I got some great shots of Straton last week and finally got around to editing them. It took me a bit to figure out how to loose the eye reflections without washing out the rest of the photo but I did finally get them edited pretty well. He is such a handsome boy!
As for family updates, we had the pleasure of having my mom and dad out for the weekend this last weekend. It was a blast! The National Stock Show is in town and we got to go see some Show Jumping, some cattle, and lots of vendors! I had to work Saturday but they took Morgan to see the Wild West Show. Morgan loved it and came home 
with tons of stuff including a lariat that she and Buddy made. The poor animals have been tortured ever since. I had to untie poor old Critter this morning. He was lassoed around his middle and tied to a chair. He didn't seem worse for wear but the dogs are running scared. Morgan has been getting some talkings to but so far she is less than convinced that her attentions are not being received well.
with tons of stuff including a lariat that she and Buddy made. The poor animals have been tortured ever since. I had to untie poor old Critter this morning. He was lassoed around his middle and tied to a chair. He didn't seem worse for wear but the dogs are running scared. Morgan has been getting some talkings to but so far she is less than convinced that her attentions are not being received well. I got to go with my friend from work, Katie, yesterday on a rare "Girl's Night Out". We looked at all the cool vendors and found some really cool stuff. We spent about half an hour at a trapper's shop looking at pelts, and skulls. Katie is a Wildlife Biologist and I had a lot of fun grabbing skulls and trying to stump her. Unfortunately I only knew the common names and she answered in Latin. Her common names were spot on though, and it was a lot of fun for a couple of animal-nerds.
We also got to see some Dog Agility and we also got to pet a cow and some pigs. We each also stepped in a poop pile each and felt quite satisfied at the end of the evening.
Today I was supposed to volunteer at the Animal Shelter where I adopted Straton from but when they finally answered the door they told me, and the three other girls who had signed up, that they were closed and we weren't needed. Nice. But it did give me the opportunity to ride my horse.
It was a bit windy when I arrived and I saddled the little goof up and took her over to the round pen to work off the two weeks of "off time". After that I hopped on and she did great. The wind kept getting steadily worse and at one point I even had to turn our backs into it. Annie did stupendously! She was a bit lazy, as usual, but she only spooked twice, once when walking past one of the hay bales, the tarp had come loose on one end and was whipping around wildly right next to her, and once at a mailbox with a newspaper covered in plastic that was blowing a bit. Each time it was only a little half-step to the side. Not too bad for a green three year old! I really enjoyed it. 
Well, that is about all for this week. I go back to normal classes tomorrow. (Blah) I can hardly wait for the next holiday. I will be glad when this is over and I can get back to a semi-normal life.
