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This is our daughter, Teasha. She turns 15 on September 24, 2006, which is tomorrow, or today depending on when you are looking at this. We had a party for her this evening, and I hope that she enjoyed herself. Here is a picture of her in one of her new birthday outfits. Isn't she beautiful?? One of her friends took her out to eat after her party, and the waitresses at the restuarant sang "happy Birthday" to her. Haley said that she was shocked!! But, I know she loved it. Now, her friend, Haley, is spending the night tonight with her to top off her evening.
Here is some more of the gang from her party.
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We were fooling in our Barn one morning and came across this Moth/Butterfly. Isn't it beautiful?? We thought so. I wanted to share it with you guys, because maybe one of you knew its exact name. We see all kinds of "critters around here from Deer to fox to interesting "Moth/Butterfly". If you know anything about it, let us know. |
This is my husband Del "helping" the coach with the baseball team. He LOVES it and I love him for loving it. Our son Kobe is happy to have his Dad with him and boy, can Del run! Go Del Go!!! |
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We, well, my daughter Kayla, has a horse nick-named Nipper. You've seen us blog about him often. He's a three year old quarter horse. Let me add A VERY SMART HORSE!! He is without a doubt the horse with the most personality in our barn... we have 6. I don't know; maybe it's because he's the youngest. Regardless, he's the funnest and smartest. Let me tell you 2 stories that have fascinated me and my family and friends about him. This winter past, we were all sitting at the breakfast table and we were watching the horses in the barn and Nipper was pushing on the handle to the door and just being fidgity. Mind you, it's not an easy door latch to unhook, even for me. So, we continued to watch him wonderin what he was doing, and before you knew it, Nipper had unhooked the door latch and walked out of his stall and was grazing in the yard!!! My husband and I were flabbergasted!! We walked out the door and he walked up to us and we put his halter on him and put him back in until he was grained and all of them were let out in the field. We had to put him in an inside barn stall where he can't stick his head out to "unlatch" his own stall!! GO FIGURE! Second and most recent incident: This past week, my daughter and I were giving him a bath and the next morning I took his sheet off of him to let him out in the field. Her other pony, of course, rolled as soon as we put him out. And "monkey see Monkey do", so I knew Nipper would want to do the same thing. Well, he was going for it. I simply said in frustration as he started to go down on his knees to roll, "Nipper, you just had a bath!" AND, I KID YOU NOT.... THE HORSE JUMPED UP AS IF HE HEARD ME!! HE DIDN'T ROLL!! I looked around and laughed to myself. Then, it gets better. He walked over behind some trees in the field and he started to go down to his knees again, and I said the same thing. AND HE POPPED BACK UP AGAIN AND DIDN'T ROLL. DO YOU KNOW THAT HORSE STAYED CLEAN ALL DAY. I was thinkin' after I went inside that he would probably roll, but he stayed clean until after he was ridden that afternoon. I mean, can you believe it? HE IS A HORSE!!! AN AMAZING HORSE!! I wish I knew how to post a picture of our amazing horse, but I plan on learning soon, cause my frined Kate is going to come over and teach me... maybe next week, right Kate? Are you busy?? Anyway, I love all of my horses. They bring me such pleasure, and I am so grateful that the Lord has allowed this tremendous blessing in our life. I know that my whole family is blessed by them and my friends too, but I just can't ever be thankful enough for this blessing from the Lord. To some it might seem so little, but to me, it brings such a joy and a peace and a pleasure to be able to care for my horses and ride them and love them. THANK YOU LORD FOR THIS BLESSING! |
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My lifelong friend, Stacy, Just lost her mother three years ago to cancer. Stacy was pregnant with twins at the time, and was due to have her babies soon. Her mother wanted so much to see her grandbabies. Unfortunately, she died before she got to see them, however, praise God she went to be with Him. Now, three years later, Stacy's father died to cancer just 6 days ago. Stacy has taken care of her father since her mother has gone. He has had cancer for a couple of years now. He had to have his pancreas removed due to his cancer and became a severe diabetic and Stacy cooked for him every evening and watched out for him, and cherished her time with him, and he cherished his time with her and the kids. She has a 7 year old daughter, 3 year old twins, a wonderful husband, and until 6 days ago a father in his 70's, who fought the fight up until the day he died. He lived his life to the fullest and was a very hard worker and loved his family very much. Two weeks before he died, he was baptized at his house. Monday, he went to be with is Father in heaven. Please pray for my friend, Stacy and her family and her brother, Jimmy and his family and her sister, Nancy and her family that they may have peace and comfort during the time of loss of their father and grandfather. |
