Almost the weekend...

it is almost the weekend and have 3 days of, looking to get some serious saddle time in and the kids are out of school and ready to ride;0
The sun was shining all day today, weather was nice. A little humid but we are spoiled here as we don't have much humidity. But I can live with it just to see the sun all day.
Here is hoping for a good weekend with great weather and riding with the kids.

Here we go again.....

Another tornado watch, more rain, more hail, more crappy weather.
Just one full day of sunshine would be nice, I am starting to grow fins.

Rain, rain, rain

Well it seems the rain never stops around here lately. Yesterday gave us rain, hail, thunderstorms, lightening and tornados. Okay that was fun, now bring on the sunshine:) We are ready.

A day at the lake with the Young Dakota Riders

Well after a week of hard work, bake sales and yard work the Young Dakota Riders got a well deserved break.
We took them to Bismark Lake in Custer State Park for a day of fishing and BBQing.
The fish were uncooperative but the kids didn't care. They had a great time and the day was beautiful.
They all worked hard and deserved a day of fun and relaxation.

Young Dakota Riders bake sale:)

Yesterday we had our second Young Dakota Riders bake sale. It was a great success and sold most everything except a few cupcakes. The kids have also been working and doing odd jobs for some of the elderly here in town and have been making some extra money for their group and events this summer. The folks they have been working for constantly comment on how hard these kids work.
We have some more jobs lined up this week for the kids but today is play day for them.
We are taking them to Custer State Park for a day of BBQ and fishing as reward for working so hard.
What a great group of kids we have:)

Managed to squeeze in a ride:)

Well in between all the rain, thunderstorms and tornado warnings, and in general crappy weather we managed to squeeze a quick ride in Thurs night:)
It was a nice night and we got back in just in time before it started raining again. At least we had a few hours of sunshine and fun before the clouds rolled in and put a damper on things.
Don rode Ladybug, I rode Charlie, Phil rode Mouse, Trystan rode Houdini and Skylar got to ride my mare Blue Valentine. I keep telling him not to get to attached to my horse:) She is every 11 year old's dream horse, she loves to go, and will go all day long if you ask her:)
Of course we all had to have a race of which of course Valentine prompty whupped our butts:) No fair she is carrying a kids that only weighs about 60 lbs:)

Surprise, surprise...meet Angel's Rendevous:)

Our little filly Whisper blessed us Sunday with a beautiful filly. What a surprise as we didn't know she was bred:) When we were out at the pasture a few weeks ago we noticed she was quite huge, but then they all are:) Our landlord called us Sunday and said you will never believe this but your little filly had a baby:)
Last summer Ghost got out and made a jaunt down the road to the mare and filly pasture. He was only loose for a few hours before he was corraled and taken home, but obviously our man is quite a charmer and did some fast sweet talking to Whisper and got the job done:)
What a wonderful surprise and a delightful little filly out of Ghost in the Grass and An Angel's Whisper who has been dutifully named Angel's Rendevous:)

Meet Tuffy

I wanted to take a moment to introduce our newest addition, Tuffy.
He is our new puppy, someone abandoned him and his brother at a friends place. We were quite smitten with him when we first met him.
Tuffy is turning into quite a character, tons of personality, just a love bug.
Zip has decided to appoint himself Tuffy's big brother and is showing him all the ropes. He is taking good care of the little guy.
We went to the lake with the dogs and Tuffy had a blast running around and playing.
I think he will do just fine here:) Everyone is already in love with him.
We know he will never replace Sabbath but we weren't looking to replace him either. Tuffy just brings a new soul into our life.

The circle of life just keeps going on...

Just when things settle down a bit, boom, everything goes to hell in a handbasket.
Phil and his boys were blessed with a beautiful little grulla filly two weeks ago out of Trystans mare Little Bit. She was quite a petite and striking young lady with her mom's wonderful disposition.
The kids were all smitten with her and she was aptly named Mischief for her personality;)
Last weekend Mischief was attacked and killed by a mountain lion in her pasture. She was laid to rest by Don and Phil and boys. And she will be greatly missed even though she only spent a small time in our life.
Thurs morning after a terrible diabetic attack that left permanent brain damage, Phil lost his brother Claude. We send our prayers to the Young family for their loss and hope their journey to Sheridan Wyoming to lay Claude to rest is a safe one for the whole family.
But also Thurs afternoon my niece Samanatha gave birth to a healthy baby boy in Illinois. Pics will come soon as I get them.
Jerrod Ray is his name and mom and baby are doing great:) I am a great aunt, kind of overwhelming:)
Hopefully we have an uneventful weekend.
I am ready for some normalcy around here and I know everyone else is also.