Not such a great weekend for the Burden family!

Saturday morning Ed was at work and I was doing some cleaning. Jordan came running in telling me that Buddy (my 1 1/2 year old stud colt) was hurt. I figured he was cut a little from barbed wire and wasn't too worried. But then Jordan said, "no, Mom - it's BAD" So I ran down to the corrals and sure enough, he has layed his left front shoulder open really bad. The whole thing is about the size of a softball. It was cut down into the muscle and looked really awful. I called Ed and he got home as soon as he could. His first thought was that I was over reacting - but when he got home and seen it - he really thought we'd end up having to put him down. He didn't think there was gonna be anything to do for it. But - we loaded him up (not an easy task - he was born out here and had never been in a trailer at all) and took him to town to the vet. We had to leave him for the vet to look at when he got back (he was over by Woodward). So all day Saturday I cried and worried and prayed for Buddy. That evening when we got to talk to the vet - he told us he had cut all the skin away from it cause it was all dead, there was no way to stitch it back up. He had flushed out the wound and gave him some antibiotics. The vet told us that he would be fine but there was nothing he could do for him as far as stitching him up. We would have to let the wound heal from the inside out. We got to bring him home Sunday afternoon and we have to flush his wound and dr. him at least twice a day. He's in a small round pen by himself away from the other horse while he recovers. The wound still just looks horrible, but the vet said it would heal with time and work to keep it clean and flushed out. So he will be getting lots of TLC for the next month or more.

And - as if the whole Buddy ordeal wasn't enough. Jordan backed Ed's pickup into the horse trailer Sunday afternoon! Both the girls have driven the pickup before (just in the pasture or down the dirt road) They've even driven Ed's Vette before. But I guess with all the excitement and worry about Buddy, she just wasn't paying attention. When Ed told her to pull forward, she put it in reverse instead and backed into the horse trailer. The gooseneck hitch hit Ed's toolbox in the pickup and totaled it out. It's all smashed in. It also tore the tailgate up. We'll have to have a new tailgate and a new tool box. But other than that, everything was okay. Once Ed got over being mad about it and Jordan got over being upset about it - they've been laughing and joking about it. Ed's nicknamed Jordan "crash"!

So - all in all, it was a weekend that I'm very glad is over!! I hope the rest of the week goes better!!

Wind!

Another hot, dry, windy day in the panhandle! It's miserable outside, the wind is blowing 30+ mph and it's hot! Not a lot going on today here. Jordan has gymnastics in town tonight and the girls and I plan on going in a little early to do some shopping and run some other errands. Gonna be a fairly quiet week I think. The girls have Awana on Wednesday night but other than that I don't think any of us have any big plans!!

Too close for comfort!!

Wow - what a Saturday we had! A horrible scare - we were sooooooo close to being in a car accident Saturday. Ed, the girls and I had gone to Liberal to do some shopping. We were sitting at a red light in the center lane. There were a couple cars to our left in the turning lane, one suburban in front of us in the center lane and 3 cars to our right in the right lane. All of a sudden this small suv comes crashing into the back of the car that is directly to our right - this was right outside my window and Dakota's window (she was behind me). When the small suv hits this car it shoves them up onto the sidewalk and then the suv bounces over and scrapes down the entire side of the suburban directly in front of us spinning it around sideways. Then bounces off the car next to it and on ahead to the next car in front of that one - and finally coming to a stop in the middle of the interesection. It was like she was making a path between the middle lane and the right lane and knocking out everyone that was in her way. God only knows why we didn't get hit. We were the only vehicle in those two lanes that didn't. God was definitely looking out for us!! There were car parts flying everywhere and the sound of metal crashing was just awful. The speed limit was 30 mph through here and as I said, we were stopped at a red light. She was flying through there and had to have been going a whole lot faster than that to knock all those cars out of the way! She ended up wiping out 5 cars total - 4 others (3 to our right and one in front of us) and her car. It was a scary experience, I was pretty shaken up for a while and the girls were too. I was never so glad to get back home that day!!

September Updates

Wow - this month is already flying by! Of course I just had a birthday - but we won't talk about how old I am getting! lol

Ed - still working for Nabors Well Service and loving it. It's really nice for him to not have to drive so many miles and bounce around in that truck all the time. He's home a lot more often now, which is nice. Of course being the boss does put a little more stress on him at times, but he's still enjoying it.

Bryce - he's doing great since being back in Shattuck. He's working for the school and was out here last weekend to spend the weekend with us, we really enjoyed him!

