it is always so nice to return back to the ranch house-the kids pick up right where they left-running around, playing with roy and dale, finding those doll clothes and trunks of barbie dolls. it is like an oasis. i know we bring a chaos with us-so i really appreciate my mom and dad letting us camp there for 4 nights. i'm sure it feels like being on a roller coaster in a tornado-it my take them awhile to recover...
and we are so lucky that visits to the ranch house mean that we also get to spend time with ryan, becky, roy, and dale. it is such a pleasure to watch them all play together-and i've entitled several of these pictures
"why every girl needs an aunt becky"
on saturday we brought home 2 new puppies-ours is Max who is all white and nana's is Truman. Truman has some brown on his ears and the most serious puppy dog eyes you have ever seen.
we took them on a walk-and they had a little too much fun barking at the cows and splashing around in puddles. becky had to herd them back under the fence and when we got them home they promptly fell asleep for hours.
saturday afternoon was so lovely that we couldn't help but staging a little practice photo shoot. my cousin rebecca, who is a quite accomplished photographer, wanted to get some pictures of me-since that doesn't happen very often. i am so grateful to her for capturing some lovely pictures. it was so fun to play around with props and lighting as well as talk about photography-since most people don't want to go on and on about iso and aperature and shutter speed...we are already planning our next class/session/fun time.
we were hoping to get some of all of the kids-but the boys had shed their shirts and looked like something out of lord of the flies and the older girls were not too interested in posing. so we will have to figure out something for next time to get the other kids involved...
remember the thing i said about how everyone needs an aunt becky! the one on the left is one of my favorites
i had this idea for a white sheet on a clothes line, a colorful quilt and a pennant line with cool fabric triangles-it was dreamed up as i looked through a mini-boden catalogue in the middle of the blizzard. we didn't get the triangles cut-so they made some fun babooshkas. we didn't start singing sunrise sunset-but we could have...
sarah's birthday is coming up and she is having a princess themed party.
on sunday we were invited over for lunch to help celebrate my uncle tom's birthday. it was so much fun to be back at that house-where we have celebrated so many occasions with family. my aunt debbie is an amazing host and tom is always so joyful. he fixed his plate and then came out to sit with the kids. happy birthday!
the kids had a great time playing football in the empty lot next to their house-but the real fun was scouring the railroad tracks for treasure. rebecca and john reminisced about the hours they used to spend walking that same track. those were some different days.
it kind of reminded me of the box car children when i first walked out there.
after dinner i headed up to broken arrow to spend some time with my friends thuy and michaele-it was such a treat to get to sit on a couch, hold a sleeping baby and talk for several hours with such long time friends! thank you to nana and becky for making this trip possible!
and not to worry-eventhough we didn't watch selection sunday in full-grant did get his bracket filled out before going to bed :)
and on monday-when the weather turned cold and wintery once more-we took the kids to the oklahoma aquarium in jenks. it was packed-since it was spring break and such a cold day-but i love these shots of the kids in the shark tunnel.
i love these reading pictures-
and on tuesday we returned to the farm-and no matter how great the oasis is-it is a magnet feeling when we start heading home. the farm felt good-and the weather was even cooperating. the girls were hurling themselves down the hills-
i am currently reading the agrarian essays of wendell berry on a recommendation from david mccullough (the author) our family has worked our way through all of his books. brave companions is a collection of stories-and he also includes a speech he gave at a graduation ceremony. in it he lists off books you should read, places you should travel and other great advice. for my dad's birthday i ordered most of his suggestions.
the first essay is called 'native hill' and it talks about really knowing the land in a personal way. i couldn't help but think as the girls were rolling down the same hill that their nana and aunt beth (another amazing aunt!) used to roll down.
and the kids flocked to bobby-
i love that the girls dance on his feet-pure sweetness :)
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