The Cutiest Cowgirl

Saturday Sam, Jared's brother, and Reagan came down to SawGrass! Before Sam joined Papa and Luke to fish he saw one of the bald eagles who's nest is on the East side of the property. Jared joined me and Reagan on our ride!
Reagan and I doubled on Comet and we made a game out of how many butterflies we saw, she counted 54! Reagan is the cutest cowgirl... I could write 10 posts about all the cute things that she says but I'll try to limit myself as much as possible!

Reagan: "Look Aunt Rachel."
Reagan pointed at two butterflies.
Me: "I guess they are stuck together."
Reagan: "Yea, I wish the butterflies would stop falling and hurting themselves so the other butterflies wouldn’t have to carry them around."
I couldn't help but look over at Jared and held my giggle in...

Reagan did so well she actually liked riding fast this time! So we kept at an easy saddle gait most of the ride and she loved it! She asked so many questions and I taught her how to kiss to the horse to make him go faster so she took on that responsibility the entire ride! :)

Check out Reagan riding Comet.

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After we untacked the horses and watered Comet down Reagan and I feed them all sugar cubes. She was so brave! In this first picture Cisco took her hat off with his lips! :)Miami loves her cousin!
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After our ride Reagan and I took a walk and here is the beautiful sunset that we passed!

One day more...

Breaking Dawn

Not to interrupt my SawGrass posts but I finished Stephenie Meyer's final book in her Saga, Breaking Dawn last night. So much happened in this book it kept me completely mesmerised! I loved where the story went and all the drama along the way! Jacob's "book" chapters cracked me up! I love his blonde jokes and would laugh out loud each time he would taunt Rose.
The end was touching and hopeful... I love endings like that!

What to read next... humm?

Codie joined the fun

Friday we slept late again but woke up to another gorgeous day! Codie called and was on her way to join in our fun! We saddled up and rode for hours! There was a nice breeze but it was still pretty hot in the sun!

Papa the cowboy.

Codie, Jared and Papa.

Papa as we took a break under my favorite tree.

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Papa went back to the lodge to go fishing so Jared, Codie and I went on another ride. Jared rode Red to get a feel for his gait and I switched horses and rode Cisco, who has been sick.

Jared and me.

Jared

Codie
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After our ride Jared joined Papa to fish so Codie and I rode four-wheelers. (Very Carefully!) Each time we passed the carcass of a four-wheeler we waved! :)

Codie and Me.
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I thought this was a funny pic of Papa and Toby. Papa claims to be a dog lover but this is a scene you rarely see... aww!

After our yummy dinner Papa and Jared watched ESPN while Codie read New Moon and I read Breaking Dawn. What a fabulous day!

More to come...

Eclipse

Finished the third book in Stephanie Meyer's Saga, Eclipse, on Thursday... Wow! So much happened in this book! I love reading Bella's constant struggles with who she is and where she belongs!! The chemistry is so hot and heavy but still tasteful! I love it!! Favorite so far!

On to Breaking Dawn! :)

Fishing, Bush Hogging and a Stubborn Horse

I stayed up until early Thursday morning reading my book so Jared and I slept in (me more than him)! We woke up to another beautiful day at SawGrass and decided to go fishing... well Jared fished and I laid out in the sun while picking up right where I left off in Eclipse!
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Pics of Big Bass Lake at SawGrass. Papa built a dam creating this lake 3 years ago... the trees will eventually rot but I think it's pretty! :)

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Jared caught a bunch of runts when I was with him and you know he loved pausing to take a pic!

It was pretty hot so before I went in we took a dip! Jared jumped right in but it took me a while to decide to freeze! Whew!! Chilly! :)

After I left Jared to fish with Papa I bush hogged for an hour or so singing along with my Wicked soundtrack at the top of my lungs. Love it!
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Here are some pics of the entrance and the lodge.

Later on I went riding by myself on BlackJack. BlackJack's gait has been off lately taking to much effort to get him in a saddle gait so I decided to work him. He is a balker and every time I got on him he would dance as he balked and backed up letting me know he was not going to leave the barn so I walked him a ways then got on him and he balked again... this happened several times until finally (a few feet blisters and 10 mosquito bites later, past the torched four wheeler, around Cougar Lake and down to The Big Catfish Lake) I won and he did superbly!! His saddle gait is almost as smooth as Cisco's! So I guess you can say that I’m as stubborn as a horse! :)

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When I got back it was almost dark so I had just enough time to get ready for our next Silver Star night... there was a live band and people everywhere! I found a corner and read until Jared was ready to leave at 3:30 AM! :)

Until...

Before we headed back to the lodge Jared and I swapped four wheelers because the red four wheeler was the fastest... notice the word WAS!

