Memories..... like the corners of my mind...

This is the main house at the Ranch.

So, this past week my roommate went to a family reunion and was telling me how crazy it was with all 28 members of her immediate family and most of her extended family and I thought back on all my family reunions... For those of you who read this that aren't family, I come from quite a large family. My dad's family is huge! There are 8 kids in the family and all of them have children, one has 11 children so those family reunions were quite a gathering! My mom's family is a little smaller, there are only 6 kids and not all of them have quite as many kids. It was just funny to think back and remember all the craziness that we had with that many people.

When I was like 9 we had our first huge reunion on dad's side at the Ranch! I loved those reunions, I loved the Ranch. The Ranch was built by my mom's grandfather and is still in the family. I never got to meet my great-grandfather and only remember small things about my great-grandmother. But being in the place that he built was always a great feeling. It's a great place to go and escape from everything. When we were younger, it was amazing just being there. I remember as a kid, we would play games in the main house like cowboys and indians or card games. Then outside there was the cinder pit, which is a tall red hill that you slide down! We used cardboard boxes or whatever we could fine. There was an old rusted hood that sat at the bottom of the hill, I think that's what my mom used to slide down on! We tried that hood though, and it didn't work well for us, if I remember right.

The cinder pit, I think that is Jeff climbing up it

I also remember going into the woods and building houses out of pine needles and whatever trash was around. I think we found a toilet seat once and who knows what else was around. There was always a couple of us doing that and we would each make our own little house with separate rooms and everything. That usually kept us busy for hours! I remember coming back the next year, and trying to find those 'houses' that we had built the previous summer! Oh to be young again! I have so many memories from the Ranch and should write them all down but that would make for a very long post! I did just want to write some of it down though because I was missing the Ranch. Every Memorial Day weekend whoever from the family can go, goes up and opens the Ranch for the summer and they kind of 'clean house'. There are a lot of repairs that need to be done because the buildings are old and it just needs love. Anyways, I haven't been in 2 years and I really wanted to go this year. I went the year that I moved back to Arizona and that had been the first time I'd been back to the Ranch in so many years. It was so good to be back there and just be with family working and taking care of the place that has been loved so much since it was built! My mom would tell us her memories of being there with her grandfather and how much she loved the time she spent there. There have been so many generations of his family that have been lucky enough to enjoy the Ranch. I'm glad I've been lucky enough to have made the memories I have.

This is the water tank that you fill up to supply the house with running water. As a kid, I loved going to fill that up. It was usually the middle of the summer and the water that was being used to fill up the tank was so cold! Plus we usually got to stop at the little general store on the way back!

Well, these are just a few of my memories! I hope that next year I'll be able to go to the Ranch and make more memories!

Just some of the beauty that is there!