Merry Christmas

Our boys are the best they let us sleep in until 9am!!! I was shocked, I thought for sure they would have ripped all the packages to pieces. Here are some shots.

Aidan happy to be getting a new movie.

All the boys chilling while playing their video games.
Chris got me a new saddle and saddle pad. With Wile E Coyote!!!!

A Typical Dog Day

Don't you know that when they're alone, they secretly want to dress up all the time. At least Aidan thinks that they do anyway.

Hmmmm, for Christmas I want....

Aidan had a hard time telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas. The look on his face was wonderful.

Jingle Bells....and the Spiderman Gang Sign

Saturday was our barn party. Quite a few of the horses got all decked out in wreaths, santa hats, and other xmas finery. I lit Zena up like an awkward little xmas tree and threw Aidan on top. Of course, he had to try to add the Spiderman Gang Sign to EVERY picture. Thanks Aidan, mommy will remember that when you're older.

For the love of....

Sometimes I wonder why I spend all my time around horses when all they do is make me so gosh darn mad. At least I wasn't the only one having a bad day Saturday. Chris was trying to make Ginger do something and she wasn't cooperating, which I think ultimately led me to my black-cloud mood. Well, I guess it is hard to stay mad at them for long when they have such cute fuzzy faces.

47 Pictures, 5 subjects, and 30 minutes

That's what it took to get a christmas picture that I could at least put in the christmas cards. Even rapid burst for a camera setting did not get me one good shot I could use. If it wasn't my middle son making fun of my oldest, or my youngest throwing out miniature gang signs, it was something else. At least I'm done with this part and only have to fill out the dreaded cards.

Deck The Home....

Friday was the day we put up our Christams Tree. At just a little over 9 feet tall from floor to top of tree it was quite the undertaking to decorate. The boys got bored decorating pretty quickly, and Chris and I had to finish the task.

After all that hard work, even Grafx was worn out.

Reject Update

I finally got off my butt and took a pic of reject. He's fitting into his new life very well. The boys are still a little nervous to pick him up, but they're adjusting. He is quite inquisitive.

Reject

Traveling through Target today, we found a hermit crab right inside the store by the shopping carts. Because we didn't want the little guy to get squished, I told Brennon to take him to the customer service desk. Well, customer service wouldn't take him, and with 3 energetic little boys pleading with me not to throw him away, we took him home, and named him Reject. I will post pics soon.

Kusco, the Casanova of Llamas

This is Kusco. The Casanova of Llamas. When you unexpect it, he will sneak beside you and rub on you as if you were the best smelling thing on earth. Usually he saves this unique technique for unsuspecting horses that suddenly 'freak' out at the fact that another species is attempting to 'hit' on them. Who could not love that face?

Keep him Calm for 7 Days

Can you believe the vet actually said that about our dog. Does she know our dog? Does she know that as soon as you let Dante out of his crate, he barrels into just about anything in his path including the wall, underneath the kitchen table, back out through the chairs, while hurtling kids, cats, dogs, and toys in his path?????Also, they want us to keep a cone on his head. I took pictures of said cone, the whole time feeling horrible because the anesthetic they used caused Dante's eye to swell up and make the other one seem horribly dragged down. And to top it off I was sick today, so sick in fact that to breathe made me hurt. What a day. I did think of that phrase though, as Dante was knocking into everything outside as I was trying to hand walk him to the bathroom. You know one of the ways they decide "where to go" is to actually smell the ground. You think he can smell the ground with that cone on his head. No. I felt like a human pinball machine as he went to sniff the ground, rebounded off of that, bumped into me, back to the ground, to me, etc......

Deneutered

My cat an dog are both getting de-manned on Wednesday. This will be awesome for my dog Dante! I'm hoping that he will become a more calm and manageable dog. He is extremely hyper at times, especially when asked to go potty outside!!! If there was a doggie football, Dante would be the quarterback!

Endurance Ride Update

They posted the results at this link.

http://www.endurance.net/organizations/pner/rideResults/2007/Foothills%20RR%2007.htm

And, spelled Zena's registered name wrong, it should be Uvaldes Nu Sassy Doll. They left out the 'd'. Oh well. And, some kind soul actually took pictures of the event. Here's the one and only picture of me. (I'm in the yellow rain slicker) and Zena is in the distance behind me, you can barely see her feet.

Cattle Chasing Fiends

Hubby and I got to chase cows in the arena today. Chris had alot of fun. Zena started off pretty slow, but after an hour she was biting the poor cows in the butt! We're gearing up for that Peter Campbell clinic in March!

Pumpkin Patch kids

We took Aidan and Keagan to the Pumpkin Patch today, bought them a muffin and let them pick out a pumpkin apiece. I also had the boys pick out some weird looking gourds. Photos to come.

Endurance Ride Results!