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My daughter, Karley, has been to the beach this year, twice. She went once with her lifelong friend, Will and then just this week to Myrtle Beach with my lifelong bestest friend, Joann. But there is soo much more to this simple little story. My sweet little 8 year old has suffered with pretty bad anxiety for several years now. Since she was a tiny infant she struggled with ANY KIND OF CHANGE; even to the point of leaving to go from one persons house to home or whatever. Get the picture?? Now, she struggles with spending the night away or she has struggled in school worrying she might get in trouble or the teacher might not like her or whatever there is in this BIG world to worry about. I ended up homeschooling her for a couple of years so that she wasn't so anxious about going to school until finally one day last year she said to me," Mommy, If Leslie is going to be at Country Day I'll go to school there." Leslie is another very supportive friend of mine that has sympathized with Karley's disorder. She is a teacher's mentor at that private school that Karley now goes to. Anyway. Karley has come a long way!! So much that she went to the beach WITHOUT ME and with her friend and my friend this summer. It seems as though the Lord is giving her much peace in her little heart, and I am so thankful about that. Here is a funny story to go with that. My friend Joann said on the way home, which is right now actually, that Karley asked her if her (Karley'S) family was still crazy cause she doesn't like being around all that craziness anymore. Ya see, It's just Joann and her infant son, Strider. Here, it's Myself, my husband, our 7 yr. old son, 6 yr. old daughter, Karley herself, 14 yr. old daughter, and 11 yr. old daughter, SOOOO it can be quite crazy to say the least. PLUS ,we own some horses and have some cats and dogs, AND always have extra children here. Karley says some of the funniest things sometimes. Me and Joann laughed soo hard when she told me that. Anyway, she made it through 9 days at he beach and only stressed one time when a bad storm came up and they were stuck outside at an amusement park in the thunder and lightning,but Joann talked her through it. She will be home in about an hour and I can't wait to see my little red head with her beautful freckly face and kiss all her little freckles..(man I wish i knew how to post pictures, Kate)!! |
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Where has the summer gone??? It seems like just a few "blogs" ago that I was talking about a somewhat organized summer..... IT NEVER HAPPENED!! Oh, well, it was still fun ( most of the time, lol). I just don't think it's my nature to be organized, I'm not complaining at all, just stating a funny fact. Anyway, we swam ALOT had freinds over, not all the ones we wanted ( but as I said, time past too fast), we made 3 trips to Ohio for my 11 year old to ride with her trainer, my 8 year old went to the beach twice with 2 different families, my 14 yr. old went to the beach with a friend, my son played baseball, 2 daughters played softball, 3 daughters have started backup at all-star cheerleading, we've ridden our horses here as often as possible and now it's about time for our fair to start. That is a very busy week for our family as we have horse shows and pageants to get ready for and of course we have to see all the people that we don't see or do see all year!!!! Then, the following week, my home is quiet again during the day. For most of you, you homeschool, and the business continues WITH your children. This is my opportunity to organize my childrens bedrooms' and re-organize my kitchen and basically every room in my house, since it's hard to do that in the summer months. And, it pleases my husband greatly to have an organized and clean house. And, as i said before, I AM NOT AN ORGANIZED PERSON SO IT TAKEs TOTAL CONCENTRATION FOR THESE TASKS TO OCCUR. So, for me, it's a bittersweet that school is around the corner. I will miss my children during the day, but I am looking forward to doing what I need to get done that I have lacked on. Oh, and, I hoping to get a fews days to spend ALONE with my husband since he's a realtor and he can adjust his schedule a little.....HEEHEE!!! For those of you starting soon, have a great school year!! |
