Second Annual Hayride

The Second Annual Hayride at Sunshine Ranch (my Mom and Jon’s place) was last Saturday, September 27th. We moved it up about a month this year 1) so that we wouldn’t risk having such cold weather, and 2) because we couldn’t find another weekend that worked in October. Well, the weather ended up being BEAUTIFUL…maybe even a little too hot, but I won’t complain! We had such a great time and this is by far a FAVORITE tradition on mine! I wish we could do it EVERY weekend, but I know it is so much work on my Mom and Jon to get everything ready. I feel like we are so blessed to have such great family, friends and neighbors and it is so great to have them all out to the ranch to enjoy a fun afternoon and evening together. We start out by just letting everyone mingle while the kids play. This year the favorite activities were jumping on the trampoline, playing on the new playground, taking paddle boat rides on the pond, feeding the cows and riding the 4-wheeler!! The kids have so much fun and the time just flies by…before we knew it we were rounding up everyone for the hayride through the property. I would love to take a couple laps on the hayride route, but one lap seems to be about right for the kids at this age. We are about ready to outgrow the trailer, but we still all fit this year! The cows got a big kick out of us driving past them on the trailer. Some of them tried to chase after us, but they were behind the fence and couldn’t get far! The kids thought it was pretty funny! After the hayride the kids were excited to play some more while we got dinner finalized. This year we asked everyone to bring a side, which worked out really great, so thanks everyone! My mom and Jon provided the chili (always a big hit), hot dogs, drinks, condiments, etc. I made pumpkin bars and Hadley’s favorite Frog Eye Pasta Salad! After dinner there was some more playing (by this time it was dark and harder to keep track of the kids), and then we all headed down to the bonfire Jon built (he is getting quite famous for his big and HOT bonfires!) This year there were two…in case one big, hot bonfire isn’t enough! The guys do all of the marshmallow roasting while the ladies wrangle the kids. Oh how much easier this will get as they get older!! Have I ever told you how much I like smores…well I do!! It is so funny to take pictures around the bonfire because you can’t see anything through the camera so you just point and click and then it is a surprise as to what you are going to get! Somewhere right about mid bonfire all of the kids started to hit a wall…that wall that says “I have had a lot of fun, but now I am DONE! RIGHT NOW!” so everyone started to trickle off while Kristi, my Mom, Jon and I picked up! It was such a great day, and I am already sooooo excited for next year! There is no better way to kick off the fall season, which by the way is my FAVORITE!!! Here are some pictures of our fantastic day!!

"Sevillie-Roo"

The hosts with the most...Cheri and Jon!
Baby Corinne (our next door neighbor!) What a doll!
Kelly and Seville...so cute!
Kelly's daughter Evie!

Playing on the swing set!
Laith feeding the cows...I LOVE the look on his face!

Yes, Corinne's hand is IN the cow's mouth! Amy says she loves cows and she wants Corinne to love them too! It is never too young to start! Purell?
I wanna be a "Cowgirl baby!"

I love the light coming from behind her hair! Sierra (CiCi) and Averi. Sierra is Averi's big sis and was Hadley's best buddy when we were neighbors!
Cholee (one of our neighbors)
Somehow the trampoline turned into the gathering place...kind of like the kitchen!
Humm...do you think we can add one more kid? Well, at least we had plenty of parents there watching them! ;)

Silly girls!
Hadley and her CiCi!! I need to print this one out for her room! Look at the blue eyes on both of those girls! Hadley started calling Sierra CiCi when she was little and couldn't say Sierra and now Sierra's sister Averi calls her CiCi too! For those of you who haven't seen Sierra in awhile, I bet you can't believe how much she has grown up!
Lori getting a four wheeler lesson from Jon!
Laith...isn't he a handsome!
And what a great picture of him with his mom...I LOVE it! Aundria is one of my dearest friends, and she is pregnant with baby #2!

Is boating really a spectator sport?
Attey and Eli on the paddle boat!
Me, Seville, Laith and Aundria on the paddle boat!
Laith on the tractor! So cute! He loved being up there!
Gam and her Billy-Roo! (or shall I say monkey...after all, she did climb out of her crib at daycare today! Sorry, Gail!)

Don and Zoe (neighbors!)
The whole gang (minus me)...SAY CHEESE!
Where's Kenna? Finally NOT behind the camera!
Kyle, Kelly and Evie (another one of my dearest friends!)
Laith, Aundria and Seville! We joked that this was the only time Aundria would have a blonde baby girl!

Corinne and Amy...our fantastic next-door neighbors!
Hadley...the center of attention (for the moment at least!)
Best friends! They might fight sometimes, but they are as close as sisters!
Chloee and Attey
This is when Hadley saw the cows running after us on the hayride!

Cowgirl Gracyn! Love the boots!
Brett, Sierra and Jon...watch out world, Sierra will be driving SOON!
Seville at the bonfire!
Bonfire crowd!
Hadley trying to enjoy a smore...if I would stop taking flash pictures!

And the gang starts to wind down!

Time for some Gam snuggles! It was a GREAT day!

I still need to post some older pictures and updates, but this is all for tonight! I need to get some sleep before my crop tomorrow! We also have Jim and Susie's open house tomorrow night, and on Sunday my Mom and Jon are taking Hadley and I to see the Lion King! We are so excited!! Good night, sleep tight! Have a great weekend!