Congrats to Nathan and Meagan on celebrating six years of marriage yesterday.
If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know that our daughter-in-law, Meagan, is a lovely young woman who knows how to dress well and do her hair and makeup well. However, during our recent time together in Wisconsin, we discovered another side to her; mainly that she has a big dose of tomboy running through her veins and that she loves to shoot guns and ride a four-wheeler wild and crazy.
Steve had decided, on a whim, to join her on a four-wheeler ride. Before they took off, my brother-in-law, Arnold, gave a few basic driving instructions and talked about where to go, where to turn around, etc. You can take one look at Meagan’s face and know that she is thinking, “You’d better get out of the way, fella, because I am getting ready to pop a wheelie on this thing!”
Look at those faces.
If you’re wondering why Meagan is laid over on the four-wheeler, it’s because she is laughing so hard about Steve’s overly dramatic reaction to her driving. The whole time she was driving, Steve was acting like he was one second away from dying the most dire of deaths. The two of them are drama-gifted so they put on quite the entertaining show.
Here is a brief video showing part of their ride. You can see that Steve is doing his utmost to get airborne.
Sarah, on the other hand, leaned more toward taking four-wheeling slow and easy. Nathan showed her how to run the machine and she took him for a peaceful jaunt through the trees.
It does appear in this photo, however, that they eventually got up a little head of steam–enough to get a reaction from Little Sis.
When the four-wheeling was done, we moved on over to the small shooting range Arnold built near his house. Meagan and Nathan both love to shoot and were delighted to get to fire off a few rounds.
Here are a few more miscellaneous photos from our day with Ruth and Arnold. (I will circle back to the reunion at Randy and Debbie’s house in the next post.)
When Ruth said she would fix lunch for us, I was picturing two or three items served informally on paper plates. Instead, this is the sight that greeted us on our arrival. (By the way, the table-cloth is a shower curtain.)
There was grilled chicken and all sorts of cold salads–a perfect summertime, meal.
Miscellaneous beauty . . . .
And speaking of beauty, here is the dress Ruth wore. She added lace sleeves to her (formerly) sleeveless dress . . .
and sewed in an insert into each side of her skirt. So pretty!
Sarah fraternized with another dog. (Don’t tell Summer!)
I fell in love with this floaty fabric thing.
There were so many beautiful flowers everywhere.
Here are a few more “pretties” from around the place.
Towards the end of the day Ruth said to me, “At about 8 p.m. each evening, I sit on the back deck to enjoy the golden hour. And the thought always occurs to me while I’m sitting there, ‘How could I ever want anything at all when I have all of this?'”
(Photos from Ruth.)
People who vist Ruth and Arnold’s house say (in a variety of ways) that it feels like a refuge from the chaos of a crazy world. And I would have to agree. When you pull into the driveway, you can almost feel the weight of life roll off as your soul takes a breath of all things green and natural and lovely.
Ruth left a comment on my last post that said in part, “Summer is the time to come here for sure–green-green-green! Think I’ll stay put and wait right here til next time you visit again.”
And you know what? Those words give me a certain kind of comfort. No matter what goes on in life, I always know there is a lovely corner of Wisconsin that awaits. It offers the timelessness of the hills and the serenity of the sky and the goodness of the black, rich dirt from which some of the best things of life grow.
Simple. Glorious. Life.
What a wonderful time you’ve all had!!! Such fun. Green, green, green.
Wow! Beautiful pictures and so much fun had by all. Ruth sure can put on a lunch and sets a beautiful table! (And those 4-wheelers can bring out the tomboy and inner child in just about everyone. Lol) 😀
Congratulations to Nathan and Meagan on 6 years of marriage too! You look like such a happy couple and have a beautiful family!
LeeAnne,
What I love about Ruth’s tables is she never gets hung up on everything matching. She uses china from all different patterns and it creates such a beautiful effect. She is creatively-gifted!
I never got on the 4-wheeler but next time around, I might. I need to get in touch with my inner tomboy 🙂
Happy anniversary to Nathan and Meagan! Their anniversary is easy to remember, it’s my birthday. I remember back six years ago when you posted a Bible verse that they had claimed. I had it written down for a while but think it got lost in the move. It looks like everyone had a blast at Ruth’s – especially tomboy Meagan.
Phyllis,
Well, what a great day to have a happy birthday! I hope it was wonderful. 🙂
And yes, Tomboy Meagan had a rip roarin’ time!
So much loveliness! Thankful you all had such a wonderful family time. Enjoyed sharing it through your creative lens. (Yes, Meagan definitely has had a tomboy side -balanced by natural beauty- since childhood. Signed, Her Mother. LOL)
Sheri,
I guess I had seen shadings of the tomboy side of her before but that four-wheeler really brought it out! 🙂 It was fun to watch her having so much fun. Thanks for raising such a fabulous daughter. Hugs!
What a fun post to read. Love all the pretties and I really love that your sister sits out each evening to enjoy the golden hour. We all need to do that more and let the day roll off of us and concentrate on the greatness we have had that day.
Wendy,
I ove your line about “lettin the day roll off us and concentrate on the greatness of that day.” True words of inspiration and wisdom.
So enjoyed the pictures. Meagan and Steve put on quite a show! Does your family sell Christmas trees? Looks like some in the pictures of the evening. That table was fabulous and the meal looks delicious. So happy for all the pictures and memories made last week.
Yes, Meagan and Steve DO put on quite a show. They bring out the drama in each other.
No, they don’t sell Christmas trees; the trees you saw may have been on someone else’s land.
We definitely have plenty of happy memories from that visit.
p.s. Oh, that floaty, fabric thing — is an old skirt of Hannah’s. I made one cut in it to open it up enough to play with here and there, just anywhere I have a fancy to throw it. I like to see things blowing in the wind. (silly, but there’s the simple truth!) Ruth
Ruth,
I love to see things blowing in the windd, too. Makes for some very lovely photography. So much more interesting than things that just sit still.
You know you are welcome to visit our humble abode any time you would like–winter or no winter!
Wow Bec! What a fun blog to look at, looks pretty familiar! Glad you all had a good time, relaxing in the wild country of the northland. Your ocean abode might look pretty inviting around January, hmm… I’ll have to think about a visit. Ruth