After I totally smoked Jared and Leah I stopped to wait for them on flat ground might I add! I started to back up to turn around... put the four wheeler in reverse and it stalled so I hit the gas a little harder and it felt like a bucking horse as it flipped on it's side. After I put it back into place I cranked it up and tried to put it in gear and it cut off.... again and again. When Jared and Leah caught up I told them what happened and Jared suggested we switch again and to let him try. So we swapped... then I heard the four wheeler back fire and saw a flame going up the left side... YES A FLAME!!! I yell at Jared and he starts to run away from the four wheeler with his left jean leg on fire... YES ON FIRE!!! Right when I found my voice to say "Stop, drop and roll" he beat the flame out!! After I made sure Jared wasn't hurt I took off on the four wheeler I was on, got to the barn, started filling up buckets with water and putting them in the Sidekick. Leah and Jared arrived on the other four wheeler and went in the lodge to find a fire extinguisher (I was thinking... good luck). Then I took off with the first round of buckets to where the flaming four wheeler and huge pile of smoke was... praying that it wouldn't blow up since we just put a full tank of gas in it! While I was on my third bucket of water Jared arrives with two fire extinguishers both of which did not work! So he helped me with my fourth big bucket! I was about to leave for my second round of buckets when Jared noticed the little pound that was really close to the flaming four wheeler... he grabbed one of the buckets to start using that water to put out the fire... I took off to use a hose. After the third round of buckets we got all the flames out and sat there in AWE at the result of my oops!!

Speechless we got back to the lodge, Jared went in the lodge to take a shower and to assess the damage to his hand that he noticed was burned when putting the fire out on his jeans! Leah and I tried to get as much water out of the floor of the Sidekick as we could... when we got back in the lodge Jared asked if I've called my dad yet... I said well I haven't had a chance to take a breath but I'll call him now. At that moment (SERIOUSLY) Papa walked in and said hello!

I told Leah to go ahead and leave so she didn't have to witness this uncomfortable confession (she was flying out to visit friends in Tulsa the next day)!

Me: "Papa will you come for a walk with me."

Papa (worried look): "Sure."

After walking outside a few yards.

Me: "I kinda torched Allen's four wheeler" then went into similar detail as my description above.

Papa: "Why did you ride Allen's four wheeler?"

Me: "B/c it's the fastest one." (just being honest!)

Papa: "Well let's go see what's left."

Me: "Just to prepare you... there is only a carcass!"

Papa and I head out on two of the remaining four wheelers to show him what I did. When we got there Papa discovered that this was one of his four wheelers... whew!! I think we were both relieved about that!!

So our first full day at SawGrass and we've already figured that the amount of money we will be spending to replace this four wheeler will be more then what we would spend on a week at the beach.... so much for our cheap vacation! :)

More to come...

A Brilliant Sunny Day... Until

We got home early Wednesday morning so we slept into the early afternoon then saddled up to go ride!
After taking Jared to see Anthony for the first time we continued our ride of the West side of the property!
Red giving Leah a hard time about backing up! :)

Jared and Comet... I missed the shot of Comet rubbing his head against Jared trying to get his bridle off.

I am so clumsy I always leave SawGrass with scraps and bruises! This is the first scratch of my visit! :)

Taking a breather in the hot sun and letting Comet, BlackJack and Red have some grass!

It was such a pretty day!

BlackJack!

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After we rode horses and ate lunch we were off on the four wheelers! I forgot how much I enjoy riding the four wheelers!! I learn the land better on them! :)

Leah!

Jared on the red four wheeler... remember this image for my next post "UNTIL!"

Sun Sets on SawGrass and We're off to the Silver Star!

Tuesday night was our first night of my furlough to spend at SawGrass. Leah and I got there just in time to catch the horses that got out of the pasture, oh my! After rounding up Red and Comet we went on a ride in the Sidekick to find out how they escaped!
We went out on the four wheelers until Jared arrived and then we decided to go out to Philadelphia! Jared played Blackjack while Leah and I sat and talked in the lounge... Tuesday night must not be the happening night at the Silver Star! :)

The Sun setting at SawGrass!

Meow, the SawGrass cat, showing off while Miami wanted to join him!

Meow.

Miami (she never looks at the camera when I need her to!)

Me and Leah in the Sidekick!

Leah, Me and half of Jared (he really didn't want to take a pic) at the Silver Star!

More to come on our week at SawGrass... stay tuned!

Wicked

I love Wicked even the seond time around! The music is amazing!!

Favorite songs are:
#1 What is This Feeling (Loathing)
#2 No Good Deed
#3 As Long As Your Mine
#4 Popular
#5 Defying Gravity

I have the CD and know every song! :)

A Wicked Dinner

Jared and I went to see Wicked 2 years ago in NYC with my friend Lisa and I haven't stopped talking about it since. This past October I was able to hook up some friends with special priced tickets this past Friday was our night to see Wicked! Mom, Papa, Colton, Jessie Dean, Codie, Calli Jean, Codie and Aunt Teresa went to see it with me for their first time! Before our show Jared joined us for dinner at CANTINA where we were videoed for CANTINA's commercial which we will probably never see b/c we only watch tv through DVR and never see commercials... so let us know if you see it! :)

Me and Jared

Calli Jean and Aunt Teresa

Here is the guy from Fox who videoed our scene in the Cantina comercial, he was really nice I think his name is Tim. :)

Calli Jean, Aunt Teresa and Codie

Colton, me and Jared

Papa, Mom and Jessie Dean

Calli Jean, Aunt Teresa, Colton, Me, Papa, Mom, Jessie Dean, Codie and Jared

Codie, Calli Jean and me

Me and Jared

What a fun night!! :)