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Recently, The Lord has been really laying on my heart and giving me and excitement to work with the youth...Middle school. For a long time I have had Lot s of girls that I have been very close to and have confided in me about alot of things and the desire to witness to these girls has always been there and I have always been a witness to them, but I have never REALLY HAD THE DESIRE to work in the youth ministry.....UNTIL NOW. My heart has always been in music and singing on the praise and worship team. That's what I did at the church family that we served at before for 11 years. God has worked wonders in our hearts since then. I still love to worship and praise the Lord in song, but I know He has for me and my husband a new ministry now......THE YOUTH!! I am sooo excited! I will be co-teaching the middle school Sunday School class and co-leading that youth group!! There are other ministries that He has put in front of us that I am so excited about and they all have to do with teens. I am just sooo excited about what the Lord is doing right now. Please pray that the Lord will give me and my husband wisdom and humility and guidance. Pray that we will continue to have peace, and our home will be a place where the Holy Spirit resides, and Satan will have no place in what God is trying to do!!! |
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Today is our precious Karmen's birthday!!! She is 6!! I wish I wish that I could post a picture of my little girl, I can't seem to do this correctly.....boohoo!! Karmen came to us as a 2 year old, a bit wild, but, I'm sure with lots of confusion and heartache with that "wildness" and she just didn't and still doesnt' know how else to express it at times. She is a bubbly, funny, athletic, intelligent, and talented littled girl. She has lots of spunk. I love her little belly-laugh. She will be in first grade this year. She is just starting cheerleading and this is a new adventure for Karmen, and is a phenomenol way for her to channel her energy. She already has an awesome toe-touch and a round-off backhandspring "almost" by herself!! And she is a dancing and cheerin' phene!!! She's amazing, and challenging at times. Please, pray that our precious Karmen will turn into the teen and then, the women that God would have her be. One day at a time for our little "Karmmie"!! Today, just stop by and wish her a happy birthday and let her know that you love her and Ill let her know that you've wished her a "Happy Birthday"!! |
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O.K. so, we went to Kingsfest with our church at Kings Dominion Saturday. It's a day at the park in addition to a concert with Lots of christian bands....we saw Third Day and Jeremy Camp (two of my favorite christian bands/singers. We took my daughters, Kayla and Karley. My other daughter Teasha was supposed to go but couldn't because she had choroegrahpy for cheerleading. But, It still turned out that Karley had a good time too. And, pur other 2 children are still al little young for such a l-o-n-g day!! So, I have to tell you about our two adventures where I REALLY stepped WAY OUT of my comfort zone. For one, there are two things that I have never done at Kings Dominion...... 1.) the Drop zone ....and 2.) that Skyflyer ride where they put you in the harness and pull you WAYYYY UP AND DROP you and you drop and fly or swing... whatever you want to call it. Well, I was feeling a bit brave yesterday...:)!! I did it with NO ANXIETY or NERVOUNESS!!! I don't know what's gotten into me, but I was all for it. And, do you know, they were the best rides I have ever gone on. I have always said that I would ride any rides but those. NOT YESTERDAY!!! I would've paid for an all day pass for the "SKYFLYER"!! Although, I did close my eyes the whole way up and until we fell.... I rode with Kayla and our neighbor and great friend Chris. He kept saying... J.J. pull the cord, pull the cord!! LOL!!!! When I finally did, Then he said, unlock arms and I said, NOOOOOO!!!! When I finally opened my eyes I saw how awesome it was and I said O.K. Christopher I would let go. He was happy, I'm sure!!!!! It was AWESOME!!! And the concert was amazing......the worship was out of this world and so was the fellowship with our church family that went along. It was a very blessed day. I am soooo thankful that the Lord gave us that day to get to know some of the kids better and the adults in our new church family!!!! He continues to bless us and those around us!!!!!!! Our God is An awesome God!!!!!! |
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You've been tagged!!! This is my first tag, so I really don't know what I'm doing.... but, here goes! Find the book nearest you, and read the 4th line of the 18th page, and type in what you've read.
