Long Meadow

Addison watching the horses & mules in the meadow.

Sydney, my buddy, making me rock pancakes.

With temperatures running pretty hot here at home, it was a get time to head to the high country and chase cattle. Benny & I headed up to Long Meadow for the weekend to help some friends move cattle. As we came into Tyler Creek we were to look for any cattle that were down there and move them to the shoot to push up the next day. We had five head to move, so we jump out and got to work. **Note to self, a sleeveless, chink-less, spur-less cowgirl is not a good combo with brushy terrain! ** But it was a good ride. So Saturday morning Benny & I are to push the cows we have in the chute up to the top. Simple enough!! From the start Baby Girl (my mare) is having attitude! We couldn’t figure out if she wasn’t warmed up (we started out uphill right off), was she sore from the day before, or hurt. Regardless, she didn’t want to go uphill. So for the first hour it was crazy & frustrating. She doesn’t get me mad very often, but I was MAD today. She didn’t care that I had spurs on! She would let me lead her up but she wouldn’t go with me on her. So off I go leading my horse up a STEEP hill. After about a half a dozen stops Benny has any idea. He grabs her reins, I grab the very back of her tail, and he says just keep picking up your feet! Here we go! It was great; she pulled me up that hill!
She did great the rest of the day after we were off the steep stuff. I do have to confess, I was shopping in my head for a new horse the rest of the day! Don’t you tell her that! She is already sassy enough!
At the end of the day when you are looking at an amazing sky for of stars and listening to the horses in mules in the meadow, it was a great day and would do it all over again. Well, maybe skip the first part of the shoot. I do love working cattle and am thankful I have some great friends who love it too.

This is some beautiful country!

Great Grandma = Great Visit

A smile like no one else can give, a hug that smells nostalgic, and hands as soft as velvet ~ just a few things that only a Great Grandma can give to you. She is my Grandma but Abigail, Kayanna, & Luke’s Great Grandma. She has come to visit for three weeks! We are so happy to see her, especially since we had to cancel our trip to Ohio this year. We are going to love hugging her, visiting with her, and just spending time with her. I am so happy the children have her. She is the only great grandparent that is still with us. We love her so much.

Pooches & Playtime

We have a fabulous house guest here at the Abshire home front. Her name is Ruby and she is a Basset Hound. She has come to stay for a couple of weeks while our friends are on vacation. She is having a blast with Bolt, our newest addition, and Bentley.

Here is a clip of quality playtime for the pooches!

(Some parts have bad lighting)

Abigail beats the heat & her time!!!!

Tonight was our last swim meet for our first swim season and it was a hot one. This was Abigail's second swim meet and she did amazing.

She took 4.5 seconds off her 50 meter backstroke and

9.7 seconds off her 50 meter freestyle!

Go Abigail!

Our Pizza Man has done it again!

I know it is Sunday and we usually have pizza on Friday nights but it all started with Mama trying to empty out the fridge. This sometimes is like a "Give a Mouse a Cookie" experience. But what ended up happening was Aaron making a fabulous new pizzas for us. We had come across Mary's Pizza Shack up north on our vacation and fell in love with the Roberto's Pizza.

Roberto’s Pizza
Pesto, pepperoni, mozzarella, fresh garlic, red
pepper flakes and olive oil, topped with
Napoletana sauce and fresh basil.

We knew we were going to figure out how to do this one at home. Thanks to my inquisitive man who asked the owner several questions as he watched him prepare this pizza, we have made our own. We made some changes of our own which made for a fabulous pizza. The entire pizza was consumed that evening, thanks to the help of the Cobbs & Bradleys (fellow pizza lovers).

I believe the word of the night was glutton!

More pizza adventures from the Abshire Pizzeria coming soon!

No Clowning Around ~ Hey Rube!

Abigail returned home from Wagon Train, at Hume Lake, today. She was very excited to get home; as we were excited for her to be home. She said that she has forgotten what her bed feels like at home. We have loved hearing her stories, songs, and other things she learned at camp. She says that the thing she learned the most was that she needs to be kinder to her sister. I imagine she will feel that several times before she leaves the doors of our Abshire home. We were so glad she got to go to camp. We have seen God's mighty hand at work in the lives of so many at Hume Lake. We pray Abigail enjoys her times, memories, & encounters with God in that precious place.

Here are "Sisters" cuddling together! They missed each other!

~ I will note that we went 2 hours and 53 minutes with no fighting!

We are so thankful for God's grace in this house!

Abigail is sharing camp stories with Michaela. Such girls! I love it!

Here is a funny song that Abigail is sure to teach her sister & cousins!

Here are pictures from her week at camp:

Wagon Train Part One

Wagon Train Part Two

It is nice to have her home and tucked in bed, though it is my bed she is in and not her own. She doesn't mind since she has forgotten what her beds feels like. She can reacquainted with her bed tomorrow.

Sweet dreams!

Happy Birthday to Bethany

For some reason that I can not recall now, we missed Bethany's birthday. I can't remember if Abbie was sick, if the girls were at swim practice, or Mama just didn't check the calendar. Either way, it was not intentional that her birthday party got missed but "life happens". Mama felt terrible because I knew that this was her first party outside her family so it was a big deal to her. So Kayanna & Mama decided to have another party to celebrate her birthday. We invited her to a Tea/Hot Cocoa Party to celebrate her life. Kayanna had so much fun decorating her card and setting the table. She even called her to ask her to wear a dress for the party. We dined on delicious zucchini bread and hot cocoa. We had a wonderful time of friends & fellowship.

Beary Bear joined us for the festivities!

Make a wish Bethany!

Good job Big Girl! Too fun!

Happy Birthday our sweet, sweet Bethany!

Heading for Wagon Train

Here is our crew getting ready to head to Wagon Train for a week. Claire Bear (green tank top) is the only child who has never been to camp. We will be praying for all of them to have fun, be safe, and fall more in love with Jesus. We are sending a couple extra prayers for Joel & Amy, as they are the counselors who will have a very tiring week ahead of them. We will miss Abbie like crazy but are excited for her. The last thing she tells us as she is pulling away, "I bet I will miss you by the time I reach the corner." We already miss her!

Hume Lake Website

Happy Independence Day!

We had a quiet day around the house for July 4th this year. Abigail was finishing her packing for camp tomorrow and wanted to hang out at home. So we swam with our buddies next door, made home-made ice cream, & barbecued. We took in the city fireworks from our front yard and had a few of our own. Luke fell asleep during the fireworks, even with all the booms.

Abigail being very cautious!!

Kayanna being Kayanna!
+

Some of our own fireworks!

Luke & Landon taking it all in.

Hope, Abs, & K K hanging out with the family.

The thing we learned is that our children didn't know what the 4th of July is about. When asked what the 4th of July was they informed us it was a day of home made ice cream, BBQ, & fireworks. Yeah, we do all that but "the why" of our celebrating they didn't know. Our freedom comes at a high cost and desire for our children understanding of this as they grow up.

Happy Independence Day!!!!

Pampering Continued

Word spread fast about Abigail's Salon. She branched out into spa treatments on day two of her salon, cucumbers & all. I am thankful they didn't branch into seaweed wraps!!!!
The prices were even lower......free!

Abigail is pampering Hannah ~ jealous!?!
Michaela is doing Sarah's hair.

Auntie Keri came to have her nails done.
~ Note: She kept her crazy nails the whole time Abigail was at Wagon Train so she would be reminded to pray for her. You are a fabulous Auntie!

The funniest part at the salon today was when the boys next door came and acted like they wanted spa treatments. Once the cucumbers were cut & on their eyes they ate them all & ran out!! They left us all in stitches!!!