1st Annual Pig Roast a la Cas Crew

We'll after much excitement and chatter... and perhaps squealing of the pig, we had our 1st Annual Pig Roast. Don was declared a master griller! and is now recovering from smoke inhalation! We call it the "Kirsty Ally voice" w/ that deep husky bravado that she's got going on... well, that's Don for the time being.

We had 82 ppl show up for the event - 1/2 from church and 1/2 from the community! The pond shore line was filled w/ anglers hoping to catch the "Pig of the Pond" as we fondly call our huge porker of a bass! He and his bros have been caught and released many a times!

There was canoeing and eating and fishing and eating and corn hole (ok all you non-southerners... I hope I got a pix to put up, so you can get a visual on it... nope... so, I'll have to google one and put it up), and eating and basketball and eating and socializing and eating and still having 2 huge pans full of pork... and that was only 1/2 a pig.

Anyway - thx to all who made it a blast... and hopefully more of you can make it next year... we plan to do it in June... when it's cooler!

Blogger won't allow me to put up the last few photos... there's 30 below... so, the newest post will have the rest of the Roast!

Where Has Time Gone?

Wow, it's been 3 weeks since I've blogged. Here's time in a nutshell:

I ended up going back to AZ to help mom out. She developed some clots and will need continued prayers for this! She's on thinners. She has a great mental outlook. Pray that healing continues and she will fully recover!

Between trips to AZ and back to AZ I got to see the girls at their soccer camp. They had a great time and learned a whole bunch. Hannah was on the winning team! Go Hannah!!!!

The last return trip landed me back home on the 4th of July. Fireworks is a must... and it's so great because you can do them in your own backyard! (which is easy when you've got lots of land available!) NO worries about who's driving on the roads... since you're already home!

Hannah and Grace went to camp for the fish and wildlife conservation camp. This is THE most awesome camp ever! They stay on a lake for a week and are constantly going from one activity to the next. They learn certain skills and if they pass the tests, they earn patches for the skills attained. They have the opportunity for swimming, boating safety, archery, hunting (rifle safety), outdoor survival, nature, and I think there is one more.

Last year neither girl got the archery. This year Hannah got it, and she also got the OutdoorsWoman patch. She received a letter stating her name would go in a drawing for the January camp, all expenses paid. This will be for waterfowl sporting. (she's not too keen at all to do that... but it would look great on the resume for college!)

The letter stated only 16% of all campers get this invitation.... 950 out of 6000 statewide! So, we're very proud of her! Pray she gets picked. They must take one adult on the trip... and let's see.... it will be January.... in the water.... it will be cold..... ummm yep - that means dear ol' dad will go!

Also, we learned that Grace is the poster child for their promotions! Last year she caught a trophy sized small mouth bass that measured in at 21.5 inches! anything over 20" is trophy size! So they snapped her photo... and now she's on the postcards, the posters that travel the schools, the lifesize posters that are at FW facilities! We had no idea! So, I called our contact and left a message requesting a 100 or so postcards so we can mail them out to everyone! She is so photogenic!

We had to canx our Pig Roast. That's been rescheduled for the future. I'll put up pix after the fact! We're looking fwd to that!

Oh... we've had a few mishaps... we have yet another mega snapping turtle in our pond. We know it devoured one baby duck... and believe me,the ducks are about full grown sized! And the other day when we were leaving, momma duck was screaming. Charlie ran up to the pond to see the snapper take hold of a ducklings leg... he wopped the snapper w/ a rake. Needless to say, the duckling didn't survive but a few more days. And then Sunday night our saddest of all, momma duck must have got in a tuffle with a baby racoon. We have the trap set once again.

(I forgot to mention that while I was gone to AZ, Don did catch a coon in our trap.... and a few days later, Shadow finished off a juvenile coon.... Shadow....the KoonKiller! whoddathunkit?)

So - to end this one on an upbeat note! The sky is brilliant blue ~ the pond is clear ~ the fish are biting ~ God is faithful...

Farm Antics

Charlie, Kellar, Bo - last summer

Hannah on BoomErRang

The cousins with their Gparents! (last summer)

The cousins together in March.*

Life on the farm. What could be better? My crew tells me how much they miss me each time we talk on the phone. I've asked if they've missed me as their maid or their mama! They assure me it's as their mama.

Last night our neighbors came down on horseback. J, B, & J each on their own horse. They're helping us 'finish' training Star. Grace saddled up Star and away they went in our paddocks. As they went to the front of the property, the cows followed behind curiously. When the horses turned around, the cows tho't they were being chased, so they took off running. At one point, Steve the Steer, got his head caught in a "V" of a tree. Grace said that he eventually broke free and had bark all over it.

