Family Update

This last week has been a tad bit extra exciting around here. On Sunday evening while we were cleaning stalls I noticed that Montana's ear was bleeding. So on Monday we loaded up Montana and Tag into the trailer (Tag came along to be a trailer buddy for Montana) and headed off to the vet clinic for stitches.

 Before 

After

 On Tuesday, as soon as we let the horses out he found a spot to roll. He is feeling much better (and thankfully did not pull out his stitches)

Around last Tuesday we started pet sitting this adorable little border collie named Neko. She is 7 months old and she is full of life to put it lightly. This dog has been bred to herd. We put her in with Belle and Mitch and she tried to herd Belle. Belle is a herding dog and she wasn't too excited to be the one being herded, but I found it highly amusing. Anyways this dog has about as much energy as jet engine. We walked her and walked her but to no avail of taking the edge off of her. So we decided to try a different approach- road working.

 Road working is exactly what it looks like. My mother-in-law drove the car and I held on to her leash while we drove down the road. We did pick a back road with little traffic. I made sure that Neko didn't get close to the wheel and that we didn't go too fast for her. The first time we took her, she went about 2 miles at a fast trot. The next day we took Mitch too. Mitch was a star of course :D. I wanted to take a picture of the two of them  but as both of my hands were full of leashes, I decided it was better not to.
Neko went home yesterday, but in about 6 days we will be invaded by yet another dog- but this time by a 180 pound Great Dane.

While Neko was here, Mitch got sick probably from stress. Not so sick that he had to go to the vets but he lived on a diet of chicken, rice, yogurt, and Pepto for about 5 days. He is finally on the mend and is doing much better.

On Monday, I start a babysitting job. I will be watching a cute little girl for gal from the clinic three times a week. I am excited to start making some sort of income and to be able to get out of the house more often, but still be home enough to start doing some more riding (IF IT EVER STOPS RAINING!)

Randy is still wanting to hear back on the wolf job. WSU received the funding for him to go back to work for them. He got a call today that he can start work on Monday if he wants. However, he has been sick this last week and won't go back to work until he feels better. He was supposed to go grouse trapping in Oregon this week, but was unable to go because of his illness. He has been given another chance for trapping south of Pocatello, Idaho sometime next weekend. 

I am super excited for April. I will receive my packet from WSU-CVM with information about what classes I can take and what to expect at school etc. I will also receive my financial aid information. We should find out if we can get an apartment at the Outlook in April as well. Sooo a lot of decisions to be made!! We have continued to search for a cheaper apartment, but so far nothing so far.


Anyways- that's a little update about the McBride family :D Hope your lives are full of happiness and peace.

 Sorry for the blurry picture- but I wanted to share what Rally class looks like. You walk the course according to the signs on the ground.

What think ye of Christ?

About a month ago, I was reading Elder Dallin H. Oaks conference address from last October. The opening paragraph of the address has resonated with me and has remained in the back of my mind. He said, "... I ask my fellow Latter-Day-Saints and other Christians what you really believe about Jesus Christ and what are you doing because of that belief."


I have thought a lot of about this statement, particularly the second half - what am I doing about my belief. But as I have reflected deeper, I realize that I need to determine what I believe about Jesus Christ first before I can figure out what do with my belief.

Through personal prayer, studying the scriptures, and personal experiences I know that Jesus Christ is real. He is the Son of God. He is my Savior and Redeemer. I know that He came to earth to teach man how to live through love and service. He suffered in the Garden for all of my hurts, pains, sins, and disappointments not only so I could be forgiven of my sins, but also so He can understand my challenges. He knows how to help me because He has felt my pain. I know He rose again. Jesus Christ is my perfect example who cares for the individual. I know that He loves me and that I am important to Him.

Now what am I doing about my belief. If I truly believe in Christ, my actions should reflect my beliefs. If I see Christ as a perfect example, I must do my very best to follow that example through loving service to others. I must keep all the commandments. I need to keep my thoughts clean and be kind to others not only in action, but in thought.

Each day I am trying to do better, to remember to do my best to live up to standard that Jesus Christ has given me. I am not perfect and yes some days are better then others, but as long as I am continuing to try and to move forward I am succeeding.

Shannon's Visit!!!

This last weekend my awesome sister-in-law, Shannon, came home for Spring Break. She is a second year vet student from WSU and will be my saving grace once I start school. She came home on Saturday and that afternoon Shannon, mom, Randy, and I went for a ride.

Randy is on his horse Montana, Shannon is riding her horse Tie (the one in the middle), and mom is on Sax, Shannon's other horse. We rode up and down the hill and around the hay field. This was the first time in over a year Randy and I were able to ride together and actually it was the first time I saw him ride his horse.

When we neared the top of the hill Sax decided to get upset about something, and so the rest of the horses decided that they better hurry up the hill (to put it gently). Luckily no one was unloaded and we continued on our little trail ride. The picture to the left was taken on the top of the hill once everyone settled down. My horse is named Tag - he is such a ham -sticking his tongue out at the camera.







