As most of you know, Max is being forced to take it easy. He will require open heart surgery within the next few (couple?) months to replace his aortic valve. His cardiologist told Max he didn’t want him lifting anything over fifty pounds. I must give Max credit–he is doing a good job obeying these orders. I’m not saying it is easy on him. The other night we were at Home Depot buying a big thing of stain. It almost killed him that I was the one putting it in the cart. When we got to the truck Max said, “I sure hope no one is watching you lift that while I just stand here.”

Today Max needed a big load of hay stacked on the trailer. We’re getting a new load of hay delivered tomorrow, and we needed to make room for it. Also, he has big plans for the hay occupying half the barn. It is destined for pumpkin patch stardom. Trish and I volunteered to be Max’s muscles. We’re no dummies–we also invited Lisa to join the hay party.

When I saw Lisa this morning at preschool, I could tell she was freshly groomed, ready to face the day. After spending just a few minutes slinging that hay around this afternoon, her shower was all for not.
She was covered in hay. I should probably mention at this point that Lisa is beastly strong! She was throwing bales up three levels high like it was nothing. She is hereby formally invited on any and all future stacking endeavors. Whether or not she accepts, that’s an entirely different matter.

Do you all remember awesome neighbor Steph? Steph was at the ranch when we arrived. She had spent her entire morning helping Max with a group of kids that had been out. Think Steph went home to relax and enjoy a little lunch? Nope, not her. She jumped right in throwing those bales around. At one point she fell down in a crack in the stacks and had to wait until we got the bales around it out before we could free her. Her freedom might have come a tad faster had I not had to capture the event for posterity.

Carri was out riding Snuff when we arrived. When she got back from riding her very favorite horse, she jumped in on the action. I’m sure she would have stayed until the bitter end, but she had to get home to her boys. We were grateful for any extra help that came our way.
We also had a group of “helpers” who would pop in from time to time to stand where we wanted to throw. It kept us on our toes, that’s for sure. In this picture you can see how they’re “helping” get the stacks just so. It’s a good thing they’re all so cute. This strong lady lifting a rather large bale is my mommy. Who knew Grandma JuJu could lift such heavy objects? I kept asking her to stop before she hurt herself, but she wouldn’t listen.
In fact, she just picked up more things she has no business hoisting. What a woman!

Trish arranged the bales as we chucked them up to her. That hay stacking is a real puzzle with what seems like rules that change all the time. Max should have advised us, guided us through this whole process. Instead, he was happily lunching with his father at a restaurant called Lone Star. Yep, you read that right. We girls we burning massive amounts of calories (near a thousand on Trish’s heart rate watch) while Max sipped a soda during a nice sit down lunch with his hoary (please tell him I said so) companion. I called him during his dining experience to say we all hoped he was enjoying himself. He and his dad laughed and laughed. I bet at that point they ordered dessert.
I took this picture after his return. He called his dad to further laugh about the girls slaving away. His father Jerry’s response, “Tell them I didn’t know women were capable of doing work like that.” What a toot! Shouldn’t fathers be better role models than that?!

Max actually did something for us–he took a picture of the best bale buckers this side of the Rio Grande.

After the loading was complete, we needed to unload the hay at the pumpkin stand. Steph put a call in to her hubby and our neighbor, Mike. What should Mike do after a long day at work? Go stack hay, of course! He met us there with muscles and smiles in tow.
This picture was a must to show studly bale buckin’ technique. Anyone impressed? Well you should be!
And that mama of mine–she never stopped. Once the hay job was complete, she went and picked up salad and pizza for all of us for dinner. Thanks so much, Mom!

Steph, Trish, Carri, Lisa, Julie and Mike–thanks so much for making the load that much lighter for us. We love you all!