Dory, our cow that jumps over the moon, decided to be precocious and boldly approach MoonMan, J's horse. She's trained him to take a few steps backwards and then he rears up. So, MoonMan did this to Dory. Grace said Dory came out of her hide! She was so freaked out, that she ran off to hide. Put her in her place, I'd say!

I miss my kiddos, I miss my hubby, I miss my home/farm/way of life. It's wonderful to be with my family here in Hot Country, but after a week of 110*+, I'm fried!

Mom thinks she may have a broken rib. This would be a huge set back post-op. So, we'll see what will happen as far as me coming home. Continue to hold her in prayer.

*When you look at the tree pix... look on the upper right portion of the trunk. Tell me, does that not look like Baloo, the Bear, from The Jungle Book!!!!

Long Day

Today we got to bring my mom home from the hospital. It's a huge relief and prayer answered to getting her back on the road to recovery! Please continue to hold her in prayer for full recovery... and that once she's feeling better, that she'll limit her activities to 'doctor-approved' activities... ie - not lifting or holding the g-babies!

I learned that in my absence today - back on the farm my mil took the kids swimming again, while my fil cleaned the fridge! While I'm so grateful for that act of kindness, it is completely and utterly humbling! However, I will say, with 7 sets of hands going in and out of the big box... it doesn't take long for spills and thrills to happen... and get lost in the crowd in the shuffle of milk and catsup and 20 different types of mustard and breads from around the world, not to mention the countless opened cubes of real butter. Thanks Boboo!

No news on the rooster, but Don did come up with one more farm cliche': "he's a tough ol' bird." I hadn't tho't of that one until this 'coop raider' fought the rooster, and hopefully lost!

I'm bone tired. I'm crawling into bed next to mom to play Nurse Hatchett all evening. I've got their cat begging to be pet... and I've no energy.

Silent Night folks.

ps... if any words are mispelled, it's spell-checker's fault, it's not functioning either!

Even more photos for RFL

Ms. Sweetie Pie next to her luminaria of choice.

Our theme this year was "Race for the Cure" so we have 'Jeff Gordon' and his lovely bride sitting side by side!

Don & Charlie

Don and one of the kids from church wearing the racing helmets!

Don with another kid from church...

Kellar with a buddy wearing the Gordon racing helmets!

More Relay for Life Photos

This is the Color Guard leading the procession of survivors.

Here is Jeff giving the opening speech for the year.

My mom's name... in honor of her.

Here's Kellar going down this massive slide... he's such a goofball!

Can you see how black his feet are?

My camera snapped funny... and caught Charlie running off the slide.

Relay for Life Walk

This past Friday night was our Relay for Life Walk. This was the first time that Don and I and the kids went. Just typing this brings out tearful emotions. Survivors of cancer sported purple T-Shirts and were honored with a 'Survivor's Lap' around the track. The 2d lap was dedicated to all the family and caregivers. We all participated by walking with friends from church who have survived colon cancer and prostate cancer, a neighbor who's survived breast cancer, and I met up with a survivor who was walking alone. We hugged around the entire lap and shared tears of sorrow and tears of hope. When the sun finally went down and all became dark the luminaries were lit up. By then the volunteers had input all the names of those who have passed on and these names scrolled across a big screen. That really grabs at your heart, as does the Walk of Remembrance.

Our church sponsored a booth this year, as they've done in years past. And when we flip thru the pages of the pictorial directory, there isn't one family that isn't left untouched by cancer in some form or other. Our Leader, Jeff, got to present the speech this year and one fact really shook me. He said that this year alone 12 million ppl will be diagnosed (Dx) w/ cancer and that 360,000 will no longer be amongst us next year for the walk. These will be the names in the luminaries burning bright into the dark night.

This year during the moment of silence, the space station flew overhead and it was just so appropriate for us (our group) to be looking up. Many other groups started taking pix of us, it must have been a Kodak moment having 50 ppl looking up into the heavens during this time. But, it was just so perfect. Many groups quietly let their balloons go.

Even though the occasion was very heavy, there was still so much hope and joy to fill the atmosphere. There were jumpies for the kids. (Kellar was barefoot and did this jumpy obstacle course that the National Guard set up... he was constant for 4 hours running thru this and sliding down the slide and flying across the asphalt. Poor kid, by the end of the night he had blisters covering the bottoms of his feet, crying the whole way home.) Don and walked for a while and we'd jump in with friends here and there. I tell ya, living in small town communities has many advantages. Everyone is a friend - everyone will stop their life just to talk to you. There were hula hoop contests, and both my girls were winners! They did an over 30 group, that I participated in... needless to say it came down to 2 of us... yours truly, and some other lady. So, they asked us to do the Mac-a-ran-ah (sp???) Well, I did, and the other lady didn't. I lost... but really - I was the better hoooper! ; )

I'm going to put a boat load of pix... I hope the ambiance of the evening shows through.