Horses are my favorite!

I grew up riding horse out in Draper on the mountains. My grandfather would take us quite often and pay for us to ride for an hour while he waited for us back at the corral. My favorite horse to ride was Old Red.

Horses became my favorite animal. As I got older, I was able to ride less because the person who owed the land where we rode sold it to a housing development. So I got to ride about once a year after I got married, but this didn't stop my love of horses.

Recently while I was in Georgia, my dad sent me a text with my mom horse back riding. I sent a text back asking about where they were. After many text back and forth, I finally called my mom and asked where she was riding. My dad had called a guy who conducts trail rides in Southern Utah. My dad wanted to take my mom riding, who loves horse as much as I do. The guy wasn't able to take my mom riding when my dad had planned to, so the guy suggested that my dad call the guy's wife, Terry. Terry lives in the Salt Lake Valley along the West bench of the mountains close to my parents. My dad was able to contact Terry and arrange for my mom to go riding.

During their ride, my mom found out that Terry runs a non-profit organization.

Terry's organization is called Hope Ranch Ministries and her mission is "Using Horses to Transform Lives. Imparting Hope, Love, and Purpose to the Hearts of Individuals Through a Personal Relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ." Terry trains volunteers how to work with horses through natural horsemanship of trust and respect instead of force and intimidation. After being trained, the volunteers help with different groups throughout the year that are looking for a different way to help heal those they are involved with helping from kids in foster care, to kids whose parents have neglected them, to ones who have been abuse, and everything in between.

After talking to my mom, I thought I found what I had been looking for as to do something more. I wanted to do something different and to help. So I arranged to go on a horse back riding adventure with Terry. My sister, Kali, and my mom also came along for the ride.

After meeting, Terry and discussing her organization with her. I signed up to take the horsemanship lessons with her to be able to become a volunteer. It is a win-win all around. I am working with horses, learning alot about them and alot about myself at the sames time, and preparing to be a volunteer in the spring. I can't wait for the spring to come.

In the mean time, I have learned to groom a horse, pick up its hooves, get a horse out of the corral, and ride bare back. This is not to mention that horses have personalities, get scared, match your energy in what you ask them to do, have minds of their own, and also want to please you.

In the past weeks that I have been learning about horses in a whole new light, it has helped me apply it to my life in ways that I didn't know where possible.

Here are pictures from my ride with my mom and sister. To bad, my other sisters weren't there!

Halloween 2011

I know I am about a month late in posting Halloween, but Matt has been on the computer alot finishing his homework and I have also been crazy busy.

So all about Halloween 2011.

Every year for the past 4 years, we have gone trick or treating with our best friends and their kids. This year wasn't any different.

For the past two years, Matt has found out what his little Gracie is going to be and matches his costume to hers. This year, Gracie picked Rapunzel from the movie Tangled, so Matt decided he would be Flynn Rider. He started thinking about his costume in September and trying to decide how he would become Flynn Rider. After some searching, I suggested he rent his costume from Hale Center Theater. He ended up having to do this. $50.00 later he had his rented Flynn Rider Costume.

Matt even grew out his facial hair to have a gotee just like Flynn Rider. Check out the pictures. He looks alot like Flynn Rider.

This year, I decided to attempt to dress up to. I took Matt's example and dressed up like Kate. She was a witch this year, so I dressed up like one too.

We drove to Davids and Kristin's house around 5pm. Gracie was so excited to see Matt, she couldn't stop smiling at him.

We helped the kids with the final touches for their costumes and went outside and took pictures before trick or treating. Some of the cutest kids in the world and the adults that go with them.

Katie as a cute witch. Kristin made her tutu and added to her hat.

Gracie as Rapunzel.

Sisters together.

Parker was a green dragon. He was just along for the ride this year.

Group picture. Us with our "rent" a kids. We love them!

Kristin joined us for a picture too.

Family picture before trick or treating.

Our family picture before trick or treating

Almost full length picture.

Witches

Flynn Rider and Rapunzel. (This is Matt's facebook profile picture too!)

Kristin stayed home to hand out candy and make dinner while we (David, Matt, and I) took the kids out trick or treating. Gracie was out front most of the time leading the way, while Katie was usually hanging onto her hat looking around. Park stayed mostly in his stroller until he had had it and I took him and Katie back home. Gracie wanted to stay out longer, so Matt and David had fun taking her around. She lasted about another 30 minutes and then wanted to come home also. While out trick or treating, David and Matt got a nice treat themselves from a nice neighbor, a donut!

