And there was work.

JB helped me finish the deck. And all the boys helped

put the picnic table together.

JB helped me put 1/2 of this double chair together.

Bayou Mommy put the rest of the chair together cause

she felt sorry for her poor old Daddy.

Bayou Dad mowed. He liked the big rider mower so

much, we had to stop him from mowing down the hay.

So lot's of stuff got done, including Gramma and the

girls planting the garden.                                         

And there was eating, lots and lots of eating.

Breakfast indoors.

Breakfast outdoors.

Breakfast with a towelhead.

Bubba B. starting early.

PB waiting for the real food.

Who wants lasagna?

The two Bubbas chowing down.

MB and JB in a serious discussion.

Gramma made our usual Christmas dinner fare at the request of Bayou Mommy because they can't get Swedish sausage and lefse down south. So she made Christmas Eve food and Christmas Day food. No one complained that it was out of season. Did I mention that my favorite daughter-in law made  my favorite cake? I did? Oh sorry.  Bayou Mommy also made her homemade pizza one night. MMMMM good.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Shed and Landscaping

Well along with all the other excitment we've been having some landscaping done and I've been working on the hay shed in an effort to reclaim my shed and the garage. Gramma and the farmer daughter helped me put in the posts for the shed and I've been working on it since the kids went home. Ready for the roof now. It's a lot of work for one old gimpy farmer. Sparkle Kitty seems to like it. The landscapers put in the sod today, green side up too. I think they're done. Gramma is very happy, and as we all know, that is a good thing.

And, there was horseback riding. Everyone had fun and Ingrid was the perfect hostess.

There was also shooting. Sparkle, Faithy and Bubba shot for the first time ever. Everyone had fun and everyone did well. For some reason I don't have a picture of Bubba shooting, so I hope Bayou Dad took some.

So lots of activity while the bayou family was here. There was fishing. We made two trips to catch fish. The first trip wasn't that great. The boys didn't catch anything, but the girls did. I told the boys, "That's what happens when you take girls fishing, they always outfish you." I don't think they were consoled by that bit of fishing wisdom. Trip #2 was much more productive. Different lake. The fish bit all the time. I'll have to have our son bring up his family and go to this lake again. The girls outfished the boys again, but everyone caught fish. Sparkle caught the most, I think it was 17, and Faithy caught the second most and the two biggest. They were both pumpkin seed sunfish and were pretty big. Everyone had fun and on the way home we sang the Banana Song about a million times.

The Bayou family visit

Well it's been a week since the Bayou Family flew home. I feel recuperated enough to write again. What a great week it was to have them here. The weather was good, although a bit hot. That Monday was Gramma and my 40th anniversary. Hard to believe anyone would put up with me that long. And we started going together 5 years before we got married. Yikes! Saturday was my 60th birthday. Yikes again! What a great day. My favorite daughter-in-law made her fabulous chocolate-cherry cake for me. Yumm-O. It's so good I think it might be illegal. The cousins all got to play together again and a good time was had by all. GGG Gramma came down and stayed for my birthday party and I thank her for that. I think she had a good time. Lots of things happened during that week and except for me falling in the lake all were good. I'll post pics and stories as this week goes on. I want to thank EVERYONE for making this perhaps the best birthday ever. It ranks right up there with when I got a Schwinn 3 speed. I love you all.