It's roundup time!

    Roundup time is one of my favorite times of the year. Not only is the weather usually perfect, with cool temperatures, but the ranch is a perfect setting for working the animals and having fun at the same time. The corrals are near the river where the kids can fish and swim and the ranch is far enough away from home that we have an excuse to set up tents and act like were in the wilderness on a camping trip. This year started out terrible with no rain but the monsoon season was great so it ended on a positive note. We worked over six hundred animals, so for me it was much more work then spending time with the kids, but it was great. Next year we expect over eight hundred animals. Due to the size of the ranch, the roundup took about ten days with nine hired cowboys. Over all, we had a blast, especially the kids.

    I just had a brain fart and to change the subject here, I noticed that most of the bloggers (including me) who used to blog nearly every other day, have slowed down to posting once a month or longer. What's up with that Lafe? (speaking to myself)
I have a fb page and a webpage and this blog to upkeep so I have an excuse...hmm...not!
I also noticed that all of my blogging friends no longer visit my blog, waaaah, boohoo, poor me. As you can tell I'm feeling sorry for myself even though I know it's 100% my fault.

    Now for some fuel for the mind. If you want humor. If you want to laugh out loud. If you want some serious comedy. If you want a peek into the innocent minds of children, then you must read my book Kids Who Tell It Like It Is. You wont be disappointed.

Now that my friends, is  a little fuel for the mind. Good day folks.

The Harvest.

This week I will finally be done harvesting and thrashing my chiltepin peppers. Now, since it is a new venture, I need to find some buyers. Last year at the pecan convention there was a buyer from China asking about chiltepin, so I figure to try and contact him somehow. Chiltepin is the second most expensive spice in the world today and is apparently in high demand so I shouldn't have a problem....fingers crossed.

Here is a pic of some chiltepin drying on my front porch;-)

On a different note, THANKSGIVING is right around the corner. It's our biggest celebration of the year. Only this time it's not going to be the same:-((  
At least half of the normal family and friends can't make it this year, so needless to say, our normal huge thanksgiving bash will be simmered down to a small party...boohoo.
There will still be the big dinner and lots of outdoor sports. We're still having the dance and talent show, but no carnival or quad ride:-(
After the holiday weekend it's off to the ranch for roundup time! Everyone is welcome so bring food, tents, fishing poles, camping gear, cameras, sombreros. I'll supply the horses, saddles and rodeo entertainment.
It's amazing how time goes by so fast. It seems like only last week we were celebrating thanksgiving.

My book is finally published, hooray!

My first book, Kids Who Tell It Like It Is has been published and is available on all digital ebooks at Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes Noble. 
This book presents more than two hundred humorous situations from the family of author Lafe Langford and from families around the globe.

This honest work will tickle your funny bone by opening your eyes to the bright, beautiful and often hilarious views of a child. Here is the link.

Kids Who Tell It Like It Is, an Ebook by Lafe Langford 

                                                                              

2012...Is the Year of Crisis!

2012...Remember that date folks. Because that's the year it's all going down, down, down. There will be a worldwide economic collapse starting with the good o'l USA. This address will take you to a video that will shock you and also warn you of the coming crisis it 2012. Just type it in your address bar and prepare to be amazed. This same economist predicted correctly the last crisis in 08.
www.AftershockNow.com

This is my favorite time of the year, harvest season. Besides the fall colors and the cool haunting winds, it's harvest time! For the last two weeks I've been harvesting my crop of Chiltepins. For those of you who don't know what a chiltepin is I will post a picture of them here. Chiltepin are called the "Mother of all Chile" they are a small round and very hot chile pepper about the size of a pea. They grow in the wild only and are native to Texas and northern Sonora Mexico. For the last couple years, a cousin has grown a small patch of chiltepin successfully, so this year I decided to try my luck at it. I bought seed at about forty dollars a pound and planted fifty thousand plants in between my pomegranate trees. The crop did exceptionally well and as of today, I will finish harvesting them. I have them all out on large plastic tarps drying right now. Online, they are the second most expensive spice on the planet, which is good for us I guess. The chiltepin is not a very popular chile, but it is up and coming and soon to be in great demand as even buyers from China are over here trying to buy it.

Last winter a record frost killed all the wild harvest, so this year we expect the price to soar even much higher than it is now.
Have a wonderful year folks.
Just more fuel for the mind.

