vacation destination.

my friends and i have this fun little dinner group that meets every other monday night. we take turns making dinner. some of the members have specialties, for example, ether makes sushi and adriane does korean barbeque. anyway, so, we get together and we make food for each other and we have good conversation and fun and then we go our merry ways.

this week was a little different, but incredibly awesome. let me explain.

this is my friend, sara.

sara grew up on a cattle ranch about an hour west of logan, in a place called hansel valley. i went there for the first time about three years ago and every time i go, i fall even more in love with the place.

so, for dinner group this week, we were lucky enough to make a trip to the ranch for a "home-grown" meal. it was delightful. we had beef (of course), garden fresh vegetables of all kinds, yummy rolls and a delicious oatmeal cake for dessert. sara's mom is a peach and made it all for us (even though she isn't technically in the dinner group).

and then after dinner, i went on a photo trek around the ranch. trust me, these pictures do not do this place justice. and seriously, it is my favorite vacation destination. enjoy.

this is the dinner group (there used to be seven, but adriane and josh both moved--boo).
this is me.
sara...again.
that's jenni and ether.
and melanie is always on the phone. (hahaha.)
even the drive to hansel valley is beautiful. this is in the bear river region of the drive.
this points the way to hansel valley, even though it is on the back of the chicken coop and not on the freeway. it used to be on the freeway before they changed it to ranch exit 16.
that's right folks, people actually do live off of ranch exits.
this is right off the exit, heading up to sara's house...it's all the way there at the top...way up there.
(i know these pictures look really orange, but seriously, it was the color of the sky...not my camera.)
this is sara, out the backdoor of the house. it is the cutest and quaintest little home. laurie, sara's adorable mom, is an awesome homemaker.
and here are some ranch home essentials: a tree swing, a tree house, a barrel bull.
yep. that is sara, posing by the flowers.
and just beyond the flowers is this little beauty, the bunkhouse. the munnses built her and she's quite the bunkhouse, if i do say so myself.
this is the entrance into the ranch. isn't that beautiful? i think so.
and that's the brand, the flyin' m.
rest assured, we did see some animals. there were cows.
and chickens.
and even copper, the cat.
there is a shot of the orange clouds. see, it's not my camera or my camera skills. hahaha.
this is the valley from the munns' home.
and another view of the valley.

so, did you fall in love? i hope so. seriously, i love this place. my vacation destination. i'm not sure if i would appreciate it the same if i grew up there and that is why it is just my favorite vacation destination.