Family Work Weekend at the Ranch

We recently had a family work day  at my brother's ranch. I had so much fun, and it was nice to work along side of family. I will confess though, I think I left before the tempers started flaring! Reports that have trickled in from the day after we left were not so good...

(My little brother, Grady, teaching Josie the finer rules of power saws)

 The goal of the weekend was to do repairs to the main house (including fixing all of the leaking windows), build a covering for the patio area and paint the main house.

(Brianna being a typical teenager and playing with either her phone or iPod instead of working!)

Friday's work crew included:

Grady (his ranch)

My grandparents

Bri, Josie, Nat & Audrey

and myself.

 (Bri & Jo are regular assistants to Grady on the ranch)

(putting up window pieces to avoid moisture around the windows )

I was in charge of taking pictures for Bri & Jo to prove that they worked for their FFA hours at school.

 (me playing with one of my favorite toys!)

 But I also brought my airless sprayer thinking it would be more fun and easier to paint the house with. I got two complete sides done, and went over the side that was rolled by my grandfather earlier in the first day before running out of paint.

 It was really nice to be out at the ranch. It is seriously in the middle of no where, with very few people around so the peace and quiet was so refreshing to me. Don't get me wrong. I do not think that I could live there,(no store, no gas station, no nothing other than the Cal Fire Station, bugs everywhere, freezing cold and blistering hot, dust and dirt... yea, not so much me) but it was nice for a visit!

 And the views were beautiful!

 (Nathaniel and his great grandfather, a.k.a. GGpapa, chilling at night)

After a hard day (or afternoon in my case) of work we relaxed and enjoyed family that night. Grady made a super yummy dinner for everyone and we hung out around the fire Josie built. Nice!

 (my grandmother, a.k.a GGmama, hanging out with us)

 The next day we were back at work bright and early, and my parents brought paint and joined the party around noon.

 (please notice the safety glasses ON TOP of Josie's head while she is drilling... not sure she should use this one for school!)

GGmama helping her Great Granddaughters with power tools.... do we see why I have a love for all things power toolish??? :)

 Audrey was very disappointed that Uncle would not let her paint more, but he said he like the paint ON the fence or ON the house, not so much on the ground :) So she spent a great deal of time supervising, exploring or playing with the ranch dogs.

 Josie just loves ladders.... can't you tell from the scowl on her face?

 And Audrey finally found some play mates....

 Ladybugs everywhere!

Then we were blessed with another beautiful sunset and yummy dinner (this time brought out by Papa) before the kids and I headed back into civilization and our warm beds for the night.

All in all it was a good weekend.

We got the whole house painted, and the repairs that needed done done. The porch wasn't quiet done, but well on it's way.

It was good to see family and hang out.

 I got some very special time with my grandfather, who is very ill and struggling with choices right now. We are the only two believers in our family, and it was a special treat to get some quiet time alone with him to talk about what's happening in his life, about how God plays into it and to reflect on the blessed life he has been privileged with. It was also hard for me because I am not ready to let go of him yet, but I also know that God will get me through that too. 13 years of battling for your life is a long time... and that is just from me, one of his primary care takers, not from him who has been doing the battling! Praying peace and comfort over him in all things!

And to be honest, I am so hesitant to take Nathaniel into unusual surroundings because he usually freaks out, but this trip wasn't too bad. Now I am not saying it was perfect (we did have a few major melt downs), but we took his electronics and everyone just got that he would plug in while we worked, and it worked pretty well. So I am happy that we found a way to do what I needed to without rocking his world so bad that I was paying for it for weeks to come. That is a first in a long time for us.

What have you done recently that stretched your comfort zone? Or blessed someone else?