It's the most wonderful time of the year

Yep, it's that time again, when you're ready to get outta dodge. After months of saving money, you begin the "countdown" to your vacation. You're ready for that time when you get to go somewhere different and make new memories.

I'm officially less than 2 months from returning to Isla, this time with Rick. I want to give to him what my friend Gina gave to me. A wonderful adventure on a magical island. Trust me, I've already begun to dream about the fresh ceveche, cheap, cold beer, fresh veggies, street tacos, tamales, and the like. I can't wait to walk the downtown streets and see all the lovely people. To vistit Casa de Animales, to lie in the sun and take it in. To recharge, and rejuvenate.

I borrowed that cap picture from a fellow blogger. I loved it when I saw it. I just wish I could have tasted the beer that was underneath it.

Finding our own oasis - Shangri-La

I don't know what to say.... I LOVE... ADORE.... the snow. It is really, really, REALLY COLD here... It's so cold, even our fire pit is outta commission....but I still absolutely adore the beauty of winter. I can't explain it... but I love that Christmas really feels like Christmas. I went to a kids holiday pagent the other day, and the kids were adorable. Goofy stage antics, pigtails, plaid dresses and skirts. I don't think any one child was in any sort of "designer" clothing.... they reminded me of the when I was in my school pagent.

It snowed the last few days so inevitiably I had to take the Trailblazer into the cul-de-sac and do DONUTS.... it was a gas! I went for a drive and took some pix, grained the ponies, basically, enjoyed the view. When you sit back, take a deep breath of fresh, cold, clean South Dakota air, you basically take it in and think.... "Shit, it is REALLY COLD here!"

Anyway.... we're bundled up in down..... enjoying the heat of our jacuzzi... and thanking our glorious, visible, winter stars above.....

Don't you just love the family fotog?????

It happens to all of us... eventually....the silly desire to send the family photograph to all our friends and family, showing what a handsome family we have. Of course, it's always the "young" children that throw a wrench in the operation. Wiggly and fussy... constantly drawing attention to themselves until you literally have to smack them on the ass and make them "shape up or ship out!" Fortunately, for me, today, smacking your horse on it's ass isn't a crime.

The Bible warned, "Spare the rod, spoil the child." Well, my girls know about "rods". Don't worry... whenever I HAVE to use them I chide..."Be as gentle as possible but as firm as necessary... gentle as possible... firm AS NECESSARY..." They are BIG animals, even lil Bella... she weighs in more than TWICE what I weigh (we're not going there....) even more than twice what Rick weighs.... and she is only, like 7 months old! Anyhow... Rick decided this was OUR year to send the family holiday photo card.

So, last week I got a coupon for a great deal and knowing he wanted to do this, I sent him the link to the info. He scheduled a photo shoot for us with our friend. Ricks original, artistic concept was one which included he and I, the two dogs, and the horses.... until I said, "No, that's not going to happen, well not without an ambulance being involved." Bella is just barely halter broke... I had visions of introducing Syd (Yikes!) and Chica to her.... and I just saw kicking, bucking, Rick laying on the ground, bruises, possibly a broken femur.... My voice of reason kicked in and said, "You need to choose... dogs or horses." He said, "I want both." So, we had to think out of the box. Well, at least outside the boundaries of the photo.

Needless to say, it all worked out in the end and we have successfully ordered up the "Family Holiday Cards". You can all anxiously await your arrival in your mailbox sometime in mid December. And no.... we didn't use these photos.

Happy Pasture Pals....

We all hit a place where we have to let go. We think, "No, I'm not ready... she's not ready... what if something goes wrong?" But we have to cut the umbilical cord, untie the apron strings, put on our "big-girl panties" and basically, suck it up. Today was my day. I wasn't planning on doing it but the moment hit when Bella did everything she was suppose to, which then prompted me to "suck it up", "bite the bullet", and accept that it WAS time to let her run free with the big horses. So, sorry it's not a great video, but as I was leaving the house to see how Bella was doing running through the trees, my sister called and insisted... TAKE VIDEO... Enjoy. I always do.

You'll kiss me too?

Lace and her boys are always wanting kisses from me... but today I had a surprise.......

Sometimes I think about how wonderfully crazy life is. We think, plan, plot, and dream about what we want in life, or shall I say, what we've been taught to strive for. More and more we find ourselves in awe at where we are, how we got here, and how incredibly happy we are.

I told my sister, that day when we were running around that field, trying to catch a wild filly, "Jen, if five years ago, someone would have told me that I would be running around a field with my sister, trying to catch my second horse and living the dream in South Dakota, I'd have told them they were crazy. And yet.. here we are."

Today, I had another thought like that. "If you would have told me that I would be standing in the snow, kissing and catching that wild filly, I'd tell you that you were nuts." Yet there I was again.... bowled over, blown away, wildly thankful that my weekends aren't filled with trips to the mall to buy more stuff I don't need to fill drawers and closets that are busting at their seams. Thankful that my weekend was filled with cleaning our house, relaxing with the dogs, watching the snow fall, making homemade meals, teaching a filly about trust, and having her teach me the same, and having a heart overflowing with gratitude at all that I am so blessed with. Never did I think, or truly believe, that when we had to leave an environment we could no longer afford, when I thought everything was being taken away, He was only cleaning the plate to bring on the main course. He has changed my thinking about so much.

In church I had a saying playing over and over, and OVER in my mind.

"God always gives the very best to those who leave the choice to Him."

