Awe

Max is such a great sport. He was clearly exhausted tonight when I did my, "Oh please watch The Office with me--we're not that tired" plea. I remember begging off about half way through, my eyes closing. From there, I had a very sound nap on the couch. Why I do that, I just don't know. Now it's 1:29 AM. It's the perfect time to tell you a sweet story from Saturday morning.

Renee had a young girl ready to ride the horse. Because the girl was blind, Renee took her hand and started explaining what she was feeling. "Here is the saddle blanket, the saddle, and his mane." The little girl got a magical look to her face and exclaimed, "You mean this is a real horse I'm riding?!" Renee said it about broke her heart it was so sweet. The girl didn't expect to get the real deal right there at the pumpkin patch. A little later an autistic girl had a turn as her giddy parents looked on, so proud of their daughter.

Quanz, thank you for allowing us to use this space to bring the joy to the city. Hundreds of children and their parents thank you.

Pumpkin Field Day--The Rest Of The Story

I have a ton of pictures from this past Saturday when a group of us headed out to a farm to gather pumpkins. I thought about making a slide show of the day but then figured it hasn't been that long since my last one. Instead, I'm going to quickly ramble about the shots. You need to see these nice people--you just do!

Again, all these awesome volunteers gave up their Saturday to be part of the working crew for Galloping Grace. We met at the church at 7:30 AM.

We caravaned to Moriarty, NM where all the trucks that would be hauling pumpkins had to be weighed. You might think it's silly I took this picture, but at this point I was in shock that so many people were there ready to help.
Trish counted sixteen vehicles making the drive out to the farm.
This is our nephew Matthew and Grant having a moment.
Here's a group of volunteers just waiting for their instructions.
Roy and Beth--Max's bro (who I still need to brag about) and Beth. They thought I was silly taking their picture, but I think they look darn cute. We love them and are so thankful for all they do for us.
This is Max's stepmom, Stephanie. She's one hot granny, huh? Steph was kind enough to come out to help with this crazy adventure. We also love and appreciate Steph. Just so you know, we appreciate ALL the people pictured in this post. How could we not? Great cooperation cute girls. This trailer was loaded in about ten minutes!!!!! Other trailers with smaller pumpkins took a lot longer. I don't think there was a slacker in the bunch. Please keep in mind we didn't know half the people that came out. They either heard about the gathering day from a friend or learned about it at our Second Saturday work project day. You would think we had some very experienced pickers the way they all worked.

These amazing people are the Joiners. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might recall me highlighting them for hauling over 2000 gallons of water to the ranch EVERY WEEK for the horses and trees! They also graded the arena for free. Once you talk to them, you realize they are not only extremely generous with their time and money, but they are super sweet! I loved talking to Evonne. Bill and Chris each drove their pickups with large trailers to haul the pumpkins back. NICE! I love little Kaley in this picture. Just look how hard she's working lifting that pumpkin. Jordann, Max's stepsister, had no problems. This girl is quite the athlete and can ride horses like nobody's business! I thought it was pretty nice that she and her friend Shiann would sacrifice sleeping in on a Saturday morning to help us pick pumpkins. Hard workers everywhere.
Not sure if these two are a couple, but they would be cute as one. They kindly smiled for the camera. What people must think of me! Cute, friendly, and hardworking! Love that Kendra! Carlos was reminded of another round orange object while out in the field. Miki took a little time off from watching Grant for me to haul a few herself. I thought you would be cheated if you didn't get to see the dorky shirt I wore in honor of the occasion. (I had to crop out my silly head.) My niece Jessie wore the same shirt. I'm not quite sure why we didn't get our picture taken together. I figured you could always stand to see Garrett's snake one more time as well. (Garrett later released the snake.)What a crew! This picture shows the majority of those who made it out to the farm to help. I would guess there were about ten people not pictured. It sure is hard keeping everyone straight at times. I love little Gabriel. Beyond, beyond cute! Once back at the pumpkin stand, we had a few of the same people plus a lot of fresh, friendly faces. There were probably more children than adults in on the action. They all sure worked hard and with such panache!
This is Max's dad, Jerry. Pop hauled pumpkins back to the stand for us and then did something even more incredible--he took a load of seven horses back to the family cattle ranch. Max wants things to be easier on whomever helps take care of the ranch while he is recovering from surgery. Jerry wanted things to be easier on Max so he volunteered for the job. Pop, thank you so much--that was a huge relief for Max! With setting up the pumpkin stand and running the ranch, he didn't know when he'd find time to take them back. By the time I got around to taking the group picture, several people had taken off. Pumpkin chuckers and haulers, you are the best! You made a gigantic job fun and provided us with memories of some great people! Thank you so much.

Happy G, Sleepy Me

Did any of you watch ER last week? We finally got to watch it tonight and boy, was it ever a tear jerker! At the fear of driving you guys off with more talk of how late it is when I go to post, I fell asleep after watching ER and slept until 1:50 AM. Why not post earlier you ask? Well, I had yet another day trying to be the muscles of Max. Trish and I helped put up horse fencing around the pumpkin stand. Who knew I was capable of such antics? Tomorrow we need to move more hay. Good exercise--exhausting work.


What I have to offer you tonight in the way of a post is seeing what Garrett found to occupy his time out in the pumpkin patch.

Oh happy day! This is the exact outcome he had hoped for on the way out to the farm. "Dad, do you think I'll see a snake?" Uncle Roy (who I need to brag about in a big way!) saw this pretty thing and Garrett wasted no time claiming his prize. I know there are plenty of mothers out there who would hope their son would take an interest in numismatics or chess rather than hunting down reptiles, but I'm OK with this crazy passion of his--as long as he stays away from the rattle snakes. If you want to read about the craziest day involving reptiles, click here. My blog friend's husband had a day from which most people would never, ever recover! Garrett also helped gather pumpkins when his schedule allowed.

Max has his follow-up MRI in the morning. (Tuesday) We are praying for no changes in the cyst since last month. As always, we'll keep you posted.

Thanks for stopping by.

The "Wright" Stuff

Every Thursday I try and do a post about a person or business who has helped out the ranch in some way or another. Now I'm running into a fantastic problem to have--there are not enough Thursdays in a week to express all the gratitude and thanks we need to share. God, through a bunch of incredible individuals, is blessing Galloping Grace more than we ever expected.

A few weeks back, Max had been wishing we had a sign to let the public know our pumpkin patch would be back this year. Would you believe that a friend from Max's small group, John, approached Max that very same day and let him know his son would be happy to do any banners for GG if the need arose? Unbelievable! Max just laughed. We laugh all the time at the amazing blessings we're receiving. This is one of the two banners that Heath and company designed and produced for us--a laudable gift, most definitely. Not only did he make this sign, but John and Heath went and installed it at the lot after slaving away at Second Saturday work project all morning.
Heath (and John) Wright, thank you so very much! The banners are beautiful.

As the sign announces, the pumpkin patch will be up soon. I can't wait to show you the help we've already received, and the stand isn't even open yet!