What a great weekend we had. The weather was chilly and overcast for the most part. Joel worked for our friends, the Crocketts in the Norse area cutting cedar trees with his 290 Stihl chain saw. Reagan stayed with her dear friend Maddie Bowland babysitting the rest of the kids. She loves being with her kindred spirit. Marigrace was with Jody and I for the most part. She loves valentines and loves decorating the house with red and white hearts with I love you's.
Our church scheduled a Valentine's party at 6:00. Sharon Nolte and Katy Cordell went all out decorating the place. Very sweet and romantic with lots of red and white. Imagine our church that is old with white clapboard siding 15 miles from town, in the middle of a cow pasture. The picture is of our pastor Perry Garrett with his adorable, fun wife Tanna on the steps of the church. (They won best dressed couple) Inside, candles on all of the tables lit the room, setting an ambience for fun and romance.
The first fun game was 3 couples wrapping a present in 2 minutes The catch was that they had to have one arm around the other. Too fun and funny!!! The Davis' won this, easy!!!
The next was the hilarious game entitled, Who's smarter than Colby? See picture of poster. 5 couples were chosen to sit on a panel to answer questions to try to beat Colby. Sure enough the Murphy's won this, beating the Crocketts. But we all were suspicious when ONLY Colby knew Barbie's full name. Then we learned that he had been given answers to the questions before hand. AND HE WAS STILL BEAT!!!! Hilarious!
Finally, we were chosen to be in the "married" game. We won 4th out of 5 couples. Perry and Tanna won. Great questions that were just too hard for us to answer. So funny!!! Like, what animal or noise does your husband like to make?? Or, what cartoon character does your husband look like the most?? Most answers were Superman, of course. (I said Popeye!) One of the questions was who would your husband say is the most dysfunctional family, his or hers?? Careful, now!!!
Jody stood up and read a poem that he wrote for me. It took him all day long to write and here I thought he was working. He had roses (see picture) delivered to the church, (he promised they were on sale so he must have ordered after 4:00)!! Here's his poem.
To My Dearest Martina;
A Valentine's Day Poem
My Love is like a bright green cabbage,
Divided into two,
The leaves I give to others,
The heart, I give to you.
My love is like a Holstein cow,
Standing in the sun,
No matter how I bellow and moo,
You are the only one.
My love is like a loaf of bread,
Baked for only you,
I may be crusty on the outside,
But you know my love it true.
My love is like a pocketknife,
Sharp and strong and handy,
I'm always there close to you,
I hope you think I'm dandy.
My love is like an armadillo,
Digging in the yard,
You may be mad at times to see me,
But, I'll be there when things get hard.
My love is like a well-worn pillow,
Comfortable in bed,
But, I can talk and blow you kisses,
And make sure that you are fed.
My love is like some bailing twind,
Wrapped around your heart,
I may get tangled now and then,
But, we will never part.
My love is like a cowboy boot,
Full of fancy stitching,
I have a scratch for you to catch,
It is for you I'm itching.
My love is like a mountain lake,
Deep and dark and cool,
But, I heat up when you're around,
And sometimes act the fool.
My love is like a trusty horse,
That's sometimes hard to shoe,
I may get mad and kick a bit,
But, will stick to you like glue.
My love is like an old dog true,
Asleep under your table,
I will be there to care for you,
At least as best I'm able.
My love is like a basketball,
Thrown for only you,
The game goes on and you get tired,
But, honey we're not through!
Your loving Husband!!!
Now, isn't that romantic??? Everyone had a great time.
Sunday we returned to church for a fantastic sermon and worship to our God all together. Koinonia!!! Then we had a LOVELY dinner with Cheryl. She cooked Longhorn steaks. YUMMM!!!
We really love our church family and friends here in Texas.
Our little home, or "bunk House" is located at the highest point in the area. Now around here, there are no mountains, so this high point is a slight elevation from the rest of the country. At night the lights from surrounding towns are beautiful and far away. On this 600 ranch the trees are not by the home, but are about 500 acres away, and there the Oaks are absolutely breathtaking. Walking down to the Oaks is a reward that I enjoy.
Although, one day on my hike around that 100 acres, I came across a HUGE animal print in the mud. It was wider than my foot. It definitely looked like a CAT!!! And, yes, there have been rumors most recently of a mountain lion in the area. Needless to say, I pack protection with me.
Back up at the bunk house, (see photo). It's quite simple and snug!!! It is 1000 square feet, so it's easy to clean in a hurry. On the downside, we don't have room for our books, which are in storage, or ANY closet space. But, the porch is a great place to have people over and serve up a big meal.
And with this much acreage, we have room for a garden. Jody LOVES to garden. He tills and tills with the trusty tiller and then he tills some more. Marigrace and Reagan are his chief helpers and water--ers.
There is lots planted in this space. Corn, about 200 bean plants, over 20 tomatoes, 20 or so
peppers, 500 onions (yes we LOVE those Texas sweet onions), lettuce, spinach, chard, black eyed peas, sunflowers and tons of other flowers. Oh, and potatoes and a bed of carrots.
Wind, wind, we have LOTS of wind. Jody put old hay bales around some of the "sensitive" plants to shield them. It was 40 degrees and VERY windy when he and the girls first planted, hence the layers of clothing. Funny thing, Marigrace got a little bored, so she started playing with the water bucket. And got stuck!!! 
She looks like a BIG Bumble Bee, Huh!!! And those boots!!! Where'd she get those?? Hilarious!!!
There's more, so MUCH more you could know about this place. We love it here in Central Texas and are blessed to have such a place to live. I'll keep you posted on the garden update as the produce comes in. Maybe some canning too!!! To our precious God and Creator and Provider be all Glory!!!
