Blankenbehlers

This weekend we had a nice ward activity at a fellow members house. We had a combined chili pot luck with a hay bale ride. The pot luck was great. We had several great chili's to try, some casseroles, and Petronella decided to bring a dinner in a pumpkin, a recipe that we learned while we were in Oregon. The kids especially loved the desserts, especially the doughnuts. It was a great activity that we could spend outdoors before winter came.














After dinner we all piled in for a hay bale ride in the trailer. For the first 20 minutes it was pretty calm and relaxing, in spite of the cold temperatures.
















At one point the deacons started getting bored and led a chant that all the kids joined in to go faster. Well, we did go faster, and earned a little adventure. I realized this may be exciting when we hit the road labeled "Seasonal road." A short time later we realized that the trees weren't very groomed here. The driver did his best, but even still, we started getting pummeled by low branches and trees in the sides of the road. The right side of the wagon got hit first, then the left side got it pretty good, then some low lying branches came right up the center.




























(Notice the arms upstretched to block the low branches.) So for about 30 minutes people were ducking and dodging branches from all directions in the back of this hay ride. I gotta tell you it certainly wasn't what I expected, but it made for an adventurous ride! We can all hardly wait till next year.
P.S. None of these pictures were photoshoped!