   Out of EIGHT daughters, my third daughter Michelle will be the first to get married. Her wedding will be here at our place on the 8th of October 2011.

  I have been asked several times now by family members, "How does it feel to be losing a daughter" or "Are you feeling sentimental now that your daughter is leaving" or "is it sad to have to give your daughter away?"
 
   I just figure it's all part of life. You grow up, get married, have kids. They grow up, get married, have kids. Come on folks, it's the circle of life, there's nothing sad about it, that's what life is all about, it's a joyous occasion!

  So let's jump over that stick, eat some barbecue and celebrate;-)

Thoughts for Reflection

What is life all about?

Is it about focusing your entire life on climbing the ladder of success and wealth?

Is it about spending all your time and energy seeking fame and worldly praise?

Is life one continuous party?

Is it all about sports and your favorite sports heros?

Are any of the above, virtuous, or admirable qualities?

Name one person who successfully achieved the above and died, or is still living for that matter, a happy and fulfilled person, surrounded with true friends and a loving family.

A big problem with relentlessly seeking wealth is, (1) You inevitably step and grind on others to achieve your goals. (2) You invariably neglect your family and friends. (3) You are stressed out and unhappy, unless you are sleeping;-)

The problem with a continuous party is, (1) You normally acquire some very bad and addictive habits. You never seem fulfilled in life and you never can seem to make ends meet. And much more won't mention.

The downside of being a sports fan is (1) You are worshipping idols, which is forbidden in the Bible. (2) Once again, you neglect your family in favor of playing sports, or watching your favorite sports heros.

After years of seeking some of these "virtues" I have come to the conclusion that life is (1) Not about the above, but about family and friends.
(2) It's about being content with what you have and seeking joy and happiness.

To really find true joy and true friends, one must give of his means and of himself. That is the fundamental example Christ gave in his lifetime on earth. He gave of himself.

Now that my friends, is fuel for the mind.
Goodnight.

The US government should outlaw golf clubs. They darn near killed my kid!:)

My son Timothy, age nine, was playing golf with his best friend Andre  yesterday and it turned into a disaster! They were taking turns hitting the ball when Andre swung and missed. Here comes Tim to take his turn when Andre swings again and hits Tim point blank smack in the face, knocking two front teeth completely out of his mouth and one other shoved back into his mouth. I was at the ranch and came home to find my wife ready and waiting to leave for the state capitol Hermosillo five hours away where our dentist lives.
    We could only find one tooth, thankfully it was the front one. We put it in a special solution on ice and were sitting at the dentist office five hours later. Tim had to have surgery but the tooth was replanted and he is now doing fine....minus one tooth:( The dentist said when Tim is fifteen, he can get braces and close the gap of the missing tooth.

The bill.....$1000.00   in the States it would have been five-six grand so can't complain I guess.

My new webpage.

http://wp.me/1tOJM      Here it the link to my new webpage I'm setting up. Come on over and check it out.  Just copy and paste in your address bar.

Plenty of wild life lurking on the ranch.

    We caught this bad boy on the game camera the other day. Didn't know we had bears on the ranch, but proof is in the picture, wow. We have several game cameras set up in various locations and have caught pictures of many different varieties of animals like, deer, mountain lion, bobcat, lemurs, turkey, bear, coyote, wild pig, raccoon and of course our cows. We also have two pics of an extremely rare animal who's name I can't mention for fear of reprisal from the EPA, but believe me, there are only one or two of these animals known to be living in the USA.
 
   At this time, northern Mexico and southern USA is going through one of the worst droughts in history. Just talked to a neighbor rancher the other day and he said he is losing two or three cows a day to heatstroke! So far we have been blessed to have only lost about five cows. But more hot weather is to come before the rains arrive...if they ever do. Pray for rain folks. I know in most other parts of the country they are getting too much rain so I guess we can't complain too much. A twenty five year drought is way long enough though, let's get back to normal please...

Internet at last!

After months and months of absence, I have finally got satellite internet installed...woot woot!
A lot has happened since I fell off the planet, but for now let's just be happy I'm back;)

I'm busy reading Jaime Buckley's book called Wanted Hero and when I get done I'll post my review of it. Meanwhile my book, Kids Who Tell It Like It Is, is getting much closer to being published, so I'll cross my fingers there.

Vacation with TEN kids...

