ranch cows and 4-wheeling

On Saturday, August 31, the day after Noah's first cross country meet, we made a quick trip out to the ranch to help vaccinate the cows. 

I'd forgotten that Steven and Prae came along! 

Swing away little monkey.

Getting ready to go on a four-wheeler ride.

The day turned out so beautiful after a cool morning. 

Our favorite spot in the back corner of the land. 

We went on an extra long ride and stopped to pick some wild flowers.

💚💛💚

 

starting school 2019-2020

When we returned from our Colorado vacation on August 13th, we had to jump into homeschool pretty much right away. 

Okay, I might have had time to admire my dahlias which hadn't started to bloom until like the week before vacation.

And of course we had to visit the library for new books so we would have reading material. I can't remember if we planned to go with the O's or not but there's Abigail with Evie - bff's. 

Our neighbor was having a garage sale and we thought it was a good opportunity for Evie to set-up the  lemonade stand she'd been wanting all summer. We also made up some cookies to sell. She's excited because she's adding the magic ingredient of marshmallows - those make everything more special in her eyes. 

They did pretty well for themselves!

We also had some last of the summer smores.

Yep, Trouncer too.

Then, a week after returning home, on August 19th, we had our first day of school.

Jumping for joy?

Nope, definitely not joy. Just being silly.

No one wants to start school ever, especially in August.

In 2019 Evie was in Faith's Classical Co-op class all day on Mondays. This was her first day, August 26th, and I attended all day with her. Noah had his cross country stuff all ready to go too because he had his Biology lab class there in the morning. Afterwards Terry picked him up, took him to church for lunch, and then drove him to RCC for practice.

 

Rally Staycation 2019

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally snuck up on us quickly in the summer of 2019, perhaps because summer already seemed half over after two weeks in Mexico. So I got our school books ordered and everything organized for fall and then we got the house ready to rent for the fifth time since 2015 (2016, 2017, 2018). This year we rented twice, back to back to two different groups. It's a good way to make some extra money and it's always worked out well for us. 

Since we had to be out of our house for so long (Aug 2-15), we stayed at Shari's for the first five days. Shari and Jesse went to D.C. for a couple's get away and the girls went to the ranch, so we house sat for them. It worked out wonderfully.

While there Terry realized our kids basketball knowledge was woefully shallow. That's what happens when your driveway is a hill and you don't have a hoop. However, when we returned home he ended up buying a used hoop and setting it up despite the incline. 

August 2nd was our first night at Shari's and since they were still in the house packing and what not, we went out to eat. Culvers is the best. 

The next day, August 3rd, Shari's crew was gone. I made waffles with the sourdough starter Shari left out for me. I look weird but they were good. 

Evie spent the first night away with Abigail and came back with pink hair.  

Terry and I drove across town to check on our house, get the mail, and water our plants. We needn't have bothered with the watering since it poured on us while we were there. 

I made pizza for dinner that night since it was Saturday. 

After church on Sunday the 4th we went to the ranch to hang out with the girls and Terry's folks. 

Walking down to the bridge.

Rock throwing per usual. 

Poor pregnant and hot Luna. What a great picture of her though. 

Roller coaster fun. Ezra wanted to go forever.

I looked after Rebekah.

Terry and I took a four wheeler ride to check out how full the stock dams were. 

Very full just like in 2015 when we were out at the ranch for the same reason. 

Our favorite little corner. 

Green and flowers everywhere! 

On the way back to Shari's place we stopped by our house again to check on it. The renters said to check out their "trikes" in the garage. Whoa.

I also discovered my very first dahlia of the year! Due to the wet and cool summer I had to wait until August 4!! That's very late.

Worth the wait.

The next day, Monday the 5th, Terry went to work and I took the kids to Sarah's house to play with the orphan they were hosting, Lena. She is one of the three from Christmas 2018! 

They played in tubs of water and then had a water fight that Samuel and Ezra just couldn't resist. I think Evie may have spent the night?

On Tuesday the 6th we went back to the house to clean since our first renters were gone (I think?) and MORE DAHLIAS!!! 😍💗

We also visited my parents (to drop off a car?) and ran into this visiting Australian Shepherd puppy. 😍

Shari and Jesse had come back that day and we had some fun cousin time as we got ready to depart on our own vacation to Colorado the next day. 

That's a pink tongue. 

Hart Ranch with friends and YG, Rally renting prep

Two days after Evie got baptized, Abigail and her family invited us out to Hart Ranch with them. Thumbs up with right Evie.

We had so much fun. Naomi, Julia, and Ezra are behind Samuel. 

Ezra really took to falling in sideways after Evie taught them all how to do it. 

She choreographed them all falling one by one into the pool. 😮😅

A couple days later we discovered a random present at our house. It was a Lego Bible (a kids Bible animated with Lego people and bricks)! Prae gave it to the kids who she rightly knew would love it. So sweet of her. 

Now that July was ending, August and the Sturgis Rally were right around the corner. We had to be out of our house by August 2nd for our first set of renters. There were many jobs to do. 

I worked in the middle of all that cleaning and organizing and left the kids a list of things to accomplish. 

I worked a fair amount last summer due to one of the ladies being gone for maternity leave. It was rough filling in sometimes...just because I'm not there often enough. 

We sold our Bowflex, thank the Lord. I really never wanted it to begin with and after a year and a half of mostly gathering dust I was only too glad to have it gone.

I also washed the dust from all the hutch dishes (and untold number of many other tasks).

I made enough breakfast burritos to last us on our upcoming five-fish day vacation to Colorado. I did the same thing for breakfasts on our sabbatical trip. And apparently two years was not enough of a break from them because the kids whined incessantly about eating them. 😤

We put an extra bed where the Bowflex had been. Trouncie enjoyed it. 

Upside down he looks like he's smiling. 😂 That's certainly a new look for him. 

Just one day later we went back to Hart Ranch for the youth group closing event of the summer. The littles played mini-golf, which they love.

It was unseasonably cold (like it had been all summer), and though it looked like it was going to pour all evening, the littles still had a lot of fun in the pool. 

The hot tub was more like it though. I think it did rain on our way home. 

Noah is in there with the big boys at the bottom right. Two days later we went to Shari's to house-sit while our place was being rented and Shari and Jesse went to Washington D.C. for a vacation.