Bonus Visit

A big heartfelt thank you to our wonderful friends, The B family who came all the way from Boston to visit us for a week. We usually only get to see them once a year, during branding in the summer. They have made the trip out for the last five years. For the first time ever, they came out during the winter to experience a new side of the ranch and New Mexico. Fortunately, the weather was very nice during their stay. Let me tell ya, they're wicked fun people!

And I must admit, they're pretty fresh! I cannot figure out why they don't want to pick up and move out here. After all, our children get along famously. I doesn't matter the activity, it's fun!

Steve, Holly, Nicole, Lexi, and Stevos-- We miss you!

We're so glad we had the chance to see you.

They're A Pleasure To Know

Steve, Holly, Nicole, Lexi, and Stevoz make up the wonderfully fun family that was in town the last two weeks. In last night's post I told you about Lexi. It just so happens that there are four more people in her family worth tooting about. They have made the long trip from Massachusetts to New Mexico for the last five years to be a part of branding weekend and are just like family now. It's hard to imagine a branding without them. I'd like to introduce them to you so that you can get a glimpse of these special people.

This is Steve. Ooops. Wrong picture. This is Steve. Don't let that look fool you--he's a softy. This is Steve doing what he does best.

OK, not entirely fair. He's also a fairly good foosball player, a superb architect (who is so kindly designing our new house and eventually will design the barn at GG when we get going on that), an excellent omelet maker, and one heck of a jokester. Everyone loves Steve. Some also fear him like my innocent daughter, Claire. During Steve's family's stay at our house, Claire came to me at 3:30 in the morning telling me she was scared of Mr. Steve's snoring. Imagine me trying to be compassionate about that fear. "Claire, it's just Mr. Steve and he can't help it! Go back to sleep!" Funny stuff. He is now an expert flanker on Team Max. (More about the branding teams in a future post--it's not pretty or even mature, but it sure is fun.)

Holly is Steve's wife, a dear friend and a terrific person! For the past few years, Holly has totally helped me clean up after the big mob of guests come and go for branding weekend. Holly doesn't think twice about washing ALL THE DIRTY LAUNDRY, cleaning rooms, sweeping, mopping, etc., etc.! I think I would be lost without her. In fact, this year I think I sorta kinda helped Holly clean up. It now has become her doing most of the work. Yeah, I'm a great friend. Besides being a workaholic, she's also wicked funny and fresh--her Boston influence creeping in. Holly can be a huge jokester herself, so I always have to watch out for her crazy antics. In this picture, you can clearly see Holly trying to steal my niece away from me--we both love Kasey so much. Rude, but I'll share because I'm a little more mature that she is and I owe her for doing all those dishes. I love her and wished she lived closer, like in Albuquerque. We could have grand adventures that she, of course, would plan because I don't do things like that. There's not much she can't do or won't try--well, unless it's meat. That's OK. She happily works the cattle and serves it up on a platter. She's nice that way. Holly, thanks for all you did to help out and thanks for being such a great friend!

Their oldest child is Nicole. I think her love of the ranch gets over shadowed by her sister's because she is a lot more reserved than Lexi. There is no doubt in my mind that Nicole is also in love with the place. She is a sweet soul, a mature young lady, and ever so helpful! I cannot tell you how many times Nicole asked what she could do to help me. She is happy to take out trash, carry food out to be served, or whatever else I might dream up. I have never witnessed an ounce of malingering coming from that girl. She has also become quite the rider. How a person gets so good when they only get to practice a few times a year escapes me. Maybe it has something to do with her calm nature and positive attitude. I love Nicole and respect her so much. Oh, and I didn't mention how sweet she is with Grant. Max and I would love it if when the girls get a little older, they can stay with us for the summer and be volunteers at Galloping Grace and work with all the kiddos we have coming out. (Pipe dream--we'll have a hard time convincing their parents to part with these super kids!)

The baby of the family is Stevoz. He real name is Steven, after his father, but that just never fit him. He is Stevoz through and through. I mentioned in the Unplugged post what a great swimmer he is. Maybe I'll hit him up sometime to teach me a few strokes. Stevoz and Garrett are absolutely great together. They have gone on many adventures over the years. I think Garrett has convinced Stevoz how totally cool reptiles are. Stevoz is always willing to go on the next great hunt with Garrett. This summer they walked to what we call the north well. It's a little over two miles from the bunkhouse, but loaded with lizards. (Or so Garrett believes.) I drove to check on them considering it was almost 100 degrees and the middle of the day. They were happy as could be looking under every big rock around. I went ahead and drove them back, but I'm sure they would have been fine if left alone.

Stevoz is a tough kid with a happy, sweet disposition. I'm so glad he's one of Garrett's very best friends.

There you have it. Turns out really nice people do come from Boston, and we happen to be friends with five of them.

Last thing. I meant to put this picture of Lexi in on her post yesterday and somehow forgot. Oh well--you get the idea.

Max had a great time at GG today--kids all over the place. Maybe I can convince him to do a post and give you all a little break from my rambling. Have a great day!.