Party at the Pond

The pre-wedding party my parent's hosted on our farm in Arkansas last weekend was above and beyond anything I could have dreamed up.

Mom and Dad, along with Natalie and her husband Colt, spent days and hours planning, building a pavilion, decorating, mowing, weed-eating around fence posts, and constructing a dock for the pond.

The pond (or, the "tank" as West Texans call it) has always been a great gathering place on the farm. The hill and pine trees on it's northwest side provides a cooling shade in the summer time, and the open view to the south lets you see across the valley into Prairie Grove. It's a great place to watch fireworks on the Fourth of July, and an ideal spot to camp in the fall.


They also had a small army of friends who showed up to help out.


People are still talking about Stevie and Mary Bartholomew's catering. The BBQ chicken melted in your mouth and the brisket was MMM MMM good!

The weather was perfect. The food was amazing. The music was great.

The Hogg Maulies drove from Lubbock to be the evening's entertainment. These guys are part of the reason Byron and I met in the first place.

While going to grad school at Tech four years ago, I went to nearly every Hogg Maulie show in Lubbock. We even followed them around Texas when they played in other cities. The band's following opened up a whole new social circle that ultimately introduced me to my future husband. When I first met Byron back then he was up on stage with the band playing the harmonica to their rendition of the "Fresh Prince of Belair". He claims his public harmonica performaces have been retired, but I'm still pressuring him for a come back tour.

When I would come home during the summer from grad school, I would listen to their music while I was out in the hay fields in Arkansas.

I never in a million years imagined they would be playing on a the banks of our pond.



Thank you, Hogg Maulies, for making the trip. You'll never know how much that meant to us.

Another special thanks to my cousin Carla, who made Byron a Texas Tech birthday cake. It was mighty tasty!


It was a great time to see folks I've known all my life.



Thank you, Mom and Dad, and everyone who worked so hard to get things set up and tore down. It was awesome to be able to show the group from Texas where I'm from and introduce them to all the great people from home. It was a great time, and Byron and I are so grateful.