Here's mine.... "and wants to use you in his plan. No matter how sinful and..." Life Application Study Bible |
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My friend and I were talking this morning and she asked me this question..... "So, do you have your summer organized yet?" To tell you the truth , I never thought of it that way, but now that I have 5 children, yes, I have gained a beautiful 14 year old daughter, as most of you know that already know me. But, I thought about it pretty quickly and at first answered a quick "yes" and then, changed to a ..."oh my Gosh, It's been CRAZY!" There was a time that I loved to run, but since we have lived on our little farm for about 3 1/2 years now, I could become a hermit with my husband and children, with of course having friends HERE. Going out isn't one of my favorite things to do AT ALL anymore. I am very content here and I want things to S-L-O-W down so that my family can enjoy our summer here on our farm with our friends and extended family and most importantly each other. So, with all that said, I plan on "organizing my summer" starting next week. The chaos has to end somewhere.... right, Kate???? Or will it??LOL! At least it can be somewhat organized Chaos......
For everyone else....HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!! |
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Well, as usual, it's been while since I 've blogged. There has been alot to blog about, but I guess I just don't take the time to do it. So ,let me catch you up a bit. First of all, My best friend Joann, had her baby on May 12 at 1:07 a.m. It is a healthy baby boy. His name is Joseph Strider Christian. They are both doing great. Keep them in your prayers. Secondly, my oldest daughter, Kayla, has been going to her new school, Country Day School, A private school, just up the road from us and it is very focused not only on academics, but on the "children being who they are" and not "robots". While she has been there, they have realized her magnificent talent in art and have really been stressing to us and even her grandparents how talented she is. I don't know how much confidence Kayla has in herself, but they are trying to let her know how talented she is when it comes to art. I am so excited for her that she has found this. I have seen her drawings and have asked her if she traced them and she says, "NO,MOMMY, WE"RE NOT ALLOWED!!" LOL.....I had to ask!! On the other hand, it makes me sad to think that I have ignored my daughters ability for sooo long that I didn't even know how gifted she was. She is a very bright child, and I have to say that here at home, I was holding her back in all subjects. I am not beating myself up, but I am saying that I know that without a doubt that we made the right decision to put her in the school that she is in. And, thirdly, my dear son, Kobe is 7 TODAY!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!! He came to our house as a fosterchild on April 13 a little over 3 years ago and boy was he WILD!! Never in a million years did I imagine that it would be for good (not on that day anyway). He is mommy's boy. On January 9th of this year, he and his sister, Karmen, became our children LEGALLY. He is one of the most compassionale, kind and loving children I know. He steals my heart more everyday. He is ALL BOY.....very talented athletically....always has a ball in his hand and knows excatly what to do with it. And, wants to do whats right in the eyes of the Lord. There have been toooo many years that I have worried about what my children were doing wrong because of what other people "thought". Jesus said "Let the Little children come to me." I still was on my children to the point that I ruined my relationship with them and it wasn't just ONE person... it was many. I still find myself withdrawing at times because Satan tries to get his foot in the door again and have his way to destroy his relationship between me and my children and I won't let him lie anymore. My children are God's children and He loves them. The only guilt that I have is that I didn't stand up for my children when they were being slandered. So, here I am, trying desparately, to be a mom that supports her children.... corrects them when they ARE wrong and not blaming them when they aren't, Mending the relationship that I have destroyed with my oldest daughter for unnecessary reasons, withdrawing because it's safe for now. Too many heartaches any other way. So, today.... I wasn't a cautious writer. |
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I always have sooo much that I could write about, but I know that I always have to continuouly take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ, so my days of DRAMA aren't always what I SHOULD write about. So, here I am usually writing about "safe' things such as our life here on our little farm full of adventure and many blessings. I will stay safe with saying that I have had many hardships that continie to come up and I am trying to get through them. I don't always know what the Lord is calling me to do so I am being still in the situations, however, it is hard. It is also very hard that I am not in fellowship as often with my "closest freinds" anymore for no other reason other than my family has chosen not to home-school anymore and it is just hard to get together. We do still get together as often as possible, but