A Dream Come True

What ya doing?

Dream's feeder and OUR boardwalk to keep out of all the dust.

LET THE VIDEO LOAD ALL THE WAY FOR BEST VIEWING!!! ENJOY!

Ah, Sunday, October 13, 2013, a day to remember indeed. For on this memorable day my family and I picked up our horse that we have been given. Although it was extremely difficult for me not to share this with you all before, I was determined not to until after she was on our property. Going back now to August, I had a horse and didn't even know it! My dream come true at last! Back when we left for camp, that Wednesday, my mom and dad had been offered a horse and decided to take her. On the Saturday my sister and I came home they told us. So from Wednesday to Saturday, basically four days, I didn't even know that I was a horse owner! Can you imagine! I was so excited! (And still am:-)) We decided to name our mare “Dream” because she was a “dream come true”! Dream is an eight-year-old pony appaloosa. This does not mean that she is a very tiny horse but rather she is not quite full sized. She is the perfect size for my sister and me. She is also considered a “pony of the America's” aka: POA. We have free-ridden once so far and we do “ground games” a lot with her. She is a great horse for us. She's quiet—not like a high-spirited Arabian or something. : ) She was actually used with handicapped kids if that helps you picture her! Another good thing about her is that as we learn our training method, Parelli Natural Horsemanship, she is learning too because she was never trained with this method so she does not get frustrated as easily. (Notice I said “as easily”! LOL) Our friends who gave her to us also taught us how to ride, but most importantly, to build a relationship with her.

Now she even trots to us when she sees us or we call.

 

Neighing at me."Well, howdy yourself Dream"!

I am queen of this hill!

We are converting our playhouse to a tack shed for her. We made her a nice feeder too out of a tractor tire. We have been so blessed by friends offering advice, loaning us equipment, giving us tools, and offering physical help. Thank you if you are any of the above mentioned. Since we are first-time owners, we need all the help we can get! So far we have had a good experience except for a few minor mishaps. :-) Expect that I will be posting a lot more with her included!!!

Creation Trip

Posing in front of the Grand Tetons.

Bull elk in Grand Tetons.

A few days ago our family returned from a nice, long, relaxing trip. We dubbed it our “Creation Trip” because we studied the evidence for creation, the flood, and the Ice Age. My sister and I did school work in the car during our long driving days. We visited Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. We had a lot of adventures including camping in Yellowstone for five nights with snow on our tent two nights and 60 mph gusts the last night. Imagine how thrilled I was when I saw all the magnificent wildlife including three grizzlies, two black bears, a moose, lots of elk, pronghorn, mule deer, mountain goats, Canadian geese, trumpeter swans, and the crows relative, the raven, that is much larger than I thought. We traveled along the outskirts of Glacier National Park since the National Park shutdown forced us to change our plans. We got to be only 22 miles away from the Canadian border which was exciting for me to think that I was so close to a whole other country! Near the John Day fossil area in Oregon our family got to go fossil hunting. During our three hour excavation on a hillside we discovered multiple leaf fossils and petrified wood. Throughout our trip our family was blessed by the hospitality of old friends and new ones.

Mama Grizzly with cub that we saw when leaving Yellowstone.

​We went through Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, and of course, California. This was the longest trip that I have ever been on. We drove into more states than I have ever before. Our whole trip was full of excitement, but my favorite part was seeing all this together as a family.

This is just the beginning of the highlights of our two and a half week trip. I hope to post a lot more about this incredible trip but just to start, I wanted to share my introduction to our Creation Trip; however, my next post will be about one of the most memorable days of my life.