Our Beloved Brownie

They say that the hardest part of owning a horse is having to say goodbye...it's the truth. We lost our old man, Brownie last Monday, Jan. 19th. He had been leased to a loving family to help give their little boy confidence and responsibility this last summer, and as with so many other children, Brownie did his job the best way he knew how to help a little boy gain the trust and confidence he needed.
Last Sunday afternoon, we received a call that he was down and not getting up, and by that night, he was at the vets inside a heated, thickly-strawed stall. We prayed for his health and well-being, and hoped that he would feel comfortable and out of pain. By Monday, we knew that all the treatment he was getting was not working, and his heart was failing. So that evening, as the sun began to set, we made the kindest and most difficult decision we have ever had to make, and we chose to let our Brownie go home. Before he was loaded in the trailer, the children got to say goodbye to him one last time, and he told us all he was ready to go. Macady and I said a prayer with him, thanking our Heavenly Father for allowing us such precious time with him, and for all his honest service to others. Brownie was surrounded by those who loved him as he passed away, and he was taken home and buried with as much honor and dignity as we could provide for him.
Brownie was a very, very, very special horse to us, the Hunt family, and many other children whose lives he touched during his 30+ year tenure on this earth. We are so grateful for the time we spent with him, for the Hunt family who provided the utmost care during his last months and ultimately for the valor and patience Brownie showed to everyone he met.

My little one

I was surfing through blogs, and ran across a song that Macady sings to herself all the time, hoping that no-one will hear her. The first ten times she heard it on YouTube, she watched the horses run through the screen and just cried. And now every time I hear it, my eyes well up and I think of my beautiful, strong-willed, fiery red-head and think of how she gallops through life....literally and figuratively. Macady rode her first horse at 9 months old, and by age three, we bought Spirit, Wild Stallion of the Cimarron, and spent our entire Christmas morning watching it. I remember her stopping in the middle of all her present-opening and just staring at the screen for the rest of the movie. We are on our 4th DVD now, the others were so scratched from use! I remember thinking that she was as wild and free as the horses she watched and I remember vowing that her beautiful spirit would never be broken. I prayed that I would have a little girl that would love horses as much as I did........Who would have thought there would be a little one born to me that would love them even more?

One year ago today......

We arrived in England one year ago today. We would spend the next 3 weeks absolutely reveling in our first big vacation as a family. Needless to say, I remember the days preceding our trip, and almost every day that we spent there. I remember not sleeping for 2 nights before we left, because I was cramming for finals...my last one being at 5pm, in Pocatello 8 hours before we were due to drive to SLC. So I do remember being very tired, and we were still packing as we flew out the door. I remember crying like mad as I said goodbye to our little animals, and looking at their precious faces wondering why we were leaving so early. I remember barely making our SLC flight, our connectings, and the ever-so-long but very exciting trip over the Atlantic. And I remember seeing my Mum, Chris and Uncle Chris waiting for me at the airport. I remember hugging them all at once, wishing my arms were longer, and feeling my heart burst with happiness. And that was just the first day! So I am nostalgic, and missing, and wishing, and on the flip side, I am so grateful to be here with my other side of the family, in a beautiful wide-open country, blanketed in snow and listening to the ever-blowing wind, waiting for Christmas day.

Macady and Rex

It's late and I am feeling nostalgic so I've decided to just post some pictures of my beautiful girl and the her most
awesomest horse.

A Time of Thanks

After much prompting - (thanks Wendy) I thought I would update my page and post a few pics of some of the things that make my life complete. I am grateful for each moment I spend with them....they are my truest blessings.

Perfectly imperfect.

I have spent the majority of our relationship trying to cook as well as my mom-in-law.
A lofty goal, if you've ever eaten at her table :)
I have made some quite, shall we say, memorable meals, and some have actually been pretty good. However, I cannot bake. No matter how hard I try, I cannot make sweets like everyone else can. Casseroles, scrumptious. English roast dinners, perfect. But baking? Not a chance.
Well my mum's birthday was on Tuesday, and since this is the first birthday we have spent together since 2000, I set out to make it as perfect for her as I could. I splurged on presents, I had flowers sent to her during her seminar, I arranged a surprise birthday party, and I decided to make her a cake. Not just any cake, a pumpkin-shaped cake, complete with vines and flowers, straight out of the magazine with the word "easy" in the title. So I called up my mom-in-law, and asked her if she had a fluted bundt pan and ever-obliging, she told me she'd leave one on the counter for me at the house. As I was getting ready to leave, she called again to tell me that I could keep the pan, she kept it so it wouldn't be sent to the DI after Grandma Hale had passed away, that she knew one of her kids would appreciate it when the time came.
I have always loved Grandma Hale, and treasure the lessons and kindness she showed me, so when Mom said I could have that pan, I cried. 'Cause I cry at everything :) Needless to say, I felt Grandma's presence as I prepared that cake. The house was so still, so quiet, and I felt the Spirit so strongly in my home that afternoon. So instead of trying to make a perfect cake, I made a cake for my Mum, who I knew would think it was perfect even if it wasn't. This silly pumpkin cake was made with so much love, that it just didn't matter that the icing wasn't smooth, or that the shell-shaped thingies were just little blobs. It was my first cake, and it was for my Mum. So in the end, it was perfect to me.

Finally!

I've finally created a blogspot! I've rocked my myspace page for a while now, so I am excited to try something different, more grown-up 'n all. It took me forever to find a name that wasn't already taken, or I would have had this thing set up ages ago. Well enough about that. I'm not sure if this is where I tell everyone who will read this, everything they already know about us, but here goes.
Scott and I met in Feb. 1996. Four years later, we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl, and four years after that, we were married. Our little girl Macady is 8 now, and is the light of our lives. She completes us in a way we never thought possible, and we thank our Heavenly Father daily for sending us such a beautiful blessing. Our little family also includes horses, dogs, cats and chickens and I will post pictures of everyone soon.