So Much To Be Thankful For

"The best things in life aren't things!"

I really like the holiday Thanksgiving. It is not so over done and commercialized like the rest. We have always spent it together with family. Sometime during the day (when the turkey coma has set in) I like to contemplate how lucky we truly are and "give thanks".

I have been trying in the last year to develop the attitude of gratitude. I spend just a couple of minutes each day to look at life and appreciate how great it really is. So I make sure during my morning shower, that I just go through a short list of what I am grateful for. It helps me keep a more positive outlook through the day.

Here is my list:

1) My Children and Husband - What can I say! I have a wonderful husband who is kind, caring, loyal and loving. My children are great kids who are polite, caring and honest. You really can not ask for more than that.

2) Family - The love and support of our family gets us through the good and the bad.

3) Friends and Extended Family - We are fortunate to have a lot of friends. A lot of our friends we consider extended family. They are always there for you.

4) My Horses - Our horses bring us a lot of joy. We love working with them. They are also the reason we have so many friends. Competitions have allowed us to meet a lot of really great people all over the state.

5) Music - Music is essential to me. I love all kinds. It helps me when I am happy or sad.

6) Morning Shower - Yes I love to shower. It is my favorite thing in the morning to be able to just relax with the sound of the water. It is also when I go through my appreciation list.

7) Morning Coffee - I love a good cup of coffee. It makes you all warm and wonderful inside especially when your amazing husband puts on the bathroom counter each morning while you take a shower. So it is waiting for you when you get out!

Each day there are always people, events or things added to the list. I know that I am truly blessed.

Cowboy Prom

Now the moment you have all been waiting for Cowboy Prom.

We left the rodeo a little early to get Racheal's hair done. I am not a very fashionable mom and doing hair is definitely not my thing. I barely do my own. So I made an appointment for Racheal and Amberly. Amberly was still rodeoing so she barely made it to the salon.

Then we went to the hotel for Amberly, Taylor and Racheal to finish getting ready. The girls looked amazing when they were done.

Then Parker and Bill came to pick up Racheal and Amberly. It was so cute. They put the flowers on the girls. They were shaking so bad. I was trying to pin on their boutonnieres because the girls wouldn't and you could feel them tremble. Oh how nice it would be to be young again! My favorite picture is him putting her flower on. He is so sweet to her.

They went out to dinner before the dance. There are very few food choices in Hurricane to they went to the sports grill. Racheal said the steak was really good. Leave it to her to order steak. I hope her husband is rich.

They went to the dance for awhile. I think they all had a really good time.

Wrestling

Brent is trying a new sport this year wrestling. He has tried most of the other sports basketball, baseball, and such. The sport he has ever stuck with is rodeo.

He is working really hard at this. He gets up by himself at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays to lift weights. Then he goes to practice after school from 3 to 5. I am impressed so far by the dedication he is showing.

The day before we left for St George, he had his first competition. I was surprised by how much he had learned. In his first match, he really held his own. He lost by points but it was a pretty close match. The second match was not so great. The kid he wrestled was definitely more experienced. He got Brent down. Brent tried really hard not to get pinned but he does not know enough moves to get away yet. So he got pinned hard.

I thought that it may be enough for him not to want to do it anymore but he went right back to practice this week. If nothing else, wrestling will teach him discipline. It will be good for him.

Maliyah's First Horse Ride

Coy picked up Mariah and Macenzie a couple of weekends ago. They wanted to come ride horses while the weather was still nice. We were hoping they were going to spend the weekend but they could only stay one day.

Since the girls were down, Michelle decided to drive down with Maliyah. She is almost one year old. It was her first time around the horses.

She was so cute. She instantly fell in love with them. She just petted their faces and wanted to touch them. We had to watch her a little cause she wanted to touch their eyes.

Then we put her on with Mariah. She was so excited. She just waved her arms and bounced up and down. She smiled and smiled. It was so cute.

Then I put her on with me. I am really careful for the first ride to not scare them. So usually we just walk. However, she was having so much fun that I decided to try trotting. She loved it. She was trying to kiss to the horse like I was to go faster. It was hysterical.

Watching kids wonder and love to be with the horses makes all worthwhile. When I am independently wealthy and don't have a job that I have to go to everyday, I will have a place to help children through relationships with horses. That is my goal. I love to work with children and my horses so it is a perfect combination.

Racheal's First Prom Dress

Racheal has been asked to Cowboy Prom by Parker. She was not sure if she would be feeling up to going at first. So did not decide until last week to tell him yes. Poor guy.

The prom is Friday November 16 in St George during the High School Rodeo down there. So we only had a short time to look for a dress.

Saturday we went shopping. We went to a really cute dress shop in Spanish Fork. The lady there was extremely nice.

Before, we went I thought how is it going to be to shop with a girl who really should have been a boy. One that never wears a dress let alone dress up. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Racheal really enjoyed trying on all of the different styles. Some of them made us really laugh and others she looked absolutely amazing in. There was also a big family there looking for a wedding dress and they were voting on Racheal's dresses. It was great to have other people to help us make the decision. They were so funny.

Well it came down to 2 dresses. The blue one which I really liked the way it fit her waist and the green one which just made her sparkle. The final vote was the green one. It is so pretty and this picture does not even come close to how it looks on her. I will get better pictures on Friday when she is all done up.

All Around Youth

On Saturday November 3, Brent received his first belt buckle.

We went to the awards banquet for PHSC. He won the All Around Youth for the year. All Around Youth must show in Halter, Performance and Speed Events.

He has been anxiously awaiting the banquet. He kept asking if it was this week. It is a long time to make a kid wait from September to November. I was not sure he would make it.

He is really proud of his buckle. He wears it almost everyday!