TetonEdge.net: Playing in the Tetons

I finally got the pictures up on the blog in the gallery of our last horse ride in October. It was Emma’s first time out since we have arrived in Florida and she did awesome. Both horses did great in a new environment and Nichole and I really enjoyed the time riding together.  We were able to go out with our Neighbors Ken and Cristi up to their friends house, Tony and Missy, in Wasau, FL. They had 50 acres for us to ride on and Cristi watched Heidi so Nichole and I could ride. It was really awesome for them to let us ride and for Ken and Cristi for taking us. Enjoy the pictures.

Derek, Nichole, and Heidi

Well I thought I would give a quick update on what has been happening down here in good ole sunny/rainy Florida. Nichole is doing well and is getting bigger, we have posted a 8mo picture for everyone below. Overall she has had a great pregnancy, just getting extremely uncomfortable and the heat doesn’t help much either. Derek is doing well with work and just got back from a trip to DC to meet with the people who are funding his work at the lab and have funded his entire graduate research. It was a quick trip, but was very informative and great to see some of the fruition of some of his research. Plus Nichole was able to hold down the fort while he was gone.

We also just purchased a new video camera in preparation for the baby so Nichole can capture some videos and share them on the blog with everyone. We were trying it out this afternoon while I was riding our two horses. So I posted a portion of the video below. It requires Quicktime, which most people should have. If it does not work let me know.

Love

Derek and Nichole

So first of all we are all safe and sound here in Florida. That being said there was some pretty interesting stuff that happened on the way.

The first day we left it was Saturday morning the 16th. We got up and got everything ready, thanks to Wendy and Charlie we got the hay secured in the front stall of the trailer and then caught the horses and got ready to go. Istu was great, but Emma decided she really did not want the shipping boots on and did not really want to get into the trailer. After we did get the boots on and her in the trailer she kicked at Derek as he was closing the door. He got a bruise on his hip but is fine. We eventually came to figure out that she was coming into heat and that is why she was such a butt on the whole trip. We were able to stay at a boarding barn about a mile from Derek’s Aunt and Uncle’s house. The second night they stayed at another boarding place in TN which was really nice, we were able to put them out for a little while on pasture which seemed to help a little. Emma did fine the first and second days in the trailer but did end up kicking Istu on the third day so he is a little swollen on his right hind leg. He is not lame but it is tender as she gave him a pretty good kick. They did really well overall and are adjusting pretty well to the new place, though Emma is still not sure what is going on with the goats at the next door neighbor’s place.She keeps Nubian milking goats and sells the milk so it gets a little loud around milking time.

Summit did really pretty well, she stayed in the truck with Derek and did sleep some. She got on pretty well with Derek’s Uncle and Aunt’s dog Shelby when we stopped at there house in Kansas City KS the first Night. Thanks so much Uncle Gene and Aunt Marjean for letting us stay! The second night in the hotel she was so tired she just crashed with Sam on her bed. The final day she was really glad to get here and be able to be in a house. She has really liked going out to the barn to be with the horses and inspect the property every few hours, though she still has not gotten a sleep schedule down so she is pretty tired. She made a new fried, Souki, the great Pyrenees puppy from next door. They like to wander around the property together and she is really cute.

The cat did not fair quite so well on the trip. She spent the first few hours of the trip car sick and threw up in her carrier. She then proceeded to poop in the carrier as well so she was just not feeling very well. After Sam got her cleaned up, since I can’t touch the cat poop she seemed to do ok for the rest of the day. We fed her a little the next morning and she threw that up so on the third day she did not get breakfast and did really well all the way to the new house. She is liking the new windows and all of the lizards that move around the windows.

Derek, Sam and I all weathered the trip really well. The first night was great thanks to Uncle Gene and Aunt Marjean for letting us stay with them in KS. It was a little long for a first day but it was nice to see the family and spend a little time with them.  The second night was not too bad. We stayed in a hotel in Fairview TN, just out of Nashville by about 20 miles. It was close to the place where we were keeping the horses. We all got some sleep, though not a much as we would have liked. The third day seemed to be the longest, even though it was the shortest drive time. We got stuck in traffic after an accident outside of Nashville, so we were moving along at a crawl. That was when Emma got Istu in the trailer,  After the Accident things moved pretty well until we hit just this side of the AL, FL line when the speed limit started dropping. It went down to 45 in some places with stop lights through the small towns so it was kind of frustrating, but we made it through. We stopped at the official Florida welcome center, mostly because I needed to go to the bathroom for the hundredth time it seemed. We were all glad to get to Florida and be able to be at the house. Thanks so much to my sister Sam who helped me drive, and even though it was a little scary sometimes, we made it and I could not have done it without here.

