Last weekend we went back to The Ranch-- Stratford Ranch. It's feeling like our home away from home. It's the perfect getaway. It feels so removed from the cares of the world and it's relaxing and rejuvenating.
We were late in arriving Friday evening because we were waiting for Clark to get off work-- but it was worth the wait to have Clark and Alexa come with us.
Andrea led us in early morning yoga. FELT SO GOOD. Why do I not do yoga everyday? I'm going to consider adding more yoga into my life.
Kiddos went fishing.
Sunshine. Fresh air. No masks.
A morning walk after yoga
Lucky for Greta, Daddy came along to give her a lift when her little legs got tired.
The love birds
A morning visit to the horses.
The Schramm Fam came up on Saturday morning and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch together.
Everyone in this picture has a birthday in June, July, or August-- mostly July. Andrea was so awesome to make a fruit cake for us-- not a nasty Christmas fruitcake, but a literal cake made out of fruit! I'm not eating sugar or flour these days, so this was perfect!
Abe was a master cake carver!
We loaded into the van and headed a few minutes away to Porcupine Reservoir in Cache Valley.
Not the nicest, cleanest water, but hey!-- it was fun to be there anyway.
The more adventurous, stronger swimmers swam over to a little island.
I love that the little kids have older siblings and I love that the big kids have little siblings. They are so good for each other.
Bethany wasn't with us on this trip--she had work at home. Elinor had extra "big-sister" duties.
My Elinor. So hard to believe she is going to be a senior this year. *sniff, sniff*
Schramms opted for a 4-wheeling rather than swimming.
Courtney, Andrea, and James
Whereas I thought the mud was pretty gross-- the kids had a grand time playing in the mud. Aren't kids great?
They're great and dirty!
She played hard.
One of the most fun things to do at the ranch is go for a ride in "The General". This was an all girls ride up to the top of the property.
So beautiful! I am so very grateful for good friends. And good daughters:)
The boys did some adventuring as well.
James was a super trooper this weekend. The kids and even some adults were clamoring for rides and he spent hours shuttling everyone all over the property and down the road. Peter rode shotgun for this ride.
Good buddies.
Hot dog roast and corn on the cob for dinner.
We had a good chuckle naming ourselves "The Dream Crusher" (Camille), "The Dream Interpreter" (me), and "The Dream Maker" (Andrea). We're the Dream Team!
And after we saw this picture, we named Faith the Dream Bomber. Ha ha ha!
Storytelling around the fire.
Peter has a little crush on Kate-- the Schramm's youngest daughter. She is a couple years older than him, but short, so he is not deterred. We called this seat "the therapy chair" and we would give him advice on how to win Kate's heart.-- offer her a beverage... push her on the swing... give her a marshmallow. You know, all the classic five year-old moves. He sort of acted like he was embarrassed, but then he'd come back and ask if he should sit in the chair again and what else should he do. At one point Kate came over to the group and he asked her to please leave so we could talk about her. Smooth move, Pete.
Schramms headed home Saturday night after a seriously FUN day! It was perfect.
Sunday morning the Young family and Nathan and Korryn came up to the ranch. We breakfasted and has church and visited and played games.
Jennilyn and I both have a young adult child getting married in August, so it was fun to compare notes.
I love people just enjoying each other's company.
We were looking forward to getting home to Bethany-- we had missed her. But I can't express how much I enjoyed this weekend. It was perfect and quite likely the highlight of the summer. Many thanks to Andrea and James for making your home away from home, feel like our home away from home.
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