Howdy!

From our posse to yours...

Happy Halloween!

I must say how much I appreciate and love my children for agreeing to be cowboys because their parents were too consumed selling pumpkins to buy any costumes. What good sports! It is a record for me--not spending a single penny!

P.S . The pumpkins are all GONE!!! Thanks to Dena, Rebekah and Barb for selling with Max today. Also, thanks to Cindy and kids for helping at the stand yesterday for so many hours.

Carla and Bryce, thanks so much for bringing the super cute and yummy cupcakes and our fabulous dinner of Frito pie last night! They seriously hit the spot. I guess since pumpkin sales are over, I might have to start cooking my own food again! Yikes!

Chris and Chase, thanks for selling last night and playing bean bag toss for so long with my husband. Good times!

Have a fun and safe weekend!

Pretty Corny

Interesting Tidbits

We had a terrifying creature enter the pumpkin patch on Saturday evening. Men scrambled for cover, women ran away screaming, and all the children flocked to him!


I looked out into the parking lot and noticed two huge dogs and two tiny dogs. I thought that one person owned the Great Danes and another the two Dachshunds. Wrong! The bigger Dane and the Dachshunds were in one family. Someone else happened to be walking by with the other Great Dane. What are the odds?
Apparently it is normal to walk dogs and frequent pumpkin stands on the same outing. I am learning so much this year. The more the merrier, we say! Boomer was the perfect guest. We all laughed that he was taller than Poncho, our crazy mini horse.

This couple left with both carrying a sizable pumpkin and walking that giant dog. Good for them.

Thanks for spicing things up on our little corner.

Now something totally cute that happened Saturday.

We were visited by a family who used to live here in Albuquerque. Last year they moved to Colorado, and we have not had contact since they left. A little background--Brooke, my oldest, and Bryan, their oldest were in kindergarten together. They were friends. There was also a little rumor going around that Bryan had a crush on Brooke. That rumor was confirmed one day in first grade when Bryan grabbed Brooke's arm on the playground and kissed it. (Or was it her back??) The point is, Bryan confessed his crush right then and there.

Fast forward to fourth grade. The two were reunited at the pumpkin patch when his family decided to come by and pay us a visit. (Grandma is a crossing guard at school and knows about the pumpkin patch.) Brooke and Bryan were both too embarrassed to even talk to each other. It was almost a half hour before we could get them to shake hands and say hi.

Do you think I'm cruel taking the picture? What about posting the event for the world to see? It was the most adorable sight. Both Bryan's parents and I had the best time watching the reunion unfold. They held that shake for about a minute not knowing what to do next until Brooke said, "May we let go now?" Brooke and Bryan, you guys were too funny!
We're so glad this nice family took the time to stop by and visit. Let's make it a yearly tradition.

Claire is home sick today, so I am hanging out at the house. Max just told me that the pumpkin stand is still rocking! I wonder if a little bivouac will be necessary tonight. We were a little nervous getting a truck full of pumpkins on Monday thinking that all the business might have already come this past weekend. We can now say that that is NOT the case. Monday was busy, Tuesday was busy, and today is crazy! Dena and Keith were there, Chris, Chase and Trish, and Max and the kids--all running around helping customers. Max just explained that his afternoon was like Saturday busy! Now that's saying something! Thanks to all our Wednesday helpers! Oh, also thanks to Sarah S. and her super cute kids for running the stand for three hours earlier today.

What a crazy life we're leading! I can tell you we never saw this coming a few years back, but are we ever having fun!

By the way, we're now seriously considering selling Christmas trees. AHHHHHHHHH!

Happy day to you!

Queen Of The Quilt

Folks, we have a winner for the quilt that was raffled off at the pumpkin patch. Because Grant has never had a chance to draw any names in the almost now defunct Word Of The Day contest, I thought he should be the lucky bloke pulling the winning ticket.

He was so cute stirring the names around until he got just the right one...Congratulations to Judy Coningham! Grant was so proud to have selected such a fine ticket. Please excuse my crude attempt at blurring out her phone number. Yes, I desperately need photoshop. Who's willing to teach me how to use it?

Grandma Donna (Max's mom), thank you for creating a beautiful quilt and donating it to Galloping Grace for this raffle. We think we made over $185 on your creation!

