beyond beautiful

We did it again.

It was absolutely wonderful to head back to the farm again.
Just like last year, we enjoyed beautiful blue skies and endless countryside.

I didn't even get a chance to get a starting picture of this boy. He headed straight for the gravel roads, no shoes at all. Just LOOK at those britches! He had on brand new shorts, and he will be lucky if they EVER come clean. But he didn't care. He was a boy running free on a farm, and to him (and in my mind) there is nothing better.

Dinner was served.

A meal meant to feed the masses. Alice Loy wouldn't have had it any other way.

All that was missing was the old deep freeze that she used to set the desserts on...

...because the endless table was filled with every flavor of sweetness you could imagine.

With the meal out of the way, the gator got a new driver this year...

Chato took the kids up to the upper places on the farm, dodging the huge mud puddles the recent rains have drowned the area in over the past couple of months.

And you have to remember, that on this day, EVERYONE is young at heart...

It was hard at times to battle the bright light of that glorious sun, so excuse the bleached out colors and believe me - everything was brilliant with color.
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The faces have grown a bit since last year...if you remember this guy:

I work quite diligently (and undercover) a few weeks back on these reunion BINGO cards...

...and what I had thought I made up for the great grandchildren to play with turned into a game for elders...

...they cracked me up wanting to play again and again. They would fuss and argue over who was which picture. Some would help others find the right spot. I used some old buttons for space markers and so glad that they got a kick out of it all!
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The kids were starting to feel the heat (It hit 92 degrees on Sunday, unlike the dismal 60s I heard were home in Chicago with it's rainy weather). It didn't take long to figure out where all the kids had ran off too...

...the creek was cool and comfortable...

...and even more reason to add some more mud to those already dirty britches...

Madison and Aly searched for minnows.

Andrew and Alex showed off what was caught.

Heaven on earth.
I could have stayed in the creek all day too.
But, of course, we needed to head out to the cemetery and gather for those for which we celebrate Memorial Day...

These loved ones may not have served in the war, nor fought for our country's freedom, but we honor them for the stories they built, the legacy constructed, and the love they maintained so that we can still gather today...

...and we know HOW to gather!
Great thanks to the Bluegrass State for letting us go "down home" once again.
And for lack of a better way to word it; just like I said last year: "We give gratitude to Darrell and Peggy for bringing us all back to the farm on this day, and allowing our children to know the wonderful world that my grandparents once gave to me and my cousins when we were small. There is nothing in the world grander than strolling the gravel roads and traveling alongside the creek beds as far as you are willing to venture. It was the best day ever..." AGAIN.

WE LOVE YOU!