Monday, December 7, 2015

family pics, man tracker, and giving thanks

This thanksgiving seemed like the perfect time for an extended family pic, at least for some members of the family.  Others (the men and the teenagers) would be happy if such a thing as "the family picture" never took place again.  So… we tried to compromise.  The group text went something like this, "Hi all, we are doing a family picture at the ranch.  This is a "stress free" picture… so come as you are (no camo please)".

This is how it went down...
















And oh yeah, meet Sadie's boyfriend, Andy…

We like Andy a lot. He's a mechanical engineer major and had every light on my Christmas tree working in about seven minutes. Talk about bonus points.

After the group photo, I tried to talk my kids into some individuals.  Only this kid was willing.  She was my favorite child that day. 



Then, it was play time for the little kids…. 





and the big ones.


The traditional backgammon grudge match.

And we ended the week with another tradition, our own version of Mantracker.  This year Gregg, Jenny, and Tyler tracked on two rangers and a quad while the rest of us tried to make it back to base.


One of these years I need to do a little video of the chaos as a bunch of teens and adults play hide and seek among shrubs, cactus, trees, and barbed wire. The casualties this year only amounted to some torn jeans.  One year the result was a missing wedding ring (Tyler's when he bailed over a fence trying to catch Drew).  The ring was never located.
So grateful for this family I married into.  Family: when you roll all the happy, sad, good, bad, and especially funny together and come up with something wonderful.  Thank you family.




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