Our Weekend in M

We went to good 'ol M this weekend. Its an annual tradition with my family. I've been going since I could walk. My mom's mom's mom still lives there. That means that C has a great, great grandma still living. 5 generations! That doesn't happen too often. M is in the middle of the nowhere - total desert country. Its hot and there is nothing to see but sagebrush. There are some old ghost towns we visit, some old minings sites and lots of places to shoot guns. Snakes and lizards are everywhere. We had such a fun time hanging out with my extended family. Some pics to document our adventure:

This is a picture of cousin J, helping C hold the lizard he caught. Poor cousin J knelt down on a cactus while trying to catch it. V helped him pull out all the fun little quill things.

Here is cousin J teasing the crap out of this poor lizard. Don't worry - he got what was coming:


His finger was bleeding. He deserved it though.


This is the little Horned Toad that P found. He (the horned toad) was a good sport and let all of us touch him before he scampered off.

Here I am shooting my gat. Yes, I am this tough. And yes, this is a "trucker" hat with my high school's logo on it . . . . circa 1971.


Shooting off rockets. We had a bunch this year. Poor brother J's rocket was so powerful, it completely broke in half. We found both pieces though.

Every night we are in M, we go "rabbit stomping." We wait until dark, usually around 11:00pm and then pile into R's truck. We drive for about 10 minutes until we are in the middle of nowhere and then start off-roading through the sagebrush. We always see jack rabbits within 10 minutes of starting. As soon as we see one, the co-pilot shines the spotlight on the rabbit and then everyone jumps out of the truck, starts screaming and starts running towards the rabbit. The first one to catch it - wins. We have caught a lot of rabbits over the years. The jack rabbits are much harder to catch than the cottontails, but its more exciting. Don't worry - we don't hurt them at all. We just catch 'em, laugh at each other and then let them go. Its some good 'ol fashioned fun. Here is the pic from Friday night. From left to right: cousin B, Brother J, Husband J (holding the rabbit) soon-to-be cousin-in-law V, and Cousin J. I have way too many J's in my life, don't I?

Piggy-in-a-blanket. Uncle R showed C the stunt he used to pull when his kids were little. He had C lay down on the bed on the very edge and then proceeded to wrap her up so tight. Every time he would roll her over, her eyes would get a little bigger. She didn't know what to think. I showed her this picture and she said: "oh my! That uncle R is silly!"

We had a wonderful year and we can't wait until next summer when we can go again. We have such a good time with all my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Thanks to everyone for making it such a great year!