Me and Zena got sixth place!!! I'm so excited, it was 35 degrees, pouring rain, and a 20 mph wind chill. I was frozen. We finished in just under 6 hours. I think for our first endurance ride, it was great! Unfortunately, Chris took no pictures! :(

P90x

We're well into our second week of P90X. Let me tell you this workout program kicks my butt!!! I wake up exercize, eat, eat, eat, exercise, sleep. Where's the ME time. (sigh). Oh well, in 3 months, I better love my body!!

Salsa (The Dance, not the Dip!)

KT and I got all glammed up and went to Annie Wright's to do a little Salsa dancing. Well, I had a blast. Of course, whenever KT and I get together we have alot of fun. Chris took a nice glammed up picture of us..... Good thing I started watching my calories, now I can use this as a before photo! :)

Swat the fly anyone???

Last night, Chris and I decided to join in a game of "Swat the fly" with Grafx. Anyone who owns a cat can attest to the quirky faces and rapid jaw action as their little faces alight onto a bug. So, we spent about 15 minutes in the bathroom trying to swat the fly closer to the cat so he could enjoy his game. In the end Jac (the dog) ended up eating the fly and ending our game. What a way to spend our Saturday night.

Over run with horses

When did horses start ruling over my life!!! Every night this week I've been working, or at the horse stall. I'm up to teaching 7 lessons, and I ride almost every night. I mean, I'm not complaining, but it's like I woke up and had all this activity!!!!! :)

Vegas Pics As Promised

Here are the pictures from vegas. We got asked out to dinner inside of a stretch hummer. Where, I had the biggest steak imaginable. I also got to see Chris Angel's custom made chopper bike, and then hang out with the PSF Crew that attended the conference. Let me just say my friends are lushes, and my drink is the virgin shirley temple in the very back!

Vegas or Bust

I just got back from a trip to Vegas. Was a wild and crazy adventure. (Not really, was quite a bit of computer learning and training.) I will post pictures and stories tomorrow!!!! Let's just say I 'rode' the strip! haha

Spin Cycle Kitty

Today was laundry day, at least in the morning. I put a full load of towels into my front loader and went to go clean something else. Well, 5 minutes later I hear this horendous meowing. Yes, you guess it, my kitten Grafx decided to investigate my open washer and was spinning inside the thing. I felt horrible. I stopped the washer, got out my soaked kitty, towled him off and put him down. At least he's clean now and I didn't get scratched!

Just give me a gun mom!

This weekend we had the pleasure of staying with Aidan's godparents at their cabin. While there, the boys learned the basics of gun safety, slingshots, and quad riding. We also remembered what it was like to play games as a family and Not once did I hear the boys say they were bored. It was a great weekend!

Surcing what????

Surcingle Definition: a broad band fastened around the body of a horse to hold a rug or pack in place; also can be a training device

I had my first experince of putting a surcingle on Koda today. Let me tell you, there are too many straps and doohickies on the thing that I was confused with its overall purpose. But I have to admit the first day didn't go too bad. We got the thing on and Koda was pretty much nonplussed. So I count the day as good!

Picnic Palooza

Yesterday was our company's annual picnic. The kids were a riot. Brennon did not get to go as he was too busy spending the night at a friend's house. There were so many activities to do and they came home with so many toys and lots of candy. I've included some of my favorite pictures for you guys to see!!!

Spider Bite!

Ugh, so this morning I wake up and have a little red bump on my forearm. It itched and I thought I got bit by a mosquito. After very little prodding (alright, I was scratching that thing like crazy!!!) I noticed it had two dots in the center instead of one. And, when pressed, a little clear fluid came out of both holes! Yuck! Luckily it went down pretty quick, but I still see the two little holes. I'm buying more sonic bug thingies tonight!!!!

Barn Party

Last weekend we had a huge barn work party. About 7 people showed up. Of course, me being the wonderful person I am, I left the camera at the barn all week long and just got the pictures downloaded today. So, here is a new picture of our wonderful fence along the road!

15 hour weekend

Yes, I worked 15 hours this weekend in AutoCAD, my eyes are crossed, I have a headache, and I swear I'm quoting Shel Silverstein (sp?) poems.

We Had Peaches!!!!

Our 3 year old tree produced 14 peaches this year! We're talking big peaches!!! We ate most of them. 2 of them had worms already eating out of them, and the spiders confiscated 1.

You Lookin' At Me?!!

The escapades with Grafx continues as this morning I caught him using my bird of paradise plant as a kitty litter box! I gave him a 10 on form before I plucked him from the plant using a mother cat technique!

Computer Virus

Ahhh, the joys of parenthood. Brennon my oldest wonderchild felt the need to get on my computer this past Monday. In between his playing games and general havoc, he downloaded 3 viruses on my computer. How do you ask? When I have one dedicated virus protection software and 3 other that run in the background. No one knows. Brennon has the knack to totally find ways around everything. After 3 days of downloading, cleaning, updating registry keys, etc... We still have 1 adpopper that will not go away. I'm about ready to let that little nuisance go to keep my sanity.

