Hydra Bull Cutting Clinic

So I spent my entire day today at a hydra bull cutting clinic/competition. A hydra bull is a motorized bull that is basically a superb training aid for a cutting horse that is just learning. The clinic was first from 9:00 am to 2:00 where each participant had 2 turns to practice working their bull. The competition started at 4 and each participant was judged on various skills that I wont bore you with here. Dave came and took some pictures which was really sweet, sadly he forgot that if you rotate the lens you can zoom in so the pictures are pretty far away but you can probably get the idea of what it looked like. We ended with a score of 68, high score of the day was 72 1/2. It was a lot of fun and there will be many more hours spent honing my skills at cutting :)

Progress Cowden style

as is better late than never. Well we have been here for over three months and up until this past weekend next to nothing had been done. But thats all changed now, the yard has been leveled, the hill has been built and nicely sloped, the front planter area in back of the shrubs has been filled pretty much all thats left now is for the ground below the house to be graded so we can put up our stalls oh and putting up the carport. Today they came and hydroseeded everything, amazing stuff really. They did hydroseed the hill area but plan to put some sort of ground cover there eventually as it would be next to impossibe to mow. Not sure when we will be able to fence it in and actually use it but in the mean time it sure looks much nicer and we were happy to discover how large the yard actually is now that it is all level. The dogs are going to be very happy :) As a bonus my new car is in some of the shots...

First day of School 2010/2011

Hailey is so super excited to be going back to school!! (She says dripping with sarcasim) She did dutifully get out of bed and get ready but she was openly indignant regarding our long standing tradition of first day of school pictures, whats up with that? She did it albeit with a sarcastic expression...whom does she remind me of?????

For the loyal believers....

We had a scorcher of a weekend, it was really warm both days. On Saturday Lindsay and Jake took Madi down to Woodland Park Zoo and had a great time. They got a few good pictures as well. On Sunday they came over to the house to BBQ and play with Lindsay's 4 wheeler. We tried to walk all the dogs down to the river afterwards but there was about a trillion people already there. Lindsay, Madi, Myself and all the dogs walked back to the house and roasted marshmallows while the guys took the three wheeler, four wheeler and fishing poles and headed back down to the "private" camping spot at the river. Hope everyone else's weekend was just as nice and relaxing as ours :)

Just in Case.....

Anyone at all even bothers to check anymore :) Well I can assure you that I haven't been in a coma and plenty has happened I just have not been making the time or effort to update my blog. Sorry...
There is actually so much news that it would be impossible to catch up from my last post which was sometime in June or maybe early July.
The most recent news in a nutshell is I found a new/used car-a Honda Civic Lx. And I got a new tattoo-a fish on my foot-pretty exciting stuff.
NOTHING at all has been done at the house as far as the yard or property goes so there is no news there, work is going well and Dave is busy. Hailey is enjoying her summer of leisure and Madi has grown leaps and bounds in the past few months.
Cody is being deployed again at the end of the month which really sucks since he will most likely miss the holidays and the winter in Spokane which I know he was looking forward too.
Other than that we are happy healthy and extremely blessed.....
My thanks to any of you who actually might have bothered to check in to see if I was ever gonna update again :) Your optimism is inspiring....

Chili in Motion..

On Saturday Lee, Madi and I went over to see how Kyla and Chili were getting along over at the breeders. We brought them out to the yard so Chili could run around and Kyla could eat some grass. We hadn't seen him since thursday and he seemed to have grown! He had so much fun running around and prancing and dodging Madi who was on a mission to catch him.

Happy Sweet 16 Hailey!

So I know it's been a very long time since I have blogged but we have been very busy! Dad & Edith came to visit for a few days on Tuesday, the same day Chili was born. We had lots of fun visiting and we ate very well! They took a couple of day trips while Dave and I had to work. On Saturday Don & Cathi came over on the way home from their Vacation Cruise and later Mom, Lee, and all of Don & Cathi's kids came over along with Lindsay Jake and Madi and we had a huge BBQ! We actually had 18 people in this house! It was amazing, luckily the weather was good and we were able to be outside as well. Dad Edith Don Cathi and all the kids headed out around 7:00 and Mom & Lee started their stay with us. For the entire week we continued to be pampered and spoiled with dinners and long walks in the evening. Friday the 25th was Hailey's 16th birthday and we woke up to a sign in the driveway made out of tape by Steven! It was really cute. After that she opened her presents then spent the day with her dad and his girl friend having lunch and shopping. Friday night we all went out to dinner at Olive Garden. After dinner Lindsay took Hailey and Steven to play laser tag and drive go-carts and we took Madi home with us. I think Hailey had a pretty great 16th birthday!

It's a BOY!!!!

Kyla had her baby in the early hours of the morning today. Dave went over to the barn to feed and Kyla had a surprise for him! He was already dry and up and nursing so he must have been at least a few hours old. Dave named him VooDoo Chili-long story-but we'll just call him Chili for short. He is super tiny and super adorable! You must come and see him with your own eyes, oh and Kady gladly let him borrow her coat to keep warm on this chilly June day.

Madi has a new hobby...

Jake has a guitar and has been getting pretty good-not to be outdone, Madi has been practicing too! Pretty soon they will have jam sessions and I am hoping they will be more country than rock n roll..

Some Updates..

So there is one good advantage to having to come into work on Saturday...I get to update my blog! Having Monday off was awesome until about Thursday when I realized how terribly far behind I was with all the stuff that would go to print on Tues. Oh well, at least I am not salary!! Just a couple of quick pics of the outside of the house, and equipment shed, big change..If you want to see how cute the inside is you'll just have to come visit :)
A couple pics of Madi and the puppies who will thankfully be leaving next weekend, they are sweet and adorable and I will be sooo happy when they go to their new homes.