Katie hanging onto her hat

Parker along for the ride.

Donut anyone?

Trick or Treat!

Once back at the house, we got to eat dinner and hang out. What a wonderful night. We always have fun with the Elswood family and love them as our very own family, which they are. Thanks for always including us and being our best friends!

Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

We have an annual tradition to get together with a group of friends and carve pumpkins for Halloween. Over the years, it has ended up being the guys carve the pumpkins, the girls talk, and the kids play and try and help their dads' carve if they aren't too busy playing.

This year, we had the pumpkin carving at David and Kristin's house. Kyle and Crystal Mellon brought their 3 kids, Kacie, Chloe, and Kody. Alina brought her daughter, Catia, as Jared wasn't able to attend due to homework. Matt and I were also there of course.


We had soup and chili in bread bowls. We also had homemade Rootbeer. The guys got a kick out of the dry ice billowing smoke.

Parker's first Halloween. He is checking out Matt's pumpkin and Gracie was inspecting what he was doing.

Home made rootbeer. Thanks, David!

Dry Ice Smoke

Matt is getting ready to do his pumpkin. In year's past he always takes the longest to carve, because his ideas are so elaborate. What will be the design for this year?

Gracie got her hands, gooey this year. Glad she is in the spirit, because I definitely don't like this part. Good thing someone has to take the pictures.

Parker and another pumpkin.

Kacie and Chloe playing with the dishes. Not ready to get their hands gooey yet.

The carvers are going at it.

Gracie watching her dad cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin instead of the top.

Matt's carving is in progress....what will the final product look like?

Matt is the first one completed. Simple and easy. Wonder were he got the inspiration for his idea from. It kinda looks like him. Right?

Katie, Gracie, and David finished their pumpkins.

Kyle, Kacie, and Chloe posed with their pumpkin. Not carved, but a jeweled pumpkin. Nice Kyle!

Matt and his pumpkin. How cute!

We took the pumpkins outside and put candles in them for a picture with Katie and Gracie.

Our pumpkin. Matt carves them and I take the pictures. Works out perfectly!

82... What a great number!

Yesterday, my Gram (aka Grandma) turned 82 years old. Well, I got to spend the evening with her. A couple months before, I asked her if she wanted to go see "My Fair Lady" at Hale Center Theater. She said yes and for me to pick a date. I knew her wedding anniversary (my grandfather died over 4 years ago) and birthday were in November, so I asked which day I could help her celebrate. She said her birthday, which is on November 15th. So I bought the tickets and waited for the day.

I left work at 5:15pm to go and picked her up. We planned on eating dinner at her house before leaving. We ate my favorite meal, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Gram had hers in a cup and mine was in a bowl. :-)

As we were getting ready to leave for the play, my sister, Kali, called me about a something. I told her I had to go, so Gram and I could leave. She told me that she had been planning to come over to Gram's house and surprise her and now she wasn't going to be able to. She was a little bummed, but it turned out that it was good she called me or she would have gone over to Gram's house and been surprise herself to find out she wasn't there. Sorry Kali, but Gram and I had fun.

We left for the play at 6:30 and got there in 20 minutes, which was 50 minutes early. We took some pictures while we were waiting for the play to start.

It was fun watching the play. Gram and I both agreed that the actor for "Freddy" had a beautiful voice.

Happy 82 Birthday Gram!

Matt and Phi Kappa Phi

What is Phi Kappa Phi and who cares? Well, I will tell you.

In August, Matt received a letter from the Weber State Univeristy Chapter of  The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest, most selective, and most prestigious all-disiplining honor society. Standards for election to Phi Kappa Phi are extremely high. Membership is by invitation only to the top 7.5 percent of second term juniors and the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students.

Matt was selected to be part of this prestigious honor society. On Monday, November 14th, we went to the initatation banquet for Phi Kappa Phi, where only 100 students were initiated for this year.

I am so proud at how well Matt has done with his schooling for the past 8 years as he has pursued the schooling to become a specialized Radiological Technician in MRI/CT. He only has 15 days until the end of his schooling. Yes, I am counting down and have been for years! We are almost done with school, and I did mean "we". As anyone knows, when your spouse is in school it effects you too.

Here are a couple pictures from the banquet. I took them with my camera phone, so they aren't the best, but wanted to capture the moments.

Waiting in line to be received (yes, the picture is blurry)

Going through receiving line

All Dressed up wearing his honor cords!

15 DAYS to go!