I Love This Place!

I remember living in AL and wanting desperately to move out west. Somewhere, anywhere out west! I would day dream about what kind of town I wanted to make my home in. On the cold nights when I was out feeding my horses I thought, I want to live in a place that snows when it is this cold. I want to feed my own horses on my own land in my own barn. I read books like The Horse Whisperer and read about barn dances and watched Hope Floats and watched everyone enjoying a barn dance. I thought, I want to live in a place that has barn dances. I dreamed of listening to a band and watching a see of cowboy hats dance around, twirling their partners. Guess what? Dreams do come true. I took a moment last night to breath in all my prior longings and I thought I might need to pinch myself. In our small town of Vega, we love to celebrate. We have a county barn and even a country club. Both of their bellies are full of life quite often. However, one family decided to build their own "party barn." It's not just a pole barn. This is a big, fully enclosed, NICE barn. They tried it out first for the 4th of July and it was a big success. Then, they celebrated their daughter's wedding in it. I was walking around SO pregnant at that time. I remember walking up to the tent and so many men standing up to give me their seat. (This is also a town full of great men.) Last night they had another barn dance to celebrate another couple getting married. Seth and I couldn't locate a babysitter (we didn't try very hard), so we took little Charlie right along with us. They have a section of table and chairs, the bathrooms, a fully operational bar, a BIG dance floor and a stage for the band! Oh yeah, there is also a section of tables full of food. Guess what else what there? A see of cowboy hats twirling their partners! We walked in and of course lots of people came up wanting to see Charlie. Their was also another baby there and we claimed a baby table and put both of our children on the table for easy viewing! Charlie was loved on the whole night! He had faces looking and googling over him. He had people holding and hugging him. There were lots of little kids running around, and an occasional couple dancing with a small child in between them. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed dancing too! It was a fun night. Our life stories are composed of the simple moments. They are written in the times when our husbands come home from a long day of work and walk through the door with a smile on their faces and outstretched arms, waiting to be embraced by the family they work so hard for. They are written when a mother receives a card full of sweet words that was given to her by her husband AND her son. They are written when a family is sitting on the couch surrounded by the arms of each other. These are the times when we say to ourselves, "This is my happiest moment."