Horseshoes...Good Luck.

A year ago we found some old horseshoes that are actually for playing horseshoes. So we thought we would put in a couple pits for that. Didn't get done. So this summer Bryan decided that we needed to just pick a spot and get it done. Turns out that there was a chunk of pasture right behind the pool that was nice and flat. So he pulled the fence out in that area and put in the sand pits for Horseshoes.

We had to Google the measurements. Just not information we both knew off the top of our heads...weird.

Lots of prep work on Saturday. I did help by mowing the area that we had chosen. Then I started mowing the lawn and just as I was about done the mower broke. So pause with the horseshoe pits and he set to work fixing the mower. Always so amazed at how he knows how to do stuff like that. Amazed and grateful. I finished the lawn by push mower. Sometimes I forget how big our lawn is until I do that. The part that I missed with the riding mower was about as big as most people's lawns haha.

Then on Monday Bryan and Trey went and got some sand for the pits and he put that in. Then on Tuesday we put the stakes into the ground and got the horseshoes out and tried them out. Bryan got a ringer! So we had to document that. The first one in the newly created pits.

Yesterday he put all the fence posts into their new spots and will put the wire back on when the mud dries up a bit.

Now I must say here that we did play a game last night. We were playing to 12. I was up 8 - 0 and he came back and I only beat him 12 - 10. 😏 Then we played on up to 15 and he beat me 15 - 13. I had forgotten how much fun it is. Ready for the big leagues...

First Day Of School

Today Ashley started school! A class at UNL to be exact. She's taking "insect biology" Tuesdays and Thursdays. So proud of her for learning new things and stretching her horizons. 

She even took a first day of school picture! And one of the building that her class is in. 

A Gift from the heart

On Sunday, August 21 I was given 4 jewelry boxes by a family who knows what grief and loss are like. Taylor, her sister Tia and their dad, Galen gave each of us (myself, Bobbi, Ashley and Jayme) a silver necklace with a silver charm on it. The charm is an exact miniature impression of Letti's footprint from her footprints taken at the hospital.The back is engraved with her name. 

The girls, Taylor and Tia, are girls I have met through Esprit. Taylor was 9 years old when she survived the car crash that took her mom's life and the life of her 14 month old brother. We have had some good talks and cries over the years and when Letti died Taylor asked if they could have these made for us. I can't even express how much it means to me. Such a loving, thoughtful gift. She is 4 months old today. 

Camping (At Home)

August 21&22:

Trey has Mondays off, Jayme isn't working anymore and they have Poppy so...they decided to go camping down at the pond. So Sunday after church and lunch, Poppy came home with me...

Glamour farmer... Sidenote: this little tractor was and still is such a great purchase! It gets used so much and just keeps working! It is so fun to see little kids get to drive on their own! I'm sure that it make them better drivers when they get older! 😀

Bryan had just gotten done doing some trimming around the yard and she said "I am going to get Grandpa Bryan a Popsicle to eat with me on the step!" So sweet.

We cleaned up the paddle boat and tried on the life vest but weren't too thrilled about it. Then she realized in order to ride in the paddle boat it had to be worn. Ok no problem!

When Trey got off work they came out and set up a tent. It was such a beautiful evening! No wind, cooler temperatures and very few bugs. 

What a sweet little family. Then we took an "American Gothic" photo,

This one makes me laugh. 

We lit the fire and I had cut up some veggies and made some meat skewers to cook down there. Bryan had made a wok to use on our campfire cafe set up so we wanted to try it. We cooked the veggies and some shrimp in that.

Ate our delicious dinner, went on another paddle boat ride then we made s'mores for dessert. Then it was time to go to bed. Bryan and I did not sleep in the tent. 

Poppy was pretty excited about the whole thing. 

Monday morning up at 7:15 and cooking by the fire! Actually breakfast at the fire is just a great meal.

It was cool enough that we needed sweatshirts! That is lovely in Nebraska in August. Quite a bit windier that morning.

The bacon caused a little grease flare up...oh well, Bryan was on the job.

