September Days

Hello . . . hello . . . is anybody out there? I can understand if nobody is, since we haven't had a post for two whole weeks. So, for the last day of September, here are just a few pictures from that time. Some are from an orchard we visited. We also had a great visit from Dusty, Brandee and Kaylee.

Jon's in Arizona right now and won't be back until the end of the week. So, this afternoon, Jeremiah and I are headed up north to Sioux Falls for a visit of our own to Nathan, Kristin, Isaiah and Phinehas.

Ranch Centennial Celebration

In 1908, my great-grandfather, James Wilson, left the coal mines of Tennessee to come to the Sandhills of Nebraska to seek a better life for his family. Under the Kincaid Act of 1904, he took over a relinquished homestead and over the years built up what is now my family ranch—the Lazy Five.

This Saturday, my family held a centennial celebration for the ranch at my parents’ house. Let me just say, it was a wonderful time. My parents had invited all the descendants of my great-grandfather, neighbors, friends, and business associates. We didn’t know how many people to expect and still aren’t sure of the final count, but Jon (who is good at estimating such things) said there were easily over 200 people there.

After a soaking all-day rain on Friday, the weather was sunny, clear, and beautiful. My brother did a lot of work putting together a slide show of the history of the ranch, which constantly ran throughout the day. There was also a varied display of photos showing ancestors, the ranch throughout the years, Hereford bulls, etc., plus several photo albums, historical documents, scrapbooks, and more.

Following a huge lunch with almost every kind of salad and dessert you can imagine, plus some yummy meat my parents’ had catered, Dusty gave a short talk on the history of the Lazy Five. Then, my cousin Ryan played some of my grandparents’ favorites on the guitar and my cousins Wheeler, Kelton, and Weston (with accompaniment from their dad, Troy) entertained us with some down-home fiddle playing. I organized a scavenger hunt for the kids, which gave them a little history while taking them from place to place hunting for clues. Wheeler (the ring bearer in our wedding who’s now 12!), told me it was fun and educational.

I saw cousins and family friends whom I hadn’t seen in years, plus got to meet new friends of my family. We ate good food, played with the umpteen kids who were running all over the place, laughed at jokes and stories, and just plain had a good time.

My immediate family (who planned all of this) didn’t know what to expect, but we were so pleased with how the day turned out. There were a few times when my parents almost decided not to have a party, but now they’re glad they did. Because as my mom said, it’s not as if we’ll be around to do it again in 100 years!

On the Road Again

Well, we're off to Western Nebraska again tomorrow morning. This time, we're going for the 100th anniversary celebration of my family's ranch. We'll post more on that next week, along with some pictures.

Before we go, here are some random photos of Jeremiah. In this first one, he's letting me know he's ready for his snack.






He also likes to drive his car around saying "vroom, vroom" (or have Mommy drive him around).


And he really likes bathtime. Daddy is good at making him laugh.

He's All Boy

What exactly does it mean when someone says, “He’s all boy”?

Several people referred to Jeremiah with that phrase last week. At the time, he was busy exploring a new place, crawling, walking, climbing to see new, tantalizing items that we either don’t have at home or have been put away, out of sight.

So, does “he’s all boy” come into play when Jeremiah pushes his little car around the house, making vroom, vroom noises? Is he being all boy when he takes all the pots and pans out of the lazy Susan, banging lids together, stepping into bowls and sliding them around the floor?

How about when he’s sitting with Mom on the loveseat, crawls to the side and hangs over the edge (with Mom holding on to his feet, of course) so he can see Maggie lying on her pillow?

These all fit with the stereotypical meaning of “he’s all boy” (i.e. active, climber, yeller), but let me suggest one more scenario that I think fits as well. How about those times when he snuggles in my arms after he wakes up from a nap? Today, he woke up early, so we sat and rocked for a while. He quietly played with a tie on my shirt, content to be cuddled up close. After a while, he looked up and I smiled. He smiled back. And we just sat there for several minutes, rocking, smiling, content just to be there together.

Then, he fell back asleep, and I kept rocking. I looked at his sweet little face, his long dark eyelashes lying on his smooth, perfect little boy skin, and my eyes filled with tears of joy and gratitude at this wonderful, amazing gift God gave us a little over a year ago.

Yep, he’s all boy. Whether awake or sleeping, laughing or crying, getting into everything or snuggling with Mom or Dad. He’s all boy, and I’m so thankful he’s ours.

Visiting our New Niece

We were finally able to go and visit our new niece, Kaylee. She is already three weeks old. Before we know it we'll be remembering how just one year ago we were going to meet Kaylee for the first time.
We're looking forward to watching her grow and showing Jeremiah the ropes around the ranch as they get older.