Yester Years

In light of moving back to California next week, I thought'd post some pictures of life on the ranch. I went through my Dad's Facebook "Yester Year" albums for these. I could look at those pictures for hours. My dad had a unique sense of humor. His captions on every single picture in his albums just makes me crack up. It makes me very thankful for the creation of Facebook and his many hours put into uploading old pictures onto the computer. Whenever I need a pick me up, I can still hear my dad - through his pictures online.

Speaking of my dad, here he is below back in 1993. We had just moved to California, and I had started the first grade. For Halloween and also for the sake of their daughter making friends, my parents threw a party for everyone in my class.

We had tractor rides...

... and scary dummies...

... along with a plethora of "carnival" games. That was a really fun day. My friends always loved coming over because I lived in the country. A lot of my friends lived in town, so coming out for a day or night at my house was exciting. Sleepovers would consist of walking down the hay alley in the dark and freaking out when he heard owls and pigeons fly out of the rafters above us. In the summers, we'd pitch a tent in the front yard and sleep out there. We were almost always "supervised" by our gray tabby cat, Gizzy, who was always excited for some extra attention and loving in the tent. That was all fine and dandy until she started to drool, then my friends would get grossed out that my cat was drooling. And how could I forget, my friends usually had the opportunity to ride my trusty steed, Rosie, whose sway back you can almost make out in the background of the above picture.

Of course, it wasn't always fun and games living at the ranch. My dad always had a lot to work to do. Feeding, irrigation, maintenance, mowing - to name a few. Always something to be done around the ranch, no matter what the weather was like. This was his typical work attire in the summers: shorts and a t-shirt. Not your typical dairy man get up, but he rocked it!!

While Dad worked away in the heat, I was busy "babysitting" my little sister.

Oh, it was terrible. Keeping my little sister entertained on the ranch was soooo demanding. Ha. Many of our summer days were spent in the kiddie pool we had. As you can tell, it was a stressful time for me.

The great part about living on a ranch was that it was always entertaining for visiting family. Here I am with my twerp cousin when she came to visit several years back. I don't think we've changed much.

Many of my childhood days were spent horseback. My butt was practically glued to a horse. I wish I could say my horses enjoyed all that time we spent together as much as I did. I might be wrong here, but I don't think my horse looks so pleased.

I am getting really excited to be back at the ranch with my family and this little guy.

Haha, ok that was cruel and unjust. Poor Chester. I am really excited to be reunited with all of my pets, oh and friends (!!!), back home. Soon, this will be my new office:

I'm thinking I might wear this as my daily uniform. It kind of camoflauges me in with the cows with the black and white scheme going on.

 I can be a cow whisperer.