Yee Haw!!!

Chris and I attended a party today that had a bull. Even with our injuried hips (Chris hurt his about a week before I hurt mine!!!) We both had quite a bit of fun getting spun off that bull.

I was just going for the hair whip in this shot! :)

Um, yeah, I fell.

Chris actually looked pretty good on that bull!

I think we look cute together!!!

Look at my cowboy!!!

Here I'm kissing the bulls face for being so nice. (Seriously I smacked his head on a spin!)

Look at that awesome karate slap!

Hip Recovery

Well, 2 days later and still no bruise to show of! haha. It is still pretty painful, but I am not going to let it stop me from going on one more summer ride with the barn buddies tomorrow. Hopefully nothing overly eventful will happen and the hip will be the only pain I have! :)

Invisible PAIN!

Notice I said invisible and not imaginary. I fell off of a horse today (not my own!) and landed dead on my hip. The pain was intense (I'd like 3 more of those please!) and compared to childbirth I'd rather have another 2 or 3 kids. As the day wore on, I would secretly run to the bathroom to pull down my pants to see the bruise that just has to be there. Alas, there is none. Just my pain that hurts so bad that I feel it must be imaginary!!!

A Tale of Two Kitties

How ironic that little Grafx is the star of two blogs in a row. Grafx is banned to the bathroom when we go to work because he's still too little to get himself out of trouble. Upon returning home yesterday to let him out. We found this mess in the bathroom.

Evidently he was making his own entertainment. Ican our first kitty is still not very sure about Grafx and doesn't let him get very close. I was shocked to see the two of them taking a catnap on the couch. I think Grafx was planning a quick get away just in case with one leg off!!!

A Change in Grafx

Grafx is getting so big!!! He's a biter, though, and he especially loves to bite feet. He will play with our dog Jac forever!!!! Just this morning, Chris woke up to have Grafx sitting on his face!!!! Quite the turn on a lap kitty!

Bareback or Bust

Yesterday a group of us went out to bid farewell to Megan. We drove to Easton, WA and rode along the John Wayne Trail. At first, it looked as if one of us would have to stay home because one of the saddles was missing the cinch. I decided since it was the last ride with Megan, I was going to try and do anything I can so that we could all ride, soooooooo I rode Zena bareback for the whole ride. All in all, I was told it was a little over 7 miles. The ride was great, unfortunately, since I was bareback, I have no pictures, but Chris managed to take some on the drive back, the cloud cover was amazing!!!

karaoke all night long!

The last time I went to a karaoke bar, I was 3 years younger and I actually sang at the bar. This time, we went to the karaoke bar (which had about 12 people in it) and we watched all the other really bad singers. Don't get me wrong, there were one or two good singers, but for the most part, it was 2-3 hours of really bad music. The sad thing was, is that you could tell most of them were regulars and probably went home and practiced the music.

Loss of Innocence

Usually I'm not one for holding on to the past, but even I got a little weepy when my little man got his hair chopped off today. I was a big fan of his curls, even though most people thought he was a little girl. To reiterate my point, shots of Aidan

before:and after:

I will always miss the curls on my little boy.

Conrad Meadows

Chris and I celebrated our 12th anniversary by going to the mountains as a threesome! Go figure that one. We took Megan with us for our very first kid free weekend with nothing except the horses and the mountains. We went almost 4 hours to a place called Conrad Meadows. It was very beautiful, but also very dusty. One neat aspect about the trip was that there was a herd of cattle that also roamed the mountain side and was within walking distance of our camp.

Along with the cattle, was some pretty phenomenal looking scenery, including this tree that decided it didn't need to grow up, it would rather grow out.

The ground was a mixture of sand and very dusty dirt that made it hard to breathe in spots, especially if you were bringing up the rear.

Our first day we did a 15 mile round trip up the mountain. What made the ride really nice was the fact that there was a lake at the very top called Surprise Lake. The lake, which is fed by snow runoff, was so cold and the neatest shade of aqua.

At the top, we all took a small rest and Chris took this wonderful picture of Megan and I.

On the way back down the mountain, Chris got a chance to work some more cows with Ginger....

Megan had a chance to run down the hill with Arizona.....

And then Chris took a turn running through the meadows.

On Day 2, we decided to just do a light ride, and did only 10 miles! This time we went to a place called Cert Lake. See if you can find Chris in this photo!

Upon reaching the lake, we had to eat our lunch in a hurry. Unlike the lake at Surprise, this one was a weird shade of yellowish green, and had lots of bugs everywhere. The backdrop was pretty spectacular though.

On the way down the mountain we paused to give our horses a little breather. I think Megan needed one too!

Megan and I ended the ride by galloping across the meadows. I can't believe my hat didn't fly off!