Oklahoma City

We spent most of last week in Oklahoma City for the BBR Finals. Danielle had qualified on two horses to run in this barrel race. We loaded up Mia and Dee and headed North. First of all let me say that Destry Fleming puts on one heck of a barrel race. Upon arrival we were met outside the barns by Quinn, who pulled up in his golf cart and promptly unloaded all of the horsey supplies and headed off to the barns to help get the stalls set up. We've been to quite a few big shows and have never had the valet service upon check in....it was wonderful. By the second day Quinn was most likely wishing he had never laid eyes on Danielle and her friend Kara. Anytime they had a problem, they were off to find there trusty friend Quinn. Setting up the fans in the stalls was probably the most painful job for poor Quinn, he had to boost Danielle up to reach the outlet to plug in the fan, Quinn must have overlooked the spurs on Danielle's boots but found out about them soon enough when they were jabbed into his gut....can you say "ouch" Quinn sure did !! By the time we left Quinn was probably kicking himself for not taking the $20.00 I wanted to give him on the 1st day. Don't let their innocent smiles fool you, these two are ruthless!!!
Mia did well, but not as well as Dee. She was the one I expected to shine and although she put her best into she just seemed a little out of sorts.





Dee on the other hand shocked us all! His first one was pretty good, he ran a 17.1 but didn't really open up between the barrels, but heck it was a clean run so we'll take it! Only problem was he apparently didn't see the closed gate at the end of the alley on the way out and rammed through it scaring Dad and the gate man to death! Mind you this was after he had been hit by a truck that was speeding along in reverse down the alley between the barns. Can you say "chiropractor" Dee has an appointment on Thursday to see Dr. Marr. Although, he seems no worse for wear. He came back and ran a 16.9 in his second run and they were only out of the short go by 2 runners!!!!







Here is one of my favorite scenes from the trip, I had Dan pull over on the highway to get this shot of the Oklahoma River with downtown Oklahoma City in the background.





And here are a few from Bricktown, all the buildings are made from Oklahoma's famous "Red Dirt" as it was the most plentiful and cheapest resource they had when building the city in the early 1900's.

Vignetting

Trying my hand out at some photoshop techniques, this one is called a vignette. I've also included some updated pics of the other dogs so they won't feel left out. Pictured are Lola and Molly (napping) and of course Jack with Danielle in the vignette. And not to be forgotten, Bunny in the Bluebonnets!

Easter at the Park

We took Layla and Elizabeth to the park in Alvarado on Tuesday. I packed a picnic lunch of lunch meats, cheeses, chocolated covered strawberries, chips, fresh fruit, vienna sausages, and the fixings for tuna fish sandwiches. Plus an Easter basket filled with goodies like bubbles, balls, candy, stuffed bunnies and more for Layla. We played for awhile, snacked for awhile and I snapped a zillion pictures. Layla is finally warming up to us and actually followed me around unlike she had ever done before. Both Elizabeth and I were amazed! Fun was had by all, can't wait to do it again. Once we got back to Elizabeth's house Layla was surprised with a phone call from her daddy. And she gave her auntie Danielle some TLC before we headed back home. Such a sweet little girl, I am so glad that we are blessed with being able to watch her grow up.

Beauty in the Bluebonnets

I took Danielle out on a mini photo shoot Monday to capture some bluebonnet pics. These are a few of my favorites.

Hello World

This is Kiwi, a little filly out of our neighbors mare Bella. Danielle was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and got to see this little girl being born. What a great experience for her to have been a part of. Mama and baby are doing great! In the 1st picture the filly's hind legs were still in mama and the 2nd is baby's 1st kiss. Danielle took these with her Blackberry.

Denton Sheriffs Posse Grounds

Okay, so I was "supposed" to be taking pictures of barrel racers and candid shots of our members at our 4/4/09 barrel race. But, I just happened to spot this old truck out in the weeds way out beyond the arena and deceided to go take a look. I just couldn't help but think about my dad when I got up close to this old truck. He would just love to see it. Since there is no way for him to see it in person, I thought I would take a "few" photos to send on to him. I did eventually manage to make it back to the barrel race and get some candids for the scrapbooks!