All My (Our) Children

It seems like everyone I know is having a baby or just had a baby. Well, maybe not everyone, but I do have quite a few friends in one of these situations. So, I have been getting "the question" a lot lately. "When are you gonna start having little ones?" I kindly reply, "I have 10!" I get a lot of funny looks, especially from people who don't know me. I don't know if David gets the same questions and looks. I then explain the 5 horses, 3 dogs, and 2 cats. We have always been of the mindset that whether it happens or not, its totally in God's hands. We love our freedom and maybe that's selfish of us, but we also don't think that we should have a kid just because everyone else is or because we are getting into our thirties and don't have a lot of time left or because that's what married people do or because if we don't start trying now we might not be able to or because then we wouldn't have to worry about who will take care of us when we get old and the list goes on. None of those are good enough reasons FOR US to have a baby. Babies aren't for keeping up with the Joneses or getting a tax deduction. The decision to have children should not be taken lightly. You should really, really want to have a child before you try for one and first and foremost, I believe, you should seek God's will on that one. It is a LIFETIME commitment. Once you are in it...there is no turning back. Now, don't get me wrong....if you find out you are expecting a little surprise and you are ok with that, great!...more power to you! If I was in that situation and hadn't thought about all the aspects and ramifications...I would probably freak out a little. But I feel the need to over-think a lot of things, so that would just make me feel unprepared and overwhelmed. Also, I don't hate kids. I love kids. I love my niece and nephews and even have a few "adopted" nieces and nephews thanks to some dear friends.

So, with all that said, I wanted to introduce all our kids. Well, the rest of them anyway. The only one I don't have pictures of is our old cat Angelo.

You already know Ranger, Bailey and Scout from the other blog. If you haven't met them, check out Saddlestrings and Other Horse Things. Meet the rest of the family:

Blackjack

Blackjack and Festus

Festus is our old guy...he is in his early 30's and is now retired.

All the pups

Kenai

The youngest of the dogs, he is still very much puppy...silly boy.

Molly

Logan

And last but DEFINITELY not least, Ewan (as in Ewan McGregor)

Ewan is the best, friendliest cat I have ever had. He is so playful and will let you do almost anything to him without putting up much of a fight. He also gets along with the dogs very well and has the biggest personality....he doesn't know he's a cat.

Border to Border and Back Again

Yep, drove cross-country for the second time within 1 year. We are temporarily back south for the hubby's job, but the timing was good. My grandmother had been sick and in and out of the hospital since March. Things with her were not going well. I made it down to Texas, with my dad as my co-pilot, two days before she passed away. I am so thankful we made it back in time to see her again, even though the circumstances weren't great. I am thankful to have been able to come home and be with my family for an extended period of time. For the whole story, check out the other blog: Saddlestrings and Other Horse Things. I brought the whole "family" minus Ranger who is still recovering from a spring-time bout of founder. He is in good hands back in WA. So, I made the 3 1/2 day trip with two horses, 3 dogs and 1 cat in tow. All went well, and thankfully, we made it without so much as a flat tire.

This time around we stayed in one different place than our last trip. We spent our first night in Livingston, MT. And if you know anything about Livingston, you know it is basically, the fly-fishing hub of the country and gateway to Yellowstone. We stayed at a nice little B&B called The Blue-Winged Olive. It is geared for the fly fisherman. Only we were in a hurry to get to TX and didn't get to partake in any fishing this go-round....a fly-fisherman's nightmare....being in the heart of the best fly-fishing area in the country and not getting to toss a line in the water. We had to at least see the famed Yellowstone river, so at twilight, we drove down to a river crossing a snapped some photos. The area was truly breathtaking, but then again, most of SW Montana is. We will be back without a doubt.

The Yellowstone River, Livingston, MT

Looking south toward Yellowstone...we were literally a stone's throw away

Dad out for a crisp morning walk with the pups

How can you not love Montana?!?

Summer Sky

Wanted to share these photos that I captured before I left WA for TX in August. A refreshing summer storm had just blown through and left these brilliant colors behind. The photos don't truly do mother nature justice, but the cloudy sky literally looked like it was on fire. I am so missing the cooler weather and SUMMER FLY FISHING SEASON! I only got to fish a few times before I left to go south. Kinda backwards...everyone has heard of "snow birds", but this year, we are redefining the nomadic lifestyle by becoming the original "sun birds". More to come soon on the goings-on in the south.

Summer Visitors

All the animals have been on the move lately. Just Saturday I was driving down the highway and was stopped in my tracks by an enormous bull moose! He was the second one I have seen in a week's time.

Here are a few critters I have recently spied in our front yard and pasture---

Baby California Quail with mom and dad...

All the pretty flowers...

One thing I absolutely love about WA in comparison to Texas, besides the weather, fishing, and scenery, are the flowers! Flowers of all sizes, shapes, and varieties grow like mad here. In Texas I couldn't even keep a cactus alive much less flowers! I have been shooting all the lovely floral displays in our yard, the garden and anywhere else I spy some pretty petals. I am loving it! What I am most excited about are the mammoth sunflowers I have planted in my garden. I have always wanted some. I planted them from seed and they are growing like crazy. Can't wait to see them in all their glory! I also have peonies, roses, snapdragons, pansies, delphiniums, petunias, marigolds, irises, daisies, dahlias, tulips, and more. All the flowers have sure made it feel like spring and now, summer, here. I am amazed at how things just grow so well in our area. Can't wait to have our own place where I can go crazy in my very own, planned-from-scratch, garden.

4th of July Fun

In our neck of the woods, a great 4th of July was had. We celebrated a friend's birthday, did some fishing, ate some good food, had great weather (the coolest 4th of July in my books), and watched some incredible fireworks over Curlew Lake. Hope everyone had a great 4th and took the time to reflect on the origin of our Independence Day and how great it is to be an American. God bless this land of the free and home of the brave!

Good friends



We were freezing waiting for the fireworks to start!



Fireworks over the lake...

Back In Blogland

Whew! Now that I am pretty much caught up on all things horse in the blogging world, I figured I better scoot on over here and do some updating on all the other happenings in our life. We have been busy non-stop since spring and life just keeps on comin'. I felt spring fly by and land smack in the middle of summer. We have had all sorts of adventures...weddings, races, jewelry making, the hubby's work, the horses, new friends, travels, gardening, and much more. I have made jewelry for 3 weddings and loved my spring volunteer "job" coaching high school fastpitch softball. Mainly we have all been enjoying the warmer weather. We have also had a lot of rain and it has been hard to keep up with the mounting yard work. I swear, we will mow and the grass will grow 3 inches overnight! So, to sum up spring without writing a novel-of-a-blog post check these out:

Hunting for field mice...

Pretty blue birds on the fence

Lots of birds with the warmer weather...

Tulips in the back yard

Our friendly hummingbirds

Springtime sunset

Geese "arguing" in the river...mating time

First spring bonfire

We even had a spring wedding...check out the bride's jewels created by your's truly :)

A friend and I even did the Spokane Bloomsday race in May...12K!

Everyone dresses in layers for the cool morning start times then sheds the layers and donates them to Salvation Army by chunking them in the trees downtown....too cool!

Waiting for our start time with the crowds

So proud of our race numbers

Doomsday Hill...one of the portions we walked, but we did jog most of the course

The climb up Doomsday...it was a killer!

The finish line is in sight!

We made it!!!