Rodeo Time!

This past weekend was the annual Clovis Rodeo.  It is a pro-circuit route and is a lot of fun every year.  We bought tickets with a bunch of our friends so we could have fun watching the events together. It was REALLY hot outside, but we lathered up with sun-screen and made sure to order a slurpee. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Weekend at the "Chateau"

Dave and I spent the weekend with our Bible Study up at Shaver Lake in the mountains.  One of the couples at our Bible Study owns a cabin that is hardly a cabin.  We like to call it the Chateau.  It sleeps 20......comfortably. It must be at least 5,000 sqft with a jacuzzi, ping pong table, air hockey, foos ball, a big screen tv, and a dining room table that looks like it could seat an army.  Dave and I slept in a room with a king-sized bed and a balcony with a fire pit on it.  We also had a shower with double shower heads and heated floors.  Needless to say, we were spoiled! It was such a fun weekend getting to know the other couples better.  There were 13 of us up there and it was a weekend to remember!

Wildflowers

Dave and I were in desperate need of a hike.  Being up in the mountains is our sustenance. We both feel so refreshed, renewed, and rejuvenated once we've spent time in nature.  We both are able to hear God's voice clearer without the distractions and business of life.  SO....since we've been traveling every other weekend for my classes, it was time to get recharged up in the hills.  We drove on Saturday about an hour into the foothills of Kings Canyon.  We hiked on a trail that we had actually hiked before while dating.  Along this trail is world-class granite caves that are a blast to explore and go spelunking in.  Since it's spring, the caves were full of raging water from run-off snow melt.  We still took a peak down inside just to see the powerful underground river (mom, don't listen to this part. Yes, we climbed down into a cave full of wild, raging, hypothermia waters....but we're OK!). The weather outside was spectacular! We took the dog to test his hiking abilities and he had the time of his life.  He has become our new trail buddy.  He ran through the wildflowers and explored until he tuckered out right about the time that we did. (You can see Dave taking a nap on the blanket, and Oliver sleeping on the dirt next to him). All in all, it was a gorgeous hike as we took in God's nature.

School, School, and more School

School this semester has kept me quite busy.  I am taking a full load and it's kept me on my toes.  Thank goodness the semester is coming to an end. Only two weeks left and I'm home free!! However, I start my coursework for summer classes the week after.  Thank goodness I enjoy what I'm studying, otherwise I'd be killing myself right about now.  If anyone is interested, I've posted one of my papers on my other blog http://transformingordinary2extraordinary.blogspot.com/ on the prodigal son.

Most days you can find me on the sofa, tea in hand and laptop, well, on my lap.  The dog is usually cuddling up as well which can make it a challenge at time to type =)

Skiing, take two!

Let's try skiing again.  This time our tickets are for the correct day of the week.  Yippee!!  We got up early on Thursday morning and Dave was his eager self getting antsy to get up on the mountain.  We arrived just as the resort opened at 9am, and the parking lot was practically empty!  It was an awesome ski day!  Not many people on the hill, and blue skies for the most part.  It has been a while since I skied last, so Dave and I enjoyed runs down the easier hills.  The pictures of me skiing were taken because Dave was skiing BACKWARDS.  Boy am I glad that guy wears a helmet!

We did runs until about 12:30, broke for lunch, and tackled the hills again.  Dave with his super sonic goggles misread the colored dots on the signs and took me down a difficult hill.  I took a lovely fall, and needless to say, I popped up with the warning that my chiropractor was going to kill him!  I survived, but strained my already damaged knee.  After pushing my knee to its limits, I spent the last hour drinking hot cocoa in the lodge while Dave tackled the double black diamonds.  All in all, it was an AWESOME day, oh, and I forgave Dave for almost killing me on the hill =)