Valentine Hug and First ride on Flicka

Eric's way to hug : )

First ride in roundpen (in my ownership)

fencework before first ride

groundwork before first ride

As you can see in the above pictures this month has been filled with some horesriding on our new mare Flicka. When we got her she hadn't been ridden in over a year and her last few rides weren't pleasant including getting her rider off several times in a row. I restarted Flicka as if she had never been ridden and she is doing quite well. She does have some trouble spots and needs to learn how to soften in the jaw and bend at the poll but overall she's doing good. I enjoy riding her. I don't know what her future will hold or if she'll make a gentle enough horse for beginners but I'm going to give her the chance. These pictures were taken Valentines day afternoon which was a little rushed or I might have cleaned myself and Flicka up for better presentation in pics LOL. The day was a great day including sunday school, Worship service and Coffee Happy hour at our church. We had a small Valentine party with our kids so they could enjoy the many wonderful gifts they got from Granparents. Sarah spent the day with us and we had a nice time celebrating our love for each other, our family and God's love for us.

new pics and updates

These pics were all taken at the end of January. The kids are doing well. Kayla is 3yrs old now and loves gymnastics, animals and running as well as any other activity that doesn't require going to sleep : ). Eric is now 20 months and despite his allergy to protein is growing like crazy. He LOVES riding horses and cries when you try to end the ride. He plays so well with Kaya and is one tough little dude! Greg and I are doing well and enjoying our home in the country despite a few big storms that seem to keep blowing down everything we build before we can even finish a project. Kayla in the hat Beth made her when she was a baby

This is Flicka. We got her about a week ago. She is fitting in well with our other horses and cows.

Here Eric is running down our road. Sarah took this picture while trying to keep up with Eric and Kayla running free on 10 acres no simple job I assure you.

I love this picture of Kayla and Eric exploring the property. The dog belongs to our neighbor and seems to think guarding us is part of his job. His name is Fred.

trip to Arizona

In November we took a trip to Arizona. Greg had to work til the day before thanksgiving so I took my cousins daughter, Sarah to help me with the trip. I am having trouble getting pictures loaded but here are a few of the trip. Holliday traveled well in the horse trailer and spent some time with the vet in Arizona getting dental work done in addition to having some cancer spots removed and having a lameness exam to assess his lameness that has bothered him (or me) off and on over the last few years.

Here Kayla is pretending to be a queen early one morning on our 3 day trip. I think this was taken before daylight.

Eric had lots of fun with all his second cousins and relatifves thanksgiving day

Of course Grace was with us and earned a reputation for having a long active tongue

As you can see Eric had lots and lots of fun the whole time. This was taken at Grandad and Grandmas house.

2 cowgirls and a little horse

An update at last! These pictures are from the fall festival at our church on halloween night. Kayla as a cowgirl but if you asked her she'd say "I'm not cowgirl, I Kayla!"

Daddy is running the golfing booth and Kayla had fun "golfing with daddy" Mommy with her little cowgirl and horse.

Eric made a great little horse. He was fine with his costume all night and never tried to take it off like Kayla did when she wore the same costume two years ago. Eric just laughed and smiled all night but he was getting heavy and hard to hold by the end.

fun fall stuff

Kayla adores her cousin, Michael. Here they are watching a movie together.

Alyssa is riding her new friend, Holliday. She's doing a great job.

Eric thinks its lots of fun now that his cousins live close by. Sarah spends as much time as possible at our place.

As always Eric loves to ride.

Kayla started gymnastics. Her tumbling and jumping class has been great fun for her.

I have been trying to update this blog for a week or more but for some reason I keep having technical difficulties. Hopefully this works.

Updates:

Eric got the results from the upper GI and flex sig etc. tests that were done in July. Nothing much showed up but they think he has food allergies. We saw another GI Dr. last week and the reccomendation was to keep him on a restricted diet until he is two and see a pediatric allergist. They also did some more tests but we haven't gotten results. On a strict diet he is doing well. He has really grown up this past few months. Today at playgroup he climbed into the chair at the table and completed a craft just like the big kids.

I sprained my ankle and have been wearing a brace and going to Physical therapy for about a month. I also had to have some emergency dental work done and will continue going to the dentist for a couple months (not fun).

My cousin, Beth and her family moved here in August and they are living in our old house. Its great to have them here.

Greg has had long hours at work lately and it seems like we have hardly seen each other but I guess it has helped us pay for emergency vehicle repairs that have come up.

We hope you are doing well and will try to update more frequently.

August 4th 2009, Kayla turns 3

We had a small party with just Kayla, Eric, Mommy and Daddy this evening. Kayla had a lot of fun and enjoyed many phone calls for her birthday too. She was very excited about the cards she got in the mail and talked about cake and icecream all day. We let her open her gifts very last thing before bed. Eric stayed entertained with his new boots, socks and toothbrush : ). Grace stayed entertained with the excitement!

Kayla likes her new dollhouse.

Eric's procedures went well

Eric endured an upper GI endoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy with biopsies of the small and large intestine. The GI Dr. that performed the surgery felt that things looked good from the scope but as he expected he didn't see anything conclusive and we won't know much until the results of the biopsies come back in about 2 weeks. Eric is resting today and has been a great sport through it all. We are very tired since we got up at 3:30 am and left at 4am but we appreciate all your prayers for Eric today. We'll update when we know more.