Goin' To The Fair!

This is Joe driving the tractor with Margo and Nicki in tow.
They are training Margo for the fair! Ryan is supervising...

Shhhh...The judge is judging...That is Nicki and Margo he is looking at.

Woo Hoo! Grand Champion Reserve!
Way to go Nicki and Margo!

It really was a great group of kids in this 4H club.

Made for Nicki's 1st year to be a really good one.

Now Joe is so excited to join next year.

For The Boys...

Joey and Ryan talked Tony into taking them on this monster truck ride...we got a video of it for the boys...but I am having trouble accessing that. So, I am going to post the pictures for now...

My girl...

Enough said...

Old friends...good times...

We were so lucky recently to have some old friends come to visit us. Well, actually, they were coming to visit my mom and dad, but they came to see us too! My mom was friends with Juanita so many years ago...I am not sure how they met, or how long they have known each other, but I do know it had been about 30 some years since they had seen each other!
I have always remembered Juanita...but not sure if I would recognize her in a line up. I was such a little girl when I saw her last. I remember her coming to our house to visit, and I remember she had a pool! Oh what fun that was to a little tike in California!
Time, miles, and years went on by, and mom and Juanita slowly lost touch, other than with letters...but with technology today, they have been able to stay in touch via email, as well.
Juanita and her husband, Larry, and her sister, Eedie...(Sorry, not sure how to spell it...) recently took a cruise to Alaska. On their way back home, they came to visit us. It was so much fun catching up and seeing what she had been up to all these years! Meeting her husband and sister was an extra treat. You never know how it is going to be when you haven't seen someone in so long...but it went perfectly!
Thanks so very much Juanita, Larry, and Eedie...for coming to visit us. It was alot of fun. The kids are just LOVING their little stuffies you brought them. It was so nice of you to think of them. And my suncatcher is catching the sun! :)
We will have to stay in touch now!

Makin' Hay...

Here is Grossvater baling our hay for us...

Nicki is driving here...whoever said Girls Can't Drive Tractors??!!

Joey...Supervisor...

Tony and Mike

Ryan is so sad he has to go home...

Joey is raking the hay here...this is one HAPPY boy!

Ryan is happy now...he gets to go home and have ice cream!

Our kids do work hard!

Life is good...

We had such a fun experience recently, and wanted to share our fun with you! I was out mowing the lawn, and saw a car drive by rather slowly. They turned around and came back, I was thinking they were maybe wanting to buy some eggs. They pulled in and I went over to see what they needed.
They were a such a nice couple, Chris and Amanda. They were photographers, and they would be photographing a wedding in a few weeks, and they were wondering if they could use our hay as a backdrop. After talking with Tony, we figured this would be fine. Chris and Amanda offered to take some pictures for us, as their appreciation. We decided to get some pictures taken of the kids. They came out a week or so later, and we had the best time ever! Chris and Amanda just started shooting, and definately knew what they were doing.

Ryan wasn't so sure at first, but in no time, they had time running through the grass and posing and he didn't even know it! :) We got the pictures back the next week! Talk about speedy work! We could have not been more pleased with the finished result. The only problem was that we had such a tough time deciding which pictures we liked the BEST!!

Another week later, the bride and groom showed up with their entire wedding party. The picture frenzy began! (You can definately tell the next two pictures I took...no way in any shape or form as great as what chris and amanda did for us! Mine were quite blurry as I had to zoom because I took them from the kitchen window! :))

They were all looking like they were having such a fun time! Nicki and Joe made them a pitcher of lemonade, as it was a HOT one out there. It was gone when they left, so they definately seemed to enjoy it. :)

We were so surprised when the parents stopped by the following Monday with a beautiful fruit basket.
It just goes to show, that there is so much good out there. Give a little...get a little...make new friends.
Life is definately good.

Thanks so much to Chris and Amanda! We absolutely LOVE the pictures!! For those of you looking for photographers...you have to call them! They have the best English accents...and are alot of fun! You have to go to their blog...they have our pictures on there in a slideshow. You go to the main page, then client viewing, and the password is "farm". Check out the rest of their site too...their URL is: http://www.silverstudiophotography.net