Keepin' On

This field was supposed to be full of flowers.

It seems like there is somewhat of a theme for a handful of bloggers lately where that theme is to disappear from blogger for a bit. I ended up in that group. It is hard to keep writing a blog where the only things you have to say are "I still hurt. I haven't been able to ride. Life is frustrating." Ain't nobody want to read that.

Brother, mom, and grandma!

I did have some joy when my mom and grandma Shirley came to visit for 8 days. I get to see them once a year, and I treasure it so much. My dad, brother, and I moved up to Idaho back in 1998, where we had no family and nothing was familiar. We hated it at first, but slowly came to realize that Idaho was not a bad place. It had grass, trees, a river flowing through town and my new Border Collie puppy. It even had seasons. Still, if I think about looking out the back window of my dad's van as we pulled away from my grandparent's house with them and my mom waving goodbye, tears come to my eyes.

Goat massages. Yeah, "massages".

Husband laughs at me every time we go to pick them up at the airport because I can barely contain my excitement. My mom has been in and out of prison for a good chunk of my life (drugs are bad) so it is always nice to know that I will get to see her this time around. Anyways, we had a good week. We went to the horse races, where we had a freak rain storm, and our horse was entered in the last race. We all huddled in a stall until it was race time, but the wait was worth it. Yuma Landing went wire to wire to win her first race of the year, and my mom and grandma got to be in the win picture.

Grandma and Johnnie

Mom and Saro

It was a bit sloppy.

Go Yuma go!

Cleaner than the rest!

The next day, we went to our local water park, Roaring Springs. I hadn't been there in at least 10 years, so I was pretty pumped. I love thrill rides of any sort. We did a few family rides and raced each other on some drop off slides, and floated down the never ending river. My mom and I decided we were going to try one of the newer rides. I got a little worried when at a packed water park and there is nobody in line for this particular ride. I went first. Basically, you get it the portal tube, they shut the glass door, and you stand there and wait for the stupid thing to drop the latch. And then you feel like you are free falling (I didn't even feel the water or the slide behind me) and magically land in the bottom, where your boobs pop out and you don't even care that anyone saw them because you are still trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

Sweatshirt weather

Clouds eating the mountains.

Another goal on the list was to go to one of my most favorite places ever. Stanley Lake, in Stanley Idaho. I hadn't been there in at least 5 years and I wanted to share my favorite place with them. I was a little worried when it rained the whole way up there, but fortunately, it stopped just as we set about our hike. My brother and I laughed as we watched grandma and mom freak out about pine cones and collect them into their purse as souvenirs. My favorite part, the meadow full of wildflowers, was not full of wildflowers this time, so that bummed me out. But it was still glorious.

The start of the journey

Can you tell why this is my favorite place?

It has horse trails too.

I am the tallest girl in the family. And I am 5'2".

That is some cold ass water.

Yep. Love it.

On our way back.

They also got to play with the goats, of course. At one point, Reaper had injured a rear leg so badly that he would not stand at all. I promptly called the vet. Let me tell you, it is hard to try and hold a phone, palpate a teeny little leg/hips, while another bastard goat is jumping on your bare-skinned back. The vet was pleasantly surprised that I already knew my goat's weight, knew his anatomy, and had injectable banamine on hand.I found that he had a swollen hock, and not a dislocated hip like I had originally guessed, stuck him with some banamine, and he was good to go. Phew!

They are snuggly. And love hair.

Mmmm. Hair.

Eeeeeee.

I was so sad to drop them off at the airport once again. Those few days are not nearly long enough, and I now feel so lonely at home again. I know I can't complain, because I have a Blake and dogs, goats and ponies. But I never really had any friends that stuck around (except Blake) for too long, and they were always there for me. Just a phone call away. I hope I can see them again soon.

Bowling. And phone questions for the tech hubs.

Playing lawn golf, or something.

Pine cones!