"We found each other half way between our childhood homes. We were both seeking respite after our college years and we each went to Colorado to work on guest ranches." Michael left California, happy at the prospect of a horseback summer, thinking he'd possibly return for graduate school. Dawn left Ohio, not knowing what to expect, not planning much. They met at The Home Ranch, a guest ranch in Clark, north of Steamboat Springs.  
 
  Michael grew up the middle of 3 kids in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Yosemite National Park. He loved their mountain home and spent his days with his horses and dogs, roaming the hills. His roots lay in northeastern New Mexico, where both of his parents were raised and his maternal grandparents ranched between Wagon Mound and Roy.Michael spent summer vacations on that ranch and was deeply influenced by his grandad's life. The legacy never left him.



 Branding in New Mexico
 
After leaving California, the idea of graduate school began to fade as the pull of horses and cattle and mountain campfires grew stronger. "The next years were a wandering, rambling time - from summers in Colorado wrangling and shoeing horses, and packingfor hunters in the fall to months cutting firewood and starting colts back in California; from spending valuable time on my grandparent's ranch to a strange and lonely stint in a traveling country band.
A lot of miles and song material all distilled down to one thing - I wanted a ranching life." From the Home Ranch he moved down the road to the old Murphy Larson Place and a ranch hand job with the Sand Mountain Cattle Company. Michael worked for about two years at the Murphy Larson Place."Those years were just about perfect. I could take my dog Wisdom out irrigating early, then saddle a horse to check cows, fix a little fence then slip over to play some music with "Ken and the Ranch Hand Band" at the Home Ranch in the evening. My relationship with Dawn grew stronger and we started singing together."

Dawn grew up in a suburb just west of Cleveland. The youngest of 8 kids, a lot of love and spoiling came her way. There were no horses or dogs, lots of concrete and asphalt, but her parents instilled a love of God's amazing creation, nonetheless. "We spent much time at Lake Erie and in the Metroparks around Cleveland. Vacations were spent on Kelley's Island or staying in a cabin and hiking in Cook's Forest, PA." For her, there were often thoughts of travel. It began in college, with a semester abroad in Germany. After college, working an office job wasn't fitting the adventure bill. So she started searching "I looked into working on a llama ranch, of all things. The owners there didn't need help, so I looked up "ranch" in the library. I found Kilgore's book on guest ranches and next thing I knew I was getting off a very small plane in Steamboat Springs." The course of life was unexpectedly changed and there was no turning back. While at The Home Ranch, though, another trip was planned - a visit to Papua New Guinea to visit her missionary sister's family and then a trip to New Zealand. "Studying and traveling in Europe was great and I gained a lot of self-confidence, but a third world country opens up something in your heart. One thing that made an impression on me in PNG is that no matter where they live, people don't get numb to pain and hardship just because they are more accustomed to it, stoic as they may seem. I can remember right where I was when I had that thought. A mother may have lost 3 of her 9 children and it was just as painful each time. Her heartache is great. The hardships in our country don't compare and we need to always remember to be thankful for God's provision."

They met during the summer before Dawn left on this trip. Michael was the only person who asked her to bring him something back - she found a little fat bellied wooden man and brought it back for him. Her return to Steamboat was in the middle of the night and Michael was asked to pick her up. She carried malaria home and Michael found THAT exotic. And so the romance began.

Dawn grew up singing. She always sang in church and in high school, she was a part of an award winning jazz choir. In college, she was in choirs and a women's a cappella group. Michael grew up in a musical family. He started with piano, then came banjo, songwriting and guitar. High school band, a country band, always writing, always playing. At The Home Ranch, he was in the campfire and barn dance band.

The Band: Melborne, Randy and Bob with Dawn
"Early on, we never really sang together. We were dating when Michael's brother Melborne came out to record the album 'Live at the Murphy-Larson Place' and Dawn sang backup on that recording. Our relationship, though, was not built on music and we think that is really important."
 
   
Soon after the recording was finished, they had a magical wedding in golden aspens and cottonwoods and became partners in life and partners in music.  
   
 

With Mama Tina
In college, Michael also had wanderlust. He spent a year abroad in Scotland and traveled throughout Europe playing music. "Dawn and I had each looked into the Peace Corps when we were in college and while we were at the Murphy Larson Place, we finally decided to apply. We were accepted and served in the spectacular mountains of Ecuador. After only 4 months, though, we found out Dawn was pregnant. We stayed 3 more months hoping to make a way to stay, but found life would not be peaceful and felt God's hand pulling us home."
 

They returned to the Murphy Larson, but a month after the birth of son Aidan, they found themselves instead on another beautiful ranch south of Kremmling, Colorado, working for Nelson and Neecee Lane. It was a diverse operation with a cow/calf herd, yearlings and hay. Michael was soon foreman and the responsibilities grew as the ranch changed hands and was developed as an exclusive 22-owner ranch.

Nelson and Neecee

"We'd have cattle from 7,700 to 11,500 feet and put up 1000 ton of hay and we kept on doing it while they built roads and buildings and threw marketing parties and took people on tours. It was never dull and I will always be thankful for the great people I worked with." During the six years at this ranch, they had two more children, Ruth and Cole. They were always working on music, playing campfire gigs and for private parties, Michael continuing to write.

For two years, Michael worked on The Nature Conservancy's Matador Ranch grass bank, south of Malta, Montana. Michael worked with a group of successful neighboring ranchers and learned a lot by seeing each one's different approach. Michael was in on the very early stages of what has developed into The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance ranchersstewardshipalliance.org Phillips County was a very special place and they miss a lot of things, especially the people, about small town life.

In December 2004, they made the difficult decision to leave Montana and follow Michael's ranching roots to New Mexico. Michael worked for The Quivira Coalition as Ranch manager on the 36,000 acre Valle Grande Ranch on Rowe Mesa, east of Santa Fe. In July, 2005, they welcomed their 4th child, Eli, to join them on the journey. The ranch is beautiful and many happy memories were made there, but ultimately they decided to move on after 2 years of the 15 mile forest service road, no phone service and the isolation - the closest accessible neighbor was 20 miles. Ask them about the winter of 2007 if you ever get the chance. Snow, helicopters...

Since the first day of spring, 2007, they have been living on the Chico Basin Ranch chicobasinranch.com , east of between Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colorado, where Michael is manager. They are very hopeful for the potential of settling in there long term. The kids are getting older and both they and Michael and Dawn yearn to stay and get to really know a place. It is a beautiful ranch, where family involvement has been very important and for Dawn, even has trees in the yard, lilac bushes, a big dinner bell and a view, at least, of the beloved mountains.

Dawn and Michael are homeschooling their kids and the kids are also getting going in music. Fiddles, piano, mandolins, more guitars... they're all working their way into the family music. It is exciting and fun to get their kids involved in music and to be getting to the stage where they are able to all play music together.



Think of Him in all your ways, and He will smooth your path. Proverbs 3:6