Blueberry pancakes, bacon, coffee and hot chocolate out by the pond in the early morning. So fun.

Then Trey had to take Poppy in for her very first dentist appointment ever. Jayme and I packed up the stuff down at the pond then we sat and talked. When Trey and Poppy came back he and Bryan went to get some sand for the horseshoe pits that Bryan put in. Jayme and I sat by the pool a bit and Poppy played Supergirl as a restaurant owner driving a tractor... Busy girl.

Camping at home was a success! 

This Past Week

Jenny was on her way back through to North Carolina and stopped to spend the night on Sunday, August 14. I got these pictures off her Facebook ... 😬

We all met up at Runza for lunch. Then Ashley came out and swam for awhile. Jayme, Trey and Poppy came out for supper. It was good to see Jen again.

Tuesday, August 16 I went to the Lincoln Children's Zoo with Jayme, Trey and Poppy. It was a fun time.

We had to see how tall they all are as compared with an eagle's wingspan.

That evening we had another huge storm. Always fascinating to watch them come across.

The summer in which June was as hot as August and August acted like May by being stormy.

Wednesday, August 17 was Bobbi and Travis's 2nd wedding anniversary. They have endured in this year, more than most people endure in a lifetime. I love them dearly and admire their strength.

So grateful for them.

A Little Nebraska Louisiana Crawfish Boil...

Several weeks ago Travis called me and said he wanted to have a Louisiana Crawfish Boil. Neither of us had done one so he went online and found a place to order live crawfish from. We had no idea how many to order for 12 people so we got 20 pounds, in hindsight, 10 pounds would have been plenty. I did some research on what to put in the boil and then prepped some little red potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, sausage, and lemons.

Our order was shipped out Thursday, August 11 in the evening and it arrived at our house on Friday, August 12 in the afternoon. I obeyed the instructions and opened the cooler and inspected and washed the crawfish but left them in the bag until we were ready to use them. Let me just say the smell was making me reconsider the decision to try eating them... But washing the mud out helped with the smell tremendously. Washed three more times...waited until it was time to cook them before opening the bag.

The company includes their own seasoning packets for the crawfish. That certainly helped.

The turkey fryer I borrowed didn't have a basket so I got very redneck and created one out of some chicken wire we had in the shed. 

I must say it worked perfectly! I did have to fold it down again so I could get a lid on the pot for steaming purposes.

After letting the water and seasonings come to a boil we added the pearl onions and potatoes. When those were about 4 minutes from done we added the corn and the sausage. After 4 minutes we lifted the basket out and poured the veggies and sausage into a clean cooler to steam and stay warm. 

Trey took this picture of me lifting the basket out to show my steamy glasses but it didn't show.

Veggies in the cooler....waiting for the rest to get here. 

When Bobbi and Travis got here we dumped the crawfish out of the bag and into their styrofoam cooler. From there we sorted them into smaller wire baskets for a last rinse and to remove any dead ones. 

The guys started sorting and Poppy just said "EWWWWWW" over and over. Bobbi and Travis brought some friends out for the festivities. 

Trey was not shooting crawfish, he had been shooting at a target and came to see the "mud bugs"

I left Travis, Seth and Matt to sort and Bobbi to rinse. I went to start cooking the first batch.

I had taken the crawfish in an aluminum pan to put them in the pot. I set the pan down and all of a sudden they were escaping! This guy did not want to be recaptured!! 

But into the boil they went! 

After they steamed in the cooler for a bit we dumped out the first batch with the veggies.

I let Travis have the honors since it was his party idea.

I had made some cookies to look like the crawfish boil ingredients. So of course we had to take a picture of them with it.

Time to eat. We kept cooking and eating and still at the end we had so many left over.

Such a pile of crawfish!

After everyone was done eating, Ashley and Bobbi's friend, Jamie, spent about an hour getting the meat out of the last ones. Each one yields about a 1 and 1/2 inch piece of meat. The fish certainly had a good meal with all our heads and tails.

I would never say that they would be my meat of choice but it was so much fun to sit outside around that table laughing and talking and just being together. I would do it again. Maybe with shrimp...