it's hard because they are my "body" that holds me accountable when I screw up other than the Lord who is first and for most of course, but you know what I am talking about. The absolute good in all of this is that no matter my hardships, the Lord has ALWAYS blessed me with an abundance of joy that He seems to continuously give me. Even when things seem bad and bitter, He always gives me complete JOY. I might be crying for a moment but, it doesn't take long for me to be laughing again. Also, I have found an awesome friend that has just been great. It's been fun getting to know her and she loves me in my good, bad and ugly as do my other friends, and I love her too. This friend is "fairly" new although we've known each other forever. Thanks for your friendship it means alot to me..... you know who you are........ |
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When it starts to get warm out, I think we all tend to get outside more. I know I do. Well, Spring is here, and I spend lots of days out in my horse barn with my horses..... muckin' stalls, takin' blankets off from the cool nights, lettin' horses out of their stalls, groomin' and just lovin' on them. I haven't been ridin' alot lately just enjoyin' the blessing of my horse farm. My kids and kids in the neighborhood also enjoy the horses as well..... riding and grooming them Besides that, we've been runnin' in the evenings from sport to sport...... softball to cheerleading to baseball to tumbling.....all 2-3 times a week. When, I'm not foolin' with "horse stuff" I'm cleanin house, and going on field trips with my kids' schools, and keepin' up with laundry, so as I said We've been busy. Did I mention that we just got back from a weekend in Ocean City from a cheerleading competition and are going to Kings Dominion to another competition tomorrow? People have asked me if I get bored with all my kids in school now......judge for yourself......does it sound like I am bored???!!! I STILL can't keep up, but I have a better handle on things. It's all good and busy with "Many Blessings" here....I just don't have lots of time to "Blog" anymore |
. So, until next time........Have a great day.....enjoy SPRING!!!!!|
My daughter, Kayla, cheers on an all-star cheereleading squad called Cheer Gemz. We have talked over the last couple of years about starting a parent team,but that's all it was.....TALK! Well, this year, in the last three weeks, we have formed our parent team!! We practice once a week for 2 hours, and WHAT A WORKOUT!! It's a very convenient time for me, because it is the sametime that my daughter has one of her parctices. Anyway, we plan on competing at some point but, we are not quite sure when due to all of our " physical disabilities"....LOL! It's alot of fun but, now I have more sympathy for my daughter and her bases and other fellow cheerleaders because, it is a tough sport. I have muscles that I don't think I've ever used. We are seriously doing EVERTHING that the other cheerleaders do from dancing. cheering, jumping, tumbling ( Yes, I can do a cartwheel and a round-off and a backhandspring with 2 spots) to biulding in pretty hard stunts for adults our age. Today, in my pod, we dropped our flyer two times |
(WOOPS).... I am just a front, because a have a bad shoulder. The other pod was doing great to the point where they had their flyer twisting down out of her stunts!!! That's pretty awesome! Anyway, It's great exercise and a great laugh, if nothing else! we all agreed that we are getting great exercise so I think I will keep it up. As for the rest of the week, I need to take up something else, because one day a week doesn't get it to get into shape. 
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O.K., so it is now time for Baseball/softball season. Kobe plays baseball, and my two oldest girls, Kayla and Karley, are going to venture into girls softball this year to see how they like it. All of this is right up my dad's alley!! He was such an athlete "back in the day", and still very much enjoys playing with his grandkids. He is overjoyed to come help Kobe out with any sport that he is playing, and now that Kayla and Karley are playing too, he can "coach" all of them at home. Today, B-Daddy came over to help the kids with their throwing and batting and our nieghbor next door was over playing and he plays ball too, so he ran to get his ball glove so that he could practice too. It is such a blessing to see my dad outside loving my chldren, spending time with them, and helping them as they grow up. My dad is such a gentle, compassionate man who has taught me so much and I love him. He brings such a peace and laughter with him. He would drop anything he was doing to serve someone because that is just the kind of man that the Lord has made him. My children are sooo blessed to have such a gentle and compassionate grandfather. And, these words that I am writing do not even begin to describe the man that my father is. You would have to meet him..... |
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My girlfriends daughter had to recently sell her pheonomenol pony, Angel, because she outgrew it for the show cirtcuit. They made an outstanding team together, however all good things must come to an end in the Shoow world of riding at some point whether your horse becomes to old or you do....LOL. Well, in this case Alexa got too old for her horse.
