive. Then we went home to the family ranch for Christmas and learned of a ranch nearby that was for sale. We looked at it, it was really nice but we didn't have our ducks lined up just year. So the planning for "the ranch" started. We came up with at least 50 different cash flows and finally one looked like it would work! We needed cattle AND goats to make it work! So we sold our first house and bought our very own ranch in the fall of 2018! We moved west yet again...
We also welcomed our second son that fall! It was a FULL year! We bought our cows with the money we made on that first house and then we started really collecting goats!
We purchased a few herd dispersals from all over the country and started tuning into what we needed our operation to be- good gains with minimal input. We are always tweaking things but it is so much fun!
Dalton took a teaching position in Belle Fourche in 2018 as well. So I was in charge of the day to day operations of the ranch. It was a lot with our first ranch, two kids, and running a business (selling goats). Dalton worked two jobs up in Belle Fourche. Plus, baby number three came!
For three years we kept up this crazy pace! Then God literally made us slow down...
Dalton was is a horrible single vehicle accident.
Dalton had his guardian angel flying with him for sure! He walked away with just a broken collar bone. The EMT's all thought he would be dead when they drove up. We are FOREVER grateful to God for this miracle!
After this event we decided Dalton would finish one more year in Belle Fourche and then make sure he could be home and ranch to be with me and the kids fulltime.
So, we made that a reality by me finding a job as a paraprofessional at the country school where our kids go to school. It has been a blessing working just a mile down the road and being able to teach again!!!
So here we are a few years later, Dalton ranching full-time and me working fulltime. You would think that would keep us busy enough but I decided to take on another project!
Check out the future blog on GPM or Goat Production Management!
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