Now if I may, I would like to list the people helping at the pumpkin stand over the last three days. These people deserve all the plaudits I can bestow on them. Prepare to be amazed!!!

• Pam
• Barb
• Tim
• Renee
• Sam
• Christina
• Linda
• Ashley
• Misha
• Beth
• Carlos
• Miki
• Keith
• Dena
• Tyler
• Spencer
• Parker
• Andrea
• Rebekah
• Deanell
• Tammie
• Brittany
• Haley
• Jessie
• Matthew
• Steph
• Uncle Chuck
• Zack
• Bill
• JuJu

Beth, thank you thank you!!! She brought six large pizzas to feed the troops on Sunday afternoon. The plan was for me to repay her when she got back, but she tricked me and broke our agreement!!! Beth, our bellies and my thighs thank you! Would you believe she also took my kids half the day Sunday so they could get away from the pumpkin stand for a bit? She then fed them dinner! Roy and Beth, we love you!

We had so many hard workers on Sunday. I want to send a huge shout-out to Tyler A. for his backbreaking dedication to hauling pumpkins to peoples' cars! Tyler earned lots and lots of tips that he graciously put in the cash box for GG! Tyler, you are a fine young man! (To my Garrett, thanks for doing the same thing on Saturday. We love you!)

Barb L, thank you for the pizza you brought for all of us Friday afternoon!

Carri, your muffins and amazing cookies were divine!

Linda and Ashley, thanks for the case of water.

Dena, thanks for all the candy for our candy bowl and drinks your provided.

Renee and oh-so-kind-roommate, thanks for the delish bday cake!

Melissa, thanks for the great cookies on Friday!

Donna, thank you for all the beautiful candy bags your made for us to sell.

I'm so sad if you helped and I left your name off this list. As you can see, we are beyond blessed and have the best friends on the planet!

We're getting near the end of pumpkin selling. I cannot wait to share how much our little stand made. Have your guesses ready.

Good night.

A Birthday To Remember

Max here.

Just "23" years ago (as our great friend Dan says) my beautiful wife Michelle was born. I am, without a doubt, the luckiest man alive to have such a wonderful women as my bride!

I try to live my life by this mission -- To be the kind of man that my wife brags to her friends about, To be the kind of man that my daughters desire their husbands to be like, and To be the kind of man that my sons want to become. Some days are better than others, but on a day like today, I definitely know that I have hit a home run in the husband category. Our great friends, TJ and Mark mentioned something about taking Michelle to a ranch to see beautiful fall colors and to go horseback riding etc. etc. blaa blaa blaa. For one thing, that is a little unoriginal, and frankly not even close to as romantic and thoughtful as what I did for Michelle today. Before I go into today's amazing events, I should tell you a little about what I did for her yesterday. I guess you could call it foreshadowing. While she and I worked diligently alongside our many amazing volunteers, I took the time to find her the perfect pre-birthday gift. Without her knowing, I searched and I searched and finally found it!! It was so beautiful, so perfectly round and it had a glowing color much like that of the sun. Not many men would be able to find it, but I am not like many men. With what seemed like thousands of them around me, I was able to find her the perfect...................PUMPKIN!!! Yes, that's right, a pumpkin. What else could a women want the night before her birthday. I can't think of anything better. You should have seen her eyes light up when I presented it to her. It almost brought a tear to my eye. And to top it off, one of Renee's friends brought a cake for her that I, of course, claimed partial credit for. You should be getting the picture as to how I am definitely the kind of man she brags to her friends about.

As for today, wow, I don't even know were to begin. It took some planning, but I was able to arrange to have Michelle's amazing childhood friend, Misha, accompany us on a very memorable road trip. By us I mean, Michelle, me and our youngest, Grant. TJ and Mark, you would have been proud. Today was all about fall colors in the New Mexico countryside. Really there is only one word that truly describes it, BREATHTAKING. It is a road that we have traveled before. In fact we have traveled it several times lately. But seriously, it was all about giving her a gift straight from my heart. I couldn't think of anything she might find more exciting and memorable than spending the day doing something like this.

