Pictures of Badger

Badger had to show off his mad barrel turning skills as well as his new headstall and breastcollar.  I just love him. 

New Blog

I have a new blog to share.  I'm a bit scared to share as I feel like I am not adequate to share my thoughts on what I learn from church and reading the Bible, but I feel this is what God wants me to do and so I share.  I hope to grow from my experiences and to walk down the path God has intended for me.  I have learned that when I am faithful I reap the benefits which is always greater than I could ever imagine for myself.

A perfect example is this house we live in.  We were looking at 5-10 acres and a trailer house because that's pretty much what we could afford.  Instead, God gave us 20+ acres, a brick home, a huge shop (including cement floors, 2 bathrooms, sink, lean tos, etc.) and a barn.  Wow!  God is good!

With that said, here is my new blog.  http://afaithfulheartboudrie.blogspot.com/

Pray, read the Bible, follow what God puts in your heart.  Be kind to one another.  Love each other.  Be happy...this is the only life we get, so why not make the best of it! 

Quiet Holidays

As I sit here in the cool house it brings back memories of our crazy Christmas last year. We had 12 house guests. It was crazy but I enjoyed the chaos of family being here. It was fun having all the people relaxing, arguing and being...well...family.

I haven't had that in years and now that I look back I miss the family get togethers. It is what makes Christmas, Christmas.

This year it will be fun with Shelby a year older, but I will miss seeing the joy she brought to others.

Remember to enjoy your families that are sometimes to close for comfort. The voices you hear are voices that not only annoy (sometimes), but bring you happiness and joy. They also deaden the silence and remind you that you are loved.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pumpkin Patch 2010

We took Shelby to the Pumpkin Patch today in Wharton. It was small, but we had lots of fun checking everything out and picking out a pumpkin.  THe good thing about waiting til last minute is you great deals. :)  All pumpkins were $5, even the big ones!  Shelby picked out a medium size pumpkin for us to carve later this afternoon.

Tomorrow we look forward to Halloween and going trick or treating.  We plan to go to the local church events for some fun, games, and candy.  We may also go tricking treating at a few houses.  We'll see how the night goes.

Here are some fun pictures of our Pumpkin Patch excursion. 

 Trying to pick up her pumpkin to take it home.

  First time ever to use these tights...ugh...

GCBRA - End of Year

Yet another year has passed for GCBRA.

Badger won 2nd in the 2D and was 9th out of a 105 runners. :)  He ended up 4th at the end of the season in the 2D.  Not bad for coming back in July (half way through the season!)

Shiner ended up 6th in the 5D. We had a chance to win a top 10 buckle, but hit the 2nd barrel to lose and end up 11th.  Boo....oh well....He's done well as he has won 2 buckles this year already.

Here are some pictures of Badger. They took pictures of Shiner too, but they are not pretty as we cratered the 2nd barrel! HA

Busy

Work and home life have been crazy!  We have a new report card system that we are using at work and it has  been a little less than successful.  So, my days at work are filled with uncertainty and, at times, waiting.  So not a whole lot of time to write.

Shelby has recovered from being sick; however her allergies keep getting the best of her.  Ryan was sick for a couple of days this week, but is doing better.

I'm staying healthy and determined not to get sick  Hopefully I'm succeeding.

Shiner, my grey horse, has been doing really well with barrels.  He shocked me with winning a 2D buckle and fat check.  I'm still waiting to see the buckle.  I'll get it on Saturday.

Tonight I'm taking Shiner to Alvin to run him. I really want to run him through the pattern and really push him. He's doing much better. I just have to know I can trust him and that he will turn.  Hopefully we'll do well and I can be confident going into Saturday's GBCBRA finals.

Stay tuned...

Birthday Girl

What a fun birthday weekend for Shelby!  She turned two on Friday and celebrated with my family via web cam and Skype.  It was fun to see everyone.  It was also great to have them see her open her gifts from 1800 miles away.  What a blessing she is growing up in this technology world and is able to know her family from afar even though we don't get to them like we'd like.

It was fun seeing my Grandma smile as she watched us and talked to us.  Oh the things she has seen in her 90 years!  From horses in the field rather than tractors to skyping with her grandaughter to watch her great grandaughter open gifts.  Pretty cool!  My newphews thought it was pretty cool too.  My oldest nephew, Matt, will be 18 this year and had never seen anything like that. 

Shelby enjoyed them singing Happy Birthday to her and also enjoyed hearing and seeing them.  Although, I don't think she's quite got the hang of it.  What a blessing we can do all of this for free!

Saturday was Shelby's big birthday party.  But, before we did that we had a barrel race to go too.  I had an AWESOME run on Shiner.  He ended up in the 2D.  WOW!  That's a second off his time.  In the barrel racing world that's a big improvement.  Badger didn't do as well.  I'm not sure if it was me or him, but suspect it was more me.  I was worried about him hurting so I don't think I pushed him as hard.  He also seemed to get hung up on the back of the barrels.  Almost like his legs got stuck - he didn't seem to slide like he normally does.  That's ok.  He's still my favorite barrel horse. 

After my two runs we rushed home to get cleaned up and finish getting ready for the party.  The first guest arrived at 5 pm and the party was rolling by 5:30 with pony rides.  We had kids and adults enjoying it. What fun to see the kids so excited about a pony ride.  They wanted to know the horses names and share their 'horse' experiences of the past.  The smiles were bright and the cameras were in full force.  What fun!

We then all ate yummy BBQ (brisket made by a good friend of ours, Jesse), Pasta Salad (I made one and another good friend of ours, Erin, made the other), ranchero beans (by Erin) and cupcakes for dessert.  It was all fabulous and if anyone went home hungry it was their fault! HA! 

Shelby then opened her gifts and struggled with letting the new toy she just opened go so she could open the next gift.  She thought they were all so cool it was hard for her to set the gift aside to open something else.  She got clothes, baby dolls, playdough and other cool gifts.  Our friends were all so thoughtful and knew just what to get her.  It was neat how each one bought something that they knew she would love.  Even my friend, Jackie, bought her goldfish because they share goldfish when they hang out together. :)

Ryan and I bought her a little princess couch that folds out into a little bed and a tricycle.  She loves them both and has enjoyed playing with them.  She is still a bit small for the tricycle, but it won't be long before she'll be flying around the yard on it.

Today (Sunday) we have to haul hay hay.  I'm wooped so this should be interesting.  I am very thankful that we will have hay.  Our pastor was given a field and so he gave it to us since we are unable to bale our hay. (It was too long before we got to cutting it and kept binding up the hay cutter.)  So, what a blessing!!!

Well I guess that's it.  Here are some pictures of her special day!  What fun to see the joy of a child on her birthday.  It was worth all the hard work and effort to host a party for her!

More pictures can be found by clicking on the the link to your right.

 Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday.  She was already wore out by now.

 Yummy cake!

 Opening all the presents!

Sitting on her new couch with her new purse next to her.  She is DONE!  Poor baby! Look at those dark circles!