We have been blessed to be able to ride in an outstanding arena just a few farms up from me just recently, and it is a farm with thoroughbreds (race horses). Anyway, at the farm, they had a horse to give away. mind you, the horse WAS A RACE HORSE AND HADN'T BEEN RIDDEN IN A YEAR OR SO! Alexa was interested in the horse, because alot of times they make beautiful show horses after they retire from racing and settle from their lifetstyle off of the racetrack. Well, we all went to see ALexa ride this Thoroughbred last evening. It was quite a show, but not as much of an adventure as we thought it would be. Alexa gets the job done when she is on a horse, whether it's bucking, rearing, taking off through the woods in a gallop, refusing jumps, whatever.....she doesn't get intimidated. She jumped on the mare the first time, and it was NOT successful. She missed and the mare took off in a full gallop through the arena for about 10 mintues and her owner said that she didnt run that fast at the track....LOL! Once she was caught, the second mount was a success!!! They made a beautiful team together. She actually was just a little fast and "prancy", but not too bad. She did, however, try to take a jump and bailed, so Alexa fell off, and got right back on. It was a good ride for the most part and Alexa now owns her!!
So, she has her work cut out for her to slow her down and make a magnificent show horse out of her, and give her a new "drug-free" life. |
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"Fianlly, brothers, whatever is true, ,whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admireable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think on these things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put into practice. And the peace of God will be with you." Lord, help me to think on this today and all the days of my life!! I thank you, Lord, for your word that we can see and read and put into practice even when we feel like there is nothing else to do.....You are faithful, Lord!!! Help me to be faithful. |
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So, today, me and two other friends of mine went riding on horseback (of course). I have 2 of my own horses that I ride and my daughter has 2 horses and about 6 or so months ago we sold our mare to our friends, but she still stays at our house, and we are very happy about that. Anyway, I haven't been riding my Tennessee Walker, Red, as much in the past year as I used to, because I put less advanced riders on him, and he has gotten a little overweight, so now that I am not homeschooling anymore, that is one of the things that I need to work on when I finish housework. Getting and keeping my horses in shape, physically and emotionally. Ya see, they will take advantage of you if they think they can. Well, anyway, I rode my overweght, fun, gentle, loving, "no-worries", Walker, Red, and my friend,Mary rode my daughter's "All-that" pony, Bailey, and My other friend, Melissa, rode the good ol',faithful, "bomb-proof" mare, Sweetie. We set out walkin' and takin' our good ol' time, as we usually do. We decided that we were going to try to make it to the end of my road where my husband was building a house with his biulding buddies. So, we had to take the road some of the way and the fields because I had to be back at a certain time and if we road the back fields the whole way we wouldn't have time. We picked up the pace a bit to a trot and by the time we got to almost where my husband was we finally hit a pretty fast canter. And, then there was Melissa.....Still trying to get good ol' 20 year old Sweetie to pick up the canter. She is such a great horse!! You never ever have to worry about an inconsistant ride with her...she's always the same and always confident and never scared of anything or even being left behind. My horse, Red, on the other hand, WILL NOT GET LEFT BEHIND, NOR WILL HE GO FIRST (EXCEPT FOR TODAY)! Anyway, we visited Del, and he was pleasantly surprised to see us, and then we we set off for the ride home. IT WAS A BLAST TO SAY THE LEAST O.K., so , there is just one more thing......I am soooo sore
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!! We started out cantering and then I think the more Red and Bailey cantered the more their Adreniline got going, cause they kept getting faster and faster!!! And, Melissa Finally got Sweeite into it and she was even cantering most of the way home. Ya see, most of the time when we ride, I either have to keep on my toes, because I am on my big 16.2 hand Appendix, Dylan, who I could NEVER at this point in his life, GOOF OFF WITH HIM LIKE THIS or We have younger kids with us who aren't quite ready to goof off in this "childish manner"....LOL!! Anyway, once we hit the fields, it was REALLY SWEET SAILING FOR ME. I let Red go!! We galloped ahead and ahead!! It was absolutely wonderful. Mary was on Bailey and she held him back a bit because she didn't want him to disrespect Kayla,my daughter, when she got back on for the next time she rode (thanks Mary) And, Sweetie gave it all she had, which was her nice consistant canter. It took us 25 minutes with a 10 minute pit stop to talk to a neighbor to get back, and it took us an hour to get TO Del .WOW!!
. I have already taken a hot shower and my dose of Motrin for the evening. But, it was all worth it.... I love, love, love riding and my horses!!!