Home, Home on the Range Farm

In this area of Saskatchewan, you can tell where people live because there are tree belts around the farm yards. Just ahead on this gravel road is my parents farm.

At the Bible conference, a few of the younger ladies put goody bags together. It was such a cool idea and so thoughtful. Ours contained granola bars, Coke Zero, tissues, hard candies, a notepad, a pen, gum, bottles of water, hand sanitizer, a bag of cashews and probably other things that I had already eaten before taking this photo. :)

One night after the meetings, we went to the dorms at the university for refreshments and fellowship. Kit and her family came too. Here's Kit lacking sleep and overloaded with sugar! Moments later, she was sitting on the couch staring into nothing and basically sleeping with her eyes open, it was adorable.

The conference ended Monday after lunch, and everyone was invited out to my parents farm for a potluck and games. Here is Farmer Dad preparing a bonfire.

The soccer dudes played a game of skill.... they use a soccer ball to play volleyball and you can't use your hands. They mostly used their heads and knees, just like in soccer. It was very entertaining to watch!

Young people from near and far playing volleyball (the real way.)

It's amazing how everyones attention is grabbed when a child giggles. Look how many people turned to watch Kit as I snapped this photo.

Just as the food was served, it started to pour and thankfully my mom was able to quickly pull her car out of the garage and anyone who wanted to stay dry found refuge there. It was kind of fun actually, it definitely added some excitement to the day and no one really seemed to mind except a few bags of chips that got soggy out on the buffet table!

This is really silly to point out, but see that black plastic sled with the steering wheel on the top shelf? It's under the toboggan. I have the BEST memories riding that as a child and I am so happy my parents have kept it all these years. Just seeing it here in this photo reminds me of so many fun times my parents created for us when we were children.

When the rain stopped, it was time for seconds. :)

Kit going crazy... I think I have about 15 shots like this in various mid-air poses. It's highly amusing to me.

It ended up raining again so the garage was put to use once more.

And it rained some more!

Then the sun came out, the air smelled so incredibly beautiful and it was warm without being muggy - very enjoyable.

See the rainbow? We hoped it meant that the rain was done, because we wanted to have a baseball game.

The bonfire was a fun place to gather. The gentleman in the center (white shirt) is my Grandpa.

My Uncle M greets his daughter and granddaughter. He was just driving through the area and it was so nice to see him again as it had been around 7 years since I had seen him last, and the first time to meet his new wife. She is so sweet!

Mom's clematis is so heavy some years, that it pulls the chicken wire right off the siding of the house. It's always been so beautiful!

A certain group of girls filled up water balloons and hid them before people arrived at the farm. They launched a sneak attack, but I think it's safe to say that the girls got just as wet as the boys. I'm pretty sure that the girl in the purple plaid top that is getting doused with the garden hose is my Social Sister!

It was decided that the sky was clearing up and it was finally baseball time. This is the traditional way to get to the ball diamond.

My sister Jolly and her youngest, Jack.

See the trucks at the baseball diamond? All the property between there and the house belongs to my parents. Their property is so beautiful.

Here's a closer view.

My two favorite nieces! Bri and Kit.

This baseball diamond has been here in this spot for as long as I can remember. On the 24th of May long weekend (Canada) it has always been a tradition to spend it here. It was fun putting the diamond to use in August, you can see that my Dad did a lot of mowing as there hasn't been cows in this pasture land for a couple of years.

The land is part of the Qu'Apelle Valley and if you look close enough at the bottom of the valley, you can see the Qu'Apelle River.

The Newlyweds

Molly and Social.

The Mr.

I can't resist sun through a little girls blond hair and bare feet in the air. So adorable!

Ebo and Nate.

J.D.

A blurry photo, but what is funny to notice is that The Mr. is about to get smacked in the head by my clip-board wielding Social Sister!

Loading up to go home.

It looked like the sun squished itself into an oval as it touched the other side of the valley.

Twinkle lights on the patio.