There's a 1st for Everything.

There's first for everything. ...like taking a shower with my dog?! No, I didn't invite him in. We have a walk-in shower. So, there I am taking a shower one morning. Next thing I know, Cash just walks in and sits down in the water puddle. Crazy dog. Was he wanting me to turn on the other shower head for himor something? I mean, he does like water...A LOT. But, it just seemed too weird having him sit there staring at my rolls. Maybe he was hungry. I often put his pills in old bread rolls. Oh, he's just so loyal. He justs always wants to be with me. Last week, I went out to the treadmill in the guesthouse. And, then I hear a single bark outside. Sure enough, when I open the door he is sitting there wanting to come inside and join me. But, this shower sharing somehow seemed so wrong. :)

Cash - a Lab or a Husky?

Sierra used a horse halter and a couple of leashes to hook up Cash as her own personal sled dog. She then throws out treats or a ball down the street. Cash goes running to get them and then she gets a free ride.

Our Neighbors Probably Want Us To Move

So, I think Wes may be spending a little too much time with Cash lately. He is picking up his toiletry habits.

Now, I have to admit that I have told Wes, downright encouraged him, to pee outside in the backyard grass. You see, I get tired of cleaning up pee around the toilet. You know it's bad when, out of habit, Wes immediately tears off toilet paper and starts wiping around the toilet as soon as he is done peeing.

But, I have NEVER told him he could poop outside. NEVER. And, for some reason, he thinks he can. And, so I blame Cash. Why not? The dog must have given him the idea.

Unfortunately, Wes has pooped in the FRONT YARD giving our neighbors quite a show. He gets in trouble and immediately says "sorry" to make it all better. But, then, today he did it again. I think the neighbors are wishing that we would move. Who wants to see a little boy squatting, doing you know what, out front for everyone to see?!

Sneaky Dog!

Hmmm. Why is Cash looking so guilty?

Double hhhhmmmm..... Why is the recliner mysteriously rocking as we enter the room when we get home? No one has been home....except that dogs that is. Surely, no. ????

Cash KNOWS that he is not allowed on the furniture. Yet, when we feel the seat on the recliner it is warm and Cash is looking very guilty!!

Sneaky dog. He knows to get off before we come in. Smart dog. But, the recliner gives him away as it continues to rock. So, Cash gets in trouble. Bad dog.

Now when we come home, the recliner isn't rocking anymore. Good dog? But, the seat is still warm when we go check. Hmmmm. Very Smart dog. Very Sneaky dog.

Thanks Cherokee for not Ripping My Leg Off!

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about our blog and how I started it for a family journal since my memory stinks. Somehow, we got on the subject of remembering more spiritual things though. Not long ago, Elder Bednar, an apostle of our church, spoke on "Tender Mercies" from our Father in Heaven. And, then since that, another leader spoke on the importance of writing things down. I know our blog has been more about remembering the fun, family activities. But, at the moment I was talking to my friend, I realized that I should also include the tender mercies in my life...for my sake...and for my children's sake. It is important that my children know of my beliefs, my faith, and of my gratitude towards my Heavenly Father for my many blessings that I have in this life.

And, so I am going to include little things here and there that I feel I should share with my children and my posterity. ....It won't be anything too personal since anyone else might also be reading this on my blog:). If you're not interested in the sappy stuff, skip it. But, this is for me and my kids.

About a week and a half ago, I was taking our horses down the street to our neighbor's pasture. They don't have any animals on it, so we are lucky enough to let our horses go graze on their lot when ours is irrigated or simply gone from four horses chowing down on it.

Now, anyone that knows horses has probably seen horses run out into the field, bucking and tooting. They can get pretty excited to be let out into the pasture. And, anyone that knows horses will also know that horses can be pretty buddy sour. Meaning they like to stay together...with their herd buddies. When one horse goes running and bucking, the others quickly follow in a bucking fest. It can be pretty entertaining to watch.

Well, I walk down two horses at a time to the neighbor's pasture. I had walked Trigger and Cherokee down the street. As I unbuckled Trigger's halter, he decided it was time for one of the running/bucking fests. However, my horse, Cherokee was still haltered up with his lead rope in my hands...and as I quickly noticed....the rope was somehow also wrapped around my leg. In that split second, I was terrified. I knew that if Cherokee followed suit, he would be pulling me down as he ran out bucking to join his herd buddy. (FYI - we have had a friend who had his hand badly hurt when the rope was wrapped around his hand and his horse went off.... So, normally, I am very careful about NEVER letting the rope wrap around my hand or arm as I lead horses. I am not sure how it got around my leg. I had just stepped around as I untied Trigger and went to untie Cherokee). ???

