bluewater days.

another great reunion at the ranch this year! it's so beautiful up there and it's fun to be confined to one space with all your family--i'm lucky to be a part of two great families!

 it's normal to have a hula hoop at a ranch, right?

 poppy stalking lizards so intently didn't even notice my nephew, george, playing house on top of her back.

 this happened on accident--it was pretty great.

 poppy on top of the world.

i had a major crush on brad paisley when i was younger, and when i took this picture i was shocked by how much marcus looked like him in it!

 That time Stephanie high-jacked my camera.... ;)

 Campfire singing is always a highlight of the reunion:

nephew william having a father-son moment

 american gothic.

 how come it took me so long to learn the deliciousness of a s'more?! i want to eat them everyday!

ben and jamie-- my college friend turned niece! haha

the haslip family was cracking me up as we tried to get a 'normal' shot

 The annual fireworks show:

this wizard shot is just too cute.

Do you have a traditional family reunion? 
What do you do for it?

stealin' a young girl's heart.

it's not something new, i've experienced vacation withdrawals before, but this one seems different.

it's not just that we have to return to real life--laundry, grocery shopping, etc., it's mostly that while i'm busy folding those freshly washed clothes, there aren't horses grazing out my window, and that there are buildings getting in the way of my clouds. it's that when i want to get somewhere i can't just hop on a four-wheeler and that i'm back to wearing sandals instead of cowboy boots. i miss picking carrots straight out of the ground and being okay with eating just a little bit of dirt. i liked having a house full of family and country music playing in the background.

life was 'simple' and yet there was so much more to do--there were wildflowers to look for, campfire songs to be sung, country dances to attend, fences to mend, gardens to till, open skies to admire, and horses to ride.

 for one of the first times in my life i wished that instead of my dad moving to the city when my parents got married, he would have taken my mom back to the country and continued in his cowboy ways.

i'm not quite sure how long it would have lasted, but this weekend had my convinced...i should have been a cowgirl.

cold, clear, water.

when we pulled up the blue skies were full of fluff of the very best variety.

the horses were grazing and the porch was packed with people we love.

after hugs and hello we mounted pickel-pepper and penny and went for a very unsuccessful ride--apparently i do not have natural equestrian skills (or can we blame it on the fact that i hadn't put my boots on yet?), claire on the other hand is a total natural and thanks to tips from her and a mid-ride horse trade, i made it back to the house...slowly, but surely.

as beautiful as those big creatures are, i must admit, i really do prefer the four-wheelers.

there's just nothing quite like holding tight to your lovers waist as you go flying through those wide-open new mexican spaces. it's no wonder this place is the land of enchantment.

even if in the middle of your ride it starts half raining, half hailing and your face is pelted all the way home--still something magic about this place.

where'er the wind takes me.

I'm here in New Mexico and the weather is crisp and fragrant. A magnificent cocktail of aromas--like heaven and burning rain. I don't know if that is exactly possible, but my senses tell me it is so. 

We ride the four-wheelers through the fields, once green, now bitten by frost and golden, and I hold tight knowing I am lucky to feel joy. Life is happy and it is beautiful and while I could go off listing things that are frustrating me at the moment, I'd much rather feel the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. I think I'll count the clouds in the sky and remember the giant silver moon we saw on the horizon yesterday evening. 

Those are the things I choose to focus on and that is how I am happy. 

I hope you each find your own way, or feel free to borrow mine, and I hope you each remember to be kind and good all your days, because the alternative is so much less appealing.