Back for the week

 Jayden arrived back in Iowa for a week before starting her last and final semester of college. She got back Saturday night August, which was also the evening of Jake and Torrie Rasmussen's second wedding reception in Jefferson. This party was for the locals in the area and friends and family that could not make the trip to Montana. 

Sunday we had brunch with Darrel's family. We rested in the afternoon, then went to Spring Lake in the evening. We ordered our favorite ice cream choices and played a little disc golf. That is always entertaining. You mix competitiveness with silly and its a good time. 

Monday was mom and daughter shop day. First Jayden had her dentist appointment in Ogden. She found out she has some problems between her teeth from lots of sugary drinks, up top 7 cavities. She was so distraught she decided to ignore it and hope they will go away. We will see how far she gets with that. 

Jayden went with Mark and Luke to go test drive a new horse. The horse was a palomino roping horse that was raised and owned by the same family we got Ace from. They drove to Cedar Rapids and Mark ended up later buying him and naming him Eddy.  

On a sad note, Jayden's friend Alex just lost both of her horses. She is from Iowa and took her horses back to college in Oklahoma for the semester. They ate some hay that had been left in the pen and had blister beetles in it. Both her horses became so ill so quick that she lost them both, one at the vet, and one in route. I cannot begin to imagine how awful and horrible that would be to lose your pet, friend, rodeo athlete. These horses are so loved and so important as a rodeo athlete. My heart breaks for her friend as she is at the beginning of another school year and rodeo season without her horses. I had no idea that the blister beetle was deadly for horses and learned a lot about them. It scares me to think of Jayden's horses getting in some bad hay. 

Every time Jayden comes back, her time goes too fast and we are sad to see her go. This time she took her special somewhat retired horse Ace back with her. She plans to get him tuned up to make a few rodeo runs. He has been looking and feeling good all summer long when I would pull him out. I think he seems sound and feeling good. We know Ace can make some good runs if he doesn't get pushed too often and only runs on good soft ground. She made the drive back all by herself. I don't like all the traveling she does by herself either. She pulled out of the driveway in her loud grey Dodge with the big trailer she bought herself and headed to finish her last semester of college. I hope and pray she ends strong, doing well in her classes, getting to rodeo and have good runs, and making big life decisions about where she will live, what she will do and who she will be with. Each time she leaves Mark stands down in the yard and watches her truck leave the gravel road and head west. We both just stood for a long time wondering and praying...holding in tears.

 The cat sleeps with Jadyen while she is back and waits on her bed for the next two nights. Even he is sad.