Family Hayride

Every year for as long as I can remember, my Aunt Merry and Uncle Monty have put on a family hayride out at their ranch. We all ride the wagon, loaded with bales of hay, out to a predetermined location, where the hay was unloaded and arranged in a circle, where a campfire was made in the center. Dinner was laid out on the wagon and we'd sit around the fire, telling stories, visiting, and singing songs. After True and Andrea were married, we've enjoyed having the guitar and fiddle as part of the tradition. The kids usually start a game of hide and seek somewhere out in the dark, and we all stay til late, enjoying tradition and family.
When I was very little, it was only one wagon and he had Clydesdales pulling it. Now, they use two wagons linked together and it's pulled by the truck. After I got married and moved away, we missed some years, but it's so nice being back in the area to attend things like this. This year was a little different. I think it was probably due to the fact that there were a few new babies this year, and Grandpa Pearce has a harder time in the cold weather, but we all loaded up onto the wagon and rode out to the field. We made a few loops around the field for tradition, and headed back to the old red barn. Instead of sitting around the campfire, we sat on haybales in the barn and had a little more light and warmth. After dinner Aunt Merry started things off by passing around a cup of M&M's, everyone taking two different colors. Depending on what color you had determined what you shared with the group. Yellow: Something funny, Green: Favorite gift, Red: A tender moment, Blue: A lifelong dream, and Brown: A piece of advice. It was a lot of fun to hear from everyone and we sang songs until it was time to go, then Uncle Monty drove everyone on the wagon back home Some people requested that it be held in the barn every year, but I'm not sure what will happen. I think a small part of me would miss the way things were, but I also know that no matter where we have it, I still love going and sharing that experience with family.

Dad and Tony, waiting for the party to start

It was also Dad's Birthday

The first wagon

The second wagon

Inside the barn during dinner

Grandpa telling us a Bear Story

Music and Fun: True and Andrea were great!

Grandpa and I

Brinley and I on the wagon

The Fruits of our Labor

Last Saturday Tony and I went to his parents house and spent most of the day Canning Peaches and Pears with his Mom. She's an expert canner so we appreciated the help. We did about 30 Quarts of Peaches and 30 Pears. There's something satisfying, if not beautiful, having them all lined up on my pantry shelf, with the colors glowing.

My Handsome Husband and my Cute Sister

We went out to dinner with my family a few weeks ago for my little sister's birthday. She received her own camera and snapped a few shots. I like this one of Tony so I had to borrow it. Bonnie left for school a few days later and we miss her.

Dry Spell and no Posts

I've noticed that around this time of your the posts are slowing down and lacking. Of course, I'm one of the worst :-) But I do love catching up with friends and family and love reading everyone else's.
Normally, I really don't have a lot to post about, let alone any pictures even though I've found my camara, but lately I have new news (no- I'm not pregnant) I'm still hesitant as to how much info I'll share over this website, so for those of you who actually read this comment, you can decide if you want to know more. I've made a separate blog (Our Hope) for those who are interested. If not, enjoy the occasional comments on this main page which I'm still keeping. Thanks

Ok, Found it !

It was on top of my sisters fridge where I had apparently put it to keep it out of the reach of Logan, who loves to push buttons. Now where did I put the USB cord....

No Camera, no Pics

I can't find my digital camara :-( No fun to post of I don't have pics. I wonder where I put it...

Backyard Dreams

So I've been begging Tony all Spring if we could PLEASE plant our back lawn and put the sprinklers in, and the back fence up. The biggest problem there has been that when they built our neighborhood, they scraped away all the good top soil and left only hardpan. So we had some dirt brought in last Fall and there it has sat ever since because we didn't have anything to spread it around with. One step at a time, right? So yesterday, we got together with my BIL Zack who has a truck and needs some yard work done, and he went and picked up a little tractor that my parents agreed to lend us. I knew it would be next week before we could get to the backyard because Tony was sleeping off his graveyard shift from the night before.

But, I came home from running errands yesterday and found Zack in my backyard, pushing and scooping around the dirt! I was so surprised and so excited too! What a sweet guy! He hadn't even started on his own yard yet and came of to help me with ours. I'm so blessed! So here are the before and after pictures, with hopefully more to come! We still need to finish all the leveling and plot where we want the sprinklers to go, etc, but it's a start! Thank you Zack!