I have taken some pictures of the new house and put them in the gallery. It is just the outside, since we don’t have any furniture yet so I figured I would post pictures of the inside of the house once we get unpacked.

Hope all of you are doing well!

Derek and Nichole

Hi Everyone!

It’s my turn to post so I figured I would just let you all know that things are going well. Derek is busy with school and I am still working hard, but I was able to take a day off and go riding in the Roosevelt National Forrest near Redfeather.  The Aspens were starting to turn and it was absolutely beautiful. The weather did turn a little later and we got snowed on but nothing was sticking. The pictures are fabulous so you should take a look.

Derek is keeping busy with boy scouts helping with an Eagle Scout project and he is also gearing up for ski season. We will be going to Loveland Ski area for most of the ski season since the passes were reasonable and it would allow us to ski some where new. Summit and Coyote are doing well, they are starting to get their winter coats in so they are getting fuzzy. We hope all is well with you and will talk to you later.

Love Derek and Nichole

Howdy-

Well this was weekend of firsts, beyond that we were able to finish the dressing room on our trailer, we were able to go to the Rocky Mountain Showdown. For those of you who do not know this is the first game of the CSU football season and it is the CSU vs CU football game. This year it was played at Mile High Stadium and Nichole for one has never been insisde the stadium and second has never been to this football game. We were blessed to go with our friends Joe and Tiffany and Joe’s dad was able to get us club level seats in the United Club Section. They were awesome seats and the club level is really cool. The expierence of Invesco from this angle was cool, but the game was pretty bad as we lost as it didn’t seem our offense showed up to play. But it was great to spend time with friends. On the second note we had our first trail ride with our horses today and they did awesome. We took them up to a friend’s ranch north of town and took them out on the range around the area. They did great for their fourth ride and it was fun to actually ride our own horses for the first time. Also school has started again and this is Derek’s first official semester as a PhD student and already the week has been busy with classes, homework, and grading as he is a TA for an undergrauate course. So our lives are back to the normal school schedule and these next two semesters will be Derek’s final semesters for classes. Hope everyone is doing well and had a great weekend.

Love,

Derek and Nichole

So we hope everyone has been doing well, we have certainly been busy this summer and have a few more things to tell about. First we finally bit the bullet and did the first rides on our horses Emma took it like a champ even trotting around the round pen before the day was done. Istu was a little more confused. He is really great with his ground work and is not really afraid of much but the going forward was a little hard to translate. We did get him going after a time and he seems to be picking it up better, he would just rather stand then go anywhere right now. We are sure that will change as he loves  to run around the pasture at top speeds with his buddys. We also went to Cheyenne Frontier Days on Saturday where we went to the rodeo and did a behind the chutes tour. Were we got to pose in front of the bucking chutes in the arena, pretty sweet.

Our seats were pretty good and the weather cooperated so we did not get totally fried. The misters they installed did help alot and kept us comfortable, though a little wet. The rodeo was really good. We got to see Trevor Brazille rope on his horse Texaco, however the rope broke and he got a no time for the tie down roping, though he did qualify for the team roping and steer roping. We took some pictures and Derek was able to get a panoramic view of the stadium for the most part. So take a look, some of the pictures are a little foggy, but that is from the misters keeping us cool. We hope you are all doing well!

Love

Derek and Nichole

Hi Everyone,  It’s that time of year again, the birds are singing, Summit is shaved and it is snowing again in Colorado. Well actually today is nice but yes it did happen the very day Summit went in to get her Summer hair cut she came out and froze what was left of her tail off since it was snowing.  Other than being a little miffed she is ok and is enjoying her new hair cut when the sun is shining. The rest of us are doing well too. Derek is working hard to prepare for his exams and finishing up his consulting projects since his collegue is leaving in a week. That just means he will be doing more part time work for the Professor. I am keeping busy with the horses as they are shedding out like crazy and starting to look like horses again, not just fuzzy carpets that shed. I was able to give Istu a bath yesterday so I took pictures before he could roll and get dirty again.15286 He is not exactly perfectly clean, but he defiantly looks 200% better from what the before picture would have been . Other than that we are just busy getting ready for the trips to graduations that we will be taking. The first weekend in May we will be going to Traci’s graduation from nursing school at Weber State and then the next weekend Nichole will be going to Virginia to Samantha’s graduation from TCC. Lots of traveling, but it will be good to see the family again. There are some new pictures of the horses in the gallery, so take a look. Hope you all are doing well.

Love,

Derek, Nichole, Summit, Coyote, Istu and Emma.