I don't know who said it, and I don't believe it's in the Bible, and trust me, I know how incredibly hard it is to practice, but I know it's true. When you reach out to change the life of a person, an animal, or a friend, to a place that is truly past your comfort zone, and jump in to give or share love, God blesses it. I thought back to Nai-Nai, someone asked me to take her... I didn't want to, but I did. She was the best cat ever. When we heard that Syd was going to be killed because she was deaf, Rick said "No, we'll take her." She's the BOMB. When I couldn't find someone else's horse to play with and my friend Frank approached me about buying a horse from him, Rick agreed; I needed a horse of my own to play with. Lace is incredible for her age... wise beyond her years. When Chica knocked on my hearts door...and Rick said "Bring her home." I couldn't resist. Best little dog ever, a complete joy to be around. And now Bella.... My boss asked if I wanted to rescue a filly, again, God bless him, Rick said, "We can't afford pasture for 2 horses. You find a way around that and you can help her." She's teaching me about patience and trust, but most of all gentleness.

For those of you who were with us during the 8 month journey down the road less traveled you may have sensed my stress, lack of faith, and insecurity, which I am sure was, once again, my overwhelming fear to trust Him. Still... He does what He always does. He showed up. And I have learned He still shows up, everyday. And truly in the most incredible ways.

Yes, seriously!

Rick took this picture of our "Mexican" dog this morning before leaving for work. It's her first full day inside, unattended, with, well, you know, her Tazmanian sister, Syd. I'd have to say that we have crashed right into WINTER here in the great white North. Skipped right over fall...either that or we did a flashfoward thang-a-lang. Hopefully it will only be a temporary hickup on the weather radar and we will actually get to have fall, then in another month or two we can feel like Deja Vu. Well, the dogs are confused and the horses are all chilly and trembly since they have yet to get their winter coats. This should throw them into overdrive. To those of you having sunshine, eat your hearts out! We could actually go skiing. : ) Maybe we should go buy those "early-bird" season passes to Terry Peak.

Bella's in her new crib....

Well, where does one begin? A couple of weeks ago I was approached about a filly that had been abandoned by its owner. It was being boarded at a nearby ranch in Piedmont and according to the ranchowner, stall fees paid in full and haul her away. So, I spoke with Rick(God love my husband for putting up with me and my animal antics), and I spoke with Bill, the gentleman that owns the land where Lacy is, and told them her story. In Bills great kindness he said that he would provide the pasture if I wanted her. Little did I know what I was embarking on. She wasn't halterbroke, which meant that she has had little, if any, human hand contact. For a week I went out every day, basically just to "show-up" so she could see me over and over again, then my sister arrived and we began the "prepping" for travel day. Jen and I had a fantastic time working with this little filly, her yearling friend who my sister quickly named "Patches", and the old Surrogate Mare we all called "Mama". I thank God for my sissy coming, as she enjoys equines as much as I do, and she was happy as a clam to be running around a huge pasture after a horse we would never catch.

Considering my sister had named a horse that wasn't even hers I figured I'd better name this little filly. We ran through some names like, Java, Mocha, Karma, Ziggy, but when you looked at her she just kept comming up Bella.

Sunday, the wind was fierce, and it was the day we were suppose to load her up and take her the Ziegenbein Ranch, so it was quickly decided it wasn't going to happen that day. Jennifer, in her always optimistic attitude, said she still wanted to go out and "play" with the ponies. So we went. While we were there Brandon, the ranch owner, came out to talk with us and we decided that we might not load her up, but we should try to get her in a round pen so we could load more easily on Monday. Well, it took 2 buckets of grain, a lariat, a haltered yearling, a sprained thumb (Jennifers, not mine) and 3 hours to wrangle that lil filly into a roundpen. Jen did all the dangerous work, hence the sprained thumb, while Brandon and I gently pushed her toward Jen and the haltered yearly that we were using as bait. Finally, she bit and walked right into the pen with Jen, as we quickly closed in and closed the gate. We were all happy that the day held some degree of success considering our initial defeat with 50 mile per hour wind gusts.

Monday, Hannah (my friend and fellow horse boarder at Bills) met me out at Brandons with her horse trailer. We moved around the round pen a bit, set it up for loading into her trailer, and Hannah went right in and got it done! 5 minutes with the Scary Hannah was all it took until Bella jumped into the trailer. We arrived at the Ziegenbein Ranch with Bill waiting and Hannah gave Bella her booster shots, deworming paste, and out of the trailer she went to her new crib.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all about touching her. She is allowing me to come up to her on her right side, rub her neck, back, chin, legs, etc. and Friday night she let me brush her. Today we worked on her left side. She acted like she didn't even know who I was. It's a funny thing about horses. They have 2 brains... not literally.. but you'd think so. They have a left brain and a right brain, which most trainers like to refer to as "lefty" and "righty" because you have teach them everything from the left side and from the right side, their learning are completely apart from the other. So, after all my picture taking today, my great success with her was that she actually let me scratch her neck on the left side. It's baby steps BIG time. I keep reminding myself that Rome wasn't built in a day, and there is the fact that she is basically a petting pony, ground worker, etc. for at least the next 17 months. So, we have plenty of time.

I once heard a quote that I totally understood, as I have such an intense love for these four-legged, magical creatures. They could literally kill you, but when you have a relationship with them, they submit to you, and you begin to understand what real strength is.

"There's something about the outside of a horse, that's good for the inside of a man."

Winston Churchill