Pingel Thanksgiving - A Little Trip To The Farm

This past Sunday we headed to Perryville to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family.  We went to my Uncle Gary's house, which is the house that my dad and all his siblings grew up in.  They still use the barn and have cows, etc. so we after we ate we took a walk out to see the barn.  It turned into one of the MOST FUN times!!!  What special memories I have from Sunday out on the farm!

I was supposed to bring a dessert so I decided to bring this brownie recipe that has been all
over Pinterest.  It's the one with cookie dough on the bottom, oreos on top of that,
and then brownie batter on top!

Here it is ready to go into the oven.  These brownies were DELICIOUS!  Online they were called
"slutty brownies" but the girl said they would be the perfect brownie to eat after a bad break-up
so we changed the name to "break-up brownies!"  HA!  It's a lot better walking in to a family gathering and
saying "hey, I brought break-up brownies" rather than "slutty brownies anyone??"  HA!

My grandma has been broken her hip twice in the last few months and has been  in a nursing home
because of it.  But my Uncle Tom was able to pick her up from the nursing home and bring her to Thanksgiving!
They were joking that she was the Queen of Sheba because everyone carried her out to the garage
where we were eating!

The meal was SOOOOO GOOD!!!  Oh my gosh, it was delicious.  Then after we ate we decided to take Brynn to see the barn.  Turns out, even though Ryan's been to my Uncle Gary's several times, he had never been to the barn either!  So it was a lot of fun letting my Dad and my uncles tell Ryan about growing up on the farm and just hearing all their stories.

Brynn was wearing this cute little Christmas outfit (actually I think it was the same outfit she wore to see
Santa the day before...don't judge! HA!) and then she kept wanting to wear my dad's hat...I thought she looked
adorable!

My heart is full!!!

Then we walked up to the second floor of the barn...Brynn was saying "CHEESE!"

My dad and his brothers were so funny..."Do you remember the time that cow did this?  Do you guys
remember when that cat bit me when I was over here milking"...etc...it was really funny!

Then she found Uncle Gary's farm cat...oh this girl...I think she was made to live out on a farm!

Here she is chasing the cat...she kept pulling its tail and saying "come on cat!"
We were like "oh my gosh...that was three words together!  HA!"
"come on cat!" (It sounded more like "cuh awn tat!")

In my dad's family there were 5 boys and 1 girl...here are Uncle Wayne and Uncle Curtis reminiscing...

The boys agreed to pose for me...HA!  These are the four oldest boys in order from left to right...Uncle
Gary, Uncle Wayne, my dad, and then Uncle Curtis.  Uncle Tom was inside with Grandma.

 We walked out past some woods to where my Uncle Gary and his son hunt...who do you think wanted to climb up in the deer stand?  Ryan, of course...and then Brynn wanted to go up the steps ("up, up, up").  Ryan took her up and she LOVED looking down and waving.  She has been really into the word "hunting" lately.  When Ryan went hunting a few weekends ago we would ask her "where is Daddy?" She would say "hunting!"  (It was adorable..."hunt-eeeng"...and then anytime we would say "where's Daddy?" she has been saying that.  Even when he's just at work she always says he's hunting.)  So when they went up in the deer stand everyone was like "Brynn...you are hunting!"  It was hilarious!  For the rest of the day my family would say "Brynn, what did you get to do today?"  She would say "hunt-eeng."  My dad asked "Ryan, when do you think you will take her hunting with you for the first time?"  Ryan's answer?  "Kindergarten!"  AHHHH!

I kept saying "Ryan...are you holding on to her?"  Oh my gosh, she was up so high and she kept
leaning over so far to wave!

She LOVES to be outside...little country girl at heart!

I have tried to be so thankful this holiday season.  But spending time with my dad and his brothers out on their old farm was just another reminder of how blessed our family is.  Things could have been very different this Thanksgiving, and while I don't want to dwell on the "what if's", I DO want to thank God for his healing power and  for my dad still being here with our family.  The memories and fun that we had are priceless, and it's a day I will treasure forever!