The Great Annual Melaleuca Picnic!

Yes, it is that time of year again. We had our company picnic today. I love this picnic each year. It's a terrific thing that my company does for us. This year, for the first time, we had the picnic at Riverbend Ranch, the cattle ranch that the owner of our company owns. It was actually really cool to be there. It was way bigger than the place where we've had it in the past, so there was tons more room to spread out.

My company has about 2000 employees. Each year, we have a terrific summer family picnic completely funded by the company. They give everyone who attends Melaleuca bracelets, little cowboy hats for the kids, balloons, and sometimes t-shirts. There is a huge meal of potato salad, fruit salad, baked beans, BBQ sandwiches, chips, and ice cream. And the best part is that they roast about 20 big pigs & the management team carves them up for the employees. They bring in ferris wheel type rides, and the big blow up toys like slides, obstacle courses, those boxing things, climbing walls, etc. There's a water zone with pools for the kids, slip 'n slides, etc. They have some ponies there for pony rides for the kids. We have softball and volleyball tournaments. And then there are the prizes. Frank does a prize drawing at the picnic. Now, we are not talking about a couple of small items. I'll put photos of the prizes. We are talking basketball hoops, patio sets, family size tents, electric griddles, laptops, i-Pods, docking stations, PlayStations, Guitar Hero, power tools, propane grills, Wiies, airline tickets, ect. And then there are two grand prizes...a trip for 4 to DisneyLand, and a Caribbean cruise for 2. Unfortunately, I did not go home with any prizes, but it was still really fun to watch the prize drawing & see some of my friends win!

It was a beautiful day, with a great breeze and was so much fun! As usual, we returned home tired & worn out, but so glad we went!!
These are those cute little hats they give out!! Its adorable to see all these little kids running around with their straw cowboy hats!


These are the prizes...awesome, huh???


This is the food tent. You should see how fast those lines form when the lunch bell rings!!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the unlimited snacks. Under this tent, there are unlimited sno-cones, popcorn, cotton candy, bottled water, and sodas & lemonades.

Some of my favorite people...
Michelle--not pleased that I surprised her with the photo.
Lucy
Debbie
Derik, serving his time in the dunk tank
In a move that I thought was really cool, Frank spent time this year coming around to different groups & just visiting. It was nice to spend a couple of relaxed minutes just visiting with him.
Oh yeah, and another really cool thing this year? For the first time ever, we had helicopter rides! Frank owns a helicopter, so we had contests throughout the company & those who qualified got to enter a drawing for a helicopter ride. I didn't win the drawing, but it was fun to talk to my friends who did. They said it was way fun & they really enjoyed it. Here's hoping my luck is better next year!
And, as always, Josh slept the whole way home, exhausted from a day of fun at the picnic(in the background behind his head, you can see the two beautiful lilies we bought at the Farmer's Market this AM before going to the picnic. I can't wait to get them planted, they're gorgeous!!!)

I wrap up my day today again thanking my blessings for being able to work for a company like Melaleuca. I get to go to a job each day for a company that I am proud to work for. I am grateful for the good people I work for and with & am thankful for all that Melaleuca has brought into my life!