As I sat last night at the new, very stylish wine bar in town, chatting with friends, we happened upon the subject of ghosts. She and her husband recounted a tale that took place locally. The husband (who works for the Department of Wildlife) was called out to investigate the report of turkey vultures roosting in some trees that belonged to a local lady. He drove by the house several times in the early evenings and witnessed about 30 or so turkey vultures roosting in some very tall, old cottonwood trees on said lady's property. He and the lady finally met one evening on her property and as they were standing and talking, the turkey vultures came to roost. He asked the lady if she had ever had trouble with these birds before and her reply was no. She became very quiet and thoughtful for a moment and then turned to this man and said, "I didn't have this problem until my husband hung himself in those trees over there," as she turned to point to the stand of trees where the turkey vultures were roosting. Several methods were employed to rid the property of the birds, but they returned steadily for two summers in a row. Finally the women hired a tree service to remove the trees and the birds never returned or were ever seen again in the area!
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"It had grown darker as they talked, and the wind was sawing and the sawdust was whirling outside paler windows. The underlying churchyard was already settling into deep dim shade, and the shade was creeping up the housetops among which they sat. "As if," said Eugene, "as if the churchyard ghosts were rising." ~ Charles Dickens
Have a Spooktacular Halloween!
Countrychick with her catch. Hayman out fished everyone that evening. I finally gave up and put my pole away and just snapped a few photos.
July brought three birthdays. Mine is the 4th and we celebrated with my parents before heading off to watch the fireworks. Countrychick took me to see Eclipse and it was the highlight of my day! (did I mention that I am just slightly obsessed with Twilight and Vampire Diaries these days! Must be some form of mid-life crisis!)
July also brought competition for Countrychick. She competed in the county 4-H shooting sports match and qualified to go to the state match. 
Someone is a very good shot!
Countrychick won Master Showman of the goat show! She was very excited and we were very proud of her! 
"The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you do the work."
Countrychick has taken up 4-H archery!
The water was slow and lazy in places and everyone had the chance to group up and chat now and then.
Wonder what's around the bend in the river? 
Oh look, a big rock! Keep to the left of it, because if you go to the right your going to get stuck! (or so I was told.)
The scenery changed as the rafts moved down the river and into the steep canyons. The photo below is of the "weeping wall". Crystal clear water flows down the moss covered rocks. 
Toby manned the raft that Hayman rode in. At one point the rafts were close together and Toby hopped out and left Hayman in the raft alone. Hayman then had to navigate the river on his own for a few miles. 
That is not Hayman in the photo below, but another in the group! The rapids in this section are probably class three rapids. Nothing too serious, but still one must pay attention and watch for rocks!
Hayman enjoyed the rafting trip. It took a total of three days to travel the river from their starting point to their ending point. Everyone had a great time! All of the above photos were taken by Hayman mostly while moving down the river in the raft.
Darn handsome in the dress blues!
Countrychick, Private M., J and B. J is Countrychick's best friend and B is her boyfriend. They are such a cute couple and very supportive friends! This photo makes me cry too. (its an emotional mom thing!!)
Here I am with the kids. Someone didn't have her eyes open, but I like the photo anyway. 
Private M. left last Sunday to return to base. He has twenty days of infantry training to complete and then he will be off to North Carolina for his job training. He will be a mechanic. He will be in North Carolina for three months and then after that he and we will find out where he will be stationed.
I am proud of my sweet, beautiful daughter and her Marine! Very Proud!