Anyways. In that brief second, I was scared that Cherokee would take off and who knows what would happen to my leg. Maybe just a bad friction burn....maybe a broken bone. But, I quickly yelled out "Whoa" to my horse and said a quick plea to my Father in Heaven. And lo, and behold, my horse stood frozen... but still keeping his eye on his buddy that was taking off and having a heyday out in the pasture. I quickly undid his halter and let him go without any problems.

Whew. And, then I immediately realized how grateful and how blessed I was. I know that my Father in Heaven watched over me in that second. I know that I could have been hurt, but I wasn't at all. I titled the post "thanks Cherokee", but the real thanks doesn't go to my horse. I am really most grateful for the many tender mercies that my Father in Heaven gives to me. I know that he heard my plea for help, as he hears all prayers from His children down here on earth.

30 Bales of Hay = A New Fort

I wish I could say it was a cheap fort, but at least it serves a dual purpose and feeds the horses too. Although, since it does feed the horses, it will have to be a magical shrinking fort as the weeks pass by. Oh well. The kids seem to enjoy it every time it gets rebuilt. I was shocked to see the dog up there with them. Cash swims, Cash dives, Cash jumps, and now Cash climbs 30 bales of hay.

Another One to Clean Up After

Cash is a great dog. Let's just get that out there. He doesn't chew nearly as much as Kota did. Shoot, Kota chewed up all the palm trees. Kota even chewed on our house trim. Cash prefers to stick to his toys, thankfully....Well, I should say that he does most of the time:) I don't know if it's instinct or what, but Cash loves to debowel his stuffed toys. I often find the insides of his latest chew toy all over the floor. He doesn't rip and shred the whole thing. It's like he methodically gets a small hole in it and then very carefully pulls out all the insides. I wonder if he'd try to do that to one of the chickens next door.

Double the Trouble

This is a regular occurrence at our house.

The kids, well, mainly Wes, love to get Cash all riled up.

I'd say "Poor Cash", but I think Cash enjoys it just as much as Weston does.

They play keep away.

They wrestle.

They play tug-o-war.


The worst is when Wes plays tug-o-war with Cash using the dog toy in HIS OWN mouth....just like Cash does it. EEEWWW!

Every puppy should have a boy.

**The video is not the best. Wes stopped when he saw the camera. Usually, they go on and on running around that table!

One Last Swim...for the season, that is.

Before the water gets too cold, we had to get one more swim in!

And the girls are off! Half the fun is just watching the younger girls lovin' it! They have soooo much fun. It's pretty cute. Sierra is on the far right side.
I think swimming is Sierra's favorite thing to do with Pepper.

Look at her SMILE!

Here's to my baby, Cherokee. Swimming was a lot of fun for me, too. Although, I'll still say lopin' is my fav. ....and I think it's Cherokee's too. We both just love to take off and RUN!!!

The hardest part of swimming, is getting back on your horse if you fall off.

No saddle means no stirrups.

I had to use Pepper (behind me) as a step stool:)

Even Sierra struggles to get up. It can be quite entertaining.

Well, we had a great ride and a great swim. It's been a fun summer. Now, we are ready for some cooler weather.

Horse Training 101

So, our new horse, Storm, hasn't been too keen on getting into the water. In fact, he down right refuses to. Try playing tug-o-war with a thousand pound animal. One trail ride (a couple of weeks ago), we really worked on getting him into a puddle of water that we came across. Boy, was he stubborn.

Eventually, he ran through it...but he was still very nervous about it. When we got back to the trailer, we saw an even bigger puddle in front of the car and so we worked on it there again. We even got him to stand in it for a little bit. Well, last Sat. Sierra and I went out on another ride. We went down to the river bottom and he wouldn't get near the edge of the water. Stubborn horse. We even used the crop on his hind end, but he refused. It was bad because we let him get his way and gave in to him. We didn't know what else to do.
So, I get his bright idea. Next time we irrigate, we won't stall him up on the high ground with the other horses. We'll leave him out in the pasture where he can't avoid the irrigation. And so this morning, the irrigation came. Here he is, trying to stay on the high ground around the pasture.
But, then, he steps into it. "HEY - it's not that bad. In fact, it's kind of fun to play around in."

Yea!!! Hopefully, he'll just remember this next time we go to the river or come across a puddle in the middle of the trail.
We also had some visitors with our irrigation....five ducks! Boy, was Cash dying to get out there with them, but we didn't let him.