Yep, you guessed it. We headed to Estancia to pick up more pumpkins. These weren't just any pumpkins though, these were giant pumpkins. These were the kind of pumpkins that even I would struggle with but considering my current heart condition, Michelle and Misha were able to experience the thrill of loading these beauties. Can't you just see the joy on her face? Some guys give jewelry, or take their wives to dinner but what man provides such a memorable day? Man I love her. Oh but wait, it didn't stop there. On the way home I stopped in at McDonald's to get her a quality lunch to go. I suppose we could have eaten there instead but we needed to get back to the pumpkin stand. We then spent the remainder of the evening together selling pumpkins at the stand. Quality time is always the best of gifts! Later we headed home to a meal of Quarters BBQ, and two amazing chocolate cakes. While eating we enjoyed a beautiful centerpiece of flowers as well. Don't worry, I got permission from Michelle's mom to take credit for the BBQ, flowers and the cake that she bought. I also got permission from Keri to take credit for the cake that she brought as well. I just can't tell you how much I love her!!

All kidding aside, I love this woman more than words can say!! Happy Birthday baby, I love you. Wait until you see what I have planned for next year!!!!!!!!

New Eyes

Oh my goodness--another superb day! I think I'm going to go into a mini depression when pumpkin' sellin' season is over. We had SO MUCH HELP today! Thanks a trillion all you wonderful people who sacrificed your entire Sunday to our orange cause.

I caught Barb, Deanell, and possibly Dena mention to several customers to check out the blog when handing them a flier on GG. Yikes. What pressure! I'm a little off my game as of late. I must admit a lot of my posts are not publish worthy and for that I'm sorry. If this were a quality blog, would I talk about my dog eating horse poop or a dead owl my husband found in a water trough? Probably not. Also, I think I'm a little loopy spending so many hours at the pumpkin stand. If you check back in November, I might have something more interesting to say!!! Maybe!

Four cute kids for your visual enjoyment. Why not!

I need to go to bed. I will fill you all in on all the volunteers tomorrow. Thanks for your understanding everybody!

We Know Nice People

What a super Saturday!
We survived a fantastic day selling pumpkins in the most ideal weather. I would like to show you pictures of all the fine helpers. For tonight and until I have more time and energy to look through my pictures, I'm going to have to just list them. If I list your name, please stand up so that we may acknowledge you.

• Deanell--took money and talked to hundreds of happy customers. Deanell knows how to chat with people. I love it when she's working the register (cash box)!
• Darren--he helped Max at the park doing all the great stuff Darren does.
• Misha--always there with whatever I need. Today Misha helped unload a trailer of pumpkins, and yesterday she did face painting.
• Carlos--helped unload trailer and move pumpkins around.
• Miki--did face painting and was her usual cheerful self.
• Renee--gave rides at the park with Max. Helped Max take portable panels back to ranch with park activity ended. Also, Renee picked up dinner for my children last night and watched them so Max and I could go on a date!
• Tim--he spent another Saturday of his life walking kids around in circles! Tim and Barb also stayed until the bitter end to make sure I made it safely in my car.
• Barb--Barb volunteered all day Friday and a good chunk today. She is just like Deanell--super terrific with the customers. We love having her around. She's the kind of person I feel like I've know for years and years when it's really only been less than a month.
• Cindy--Cindy donated yet another day to working the pumpkin stand. She also took Garrett with their family to church this evening and then took him back to their house for dinner.
• Logan--Cindy's son and cute little helper. I love to see him hauling those pumpkins.
• Grant--Cindy's other son. He and Garrett are amazing pumpkin haulers.
• Kelsey--Cindy's daughter. She's just plain cute and fun to have around.
• Garrett--I have to give it to my son--the boy hauled out HUNDREDS of pumpkins to people's cars today.
• Jeri--she did whatever needed doing. It was great getting to know her better. I now know she is super sweet, helpful, willing, and can carry large pumpkins.
• Danielle is 14 going on 38. She did not hesitate in the slightest unloading pumpkins and helping out. I am excited to have her come out to GG to enjoy the horses.
• Pat--Danielle's grandma who worked away moving pumpkins. She and Danielle went to the park to get more waivers from our group over there which was a huge help for me.
• Joe--thanks for stopping by Friday and today to offer up your services. Thanks, also, for donating a clock to our pumpkin stand.
• Bear gave horse rides for hours. I know Tim was happy to have his help in that pen. Bear is a lot of fun to be around--he is full of smiles and jokes.
• Rebekah was the lovely waiver assistant at the park today. Max said they were a well oiled machine with Rebekah taking waivers before the children got a turn to ride Rebekah also did face painting when her schedule allowed.
• Andrea and Thomas--unloading machines.
• Nancy--she gave pony rides ALL morning, two days in a row!
• Eric--he helped at the park where Max and Renee were giving horse rides. Eric helped set up the pens and put helmets on all the children.
• Matt S. drove all the way from Lindrith, NM to work at the stand with us today. The neat thing is that we had no idea he was coming--fun surprise!! I happily put him to work moving pumpkins and carrying out hay bales. It turns out he reads the blog every morning but refuses to comment. Other than that, he's one terrific person!
• Beth, Matthew, and Jessie--they brought meatballs and hoagie rolls for us to have for dinner! Were those ever delish sandwiches!
• Brooke, Claire and Grant--the rest of my children who worked hard and were good! Nice pumpkin carrying.

