January 15, 2026

Life on the Ranch: We were blessed to share the Cloverdale Ranch with Pastor Katie and the Reardan Presbyterian Church youth group for a Friday/Saturday mostly off-grid overnight. Time for one last party before taking down the seven Christmas trees we splurged on putting up in December. Instead of a Friday night movie, they were invited to dig into the board games in the entertainment center after a hearty spaghetti dinner. A giant checkboard the size of the Twister mat came out, then the actual Twister mat gave one group a workout while games of Uno, Sorry and others popped up. Christina had also prepared a special Jeopardy competition for the group and Oakley prowled the living room looking for anyone who wanted to pet him.

Then there was a hilarious and uproarious game of Five Second Rule played on the large area rug. I totally spaced out the rug was located right over the sleeping quarters downstairs, where a young missionary couple is staying as our guests. Even our careful soundproofing was not up to the task for a dozen rowdies, and we got a gentle request for quiet hours at 10pm (sorry about that!). A quieter game of Mafia closed out the evening. You were right, Lydia, when you said judging by the noise they must be having a good time!

And just have to share this gem from conversations over breakfast pancakes and sausage. As the kids discussed whether each of them was Gen Z or Gen Alpha by their birth years, one young woman remarked "2009 is the cutoff, hard to imagine anyone older than that."

To which I replied "If you think 2009 is old, then 1955 is going to blow your mind."

And my Boomer advice to the young whippersnappers? If we'd known we were going to live this long we'd have taken better care of ourselves. So watch yourselves and take care of those bodies!