Here's a short clip - showing our successful horse training 101 - session 1 - on water:)

Can't Resist the Call of the Hose

There are some days when I hear the hose running out back and I know....I know what it means and I just want to wring his neck.... Wes is out playing in the hose and getting soaked! (Usually it's at the most inconvenient times....when you're just about to walk out the door somewhere.) But, this morning, since we weren't in a rush to go somewhere and he wasn't ready for the day anyways, it was cute and so it quickly became a photo-op. Weston loves to turn on the hose and play!!!

And, of course, Cash can't resist the call of the hose anymore than Weston can. And so the fun begins. They had so much fun this morning. OH, to be a kid.

Cash loves to jump up and try to catch the water in his mouth. Wes thinks it is soooo funny.


They just couldn't seem to get enough.

Forgotten News

How could I forget?!....the other exciting story about our new horse, Storm. I took him to my horseback riding lesson yesterday. I was glad to hear that my teacher thought he was a good horse and very well started. After riding Storm home from my horsebackriding lesson, I stopped in our front yard at our horse trailer to put my tack in it. I should have been more careful, but I wasn't expecting it. As I took off the bridle and reins and went to put on the halter and leadrope, Storm took off! Imagine my panic. I'm yelling "whoa," "easy," and whatever else I could think of. He just keeps heading off. Maybe it made it worse as I chased him from behind? I hoped he'd stop in a neighbor's yard to eat grass, but NOOOOO....he just kept on jogging down the middle of our street. We live on a dead end street, but of course, I couldn't be fortunate enough to have him head towards the dead end. He was headed to the main street - a four lane city street (five if you count the middle lane, do you?). I started praying that a car wouldn't hit him as I realized that he wasn't going to stop. He went right into the road and took a right. Whew....no car hit him. He just kept jogging and even loping down the middle of the road. What was I going to do??!! I kept chasing him, but there was no hope in catching him. I kept hoping he'd stop, but he didn't. All the traffic both directions stopped. It must've been a sight to see. He went a good block and a half down the main road and was still going strong and I was getting farther and farther back. Luckily, a man drove up in his car, saw what was happening, passed me, and then passed in front of the *(&^##*&%^* horse and jumped out of his car and caught him. He just opened up his arms and said Whoa. The horse gave in. Whew. How embarrassing. How I wanted to beat that *&$#@#* horse, but I was too tired to do anything....and the onlookers might have called Sherriff Joe Arpaio on me for animal cruelty. I thought I was going to collapse. I just walked him home on the sidewalk. Both of our heads hung down. Dumb Horse. I still love him though. But, I won't make that mistake again. (sorry, no pic of that one....actually, I bet you'd love a movie clip of that....me... trying to chase down a horse. I think I can almost laugh about it now.)

On another note, the kids got home from school today and immediately jumped in the pool to go catch the toads. I hope they all don't end up covered in warts!

Our "Storm"

Almost forget - two posts ago - I mentioned I'd tell about Storm. We have a new horse. WooHoo. Sierra and I are soooo excited:). This is Storm. He's a four year old paint. Todd's horse, Trigger, isn't doing so well....unfortunately, he's probably going lame. I have been trying to talk Todd into a new horse so that he could still come out on rides with me, but he has been really hesitant. He said that he was the ONLY one that had not fallen off a horse (cause his horse is soooo good...can you see me rolling my eyes?....even if it's probably true....I love my SPUNKY, SPIRITED baby even if I've fallen off three times). Anyways. I get him to go look at a couple of horses. We fell in love with the second horse. Of course, he's a paint (my fav). He knows his cues really well and is very easy going. Todd, Sierra, and I all rode him and were impressed how well he did.
But, then that changed out on the trail....he's still a four year old which means he's less experienced. I had said I was going to buy an 8-10 year old. But, that all went out the window, when I saw Storm. Anyways. We all go out on our first trail ride with Storm last Tuesday.

The horse just hasn't been out on the hard trails....wasn't too good with his footing and going SLOW down steep hills. It was kind of scary. A couple of times, it looked like he was going to crash going too fast down the steep hill. And, then when we were loping down the riverbed, I took a sharp turn knowing Cherokee could do it. Unfortunately, I didn't think about Storm. Todd and Storm were right behind me. The horse lost his footing and slipped. Todd fell off and Storm landed on him. Todd is okay....just very, very sore, and has gravel -rash on his back and behind. OUCH. I felt so bad. So much for "BEING THE ONLY ONE THAT HASN'T FALLEN OFF HIS HORSE". (I am trying to convince Todd that that makes him a real cowboy now:). This probably wouldn't have happened if we had bought an older horse. Maybe we need to turn around and sell him and get an older horse. ??? But, Todd, says no....he's defending him....lets give him some more time and experience out there first. The horse didn't do it on purpose. So, we're hoping that he'll get better....as long as he doesn't fall again on somebody else. :(

Do I get the loser wife award for buying a paint cause I love the color on the horse and not going with the rule of buying an older horse for the safety of my husband? hmmm. I hope Todd still loves me. He really is more important to me than my horses....I think:)

Another great day!

