Life has been so busy around here; I’ve hardly had time to post.  And to recall just what it is that has kept me so busy is difficult.  The last two weeks are almost like a blur.

Wednesday night (last night) we had  dinner with friends/business acquaintances.  They first came to our ranch – they had never been here before.  This made the day rather stressful – a first time visit by ones we’ve only been to dinner with.  Trying to get the outside tidy – cleaning the porch, cutting the grass; getting the house company ready; and the children looking clean and presentable by 4:00 p.m., - not to mention myself – being ready for going out to dinner after having a full day of trying to get it all done. 

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As my husband left for work this morning, he assured me that I did not need to worry about the house - when they arrived, he told me, we'd hop on the gators, take some trail rides, and then be off to dinner.  Yet, I wasn't sure it would work out quite like that, and I worked inside as the children worked on the porch (washing it down), cutting grass, and edging around the fence line.  As the day went on, the pressure began to build, and I began to question just what I had gotten into. How does one correlate a clean home, a manicured yard, four clean children, and myself ready to go to dinner?

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When they arrived, we visited in the parlor for a while, as my husband had not gotten home from work yet.  ((  ))   They met all of our children for the first time. When my husband arrived, we took a tour of the ranch on the gators.  By the time we went to dinner, I was ready to relax and unwind.  We ate at a very quiet and serene restaurant that has lots of atmosphere.  We lingered over dinner until after ten o’clock p.m.  We were the only diners left in the restaurant by the time we left.  It was a very nice time after having a very stressful day.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the food – tilapia with a pecan/coconut crust and a mango salsa; a salad with watermelon, candied pecans, goat cheese, and greens; and key lime pie for dessert.  It was delicious!!!

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When our friends had initially arrived, I started noticing all the imperfections everywhere around me. I had started really second guessing this whole idea.  And as we drove off for dinner, I was sure this entire  plan stunk.  But after our lovely dinner together, I began to view everything in a better light.  Perhaps seeing our imperfections had made us better friends, after all.

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Tuesday we spent the day traveling to an aluminum siding place (two hours away) to get siding for our crib barn. When we got there, our order was all wrong – burgundy in color instead of barn red. We spent several hours there going over our order and figuring out what all else was wrong. 

We got back just in time for the 4-H equine practice at the county fairgrounds.  Rachel is on the drill team this year, and is entering the jumping competition.  It was exciting to see her practicing and doing well.  Joshua is in the 4-H program this year too, and is competing in Western (Rachel is in English).  It was fun mingling with our horse trainer and her husband.  Every week I have been meeting new people and enjoying myself thoroughly. 

Afterwards, we invited our friends, the Vales, to come back to our home for pizza. Our family plus their family equals 13 people – this called for a very big pizza order!  We had fun sitting around our big country table chatting and eating – we were all starved.  Their two girls stayed around afterwards to help Rachel and Joshua  getting the stalls mucked and re-bedded for the evening for the mares and their foals.  This seemed like a party in itself.  Four happy and joy-filled teenagers -  mucking in the barn with the music playing rather loudly.  By the time I got the girls home, I didn’t climb into bed until after midnight.  Way past my bedtime!

We’ve been busy around here, too, getting ready for the children’s camp we are hosting in just about three weeks.  Our friends, the Vales, have been here at the ranch almost every day helping us in the preparation.  We built a “chapel” (an outdoor amphitheatre made from tree trunks and timber on the property) for outside chapel service, and now we’re trying to build a bridge to the island. 

I haven’t even mentioned, yet, the two new additions to our ranch – Hot Shot and Willow.  Pictures are coming, don’t worry!  

We’re still waiting for our fifth grandbaby….