Family, Turkeys & Longhorns, Oh My!

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What a lovely day we had.

As I've said before, we are the luckiest people. Regular readers will remember the month we spent up at the ranch in Tierra Amarilla last August. These good people, who have become such good friends, asked us to share their Thanksgiving dinner, an invitation we happily accepted.

And I have to tell you, it was a Hallmark Thanksgiving, absolutely perfect. We found ourselves in the center of a loving, joyful family and the warmth was nourishing to my soul.

Here's Victor and Bonnie,
carving the turkey.

Bonnie and Jacob,
ain't young love swell?

Charlotte,
home for the Holidays
from her freshman year at College.

Victor Senior,
the Patriarch of the clan.
I love his smile.

After a scrumptious dinner, we were treated to a drive around the ranch. When we were here last August it was haying time, everything green and lush. While the green has been replaced with a bit of brown, the scenery is still stunning.

Look at the ice in the stream,
BRRR . . .

Here's exactly
where we were parked
this summer.
Is this gorgeous or what?

Next we took off
for the far reaches of the ranch.
And look what we found!
A gigantic flock of wild turkeys,
cavorting and celebrating
their freedom
on this Thanksgiving day
(click to enlarge).

This isn't a great shot
(I was at full zoom)
but I wanted to remember the moment.

And even though the green is gone,
look at these feathery beauties.

When we got back to the ranch,
Tori took me out in the pastures
to see their longhorn.

His spread is somewhere
in the range of four feet.
Beautiful, isn't he?
And he sure doesn't seem to mind
the ice in the stream.

If I lived here,

I'd be taking pictures
of the cows all the time.
There's just something
about these faces . . .

And here's a picture of Tori
(Victoriana,
daughter of Victor,
grand-daughter of Victor Sr.).
The sun was in my face,
and while it isn't the best shot,
it will help me remember
this lovely day.

Shortly before our day was done,
more family arrived.
I'm embarrassed to say
I didn't get this little ones name,
but isn't she a beauty?

This was a perfect day,
just the way holidays should be.

Once again, I would like to thank these fine folks for inviting us into their home and making us feel so very welcome.