The Big Horn Ranch...

Today my very generous father invited us all down to spend the day at the Big Horn Ranch.  We set out early in order to have as much fun as possible in the short time we were able to spend.  Taylor's first priority was to shoot her gun.  She received it for her tenth birthday and has not had many opportunities to use it, so Grandpa made sure he had a target for her so she could hone her skills.

The cousins had a great time swinging in Grandpa's hammock.  He and DeeDee have made themselves quite a comfortable campsite and there is a lot of fun to be had.  Torey and Jaycie are always up for a photo opportunity.
At the top of the site sits a little playground with swings, a basketball hoop, and a good old fashioned merry go round.  
We communed with nature because it was all around us.  Look at the size of this bumble bee.  It was humongous.  We saw several deer, many hummingbirds, a lot of insects, and the grand finale was a six-point bull elk.  It was amazing.  The kids also went on a ride to the frog pond and caught some pollywogs for our pond.  We left them on accident.  Let's hope Grandpa remembers to bring them to us.  (hint, hint).
We also made sure that we got plenty of love from Grandpa, and some pocket knife training from Dad and Grandpa.  We learned all about the "blood circle" and how to properly carve a pointy stick!  
The kids stopped four-wheeling and stood still long enough for us to snap a group shot, which was an amazing feat of self-control for a group like this.
We even managed to get a family picture, though I am not sure it is the best we have ever taken.  Reed was chivalrous enough to offer me the shirt off his back because we had a bit of a thunderstorm while we were there and I was freezing.  The rain wasn't horrible, it was just enough to keep the dust under control.
All in all we had a great time.  Thanks Dad for a wonderful day.  We will try to make it down again soon!  Oh, and Jake wants to know if you can get him the hamburger recipe in a hard copy.  A little guy like him can't be expected to remember recipes for that long!