Dakota - A big 6th grader this year, still a tomboy and loves any kind of sports. She's constantly shooting baskets or playing volleyball, soccer, or softball. She's a great student. She's active in Awana again this year and really enjoying that. She loves to go hunting with her Dad and loves to ride 4-wheelers and mess with her horse.

Jordan - She's a big 6th grader this year too of course and she also does great in school. She's finally turned into a little more of a girl! lol Of course she still likes to play sports, go hunting with Dad and ride 4-wheelers and mess with her horse, but she now also enjoys dressing like a girl (which made school shopping SOOOOOOOOO much fun this year) and painting her fingernails and toenails. We've had a lot of fun together doing all those girly things that I enjoy! lol She's also active in Awana again this year and she's also taking gymnastics in Guymon and really enjoys that.

Me - well, I'm still staying home and for the most part loving it. I get a little bored sometimes. I got spoiled to the girls being home all summer and now that school has started I miss them!!

Ed and I of course still enjoy our Wednesday evenings alone. The girls are gone to Awana until around 9:00 every Wednesday, so we take the Vette to town and ride around and go out for supper and spend some time together!

I can't believe that 2008 is going to be over before we know it. Seems like this year has just flown by. Won't be long and it will be time to start thinking about Christmas!!

Well, I think that about catches everyone up on what is going on in our part of the world right now!! Hope this finds everyone healthy and happy!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is my Mom's birthday!!! Wish she lived closer so we could go out for lunch like we used to! But I talked to her yesterday and plan on calling her again this evening when she gets home from work.

The girls have been in bible school all week, tonight is the last night and then they are going home to spend the night with Janelle. Tomorrow they will ride with Janelle to the swimming party in Hooker and Ed and I will pick them up around 7:00.

Tuesday (5th) we are going to Laverne to spend the day with Grandma Margie and to see Brittany and take her out for lunch!! Then the girls start basketball camp on the 6th. It's only a week and a half until school starts!! Hard to believe!! I'll post some pics of our trip to Laverne Tuesday!!

Where has the summer gone?

Wow - I can't believe that summer is almost over already. It just went by so quickly. The girls will be starting school on Aug. 13th. Hard to believe that they are 6th graders this year, their last year at Straight. I really really dread them going to school in Hooker after that. I am gonna miss the little country school atmosphere!

A little summer update: Bryce shipped out with the Navy on July 11th. If everything goes as planned, we should be making a trip to Great Lakes, IL for PIR on Sept. 12th. I'm sure basic training has been and will continue to be tough on him, but he can do it and it won't be long and that will all be behind him. We are all so proud of him!! The girls played softball this summer again and once again took 1st place for the season. Ended up with 2nd place in the tournament. Jordan has been doing gymnastics all summer and once school starts has decided to stay in that instead of switching back to cheer class. She thinks she might like to be a cheerleader once she gets to Hooker, but feels that gymnastics class will do her just as much good as cheer class would. Dakota chose not to do either, she would rather spend her time playing basketball, softball, volleyball, ect... Jordan loves to play all the sports too, but she also enjoys the cheering and gymnastics. Ed is loving his new job. It's so nice for him to have a nice company pickup and not be bouncing around in that truck all the time. He's home early every evening and never more than a few miles from home. It was definitely the right decision!! We didn't get to take a family vacation this summer, with the trip to IL coming up, we figured it best to save our money and make that a mini vacation. Bryce's girlfriend Brittany will be going with us. It will just be the 3 of us. They are only allowed 4 guests for graduation, so the girls decided to let Brittany go and they would stay here and not have to miss school - provided we can talk Grandma Jordan into coming to stay with them for a few days! I'm sure that won't take much convincing! lol

Aug. is right around the corner and that not only brings the beginning of school, but it also means it's time for Ed and I to celebrate another anniversary!! 19 years this year!!!! Bryce will also be celebrating his birthday the end of the month. He'll be 18!! By that time, the worst part of basic training should be over for him so maybe he will have a decent 18th birthday. We plan on doing something special for him when we go up there for graduation!!

I think that about catches everyone up on what's been going on in our family. Hope everyone has had a wonderful summer and is gearing up for back to school!!!

Bryce ships out today!!

Yesterday was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. We took Bryce to OKC to say our goodbyes before he ships out with the Navy. Ed and I are so very proud of him but it was so hard to say goodbye. At about 1:15 this afternoon he was at the airport waiting to fly out. By this time he's probably in the air on his way to the Naval Acadamy in Great Lakes, IL. Gonna be a long hard 8 weeks for him and for all of us he left at home. But he can do it and we'll be going up there for his graduation in Sept. I'm a proud Navy mom!!! I love you, I'm proud of you and I miss you already Bryce!! (((Hugs)))