My Sunshine Boy

Since I know that you are all terribly tired of the deer peering back at you everytime you check to see if I have finally updated my blog, and since my last post is even older than Jody's(she pointed that out to me tonight when I was bugging her about getting a new picture up), and since my sunshine boy came for some Grandma time today while Megan got ready for her parents' visit, I had to stay up way past my bedtime tonight to download some pictures and post some of my favorites from this past month. Aidan has the biggest smile, and you can see why I call him my 'Sunshine Boy'!

Today he was content to explore our carpet along the way to his toys....he thought it was so funny that I was laying down on the floor with him trying to capture his smiles! The best ones are always after the picture is taken.

I love this picture because it shows how much fun Grandpa and Aidan have! Dave just needs to wiggle his arthritic fingers and Aidan laughs and giggles. The other thing about this picture is that the little wooden chair that Aidan is sitting in(we put it on a dining room chair so he is the same height as the rest of us at Sunday Dinner) was mine....so it is an antique! But it does allow him to be at the table and us to all enjoy our Sunday Dinners without fighting him for the placemat!

Aidan isn't smiling here, but one of his favorite things at our house is Sheba! I am constantly amazed at how patient she is with him, sitting so he can pet her, or like today, bringing him her ball just in case he has figured out how to play with her! One of these days he will surprise her by picking it up and throwing it down the hallway...but until then, he stops and stares at her or just breaks into laughter! Oh the joy! Seeing Dave with Aidan reminds me of the many long hours he would play with the kids and tell them stories....won't be long before Aidan will be asking Grandpa to tell him a story too.

Life on the Ranch

Springtime on the ranch wouldn't be complete without baby animals! Here are a few pictures that I snapped around the ranch during our week there. She isn't a baby anymore, but 'Felice' was found as a baby last year and raisedon the ranch. She is hand-fed and always looking for a handout!

Their herd of sheep has really multiplied since I was there in December. It is lambing season and this year they have a higher than average number of twins. At any given time you could hear the mothers calling their lambs and the lambs calling for their mothers. As Jody said, 'how hard can it be to keep track of just one or two lambs....but somehow they manage to lose each other!!' Fortunately it usually only takes a short while before they are reunited.

These two followed their mother when she led the way in the opposite direction of where I waited with my camera ready! They were just so cute!

Yup! Your eyes are not deceiving you! They even have buffalo on the ranch in the hopes of breeding them with cattle to produce 'Beefalo', supposedly a great meat! There were three of these that greeted us every morning as we made our way down to Jody and Darin's house.

Several calves were born while we were there....this little guy was only a couple of days old and staying close to Mama!

Needless to say Jody and Darin are kept busy looking after all the animals, keeping track of babies, and making sure everyone has enough food and water. Never a dull moment to be sure!

Glimpses of Texas

We just got back from spending a week in Texas with Jody and Darin and several of you have asked about pictures! I had good intentions of blogging while there, but what can I say? We were too busy relaxing! Here are a few snapshots of our time ....I snapped this first picture when they were putting the horses out for the day. This is Cookie, and her foal, Spooks, who was just born in January and is already incredibly independent!

One of the special things about this trip was that we were also able to visit Dave's mother who was still in Texas. Sunday after church we drove down to Rockport where she has spent the last two months. We realized on the way down that it had been 11 years since I had been in Rockport, back when Jamie was a student at His Hill and we went down as a family for Spring Break to visit him and Dave's parents! It's incredible to think of all the changes in our family in those 11 years. This picture was taken right outside of Grandma's door. What a beautiful place to enjoy while Minnesota is frozen!!

We were blessed to be able to stay at the Beach House of a family from Jody and Darin's church. Monday morning we just had to take some pictures and capture the beauty around us! The weather was awesome and we all enjoyed the warmth and the sunshine. It was just so fun to all be together, from BC, Minnesota and Texas! Three generations enjoying time together! Dave' Mom is excited about another Great-Grandchild!

We took a trip over to Mustang Island to walk along the beach and enjoy the ocean!
As you can see, Jody is 'blossoming' and it was so fun to see her pregnant. She is already over half way through her pregnancy. For more pictures and updates, do check their blog.