Horse Play

It was a normal fall morning. I was headed out the door and up our long dirt driveway to cross the cattle guard. I notice Travis' roping horse, Sloan, standing in front of it. She usually moves when you get close, but I noticed she wasn't budging. I got out of the car to encourage her to move it or lose it and realized her two front legs were STUCK in the cattle guard! Total panic mode set in bc Travis was at the ranch in Llano.

After getting a hold of the vet he came over with one of his assistants and they worked to free Sloan. Please keep in mind this is 6 in the AM. Early!!! They pulled her left leg up very easily, but then didn't have a place for her to out it down without her going through the cattle guard again. I drove back to the house and flung a piece of decking and we used that so she could apply weight on her freed leg. The right leg wasn't so easy. They greased it up and tried and tried and tried. Sloan was SUCH a good girl...never freaking out and remained calm the entire time. It got to a point where the vet thought he was going to need to get a torch and cut apart the cattle guard, but finally her right leg became free!! Praise. The. Lord.

They walked her down and she was fine. I hope y'all know what a blessing this is. Most animals that incur this type of injury end up with broken legs and need to be out down. Sloan is sore and swollen but didn't suffer any long term or lasting injuries. This is our best, most well trained, wonderful tempered and mild mannered, champion roping horse. We would have been devastated if anything happened to our girl. God is good.

If you're wondering why our gate was open, well I'll tell you that it's because in the 5 years Travis has had our house our horses have NEVER tried anything like that or even gotten that close. We will now be shutting our gate. Lesson learned.

I would also like it noted that I never freaked out, only became teary eyed once, and handled it like a country girl. I'm finally getting used to this country stuff.

And that my friends is the life of a Riley.

We'll Fling Our Green and Gold Afar

We ventured down to Waco last weekend to attend Baylor Homecoming with our friends. I love Homecoming more than anything. I've only missed 1 homecoming since I was born. I love all things about it: bonfire, Pigskin, parade, seeing friends, and the football game. I have so many great memories from Homecoming that I love going back and creating more!

Travis, Jeff McKenzie, and James Newman (holding Judson McKenzie) in front of their prize winning KOT float

Please note that is the only picture I took the entire weekend. I'm not sure why it's blurry here, oh well.

This also marked a very special game for our football team. This was game #6 and winning that sixth game made us eligible for our first bowl game since 1995!! You see, I bleed green and gold. It's true. Really.  I've been to every bowl game that Baylor has been to since I was born and Travis has never been. Baylor WON Saturday's game 47-42 vs. Kansas State. It was a nasty day outside. Travis and I only watched 93 seconds of the game due to a thunderstorm that came through and cause a nearly 2 hour rain delay. We were lucky enough to run into our good friends, Kyle and Marci, on our way to hide from the impending storm and they let us seek shelter in their Suburban during the lightning delay. Well, after waiting it our for almost 2 hours my hubs grew impatient and was ready to go (he doesn't yet bleed green and gold even though he went to Baylor) so I obliged and we headed out on the road.

I hated that we left early, but we didn't have ponchos and umbrellas are not allowed at the stadium, so we were better off listening in the truck as we drove back home. We had a great game offensively, but our defense is struggling. This Saturday we face Texas in Austin, but we actually have a shot at winning this game and IF we do our record will be 7-2. Go Bears Go!

Whatever bowl game Baylor gets invited to we will be there.

Sic 'Em Bears!

Honey, I'm Home

15 weeks

2 days

22 hours

+
900 miles of separation

= TOO long to be apart.

Travis has been out on the road working all summer. He started off working a storm in Minnesota and then moved down to Chicago where he spent a majority of his days. During our time apart we saw each other on 3 separate ocassions and talked on the phone for what seems like a gazillion hours, and sent countless emails and texts. He even sent me flowers in August!

When Travis first got called out I just thought he'd be gone for a few weeks. I never realized that he could be gone this long or that God would choose to bless us with so much work this year. We are truly humbled and blessed by the graciousness He has shown us this year.

Being apart isn't easy and it's not something either of us enjoyed, but we knew it had to be done in order for T to get some good work. I know it's cheesy to say this, but I fell more in love with T while he was gone and definitely learned to appreciate all that he does while he is away. He was working 18+ hours a day 6 days a week, living in an extended stay hotel by himself, eating dinner alone, and working in areas where your safety is compromised.

T- thank you for doing all that you do and working so hard for us! You are an incredible husband with a wonderful work ethic. I love you so much, hubby!

Happy Birthday To You

The weekend of October 2nd we celebrated 90 wonderful years of life for Travis' grandfather, Charles Marshall Riley, more commonly known as Grandpa Chuck.

The entire Riley clan (which is about 30 people) gathered along with 30 of Chuck's friends for a wonderful party at Uncle Rick (Chuck's oldest son) and Aunt Marilyne's home in Houston. We had a wonderful BBQ dinner catered by Demeris, two beautiful cakes made by Uncle Robin (Chucks 3rd son), and a bar stocked full of beer, wine, and sodas.

The entire Riley family (minus Megan who is 35 weeks pregnant and couldn't make the trip from Colorado)

One of Travis' cousins, Kellye, and I thought it would be a great idea to make a memory book to give to Chuck at this party. I emailed all of the Riley family and had them submit their favorite picture and memory and we took that information and put it into a scrapbook. When we gave him the book the look on his face was priceless. He was grinning from ear to ear and had fun reading the stories aloud for the entire family to hear. (This was my first time scrapbooking and it was fun, but boy is that time consuming! )

I love being a part of a big and close knit family like the Riley's and I am so thankful that I get to be apart of this wonderful family! Happy Birthday, Grandpa!