Squeezing in Summer

So, I was informed again today that I've been neglecting our blog. I assure you that it was for good cause...we're squeezing in summer these last few weeks of pleasant and travel friendly weather. With moving and all that it entails our summer just seemed to slip away faster than one would have thought. So, blogging has taken a back seat to spending time with family and friends in the wonderful creation that God has so richly blessed us with. I found this poem online a couple weeks ago and thought it would be fitting to explain my blogging absence.

I Took His Hand and Followed

By: Mrs. Roy L. Peifer

My dishes went unwashed today,

I didn't make the bed,

I took his hand and followed

Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,

My little son and I...

Exploring all the great outdoors

Beneath the summer sky.

We waded in a crystal stream,

We wandered through a wood...

My kitchen wasn't swept today

But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade

And now my small son knows

How Mother Bunny hides her nest,

Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,

We climbed a sunlit hill...

Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,

We plucked a daffodil.

That my house (and blogging) was neglected,

That I didn't brush the stairs,

In twenty years, no one on earth

Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy

To noble (and Godly) manhood grow,

In twenty years, the whole wide world

May look and see and know.

Please enjoy some of the pictures of spending time with my blessing from God this summer.

Riding with Papa at their house

Notice the look of joy (terror?)

Sitting on the fence while watching Mommy work cattle at Winnemucca Ranch

Hot August Night's with Daddy

Hosting his first sleepover with his favorite person in the world, Vada McClelland.

Dinner at our new home with LaLa and Papa.

We traveled to Crater Lake, Oregon with my Dad, Mom and Grandmother. My uncle and aunt from Portland met us there. Unfortunately, Scott had to stay home and work, so we ruffed it and had fun without him. :-)

First trip to the ocean while visiting the Trokey's in California. Noah wasn't scared a bit of the ocean, don't know why that surprises me though!

Scott and Noah practicing their elk calls in preparation for hunting season. The testosterone was DRIPPING off the walls.

Hunting last weekend at my Dad's cousin's ranch in Yerington. They run a cattle feed lot, grow seed garlic and consumption onions. Noah had a blast with all the cows. Also, our cousin gave us a complete tour of the onion processing portion of the business. Noah was able to see the whole process in person from the time a onion was picked in the field all the way to boxing for shipment. It was a wonderful and educational experience. On Monday he was so excited that the onions made it to the supermarket when we went grocery shopping. :-)

Picking and consuming apples in Yerington.