Diamond S Ranch

51-Kids Week

Monday finally arrived and Elle was so excited. Lillie had stayed the night so they could both be up and ready to go early that morning. Like by 5am in the morning ready! As if Jake could have told Elle no to letting Lillie stay over the night before. Her excitement was almost infectious and he wasn't the only who noticed. The whole place, ranch hands, along with volunteers as they began to wander in and out through out the week before, had even commented on it. However, it was easy to see as her whole face just seemed to light up all week as she and Lillie ran around running errands, laughing and giggling along the way. This was what Jake had wanted for her from the very first day he met her, watching her as they flew home. He smiled, it warmed his heart to see she was finally truly settling in. 

Jake was sitting down at the kitchen island sipping on his first of several cups of coffee, when the girls arrived downstairs, right on time, for the breakfast meeting.  Amusingly he noted how they made it down without any prompting or whining.  Oh, how he it would be so sweet if every morning could be like this. Yeah, wishful thinking he thought to himself as he took another sip of the warm black nutty liquid of caffeine. 

After Elle and Lillie bounced in, grabbing some breakfast they sat down where Elle usually sits at the table, Lillie taking Kaison's place. It wasn't long and Gage and Garrett along with Jordan joined them. Surprisingly all three of them were even pleasant for being up so early in the morning. 

Elle couldn't help but notice how sharp everyone looked in their matching black button down shirts. The golden roped Diamond S Logo proudly over their left pockets. All them were tucked in, wearing their nicest jeans and already cleaned and shaven, well those who did shave Elle noticed and ready to go. Even Lillie had a matching shirt. 

Elle had asked Kaison if there was an extra one Lillie could wear before Lillie got there yesterday. Elle felt like Lillie would look out of place wearing one of the volunteer t-shirts. Kaison had actually ordered her one but they were hesitant to just out right give to her at first. They were kind of waiting to see how the situation played out. He was pleased when it all ended up working out all on its own anyway. 

They all were actually very proud of Elle for wanting Lillie to have one. They didn't tell her all of their preplans for wanting to give Lillie a shirt, it wasn't necessary. Kaison just said he had an extra one and gave it to her. Lillie had been just about as excited as Elle was when she got hers. They both had braided their hair into two braids and had matching yellow ribbons at the ends. Jake snuck a quick picture while they were eating, too cute, he thought to himself. 

Once everyone was present, Kaison started their last official Diamond S meeting before Kids Week kicked off. There was still a meeting every morning through the week but this was the last big meeting. This particular meeting was just for the family and ranch hands. They covered things like radio usage for the day, reminders on how to handle emergencies, and over all communications along with expectations and the biggest thing of all...being representatives of the Diamond S Ranch. Which was huge for Jake. He did not take it lightly. 

He didn't say much at these meetings. letting Kaison and Jordan run them but he did say, if you are wearing one of these shirts, you better be on your best behavior, period. He expected no excuses this week. Elle noticed how even the ranch hands seemed to stand up a little straighter as he was talking. Yeah, Jake just somehow always seemed to command that kind of respect, thought Elle. 

While Kaison gave out badges, assignments, which were also written on the board in the kitchen for the day. He went over how the week was planned out. A lot of this information was just a recap she had heard from him from earlier in the week but still he wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page.  

Elle had learned that there were different days for different kids illnesses, that way they could help focus on dietary and physical needs for the kids for that day. Like Monday was Juvenile  Diabetes , Tuesday Cancer, Wednesday Autism and so on. What was even more exciting for Elle was on Saturday the ranch became like their own little rodeo. The Round Up. They held a charity event to raise money for the local kids hospital and from what she could understand it was kind of a big deal.