Healing word

Coming off of a week of fantastic family time, it feels like I hit low gear coming home. Things have been so difficult since coming back to this place I still think I love.

Pastoring is such a different life than that of missionary. There are different irritations, different dry spots, different perseverences. Lately it feels like we have dropped a plow into the desert and are trying so hard to get the field growing. Our muscles strain, our feet dig in but we are still cultivating a place that resists growth. Nothing comes easily. The rocks seem unending and I am getting tired of keeping the plow straight.

Today I was having a time of worship and the Lord brought this song to me:

I lift my hands in sweet surrender

Your holy presence covers me

Yours is the voice, there is no other

You speak the word that sets me free

Healing word, You speak the healing word

The healing word sets me free

Healing word, you speak the healing word

The healing word I receive

Because Mom said so.......

Well, after the post about the horses, Mom wrote in commenting on the lameness of the girls' names. It's true, they are pretty lame and it took me months to name them!!!!
Months!
I royally suck at picking out names, as evidenced by my track record:
rabbit- Johnny Boy this one still makes me laugh
rabbit- Jessie actually, not too bad.
cat- Lurch what?
gold fish- Fishey awesome. Truly plumbing the depths of creativity on that one.
dog- Barnabey now that was perfect, but named by Mom, so it doesn't count
dog- Tack this is a terrible name, but after calling it Puppy for 3 months, I had to draw the line.

So in the light of my miserable naming attempts, I'm calling out for help:


Name my horses. If you come up with one I like better than sister or kitty, it will go on the papers. It's up to you faithful readers. Bring on the names.

The 28 year old dream:

For a girl who grew up on Trixie Beldon, National Velvet, Black Beauty, The Black Stallion etc. etc, it seemed just cruel that I never had a horse. No matter that we lived in a city, I was an irresponsible dreamer capable of killing of many a fish through lack of feeding, and none of my family really even liked animals, it was still just cruel!

Then I worked in a breeding stable. I was close.

Then I moved to Wyoming, where people stuff horses into their yards no matter HOW urban they lived. I was very very close.

Then I married the cowboy and came to the horrifying realisation that he DIDN'T WANT A HORSE!!!

How could that be? Was he not the real deal? Did he not spend hours apon hours in the saddle as a cowboy???

Therein lay the problem. The cowboy has this mentality: horses are for getting a job done. Not for fun. They are too expensive and problematic to be considered a hobby.

I was crushed. What could I do?? There was no way I could justify having a horse since there was no kind of work I could do with one. (Read the post where I "sort cattle")

I was bereft. I was hopeless.

I forgot that the Cowboy really does love me.

Imagine my surprise when I asked him to go to a sale in Worland with me and he said there was no way he was going to let me but a horse without him.

Did you catch that? "BUY A HORSE" Yessssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, we went to the sale and we came home with not one, but TWO horses, Sister and Kitty.

this is Kitty:

she is Ron's horsethis is Sister:

she is my horse

Because of the major slump in the horse market due to the closing of all slaughter plants in the US, these horses came extremely cheap. They have excellent bloodlines that show up in their awesome conformation. Let me explain:

In this picture Sister is standing a little funny because she is almost on top of that waterer, but we can still critique.

She has a nice big hip (butt) which is a horses' engine. Good.

She has a deep girth (ribs) meaning she's got a lot of space to breathe. Good for a barrel horse moving at top speeds.

Her neck ties in nicely to her shoulder and her shoulder is big and slanted. This means she will have a smooth way of moving. She's got a very pretty head and nice expression.

She has a short back and nice withers, which all is good for an athletic horse.

Overall, both Sister and Kitty were absolute bargains. The Lord was looking out for me when we went to this sale. Sister was barely green broke, so I have been working with her, getting her ready to ride. It's a slow but enjoyable process. Unfortunatly I will have to stop pretty soon because of the baby.

Kitty is halter broke and that's about it. I would like to sell her but the cowboy wants to hang on to her.

Did anyone else notice that THE COWBOY bought a horse? What can I say- auctions are exciting places!

So that's the dream come true!

The boy, uncut and unrated

So this is what Caleb has been excited about lately. He will feed Tack one kibble of dog food at a time. Although it's more like: 3 kibbles for Tack, one for Caleb, 3 kibbles for Tack, one for Caleb. Did you see him lick the delicious dog food off of his fingers at the end of the video? Nice.

And in case some of you are wondering about his nutrition levels, I do feed him normal food too, as evidenced by the spaghetti face: (and highchair and wall and floor)

I've heard from certain family members who read this blog and DO NOT COMMENT (leading me to believe I only had two family members that ever read this therefore I could post pretty much anything I wanted no matter how boring (i.e. the birthday video)) that I need to put up more pics of Caleb and some walking video- so stay tuned. Coming up soon.

Who am I kidding? it will probably be next moonth. But it will be good.

Now I understand the half a bag of Doritos.......

Well folks, we have a winner! The winner of our puke til you drop, can't look at scrambled eggs, who in the house took their shoes off in the last three days contest is:
ME!!!!!!!!!
We now have a number two incubating. Sometime in December or January it will make it's appearance in a remarkable pain free, joy and light infused 5 minute delivery.
I'm sure my two faithful blog readers are so excited right now. I love you too, Mom and Matthew. You are really what this blog is all about.

At some point in the next nine months I will gather enough energy to write about a 28 year old dream come true, but right now I need to go lay down and eat another half bag of Doritos, the great puke inhibitor.

Toys: Ugh, Gack....

Why do we do it? I've always despised the overflowing toy central in most toddler-owned houses. Maybe all teh toys start out organised neatlyl into baskets, but two seconds later, every single one is strewn on the fl0or and the toddler is in the kiychen playing the ultimate toy: the dog.
If the mom is anything like me, the sight of her once clean living room will send her into overwhelmed, exhausted mode, which can only be cured with half a bag of Doritos and a nap on the couch. Or perhaps mom won't even notice anymore and your entire visit is dodging a broken ankle laying on the floor in the guise of a Winnie the Pooh talking cell phone. I hate toys. And I already have a laundry basket full in the living room. Blast!
I think the toys are mostly for the parents who are desperatly hoping they will A.) teach their kid something educational and B.) keep their kid quiet for 15 minutes. Heck, we'd even take 10 minutes! But they never do. The talking toys never teach your kid to talk, the light up toys never teach your kid thier colors, and even more heinously, the musical toys never teach your kid an appreciation for music, or at least the kind of music you want to listen to on a long car ride.
Caleb, despite the overflowing bounty of colors, shapes and music available in the living room played with an empty Doritos bag and dog food all morning.
I hate toys

All kinds of fambly....

What a wild and fun time we had with sis, Bro-inlaw, Bro-in law's bro and their childrens. We jammed a lot of activities into a week- whew!

HOrseback riding was lots of fun. I was amazed at the natural ease of riding displayed by all!

We ran around in big pickups looking for elk, which we didn't find, and buffalo, which we did. I think everyone, including Ron and I , enjoyed some time in warm sunshine and cool mountain air. I forget how quiet it is here, and how restful that is to me.

What cuties I have for neices and nephews!

They were fearless- ready to do anything as long as they didn't get too dirty. My neice held up a boot to me and said "Look! Mud! I have mud on my boots!"

They laughed at all the poop so readily available everywhere they looked.

They also loved Tack, who loved them right back. He's never been so popular! And hugged!

What an awesome visit! We loved connecting and spending time wth our fam. They are truly amazing.