Decided to go visit my oldest daughter in Salt Lake City so we put the camper on the truck and loaded up the family and headed north. Just about an hour out of Phoenix the truck decided it didn't want to run anymore and just lost all power, coming to a stop on the side of the road. I turned it off and we sat in silence a few minutes contemplating on what to do next. Finally I turned the key on and it started back up but was running quite rough. We turned around and headed back towards Phoenix but Taylor convinced me to turn back around and try to stretch our luck. Well, we hobbled into Vegas with the truck way under powered but still running. I drove down the strip to show the kids all the billion dollar casinos and my old stomping grounds. They were shock-ed and amazed. By now it was about two in the morning and we decided to keep on trucking. Four hours later in Cedar City the truck flat out died but I managed to coast into a Auto Zone. Here I bought a new fuel filter and changed it. This helped out a little and the truck started back up but still was running on only four or five cylinders. We pulled into Salt Lake and the next day I took it down to the Ford dealer. Walking into the service department a service tech came up and said, "How can I help you sir?" I said, "I'm looking for someone I can bribe," Motioning with his hand toward his cubicle, he said, "Come right this way sir." We went in and he shut the door. "So what do you need," he asked. "Basically, I bought the worst truck Ford ever made and I"m sick of dumping money into it and I'm just wondering if you could run this through the service department on someone else's warranty or something like that," I said with a smirk.
    "Weeeeell, if the truck was a few years newer I could help you but ever since this depression, Ford has put the screws to all the dealers and won't allow us to do any warranty work without proof. But...I can line you up with a mechanic that works really cheap." So he calls over a mechanic and we walk outside to discuss it. He proceeds to tell me he can work on his own time at the dealer and use all their tools and get Ford parts under wholesale prices and that he would charge me thirty bucks an hour instead of one hundred  ten bucks that the dealer charges. I said "Go for it," and he had it fixed and done the next day for twelve hundred bucks instead of three grand the dealer would have charged. Four injectors were shot, plus the fuel pump. Believe me, while there I was mighty tempted to trade my rig in on a new 2011 gas model. Folks take a lesson from this. Don't ever buy a diesel truck unless you are going to use it for what it was made for......towing large loads. First of all diesels are 8 grand more then gas pickups and all diesel parts are way more expensive and diesel fuel is now 50 cents a gal more then gas! So, if your are going to make money with your pickup, then by all means buy a new Ford diesel (not chevy or dodge..heh) and and giv'er ell man.
    Now with that all behind us we've been here for a over a week. Of course the weather was terrible during the whole week with snow, snow, snow. The Wasatch  Mountain now have a record amount of snow totaling fifty feet deep! Should have went skiing but we didn't. Maybe next time.
   Today is the first beautiful day with great temperatures and full sun shining down on us, and we're LEAVING! waaaaaaaah.......
   One very positive thing happened while here was I meet with a friend who is going to build me a website and help publish my book. FINALLY, hooray!

Borrowing from Mom's house :(

   I know it definitely looks like I fell off the edge of the planet, but I"M BACK! for at least a post or two. I decided to take advantage of my dear Mother's Internet for now.
    A lot has happened since I last posted so I'll try and catch up a little here. I have been very busy with my orchard and ranch. We have had only about 2 inches of rain since Jan of 2010! Unbelievably dry. We normally get about 16 inches a year. The July-August monsoon season didn't rain at all, neither did it rain with the Dec-Jan winter rainy season. So, the river didn't even get muddy, much less flood. And now, with the dry weather, the cattle are starting to show it. We have been moving them around the ranch, mainly down in the river area. So far this season we've had over 120 calves born, so at least that's going good.
   To make matters worse we had a cold spell a month or so back and it got down to 11 degrees! That is the coldest temperature ever recorded here, and what a disaster it made. I lost over 1200 pomegranate trees! My brother Aaron lost as many or more. It froze all the vegetable crops in northern Mexico and prices have doubled already. The normal coldest temp here is about 25 degrees. I have to say, the weather is going NUTS. I know it sounds like I'm complaining but I'm not. When I see what's happening in Japan I count my blessings and pray for them, wow it is sad.
    I want to give my condolences to my good friend Thomas in Dallas who just had another relative killed in the violence in Juarez Mexico. That is so, so sad and it makes my blood boil when I think of the dastardly murderers who kill to get gain. They are sick bastards! I'm sorry for your loss, my friend. May God bless the family of the innocent victim.
   Good night all.