A little background info for people who don’t know my family in real life…
About a year ago, my dad bought a lovely little hay farm not far from his home in Oregon and became a “gentleman farmer,” also known as a “hobby farmer.” If you are not familiar with these terms, a rough translation is “don’t quit your day job.” The farm, which we call the ranch (I think mostly so we can incorporate the phrase “meanwhile, back at the ranch” into conversation), is a lot of work, but Dad grew up on a potato farm, and it feels just like home for him. His current operation involves fertilizing, irrigating, mowing, baling, stacking, and selling hay (if it sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is). Also, yearling cattle, which are bought and sold each summer, chickens, and the latest, ducklings, which will eventually swim in the little canal.
My parents’ children and grandchildren love the ranch. My brother Brian has wanted a horse pretty much since birth, and immediately brought two horses and a pony into the picture. We all grew up spending summer weeks on our grandparents’ farm, and I love that my children will get to have some similar experiences. To that end, we spent the day Wednesday at the ranch, and here is what we did.
One of the horses had lost a shoe, so we got to watch the farrier re-shoe him up close. Does it get any better than this?
liz 
Looks like you guys are having a blast! We are already talking to Nettie about our upcoming trip to the farm in Idaho. Thank goodness for “gentlemen” farmers!
Liz, does this make you wish you lived closer to home?
Thanks for sharing your vacation with us! I love all of the pictures. A few years ago my family traveled along the Oregon coast and we stopped in Medford to visit one of my mom’s best friends from high school (whom I think is the mom of one of your sister Anne’s friends, Kate). Reading about your time in your hometown has reminded me of our fun Oregon trip.
I thoroughly enjoyed the photos, and hearing about the wonderful things you’ve been doing!! Sounds like a super trip.
Hooray for the ranch! So fun. I hadn’t thought about giving our kids the experience we had by going to Idaho every summer. Love that connection.
Kira–I’ve always felt closer to you because you’re an Idaho girl and my dad’s an Idaho boy :)
Emily–I’d love to live in Medford, but being close enough to drive here is good enough. I doubt we’ll ever actually move here.
Andrea–I love how we’re all connected. I saw Kate’s mom at church yesterday and she mentioned you had found her blog.
Vicki–Can’t wait to see you! One of these years you’ll have to come with us to Oregon.
Annie–Wish you were here with us….