So, one of the things that had to be accomplished before the Bundy reunion, was the fact that Ryan had left a bunch of camping gear down by the lake. He, Cliven, Clance, and Ardeeno had gone down there to round up cows, had gotten cold or some sort,and had left it there. They had plans to go right back out there. That had not happened, and so we were hoping to be able to salvage some of the camping gear. Ryan seemed to be pretty excited about the horse ride to pick up camping gear. I was a little nervous to be honest, because the horses at the ranch aren't always the best and my favorite. It has been awhile since I have been on a ride. Ryan chose to ride Diesel, and I got on Chumacko. Chumacko is kinda a stinker. We had to ride through some really thick brush and he kept running me into a tree. He almost took a knee cap off a few times. But, we arrived and assessed the damage. Arden's and Cliven's sleeping bags were in great condition. Ryan's however had been torn to shreds by something. We loaded everything onto the horses and headed back. We had an insane bull that followed us for a bit, and then we had a heifer or a cow that was all upset and followed us mooing crazily about something. She followed us for awhile and then just stood there and mooed. We told her to just come home with us, but apparently that was not what she wanted. It was actually a very enjoyable day and ride
Bundy reunion came and went. I was kinda in a panic as we were packing because I had not heard from Jamie. I finally emailed the mission home because I knew that week was going to be tough and I wanted to get some mail sent her way. They informed me that she was currently serving in Philadelphia with Sister Stumpf. They advised me that sending packages in that area was not a good idea. Great. My country girl was now in the middle of a huge and dangerous city, with a new companion, on the week when she would be the most likely to be homesick. I was not too thrilled with that news initially because everyone has a horror story about Philly to share. I was also informed that the sisters never served in Philadelphia because of the danger and crime. Yeah...I wanted to hear from her, and so I informed the family that I would not leave until she called me on the fourth. She did call, and she sounded better than ok. She seemed to be doing well, her companion kept her laughing, and we did drive off knowing that she hated missing the reunion, but that she was ok.
So, we get to St George...we had also brought Kaden Lee with us, and so yeah..it was kinda chaotic, and I am always more aware of the chaos when someone else is with us. Anyhow...we had a few items to grab in St George...just a few. We needed a few melons, and Ryan did not want just any melons. He wanted Stirling Melons. The gorge was backed up with traffic and so we had to go around Utah Hill. We ended up stopping at Lins in Santa Clara and they did have Stirlings. We also grabbed some items from CAL ranch. Seriously, six hours later we pulled up to a gas station to fill a tire up. Ryan was literally taking forever, and so I looked over and he had their compressor all torn apart. Yes...my husband was mechanicing on the gas station air compressor...so that stop was not a quick one. He did fix their machine...the guy that was running the joint offered him free drinks, we grabbed a few and headed out of town.
The Bundy reunion was awesome as always. It was a dry year, and it was hot, but not overly so. Ryan insisted on camping out in the trees, and it was really nice out there, but we really did not spend our days out there. We slept out there and the sleeping was good. Ryan set me up a nice bed under the trees, the kids slept in the tent, and other than the fact that a wailing and spooked out dill invaded us every night, we did great. Oak came in first place in the shot gun shoot, and he actually shot in the age above himself so that he could shoot with Bowen. The kids danced, little Roper sang in the talent show, and of course, trips to the ice caves were taken frequently. Moroni struggled to find a crowd to hang out with, but everyone else found a nice group of kids to hang out with. Chloee was one that I never hardly saw, and I would have to hunt for her to check on her. She was always with a big group just having a great time.
Sunday is always my favorite. I loved having the opportunity to report on how Jamie is doing. Ryan actually reported on her for the most part. We told several stories, about her running into the guy wanting to plant melons, leaving the Book of Mormon in the bathroom, and helping the one family move. The Bundy reunion meetings are extremely inspiring. We had dinner and as soon as that was over, people began to pack up and go home. Usually Sunday ends with a big rain storm, and that was not the case this year. The men got into a big, in depth discussion with Duane about the Constitution and liberty. This conversation went on and on. Sage, needed a ride off of the mountain that day, and Arden had agreed to give her a ride, but he was also caught up in this discussion, and they did not end it until bed time. Sags was kinda tired and worried about her early morning, but I was getting kinda frustrated.
As we were talking in the falling dusk of evening, Ivona got talking to us about the fact that there was a drifter that had been hanging out on the reunion grounds. I found this information interesting because we had had an incident with Oak and Bowen the previous year that I had questioned. Both of the boys had woken up in the night, and they had come running up to sleep by Ammon and Ryan. They claimed that there was a man that had been standing by a tree watching them, and that they had both been woken up by something. The man was apparently wearing a white shirt, and he was very tall. They had woken all of us parents up and it was around 3 am or so. I was a little concerned because the spot that they pointed out was right where Cache was sleeping soundly. Anyhow, I chalked it all up to boyhood imagination, until Ivona started telling her tales.
Apparently the cabins had been broken into, and items had been stolen from the Bundy family that have cabins over the fence. Someone had gone to the sheriff and it was found that this guy had been just living on the reunion grounds. She even told me that Mel had caught him peeking into one of the tents and had threatened him, so he left. She made sure to mention that he was told that he could no longer trespass on the reunion grounds, but that he could now just hang out on the public ground, and she emphasized that he had been hanging out by where Ryan and I were currently camped. Of course, all of this was spoken of when Oak was sitting right there, and at that point Oak refused to sleep out with us. He had claimed the night before that he had heard footsteps out there and that he was scared. He ended up in the tent with the little ones that night. Oak opted to sleep close to Ammon and away from the mystery man's stomping grounds, and Ryan and I put the little ones to bed, and I handed him a gun just in case Ivona was not pulling my chain. When I got up in the early morning hours to go run, two sets of footprints had walked by in the night. It was kinda unbelievable. Do I want to be scared at the Bundy reunion? No, but I guess this is kinda scary and makes it more interesting. Ivona has also been known to make up stuff to scare.
So, since the reunion, time has just flown. The kids have swam in the pool, in the pond, and in the canal. We got invited to Trey Houston's birthday party out at Aravada Springs...Nay's ranch for those of us who have been around for years. It was so much fun. The blackberries were ripe, we swam, and then watched Napoleon Dynamite over the pond. I love Trey...he is a great kid. Ryan and Oak got into a water fight, we picked peaches, and Denise grilled us some hamburgers. I am way glad we took the time to go.
Sunday we had Jasmine's friend with us at church. The elders were speaking and she was with us and felt that this was no coincidence. Because they had spoken, they were less scary, and she was willing to meet with them to have them teach her. I was surprised to learn that one of the Elders was from Burns and he knew the Hammonds. We have a ton in common with that guy. We had a great chat with Maddy, and she is reading the Book of Mormon. Dill was also kinda surprised in the middle of the meeting as she realized that all people have skin...so yeah..that is a thing to be eeked out over.
Jazz also had a birthday yesterday. 14 and its kinda unreal. She is such a good girl. I took her and Montana shopping for awhile and tried to spoil her a little bit.