After we returned to the barn mom, Shannon, and I rode around a little bit more around the barnyard. However Montana had other ideas..

Randy picked up a stick and offered it to Randy and this was Montana's idea. He held it in his mouth for a few minutes before dropping it.


Shannon has a tiny (like four pounds tiny) little papillon named Guimauve (its French for marshmallow) affectionately known as G-Man. He has quite a personality. When he comes to visit, McGee who is the papillon who lives here, gets depressed. It is pathetic, his ears which are usually up and alert are down and droopy. Its so pathetic that I can't help but laugh.

Randy is bookended by pappies!! McGee is the tri-colored one on the left and Guimauve is the black on the right.


                                                                   Currently Guimauve has a staph infection on his skin. He has to get a bath a every few days.











On Monday mom, Shannon, and I trimmed goat feet. Until we moved here I didn't know you had to trim goats' feet. There are 11 goats. Seven of those belong to the same family as Belle does. On a side note, we put our two does in with our friend's buck and are hoping to have baby goats in a few months!!! Goats that do not live on hard ground need to have their feet trimmed about once every 6-8 weeks depending on the goat. 5 of the goats need to their feet done again in 4 weeks because we are reshaping their feet. They are supposed to put more weight on their toes, but these goats have rocked back on their heels. We can't just cut off a bunch of heel because they will bleed, so we have to make gradual changes. Grandpa built us a fancy little goat stand that makes it much easier to trim their feet.

This is Aries. 

 Me trimming Athena. She is one of the two we are hoping is now pregnant. 

A few of the nubians that belong to our friends. The black and white one in the back is Painty, the little cream one is Precious, and the other one is Frosty. 

Shannon with Bucky, the buck (aren't we creative). For those of you that have never been around a buck- they stink. I mean really really REALLY stink.  Earlier that day Shannon got a hair cut, this is what she does after getting all dolled up... mess with stinky goats. :D a girl after my own heart. 

I love it when Shannon comes to visit. She is been exceptionally helpful in reassuring my fears about school and getting me excited about our upcoming adventure. I can't wait for her to come home again! 

The Beginning of Mitch's Adventures

On Tuesday my mother-in-law and I took Mitch into for a bath. Now I know this sounds a bit extreme to go into town and pay a fee just for a bath I was going to give him myself, but we wanted to try it out and see what it was all about. I have always washed my dogs in the backyard on the patio with the freezing cold hose, but only on hot days so my hands wouldn't become ice blocks and my dog wouldn't turn into an ice sculpture. But anyways... we took Mitch to a little place called the Yuppy Puppy. I was quite impressed. They had everything there for a spa-like experience for your dog- warm water with an adjustable sprayer, shampoo and conditioner, face wash with a nice little wash cloth so you didn't have to spray your dog in the face (I didn't know they made face wash for dogs), ear cleaner and cotton balls, a blower to dry your dog, towels, and of course an brightly covered apron to wear so I don't get soaked!!! Mitch was very very good.

The following day was our first day of class. At 8:30 in the morning we (meaning me and mom-in-law) loaded up 4 dogs and headed up north for day at the training barn. We had Rally first. I haven't ever taken a formal dog training class before, but luckily today it was only me with Mitch and mom with McGee. (McGee is the cutest dog I have ever seen. He is an 8 pound Papillon, with tons of personality. I'll share some pictures sometime) With Rally a course is set up with little signs on the ground that give specific instructions such as sit, turn left, complete a 360, take one step sit, take 2 steps sit, etc. I don't think it will be too difficult but I just have to practice practice practice. Mom then ran Trig (a lapponian herder- really cool dog) and Belle (Mitch's old sister) in Agility. Trig was awesome! Mom had me walk the course with her. She wants me to learn the basics of agility. I would eventually like to run Mitch in agility. We then took a break for lunch and then had Triball. This was a larger class with about 6 other dogs. We worked on  basic directions. Come by mean come right and Away means come left (these come from herding people) Mitch and I are still working on those. We also worked on sit stay. Mitch was awesome at those! I am grateful to the prisoners who trained him because he is great with sit, stay, down, etc. 

On our way home we made a list of all the things we need to practice before next week. Its quite a list! But I am excited to see the results of our hard work and mostly I am looking forward to creating a bond with my new dog.

 Mitch and Belle hanging out between classes

Trig on the agility course

Surrounded by Beauty

These first pictures were taken by my mother-in-law last weekend while Randy and I were out on a date. They were so stunning I just had to share :D

 These next two pictures I took on Monday after a snowstorm. Everything looked so beautiful and peaceful. 

The first picture is of the Rock House. This house is used for storage of fruits and veggies. This house was probably built over a hundred years ago. The roof has been replaced.

This next picture is of Deer Creek.

Deer Trapping Pictures

Here are a few pictures from my deer trapping experience. I took blood and fecal samples to determine health status and genetic makeup. We are collaring the deer to determine habitat limiting factors. It was awesome!!!