Down on the Farm

Family.

If it wasn't for them, who would we look like?

This month I wentto my sister's wedding reception. Kim is the last of the Meyers children to get married. We are so thrilled for her, and Ryan! I was reminded how thankful I am for my family. And how different my Southern culture seems now that I've traveled a bit. :) All of my 13 siblings except one was able to make it.

Casey joined me on the trip.

Here she is administering first aid in the Church's Fried Chicken parking lot. She's got skills. And the heart of her little cousin - Ethan!

Reception is spotty in my mom's house. This corner has the best reception in the house. If you put the phone in one position you'll have 1 bar. Move it 3 inches and you'll have 2 bars. Move it another 2 inches and you'll have 3! AT&T needs to work on their reception. Here's Casey trying to have a conversation with her boyfriend. :)

Cousins galore! This is Gabe. He's a smiley little guy. We all loved squishing him, lots!

Here's Casey and Ethan. Ethan took a shine to Casey. If he had Casey with him Ethan would do anything! If she wasn't with him, and his mom wasn't around, Ethan was scared to go into the next room. :) Cousins are great for instilling confidence. (Ethan would call Casey "Aunt Casey" because of the age difference. We tried to correct him the first few days, then we all gave in and also called her 'Aunt Casey'.)

There's something about Southern Food we all love. Some things we just can't get in the far-away places that we live. We went to the local farmer's store to get seed for Val and Kelly, so they could plant their own Southern peas. We consume lots of Mom's freezer whenever we come home. The store was kitschy. Kelly loved this sign and thought we should get it for my Dad for Father's day.

Here's Val, inspecting the seeds.

There were LOTS of seeds to choose from! You could just stick your hands in the bags and manipulate those buggers all you wanted. Really get a feel for your purchase. :)

Before I leave off speaking about the feed store I must tell you a great recipe we got from Nick, the guy who worked there and was helping us with our seed purchases. . .

1 watermelon

1/5 of vodka

1 ice pick

1 cork

freezer

"Stick an ice pick in th' watermelon. Grab a 1/5th of vodka and pour it in. Stick uh cork in it. Put it in th' freezer overnight. Next day cut it open and eat/drink it. It's real good! You can't eat mor'n a quarter of it before you'll pass out!"

There you have it. Now you know why we love Southern Food. :P

One of the nice things about being at Mom's is the evening chats. We all just lay around and talk. It's nice. And we really get to know each other.

For instance. We learned that Dad sees a snot-sucker when he sees Tinker Toys in certain configurations. Here he is demonstrating his vision.

A must for visits home is boiled peanuts. We stopped by a favorite stand to get some. Here I learned that spelling is also culturally oriented. What I didn't get a picture of was Dad's sign for his garden "Oakra." Yep, it's all location based. :)

Boiled peanuts! The best ones are the green ones, their shells are softer. Boil the peanuts in salt water for like forever. Fancy types add seasonings like cajun or jalapeno spices.

Then use a slotted spoon to put the peanuts in a bag. These pink ones are nice. After they've cooled you can also store them in small paper bags. Make sure you have an extra bag to put your shells in after you eat the yummy, salty goodness of the peanuts inside!

As you know, food is an important part of my life, and this blog. Here is a great demonstration of the food in my life. What you see is Allyson in the front, eating. David eating, then 6 other people in the kitchen! We live in our kitchens. They are VERY important rooms in our homes.

I wanted to be considerate of those of you with delicate stomachs, so I didn't take a picture of the contents of the blue bucket sitting in front of Allyson. It's full of potato salad for the reception. Alex was up to her elbows mixing it by hand. It was a LOT of potato salad!

Previously you saw a picture of Gabe and Ethan. Babies are also an integral part of our family. Here is Rachael. She's so cute when she's round!

Speaking of babies. Here is a cute canteloupe one that Sarah carved for the baby shower!

Josh is our newest baby. David is the baby whisperer. The little cousins all love David. He's very gentle and kind with the babies. Several sisters have considered adopting or hiring him as their nanny! Luckily on the farm we get his services for free!

A shot of the dining room and the gaggle of family.

We find entertainment in many forms. Here is David. Val and Kelly were playing with David's thick Bieber-like hair. :)

Of course the fun is not just playing with the hair, but comparing it to other famous people, like Donald Trump. Kelly and Wendy about pee'd their pants laughing so hard at the comparisons. Luckily David is a good sport!

Another past-time on the farm is fishing. Here are 3 of my brothers and the back-end of my new brother-in-law at the pond. There was some smack talking about who was the best. Then there was some observation about who caught the most. That ended that conversation. My favorite part though was after an hour when Jon finally caught one. He had been silently casting and casting the entire time. Never giving up. Then finally, "I caught one!" "Now my family will survive." He had the skills. :)

Remember when I said babies were vital to our family? They're not just for squishing. They also help with form. The football hold, as demonstrated by Jake and Josh. :)

The Aunt Wendy hold.

And so you see, down on the Farm it's a grand ol' time.

See Ya'll next time!