411 The Walters Bunch

  H, C, and Baby Wesley  Back in the day it seemed we had parties all the time. Just having family come over to celebrate with us yielded almost 20 people. Unfortunately through the years we have lost grandparents, let go of others, and had health issues effecting the mobility of others. Our parties are now about 10 or so. We use to have birthday parties for all 4 kids, Easter get togethers, Christmas celebrations, and July 4th cookouts. The kids have since grown up so there aren't any birthday parties, COVID took out most of our get togethers and they never really came back. The past couple of years we have sort of started to throw a couple of get togethers, but nothing like we use to. They are more small, simple affairs, which is a lot less stressful and I feel like I can enjoy the moment more with our loved ones. I always enjoy seeing everyone and it feels like we never really get to spend a lot of time together so I treasure the time that we do get. This weekend we planned...

  I did not plant these Morning Glories, but I really like them. I think they are beautiful. The summer heat has FINALLY subsided. This September smashed the record for number of 100 + degree days, by double! I was still running the misters for the animals until this week. I have NEVER in a decade of having the farm animals ever had to have the misters up until October! This week finally brought us some seriously needed rain and much deserved cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, we have had 7 inches of rain in 3 days with 6.23 being in about 5 hours. It has turned our pasture into a quick sand mud pit.  Unfortunately, our little sweet donkey hurt her back leg trying to pull it out of the mud so I am dealing with that. Hopefully, she'll pull through. She's not really wanting to stand up now or really eat so I am going out every 4 hours to give her some mush I make with her pellets. She seems to like that plus I can hide her medicine in it 😂 We are now down to about 12 chickens....

  Tyler is supposedly the rose capital of Texas. We went in March and there was barely any blooming and now in September and there were none really blooming.🤔 D and I were really looking forward to our first trip out. We decided to bring Axl with us since T had school and other things going on. We didn't want to drive through the city with the trailer so we decided to take the long way around to get to Tyler, which turns a 2.5 hour trip into about a 4 hour trip. We will drive through big cities sometimes, but prefer to not if that's an option. We planned to leave on Sunday after D got back from church since it was his turn to play during the service. I stayed behind to finish packing and get everything finished for the animals. We did our pre check on Saturday night when he got back from work and surprisingly had to change a flat tire. We didn't notice anything on the actual tire so thought maybe it was a valve stem issue. No big deal though, we put the spare on and decide...

A at her Vet Conference in San Antonio  I remember when we started referring to ourselves as the Bunch. It was originally the Walters Bunch and just eventually shortened to the Bunch. We were a crazy busy family of six being pulled in a million directions at the same time. Life was chaotic on a good day.  As busy and tired as it was in the moment I knew one day it would all be over and I would miss my little babies.  I spend a lot of time either by myself or with D and to be honest it's been really hard for us adjusting to that. I am so proud of my kids! I absolutely love watch them tackle the world, but I also really miss reading them books and relaxing with them while we watch a movie. 😂 Ok, we actually just did all that  this summer, but you know what I mean. I miss the cute little kids who always want to do stuff with us.  D and I are going on our first solo trip next week. We have traveled alone before, but just usually when the kids are all at camp. This ...

MiMi helped wrap A's gift. ♥️ A's birthday brings around the closing celebrations of birthday week. This year her birthday fell on one of her days off so it started off with a bang. We all went with her to one of her spin classes. While we were there, D broke the bike and noone could easily fix it and for the second time in 2 weeks I heard someone tell him "huh, that's never happened before". The other time was during our rafting trip when he broke the paddle in half right before we were about to get started on the course. Luckily, the class wasn't full so he got on another bike and away we went. New spin classes are WAY different than cycling classes back 20 years ago. Most of it is in the dark now and there's choreography. It definitely takes getting use to. However, it's a great way to spend time doing something A enjoys and keeps us in shape as bonus, though this class was extra hard! In fact, both A and D took naps when we got home.😂 They did hav...

We had a great lunch. My Birthday kicks off birthday week. It was a little strange this year since T started college and noone is being homeschooled. He was technically at home, but he is so busy studying that we rarely see him when he is here. He was able to finagle it so that he could go with me to meet A for her lunch break. We ended up going to Cracker Barrel and it was delicious! It ended up being a good birthday. We don't see A very much. She is either at work, her boyfriend's, or sleeping. D and I are learning how to do things by ourselves. It's different, but we're learning. I do need to work harder on learning to cook for fewer people. I am still in the mindset of having a large family so we generally have loads of leftovers, which isn't too bad since both A and D take them for lunch. T still usually eats most of his meals here. He just heats them up when he is ready to eat. D and I have become hooked on our Brit Box subscription. We enjoy our British crime...

  T has been going to a spin class with A. I have gone too. It's hard! We have spent nearly 2 years trying to take T on his senior trip and finally with just one week left before he starts college, we did it! We knew going in August was going to be hot. It's expected. We did not expect 109 degrees! We did everything we could to help the farm animals deal with the heat before we left. The chickens had misters going for about 8 hours a day plus a high speed fan. We also had multiple waters and a shallow pool for them to walk around in. The misters lower the surrounding air temp by about 15 degrees. We parked the trailer in the horse pen to create extra shade for them and also added misters for them to enjoy in their favorite corner they always stand in. They all handled the heat like champs, though the horses were ready to get their cool baths when we got back. They are kind of spoiled.😁 Our first stop on T's trip was at the Fried Pie place in Arbuckle. That place makes the ...