Fun Times Down at the Ranch

All ready to stuff them eggs!

Cuddling up to Tut and Jasmine I'm so relieved that I got my Spring swap package completed and mailed, and I'm excited to get my own package! That was a remarkable experience - it made me really see all the beautiful things that represent Spring. Thanks, Megan, for helping me shop. That doubled the fun! Aiden and Audrey came over for visits with Grandma last week. I always enjoy visits with the grandkids. Tristan came over one day, too. With all the kids, we played with toys and ate, and we made Easter cards, and we stuffed plastic Easter eggs, played with the kitties, found hidden objects, and we got on our big, comfy bed and watched Kiki's Delivery Service, Monsters, Inc., Popeye cartoons, Finding Nemo, and My Neighbor, Totoro. I loooove kids' movies, and wish we could buy all of them on DVD, but we're way behind the curve on that one. At least we have my favorites, which are H. Miyasaki's animated features. They usually have very quiet and imaginative parts that children (and adults) become absorbed with. That makes a nice break from all the busyness of life. Mark and I celebrated our wedding anniversary yesterday. The actual date was the 29th, but we celebrated by going to the store and buying 2 Ann Rule books and 2 Harry Potter DVDs. Yay! And, of course, we said, "I love you," and all that romantic, gushy stuff. ;) It's the last day of March! We've had snow, sleet, and tremendous winds lately. But that didn't stop us from taking Leto and meeting up with the whole family, including Danny's folks, at Bancroft, on Linda's folks' (the Johnsons) big ranch. It was great, even with the weather! I can't find my pictures right now, but Megan put some great ones up on her blog (bakedasia). When I find more I'll post them, but anyway... I didn't know that their place was on the Oregon Trail, and was known as 10-mile spring! They have a natural spring that flows at 55 degrees year-round. The universities come there to look for artifacts, and there are wild geese, ducks, and bald eagles! We all wrapped up and went on a hayride, pulled by a pair of the Johnson's huge draft horses. We didn't go far, but we saw the lay of the land and stopped at their humongous riding arena. Besides stalls, there is a dirt arena that is all inside this enormous building on their property. I could hardly believe it. Later we rode Buddy, Jewel, and Misty around inside. The kids were led around on Misty, an older mare that's very gentle. I rode all three horses, and I rode Buddy by myself for a short while. That was so satisfying! Dallin rode Jewel, the greenest horse, and he had never ridden a horse before in his life! He was relaxed and a natural rider. Jewel was quite good for him; she was even better for Mr. Johnson, when he worked with her. Her expression was one of respect towards him, and he had her working on her neck reining. He intends for her to be his cow horse. Those horses and cattle are so lucky to live there! They have huge pastures with fresh water running through them. It's just beautiful. We all brought food, such as hoagie sandwich ingredients, relish trays, macaroni salad, fancy baked beans, chips, fruit, and homemade cookies. Linda's mom made delicious chicken soup, a cake, and ice cream with sliced strawberries. Wow! After our potluck lunch, we went downstairs and had two Easter egg hunts, one for the kids and one for the grownups. The latter was a "Take No Prisoners" hunt. We all cashed in on the candy, and they had some prizes for the children. Everyone shared and we had a great time. Then we went upstairs for pictures. All of my kids except Phillip were there, and I hope I can put him in somehow. I'll figure it out, and it will be thrilling to have a picture to frame, with all of them there! We wanted a picture of the grandkids together, but they were too excited to round up. We got to know the Johnsons so much better, and we got to see Haley and Linda with their cute pregnant tummies. Also, I was inspired by the pictures of family ancestors in the beautiful rooms. Everything was fascinating, and as soon as I got home, I looked up their location on the Oregon Trail. Thanks so much to the Johnsons for their warm hospitality. Justin stayed overnight and went to church with us Sunday a.m. He and Seth talked a lot, and Justin fixed some things on Seth's computer. They share many of their interests, and they watched our Twilight movie (thank you, Mark and Seth!) - which has been viewed by so many people in the past week, it's almost all I've thought about...but that is another post. I went to the drs.' yesterday, because I've been feeling soooo tired, and it was good, anyway, to followup everything from my last hospitalization. We got some medications straightened out and some tests scheduled. I'm lucky to have such a quick-on-the-uptake doctor. He's still a resident, but he'll be staying in the area and I'm going to stay on with him as a patient. Leto was barking at the UPS man this a.m. I didn't know he was still out there, so I opened the door to get the box (they always just leave them on our porch), and he was standing over to the side of the porch. Leto ran out and barked a couple of times, then ran on into the yard. Let me tell you, the guy looked like he was going to faint! I felt so bad when I understood how frightened he'd been of Leto. He was not a happy camper! I want to try to make it up to him. I want to bake him a pie, but I'll have to think of something better than that. Hmmm...Well, anyway, we will be putting Leto in a back room when the UPS guy comes after this. We have to keep the package people happy! Having thought so much about our anniversary this past couple of days, I feel so blessed and grateful for all God has given me through Mark - I've known the great love and romance that I yearned for and dreamed of, and it is a miracle. I hope everyone will have the opportunity to experience a great, life-changing romance. I can't think of anything better! Hugs!