Family Pictures and Porch Building

This weekend we finally had our family pictures out at the ranch. I was thrilled to find a photographer that would travel out to our place from Abilene. We threw her and her hubby into the ranger and drove around to several of our favorite spots. Our boys were not having it at all in the beginning! I got a bit worried, but our next stop was throwing rocks off the ledge so I knew there'd be a few smiles. They had a blast and from the sneak peek of pics I'm sure that we have some great pictures.
Friday when we got there I got to see the porch Ryon has been working on! I was so excited to finally see it. He has worked incredibly hard on it along with a few wonderful friends and coworkers spending time on it with him. It's a huge sacrifice made by everyone involved but it saved us thousands of dollars to do it ourselves and the pride that Ryon has in it now is just immeasurable. It looks SO great. I'm truly amazed. This will be our favorite spot for sure. Lots of relaxing, sitting, playing, drinking, eating and watching the wind blow. While there this weekend we were able to paint the entire thing and get a lot of the decking done. I often try to remember what we actually do when we are at the ranch and sometimes it's hard to put into real sentences so here's my list of things we accomplished this weekend as a family:
1. Mason sang B-I-B-L-E the entire Ranger ride Friday night.
2. Boys helped unload lots of boards with daddy in and out of the ranger for the porch.
3. Ate popsicles.
4. Covered ourselves and everything we touched with oil based paint…not cool for toddlers…Mason helped SO much and was just such a big boy in the process. Sutton had paint literally from his eyes to toes.
5. Sutton played with the tape measure and Mason had some string for hours…yes these are our toys and I love that my boys are creative and can entertain themselves with these simple items.
6. Both boys learned to climb the ladders and have almost made it into the big tree. Lord help us!
7. We fished off the patio and caught a lot of stingrays.
8. The boys took trash to "the dump pile."
9. We watched daddy mow not so patiently and was really happy when he finished!
10. Mason kept checking on me as I was painting making sure I was okay.
11. I was super painter and did all the bottom rails underneath, the touch ups and even that "forgotten last board". Ok…so Ryon was a pretty good painter too….haha.
12. Pizza, Pulled pork tacos, eggs, bacon and a lot of gummies and juice boxes
13. Sutton passed out in daddy's chair. This kid sleeps when he's tired!!
14. Boys annoyed the living heck out of us on the drive home talking and screaming the entire way….
Successful trip! Love this sweet time spent together in a place we love.