You know it's going to be a GREAT day when you start it off swimming with your horses! I was sure to bring along a camera this time. Above, Sierra is getting ready to have some fun! Look at the smile on her face:) We took off our saddles again and went in bareback.
Here, we are heading into the water for some fun.

We decided to run back to the camera. That was really hard for me without a saddle on. I thought for sure that I'd end up in the water. My horse seemed extra bouncy, like he was trying to leap up out of the water while he ran. Luckily, I didn't fall off.

Here, Sierra is going for a deep swim.

Here, Sierra is running back with the crowd this time. My "Whoa" was to my horse that wanted to go run with the others instead of standing still to take the pictures (hence the camera jig). And,yea, I guess I should have offered Sierra a little bit of compassion when she said Pepper bucked. I'm a bad mom. The poor pony has it the roughest, being the shortest. He does a great job, even though I don't think he's too fond of swimming.

Sierra and I are in the far back going for one more swim. We tried going out together for a short movie clip, but it's a little too short. Better than nothing, I guess. It was a fun ride and a great swim! And, yes, it ended up being a great day all together. We should start everyday off with a horseback ride and swim. (listen to Sierra giggling out there)

Gotta Love Irrigation

The kids LOVE irrigation. Lance and his friend, Brock, had some fun today skimboarding in our irrigation. No normal kid can resist the temptation of playing in stagnant, dirty water right?!

Well, I have to admit, it looked like fun.

Of course, there is a downside to irrigation. Wes can sneak outside and get into it before I even notice he's gone. Yea, somedays he can do it multiple times. Today, I got him all washed up after he played with the big boys and brought him inside to play his computer. I started watching TV and then realized he was gone. Whew...only playing catch with Cash in the backyard. So, I bring him in again and go back to my TV show (I know...what a good mom I am). Next thing I know, he's out in the back lot running around, giggling, chasing Cash in the irrigation. They were having a blast. It was cute. They were filthy. Time for baths AGAIN! (sorry, didn't get a pic of that one....just imagine....filthy boy....filthy dog)

I'm sure there will be a next time. I'll get a picture then.

Who's the Better Jumper?

You decide..... Cash or Pepper??

Sierra went out Friday morning to jump Pepper. Of course, Cash followed. Next thing she new, he was following along behind her and jumping! Quite a dog!

(Yes, we are trying to only write the positive. We won't focus on the 20+ sprinklers he chewed up while we were at Lake Powell or how he escaped this weekend or how incessantly he barks when he wants inside or how he likes to greet our friends that come over with a lick(gag). Ummm....maybe I shouldn't have written that last one. No one will be accepting our invitations to come over anymore:(. Sierra says that I am making it sound like we have a horrible dog. We don't. We love him. He's part of our family. One has to take the bad with the good....even with each other, right?!)

Summer Fun!

There's nothing like cooling off in the pool. Here, Lance is planning out his next attack with his homemade knife that he carved out. Hmmmm....always a boy!
Trying to see how quick I could be with the camera.... The kids would quickly jump up and out of the water and then go back under the water to avoid their picture being taken.

Yea, I'm quick:)

Zane, being a boy and a goofball at the same time. Kamikaze style! When Zane saw his picture, he had the cheesiest, proudest grin. He thinks he's cool! Well, so do we.
Wes is finally getting more comfortable in the water! He had two weeks of mom n tot swim lessons. The first week he cried and cried. The second week, he improved some....only whining off and on. But, he still let me know, "I can't swim." Then, all of a sudden, he's going under the water on his own and loving it! Blowing bubbles and not afraid to get wet! He still needs to work on the actual swimming, but at least he is getting some confidence in the water.

And, what might you ask is this a picture of??? Yea, it's CASH, the DIVING DOG! We couldn't believe it-- even after seeing it with our own eyes! His tennis ball had been chewed enough that it was cracked. And so it sank to the bottom of the pool. What does he do? He DIVES! Cash actually goes to the bottom of the deep end of the pool to retrieve his ball. What a dog!!!

Unfortunately, Cash "hacks" a little after diving so we weren't sure if we should let him do that. I mean, are dogs made to dive eight feet under the water? Are they able to close their nostrils like a hippo? So, we tell the kids not to throw the sinking ball in anymore. But, then Cash decides to go after the kids' sinking toys. He won't give up! Here he is following Zane around trying to get the sinking toys. He was RELENTLESS! It was pretty funny, to say the least.