Happy birthday to Matt!

Matt is 26 today :)

Things have just been trucking along for me lately. I had some fun and excitement at Emily's bachelorette party on Saturday night, but other than that it has been all relaxing with Matt post-busy season.

Emily's party was a low-keyed but fun time at the ranch. Two of the bridesmaids live out of state, so they couldn't join us, and Rick's sister bailed on us at the last minute, so it was just me, Emily, Ashley Beadling, and Emily Miles. But that meant we got to do lots of good catching up, which was cool. Ashley, Emily, Pene (honorary bridesmaid) and I carpooled down in the early afternoon - Emily Miles had a work obligation she couldn't get out of and she wasn't able to make it until around 9. We said hello to the animals and gave them all snacks. Emily hadn't met the babies yet so she got to see the herd of cows that came into being since her last visit. We went to Pou beach and chatted with Robert and Cindy and stuck our toes in the water. Pene accidentally knocked 22-month-old grandson Luke down the patio stairs, which could've been really bad but he survived with barely a scratch other than a bumped two-head. Ah to be young again!

It was gorgeous outside, so Ashley, Emily and I sat around in the pavilion and enjoyed the cool breeze until we got hungry enough to tackle the serious pile of BBQ I'd brought from Peggy Sue. As the sun was setting, Ashley went to take a nap - she was recovering from a pretty serious bug - and I took Pene out to the middle field to play with Pindar. He looked like he needed some exercise and Pene loves to run, so I got them playing a serious game of tag. He was galloping around in big circles with his tail held high and his legs prancing, even when Pene wasn't giving chase. Then he'd chase Pene but wouldn't ever catch up to her so she wasn't in danger of getting trampled. It was really cool to watch Pindar running like that.

Emily Miles got in and we chatted and started a bonfire in the fire pit. We got Ashley up for presents and we watched her get a sizable stack of lingerie for use on the honeymoon and times beyond. Unfortunately I don't have the picture of her modeling some over her clothes in my possession! After presents we let Ashley go back to sleep while the rest of us went out to enjoy the bonfire. Emily was particularly fascinated by it, fueled as she was by margaritas. We stayed up until about 1am and then hit the sack. In the morning we had breakfast and packed up and headed out. Even though the party turned out much smaller than we had anticipated, it was really great because the smaller size meant we got to talk more seriously and deeply than we would have in a large group. It was nice for me personally to get to know Ashley and Emily Miles better.

Sunday afternoon Matt and I had flag football practice. True to form, only a small percentage of the team showed up and three of the people who said they were definitely coming just...didn't. But we had a good time - it was all old-timers - and Matt got to meet the most important people. I think they were really impressed with his skills, too, so that made me feel proud. After practice we went to captain Blake's (and twin sister Ashley's) house and had fajitas. It was a nice little social gathering. We still haven't played our first game because of rain. We actually even showed up last Thursday but they cancelled all the games at 8pm because of the crazy storms. And last night it poured again, so we may not get to play tonight either. At this rate, our spring football season will be stretching into August.