cowboy take me away

After church yesterday (an awesome meeting btw--Craig North and his fiance spoke about faith), Colton, Biff, Jamie, and I packed up some food and the horses and headed to the Rafter S Ranch for an afternoon horseback ride.

We got to the top of Monte Cristo, saddled up and off we went. For a five hour ride! But it was beautiful and I loved every minute of it--even when I had to bail off the side of Cash because the front cinch came undone and the saddle slid off the right side.

After our ride, we spent a little bit of time at the main cabin to cool off and relax before we had to load up and head home. This cabin is awesome--it's old and rustic. The walls are made of plywood, the beds are old, and the place is dripping with old memorabilia--hats, pictures, scrapbooks, old dishes, and a sweet rock fireplace. I could spend my whole life sitting on that porch...it is the most peaceful place I've been in awhile. And I might need to go back there in a hurry because I've never been this saddle-sore in my life!!

Oldies but goodies

Saturday afternoon was the Weber State volleyball team's first home game. This year, we decided to open with an exhibition match against some alumni (that would be me) to help our girls work out some kinks and jitters, make some adjustments to our serve receive patterns, and to FINALLY play someone other than each other!

So at 3pm that afternoon, we had a reunion of sorts. Everyone that stepped foot on the court as a Wildcat was invited to come play against one another, eat a light lunch, and visit with each other. We had quite the showing and I'm proud to say that the girls I played with from 1995-1999 can really represent! It was so great to see everyone that was "in the trenches" with me and those who "held the rope" and made the "strength of the pack because they were the wolf"--a few of Al's famous quotes!

Then, at 7pm some of us played against the 2008 Wildcats--in a real match with warmups, uniforms, and officials, and spandex. Wow. Lots of little spandex. I actually tried them on the night before and made Colton give me his honest opinion about whether or not I should wear them in public. Now, I don't know how honest he really was, but somehow I found myself in the tight suckers--along with long socks and kneepads.

But it was so much fun to play with some of my old teammates & to get those competitive juices flowing again. One thing is for sure--when the whistle blows and it's game time, no matter how old or fat we are, we can still bring it when they turn on the gym lights. We lost (which is VERY important to my job, but not so much for my pride) in 4 games and actually played pretty decent for a bunch of wrinkly old ladies who don't play competitively anymore...as you can see by the stats and the press release!

The best part about the whole night was that Colton finally got to see that I really can play volleyball--he's been doubting me forever because he says I never play hard or hit hard when we play. Gee...I wonder why...it's impossible to play at the level you once played at in a rec setting! Anyway, he actually told me that I'd impressed him...or did he say shocked? I can't really remember, but either way works for me!

Calling all blog readers!

If you have a blog and have been reading mine, but keep yours private, (or I don't have yours as a link on mine) please send an email to me asap so I can look at yours. I'm talking to you Winward girls...

eight eight o eight

What a special day today is. 8.08.08. The opening ceremonies for the Olympics. The birth of Cooper Collins. And the opening day of WSU VB.

Prayers and haircuts

We were in Jerome two weekends ago on a quick trip before football started and Shay was trying to help Sage say the prayer...I think maybe it should've been the other way around. He asked Heavenly Father to bless our "mental powers". ????? Evidently, Heavenly Father didn't listen because I made the decision to chop my hair off again.

I actually really like it, it's just that I can never get it to look quite as good as it did when someone else did it. But Mary Jo is awesome and it feels SO much better in this heat!

Before: July 31 & After: Aug. 4

Yuck.

It's started again. And just when things were finally going pretty good. He's officially back at football practice.

little fishes, little kids, and little sisters

Colton, Brock, Tyra, the kids and I went to Rexburg for a short little vacation just before Pioneer Day. The boys went camping and fishing at Mesa Falls and Bitch Creek, Kelsey went to a volleyball camp each day, and Tyra and I watched the kids. But if you are going to babysit 4 kids in the summer, Rexburg is the place to do it! Each day, the government provides free lunch to anyone under the age of 18. And they give it out at the park--where there also happens to be a splash park and a carousel. We took the kiddies on the "baby" and "mommy horses" and then watched their reactions. Kennedy and Mason loved it, but Karlee was a little more skeptical. Okay, she was downright frightened. She was fine until the music would start playing and then she'd freak! Now, I know I shouldn't laugh at other's expense--especially at a kid's--but I couldn't help it. I'll post some pictures soon.

When the boys returned from their trip, they couldn't quit talking about how great the fishing was and Colton couldn't quit talking about how big the fish that he caught were. Until he got home and measured the little 13 inchers. The guys also got in 18 holes courtesy of Duffy McFarland but they all decided that they don't play as well when they don't have to fork out the dough to pay for it.

The stay on Arctic Willow Drive was capped off with a birthday celebration for Kelsey, my BABY sister, who turned 27. We picked up a Heath ice cream cake from DQ (oh how I wish there was one in Ogden) and also enjoyed the cake that her high school volleyball team surprised her with. My parents drove up and spent the afternoon with us too. Colton taught Brock how to do a back flip on the tramp and he almost fell off--to which Tyra insisted that she for sure would re-marry if Brock died while doing something stupid! I've got some pics of his tricks to post too...I'll get them up soon.