Once upon a time (two weeks ago) we traveled to Oklahoma to hang out with my family. At my mom’s house in Mounds, she made us sleep in her camper. It was the best camping I’ve ever done. There was air conditioning, beds, a refrigerator, a toilet, and a two tvs bigger than the ones in my own house. It was better than the first apartment Carl and I lived in when we got married. Even better? The kids slept in the house so we were out there alone and they didn’t even bother to come out and wake us up at 6am (thanks, Lisa, for taking care of them each morning!).

One day while we were there, we drove down to Goldsby to my dad’s ranch. He trains race horses and has been working down in Dallas for the last few months but he drove up to visit us. The kids love going down there to play with all the animals. They have A LOT of animals! They found these cute little kittens in the barn. That kept them occupied for a while.

My youngest brother, Joe, let Caleb and Carl go in to pet a cute little foal. I’m not a fan of horses so I stayed out of the pen and snapped this picture. I seriously have no idea how I grew up on a horse ranch and survived.

The kids got to ride in the back of the pickup truck for feeding time. They loved that and I reminisced with my sister about how we used to do that when we were little on my dad’s tractor. I also remembered how much I loved eating the oats we gave the horses. Yes, I ate horse food.

I really, really love this picture. I snapped this without them knowing just before we were about to leave. From left to right we have my brother Sam (16), Barbara (my step-grandma), Joe (15), my dad Brent, and my grandpa Wayne. Joan (my stepmom) was standing by me so she didn’t make it in the shot.

The next day I drove down to OKC by myself so I could hang out with a few of my favorite homegirls! Melessa (with one of her girls, Elisa) and Tiffany met me in Bricktown and we ate lunch and walked around the canal for a bit. The guy I asked to take this picture was from Grand Island, NE. People from Nebraska are good helpers. That was a really fun day for me. I don’t know if Carl had as much fun back in Mounds with the kids and our nephew, Kenneth, with all the other grown ups at work.

My sister, Lisa, got a pony from my dad to keep up at her place. Eva loved riding Freckles!

Kenneth didn’t enjoy riding Freckles as much as my kids did. He lasted a few minutes and then almost immediately after this picture was taken, he wanted off.

Caleb liked riding Freckles. He’s not as timid as he used to be around animals and I’m glad because I always thought I was projecting my fears onto him. He’s brave and Freckles did a great job walking around the yard.

I sure love going to Oklahoma but I don’t miss living there anymore. When we left Oklahoma back in 2000, I thought we might end up there again eventually. But, I can honestly say I’m super happy with where we ended up.

Nebraska is definitely home now and we are living the good life!