Christmas on The Ranch

I'm a weirdo.

It's the middle of January but I'm still stuck on Christmas.

I am always sad when they stop playing carols on the radio at the end of Christmas day. I sorta wish they'd play them until... well, now, the middle of January. There's something melancholy about people out on their ladders taking down Christmas lights and dried up Christmas trees littering the curb on trash day.

So in honor of dragging out the holiday season a bit longer, I am posting about our Christmas weekend... in the middle of January.

* * *

It was grand.

A long weekend at Mr. Loggerhead's Uncle's ranch in Northern Nebraska.

My parents and sibs (except Dee) came up there too. And I'm so glad because it just made the whole thing all the more fabulous!

I needed to see how West's hair is growing out curly all of a sudden.

I needed a fix of Lan humor.

I needed Kat for sister power.

I needed to pinch Jax's cheek and make him smile!

I needed my parents and their happiness and wisdom. Well, and truth be told, I needed to spend time with my dad away from WORK! And get my mother used to riding rangers/4-wheelers through the hills!

I needed this man to be away from the stresses of work and see him really relax.

I needed to get this girl on a horse.

I needed to ride along while this guy "drove" the Ranger and laugh with pride when he was a good driver. (Comfort for the future, BTW)

I needed to fall for this little guy's grin for the millionth time.

Pretty much, this weekend was just what I needed!

We're so thankful to Uncle Gary for hosting our crew and making it all such a blast.

We helped harness up the team and took the wagon out for a spin. It was a jaunty ride, harnesses jingling and all of us admiring the horses prowess and pulling power. Jingle all the way!

There was horseback riding too. It had been years since I rode and many of the kids had no riding experience. Jack and Midnight were patient and genteel about it though and we loved them for it.

We rode the ranch in a string of 4-wheelers and rangers every day. Admiring the scenery, crossing icy creeks, splashing through mud and dodging branches. Up and down hills and laughing when Jax got nervous and responded by telling my mom she should close her eyes. We were quite the trail-hardened crew by the time we headed home... Monkey heads and all!

T-boy lost his very 1st tooth while we were there. This may or may not have had something to do with Bee losing one there earlier and the fact that The Gary-Fairy tends to be much more generous than the Mommy-fairy! Either way he was quite pleased with himself and all the Christmas cheer kept me from crying about my son's aging process.

Christmas day fell on Sunday so we had a wonderful Fellowship meeting in the morning and then a delicious feast for lunch. There was a wonderful ham.

But personally I liked this "ham" even better! Sorry, Bee, but that is a mighty cheesy grin. We had done our little gift exchange on Christmas Eve since we were going to be busy first thing Christmas morning.

The kids each got something they had been eyeing for a good, long time. The artist Barbie was a hit in this girl's department.

Uncle Gary got Pip these little finger lights and he ran around pretending to be a robot all evening.

The fire was crackling and the cabin was warm and cozy as we sat around chatting and playing games.

And I'm pretty sure his Christmas tree was the coolest one I've ever seen. It was the top section of an even taller tree and stood about 16 feet high. It was airy and "real" looking as the branches were not all evenly spaced and there was space between them. I know I'm gushing, but it really intrigued me and attracted me with it's uniqueness and imperfection... less a Chistmas tree than a bit of Nature in the Livingroom.

Lastly, here we are discovering unexpected "treasure" out in a pasture on the ranch...

Our new home!

Uncle Gary said we could move right in.

We hope you'll come visit!

Hee-hee!

Love,

The Prairie Hen in NE