We arrived at the ranch on Monday and left on Saturday.
It was a day earlier than I was really ready to leave.....but it was time to go.
But first, I had one last fling and went off with Dean and Sherry to Mart leaving Louis Dean sound asleep. Mart was hosting a town wide garage sale and we stopped at Reed's Grocery for a map and made the rounds. We all ended up with a few real treasures!!
I must say that packing up to come DOWN to the ranch is a lot more fun than packing up to LEAVE here! But I'll be back!
Louis Dean opted drive out to the highway to Waco by way of the back roads.
I never get tired of the scenery.
You know it is REALLY the back roads when you see a cow cross the dirt road in front of you.
We slowed down and the cow walked back across the road.
There's always something interesting to see in the country!
Louis Dean saw a truck coming as we were on down the road and paused....the other guy paused and LD told him, "There's a loose heifer loose down there. Be careful."
He was so proud of himself for saying 'heifer' instead of 'cow.'
As we got into Irving, we had the great idea of stopping at our favorite hamburger joint on the way home. Good idea! We had a lot of work in front of us. Unloading, unpacking, putting the house back to rights, starting the laundry.
By the time we had that done, I could barely stand up straight.
We fell into bed, exhausted.
It absolutely amazes me what a good night's sleep will do!
We woke up at 8:00 - early for us - and went about getting ready to drive 80 miles to our family reunion.
We meet the first weekend in October at Mineral Wells State Park.
It's the Whitfield Family Reunion and this is Anthony - our Family Patriarch.
It's hard to get a full picture of everyone but Mike (Nita's husband) did a good job!
This side would be Mother's children, our husbands and some of the grandchildren.
A center shot.....
and this is Anthony and his family.
Our handsome photographer!!
Nita and Nathan, one of Deanie's grandsons.
This is such a perfect place to gather.....plenty of beautiful scenery and places for the kids to climb, hike and explore.
Family Reunions = Good Food!!!
Desserts......
Casseroles and chicken!
It was good to see Mother!
She doesn't come to stay with us anymore.
Her choice.
Toni Sue is the gal that makes this reunion work!
Her dad has the plan and she makes it happen.
It's always a good thing when can get together for an afternoon of good food, fellowship and be in a beautiful scenic place.
My sweet patient husband!
It's a wonderful thing to get acquainted with Anthony's super talented family.
Winston was a bonus guest and he belongs to Andie.
Tyler is a cutie! He's Deanie's grandson.
I have had the most amazing birthday of my entire life!!
This is an outfit Nita gave me and I plan to wear it on a special occasion Tuesday morning!
This one will be for later in the week!!
All too soon, it was time to do our goodbyes and leave.
We are all huggers!
Somehow, getting together in October and our quarterly Cousins Gatherings throughout the year seem to keep us all connected and every year we get to know each other better and enjoy each other even more.
Our drive across the dam.....Lake Mineral Wells was so dry last year, there wasn't even a swimming beach! Not so this year!!! The lake is full and looking beautiful!!
Life just keeps moving on. Days turn into weeks and before you know it - the month is over and there are new adventures on the horizon.
My 30 September Morns are over but I enjoyed every single one of them.
It was good to savor my very last one of 2016 at the ranch.
Now moving on into October!
"Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons."
Jim Bishop
