Cloud 9 Ranch 2010

(now that I have my new router... i'm going to play catch up on old posts)

In November, our UT Southwestern friends met up at the Burkhart's Cloud 9 Ranch for our annual reunion.

Whoa, did we ever pack a lot this time.

There were 2 coolers, a pack and play, 3 suitcases, a wagon, a tub of toys/books, a box of food, as well as other items. Why the box fan?- white noise.

Tom did a great job loading the car.



We arrived around 10 on a Thursday night... kids did great in the car.

Margaret didn't mind that we woke her up and was all smiles.

Can't blame her- the ranch is a happy place.

Fortunately, the kids went back to sleep quickly, and we began our relaxation.

"Aaahh", says Dr. Tom.

The McAdams, Burkhart, Warminski, and Hartzler families all arrived shortly thereafter.

And the good times began.

Now there were 6 cameras there, and we have all 10,000,000 pictures from them.

Here are some of my favorites.

Friday

Group trek up to the barn

Margaret Gray couldn't get enough of this horse

Big Brother was fine observing from a far.

Mule ride before dinner

You're looking at the house (center of the pic) and the barn (northeast of the house)


Saturday

(My 30th Birthday- how lucky was I that I got to spend it here with these folks!... I'll do a separate post)

Jenny, Sari, me, Meagan, Amy, and Grandmommy Nora (our lovely hostess)
We took an excursion to the booming town of Junction, Texas.

Daddies in charge of the kids

MG sporting camo- Bekah came with lots of great ranch wear for Margaret to borrow.

Hot tubbin' that night... we'll at least we tried to... it never got hot enough.

Sunday

Going fishing

I went on a trail ride... my tail bone hurt for weeks!!

Since we were a few days away from Thanksgiving, we all decided to have our own feast with our med school family...

... complete with Pilgrims and Indians.

Why is Henry making that face?

Because he's trying to get the sour patch kids, with which I was bribing him, out of his teeth.

Tom kept Margaret happy with yogurt melts.

Happy family :)

That night we played our traditional game of Balderdash.... always good to laugh so hard you can't breathe.

Monday

Tom, Johnathan, Rocky, Zack, and Shooter Rob got some man time in.


Attempt at a Christmas card photo

And one last group shot of the kids before we left.



Random Shots of the Kiddos

Witt and Margaret sharing blueberries

We are soo lucky that Henry and Luke get along/ share so well

Witt, Brinley, Bekah, and Margaret eating at the "little kids" table

Witt and Bekah

Bekah teaching Brinley how to walk in heels

Witt and Luke

Brinely, Dr. Henry, and Bekah having breakfast on the porch

Grandmommy Nora reading to the kids

The Gang... we decided that next year, we need to take the group shot at the beginning of the vacation... when the kids are the happiest and, in my family's case, clean.

We love these families so much and have been blessed by their friendships in so many ways!

MANY thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Burkhart for having our crazy bunch!!

If that wasn't enough pictures, you can take a trip down memory lane and see our last year's post here.