edible hayride & other outdoor adventures

I went to Collegedale this weekend to see Ryan. I stayed at the Heilmans' for the first time this weekend. It was really fun and relaxing to be away from stuff here at school. I didn't get the camera out until late Sabbath afternoon.

Ryan and I ran into Swaffords on our way into church. Dr. Swafford suggested using the Goliath Wall for our wedding, which seconded Jaclyn's idea that we do it there.

I really want to do it outside, and I think it would be a neat setting. I've always liked being outside better than inside anyway. ;) We went over there just before sundown to check it out.


Our self-portraits are getting even more elaborate. In lieu of traditional wedding photography, we're just going to carry our own camera around and have all of the pictures look like this. Anyone who disagrees with this idea can make payments to my wedding photography fund (I accept PayPal).

Ryan and I had a couple of other appointments for today fall through and Jaclyn was at work. When I called Grandma Dut on Friday to see if we could come down tonight, she told me that Ella's 4th birthday party was this afternoon.




This is a Jeremy face, correct me if I'm wrong. This face makes me want to tell all cats to run away or they might be handcuffed to a table leg!!! Ethan was so funny. We tried to convince him to like spiders, but he seemed to side more with Alison than Jeremy, Grandma Dut, or I.

They had the party at Joy's friend Christy's house. Her family raises Shire horses and they have lots of other animals. The kids all had fun riding Sunny the pony and playing with Dora and Boots, Ella's goats. Ethan was very excited to get a chance to ride. Ella helped lead the pony around after she was done riding.

Evan's stoic cowboy impression. I couldn't tell if he liked the horses or not. He only sat there for a minute. His outfit was pretty cute. The bandanna is a bib! He turns 1 on December 8, which is also Jeremy & Alison's anniversary (I think).

Ella had a horse cake, complete with boy plates and girl plates. Aunt Tonda made pumpkin pie that was really good, as always. I had a lot of it! The green frosting turned all the kids' mouths green (& Ryan's pants where he sat on some!)

All the kids wanted to be right next to Ella. She got down to the last candle and wouldn't blow it out. She pointed to another girl and said "You do it!"






Next was a hayride through the pasture. Evan thought stealing Ella's cowboy hat was pretty hilarious.





All of us were given carrot sticks to feed to the BIG horses. The cows chased us first, but didn't stick around. It felt like meals on wheels. The horses immediately chomped down on our straw bales when the tractor stopped. Joy sat up on top of the tractor and videoed the whole thing.

Grandma Dut made friends with the horses, even though she's allergic to them!


Evan's little Carhartt hat was so cute.

Overall, we all had fun and good snacks and drinks . . . and I mean all of us. Ryan witnessed a kitten drinking someone's hot chocolate just before I took this picture.






I asked Ella if she wanted to be a flower girl. She shook her head "no," then I added "in my wedding," and she changed her mind. I didn't even tell Joy or Bobby that I asked her, but apparently she was pretty excited about it when she got home.




Jeremy and Alison asked Ethan if he wanted to be the ring bearer (Bible boy) and he said "Yeah, I can do that." He had fun chasing me around today.






Ella and Ethan took a ride together.







Then Evan joined the ride, but only for a minute.








I think Ryan had fun getting to be around everyone. It was the first time he's been down there with me and gotten to meet the Reeves clan. Jeremy and Grant will like having another tall person in the family!