thanksgiving reunion

alright, time for picture overload. every other year on thanksgiving we go to my extended family's ranch (on my dads side) for a family reunion. its a lot of cousins and great aunts and uncles we literally only see every other year, but we always have a great time. they're just amazing people, and i'm happy to be a part of their family.

since so many people drive or fly in from all over the country (mostly the midwest) they've turned it into a 3 or 4 day event. wednesday theres a big tour of the priefert factory and a bonfire that night. then friday there are other happenings and events that go on as well; mostly visiting and eating leftovers, but there may be some horse riding and hog hunting, too. :-)  its about an hour and a half drive from mom and dads, so we just drove up for thanksgiving day this year. with memaw and pawpaw (my moms parents) now living in the dallas area as well, they went with for the first time! 

we started off at "the hangar" for lunch. the hangar is literally what used to be the hangar for their plane, but for whatever reason, thats gone, and its now a big meeting and event room for my cousins company, and they host the thanksgiving meal there because of its size. i think the final count this year was 86 people.

this was one of my pictures for last week, but i'll post it again. colby and molly are on either side of my grandma (dads mom), and right behind her are memaw and papaw (moms parents).

this is the original house on the ranch, built in the 50's i believe. my great aunt still lives here. it was one of my favorite places to come as a kid.

after lunch anyone who wants to  is invited to go on a hayride around the ranch.

and heres what you came for. out on the property is a pretty steep drop off where my cousins have parked a huge crane on which they've rigged up a rope swing; literally a swing attached to an extremely long rope. my 3rd cousins kids who live out there, are on it all the time, so its no big deal to them to just hop on it and go. since i swung on it (yes i did!!), my grandma decided to go, too! she's 78 years old, and unfortunately i didnt get a picture of her brother, my uncle irv, who went on it too. hes 88!!!

 molly rode it three times. colby said it looked too dangerous.

heres a few other shots of some of the family taking their turns, just to give you some perspective.

its a little far away, but thats the crane in the distance.

then of course a stop to say hi to goliath and radar before heading back to the hangar.

i think i probably ate my weight in sweet potato casserole. seriously. then i went on a 2 & 1/2 hour hayride, then sat in a car for another couple hours. a completely wonderful sedentary thanksgiving. :-)