Fueling AJ's dreams

In some ways, it's hard to believe that it was more than a month ago that we were in Mountain Home. In other ways, we're so much back in the swing of things, it's hard to imagine that we were ever gone. Nonetheless we are grateful for the time that we were able to spend in Mountain Home with Sensei and Deb.

Above is a place called "Moonlake." It's located in Ashley National Forest in the Uintahs. It was one of the places that Sensei took us on a ride to go and visit. Just one of the many peaceful places we were able to witness this earth's beauty on our vacation.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were able to go and visit a friend I had made a few years back. John Crawford lives by himself in his cabin near Mountain Home. I could listen to his stories for hours! He is writing his memoirs right now, and I sincerely hope that I get the opportunity to read them some day. He is an American citizen that has given a good part of his life to protecting others around the world. In his spare time, he flew hot air balloons and set records doing so. His home is like a museum! It's packed full of treasures that he's collected from his travels around the world. Below is just one of the sculptures that he has build in his yard. Each sculpture is dedicated to someone, or something in his life. The one below is for South Africa.

For sometime now, AJ has talked about owning and maintaining a ranch someday. Our visit to Mountain Home only fueled his desire to follow through with this dream. He has spent many days since researching different cows and horses that we're going to have on our ranch. This occupation runs in his blood, and he has relatives that are still involved in these sorts of ventures. There are many times each week that he'll bring the computer over to me and say "Here's your horse..."

AJ also loved this rocker that was on the porch of Sensei and Deb's home. He enjoyed reading his book out there and soaking in the views below:

We're missing pictures of Sensei and Deb (they were actually very kind to allow us to stay with them considering all that they were involved with while we were there), as well as our experience at the Altamont rodeo. It was amazing to see 5 year olds roping calves! All in all, we loved our trip to Mountain Home and hope that we will get the opportunity to return. In the meantime, we'll just replay these awesome memories!