You may all sit down now.

That is all my memory will allow for right now. My Word of the Day is grateful! To the person/people I might have left out, my apologies. I will make it up to you! Headed to bed.

Happy rest of the weekend to you.

Playing Nice

Ahh, they're getting along! Couldn't resist sharing with all of you. Thanks, Keri, for the fun email.

Thanks to Barb, Deanell, Misha, Nancy, Melissa, Dena, Keith, Parker, Spencer, Andrea, Terri, Zack, Jessica, Rebekah, Renee, and Steph for working today at the patch. You all are fantastic!

I'll leave you with Keith modeling the new, required dress code for any males working at the pumpkin stand.

Power suits all the way. Funny, Keith was a little outraged when he saw our cash drawer a real mess. He went all "Mr. Important Banker" on us and made the bills face the same direction. Silly rabbit!

A very happy weekend to you!

Barrels Of Fun

I was thinking you all might be a little pumpkined (very euphonious!) out this week. Because I care so much about all of you, I thought I'd provide you with a little variety on this fine Thursday.

What better to talk about than some happy children enjoying horses? Monday evening a group of Girl Scouts came out to learn about horses in order to earn their horse pin. My lovely friend, Keri, has a daughter in this particular troop. They called and asked if we would be willing to have the ladies out to show them a few things. We immediately showed them the rakes and pitch forks! I know, I know--we're too good to guests! They were the hard working-est, non complaining-est young ladies you'll ever meet! Don't you just love how I made them pose with a load of poop? The girl with the purple bandana covering her face cracks me up! I think she's the smarty of the group. This is Keri. Cute, right? She happens to be cute and sweet. Within the last month she baked both a carrot cake and apple pie for us! She has also volunteered at the pumpkin stand, bid on t-shirts, and faithfully commented on the blog. Anyone remember the Do the Hustle post I did in June? (If you haven't read it, check it out.) Keri is the lady who had me explaining things about the horses to her and then ended up riding like an ol' pro! On Monday I caught her trying to pull me into her web again. "Michelle, am I doing this right? Michelle, does this strap go here? Michelle, should I do this or this?" Good try, Keri! You'll have to find your answers else where! Max, Steph, and Trish taught the girls about grooming and saddling the horses. It was such a perfect night. The horses were calm, the weather was beautiful, and the girls were terrific! Trish and Steph, thanks for being there once again! We ran out of daylight before we wanted the night to end. We sure hope these girls make it back out to ride and play... and scoop more poop!
Thanks, Girl Scouts!

Thanks to all who helped with the stand and the two field trips today. Deanell, Darren, Julie, Beth, Dena, Nancy, Roy, Jessie, Matthew, Cindy & kids--Kelsey, Grant, Logan. Wow! Our cup runneth over!

Beth enjoyed covering pumpkins so much last night she decided to do it again tonight. This time she recruited her hubby and Max's big bro, Roy, to help out. (BTW--Beth also brought out super delish breakfast burritos for all of us this morning!)Things sure were a lot faster with him around. Thanks so much, Roy!

My niece, Jessie was also a big help. It's amazing someone her tiny size could lug $20 pumpkins around! And while I'm bragging about her, I'd like to announce she made the principal's honor roll at school this nine weeks. What a great way to start middle school! Jessie Bug, we're so proud of you!And this handsome Matthew kid--he played with Grant for almost an hour while we covered things up. Matthew, thanks for being such a great big cousin and for sharing your hamburger with Grant. We love you!

Mom, thanks so much for taking and picking my kids up from school, going to the store for me, and making dinner.

Happy Friday, everyone!