Thanksgiving

Not my favorite holiday. By far not my favorite meal that takes too long to make. Not that my mom doesn't make great food. I just don't love roast turkey and stuffing. This year the whole family went to AZ to spend Thanksgiving with Lance and Alayna. Everyone except Wes who was hosting his 3rd annual Turkey LAN. I was sad to leave Wes because Dylan just started saying Dada. But he still said it when they talked on the phone. It was pretty cute.

To start Dylan and I were already sick with colds before we left. But naturally everyone still wanted us to come despite that fact that they would be crammed in the car with our disease for 10.5 hours. As a side note, my 11 month old baby travels very well. Maybe it's his cheerful personality, but there was nary an unpleasant scream to be heard.

Michelle, Andy and Kira joined us for the big feast. To be followed by napping, rock band and more games.
It was a pretty fun day. I think Evan went into a mashed potatoes and gravy coma.
The next day the boys went shooting and we went to see Twilight. Again. Then we did a whirlwind trip through the Phoenix Zoo and out to dinner. By the time we got home at 6:30 we were all ready for bed. Evan was already feeling the effects of the plague Dylan and I brought with us.

I am essentially a selfish creature, and I woke up Saturday morning feeling more wretched than I had all week. So I got in the shower and packed up before breakfast, to insure all would be motivated to leave ASAP. I would have loved to spend more time with Layna, but I did and still do feel awful and I really wanted to be home in my own bed. I would like to thank Alayna for having us all and for wearing the same size clothes as me so I didn't have to pack anything.

GO UTES!!

Christmas came early this year for the U. We're going to a bowl game undefeated!

My Old Friend

My baby girl, Mela, is getting old and I'm so sad about it. It feels like it happened overnight. One day she's sprinting around the house and the next she can barely get up. She's lost more weight and her spine and hip bones are sticking out. Some times when she stands up she has a lateral shift in her spine and she has to limp around until it straightens out. Which usually involves a lot of her legs giving out. It just dawned on Wes and I that she has kind of reached her life expectancy; it was just sooner than we expected. She's on some joint medication now, so hopefully she'll be with us and healthy for awhile more. What makes me the very saddest is that I won't be able to take her running anymore, and she really loved her runs.

I'm the Winner!

Ok, I'm not officially the winner yet, but I'm the first in my division of Fantasy Football! I'm 2nd overall in the league. I'm really excited. I hope I keep doing well.

The Sorting Fundraiser

The good news is we raised a lot of money. The bad news is I didn't get to ride my horse. Any pictures you see with a black horse. That's him. My love, with my husband riding him. That horse can make anyone look good.

So the really exciting news is I got to ride with my dad. Which hasn't happened in I don't know how long. We got to ride in 3 rounds and the first 2 were stinkers. My dad's horse wouldn't go for anything, even after my dad put spurs on. The horse I rode, Jess, was awesome. She was so fun to ride. I had to ride her into a sweat for about 45 minutes to get her to focus and listen to me, but she as great once we got into the cows. She was dancing around, ready to go, biting the cows. A really great cow horse. The reason why I didn't get to ride my perfect horse, was because he is so good that he had to go to people who don't ride as well. I suppose I should be flattered that people think you can put me on anything and I'll be fine. Even a horse that's been up on a mountain for a month, hence the long warm up. What I'm writing probably sounds really unfocused. But I loved it and had so much fun, I'm going to sign up for more teams next spring when we do it again.

Our last run left me on an adrenaline high that took me awhile to come down from. My dad was finally on a horse worth riding and we were doing great. We had 4 cows in the pen and I was driving the last 3 over the line in order. But stupid #2 how to run ahead of #1. I think we will definitely do better next time.

I really loved riding with my dad. It made my vivid fantasy world expand to owning a ranch with cows and doing this everyday with my dad. He loves it as much if not more than I do. If only it were financially realistic. We'd do sorting and penning competitions all over the state. But we don't have a ranch or horses or cows.

Thanks everyone who came and supported us. It really makes a difference to the kids.

Happy Halloween

We spent Dylan's first Halloween going around to grandparents so they could see how cute he is. Wes and I love to dress up just to hand out candy. This year we didn't even buy candy. But we looked pretty good. I'm still not sure if the costumes were worth stabbing myself in the knee over.

I'M IN LOVE!!

I've finally experienced love at first sight. It's a powerful thing. I walked into horses yesterday and there he was. The most gorgeous black gelding I've ever seen. He's tall, dark, and handsome in every sense of the phrase. I lusted after him from looking at him, then I rode him. He's amazing. He's super responsive, nice lope, but kind of a bumpy trot. He's the most fantastic piece of horse flesh I've ever experienced.

A little history on my fellow. He was a $20K roping horse in his previous life. He hurt his leg and had to have surgery (so his leg is a little swollen). Bottom line he can't do his job anymore so they were going to put him down. That would be an atrocity to the world. So the vet suggested an alternative. Give him to us for therapy. We could sell him and keep the money, or use him as a therapy horse. He's super broke and doesn't startle at anything, but he doesn't like bubbles.

For the record his leg doesn't even phase. We rode him every chance anyone had yesterday and he never favored it once, or stepped short. So I've been begging Cindy to let me ride him at the fundraiser next week. I'm pretty sure that I look better just being on him. I also think since he was formerly a roping horse that he'll do alright at sorting.

This is also your reminder for the fundraiser next Saturday November 1st at 5:00. Please come and buy stuff at the bake sale and raffle and silent auction. But most importantly to watch me ride the most beautiful horse in the world for team sorting. This is the ranch's website so you can find it. Please everyone come. http://www.sdpbuffaloranch.com/