Hockey Camp

This is the hockey camp Hayden went to. He said it was absolutely amazing!!! Hard work, hard work and more hard work.

Hayden was selected as the number one draft pick out of 33 kids - quite impressive to say the least.

He said he wants to go back next year, but for 2 weeks not one!

MALL OF AMERICA

On the way up to Minnesota to drop Hayden off at hockey camp, Bob, Nick & Hayden visited the Mall of America. Bob went to find a Starbucks - or the closest thing and the boys rode the rides. They loved it, and could have stayed all day.

Hopefully, we will get to go back there one day and we all can enjoy it.

RED BARN

This is a picture of our barn - we had been waiting and waiting to have it painted, but every time "the day" was scheduled, the weather did not cooperate.
We finally managed to get it done and it looks absolutely gorgeous!
This wasn't good enough though, it looked so nice that we had to do the inside too! So off to the paint store and we bought a nice light tan - looks like a brand new place.

Winning Show....

These are the two little girls that Sara trains at our barn - J&B Stables. We recently took them to a show up in Clemson, SC. Sydney (holding the ribbon) won Reserve Champion in her division, which consisted of 6 classes and then Carly went on to place 2nd - 3rd - 4th in each of her classes. This was Sydney's 2nd show and for Carly, it was her first.

They each did an excellent job and came home very happy little girls. We are so proud of the job that Sara has done with the girls.

Sara went on to show the next day, and came home with a bunch of ribbons too! So all in all it was a great weekend!

HAYDEN TURNS 12

Hayden has finally become a pre-teen and finally turned 12 this past Thursday.

He is now taller than me (not too hard to accomplish, as they all are) and acts as though he is 20!

In other good news, he is still playing hockey but for the Bantam team, which is above where he should be, and he also made the Cario Middle School golf team. This means extra running around for both me and Bob, probably mostly me as Bob is in his season right now.

Speaking of which, Bob opened his season with a 14-0 win and then went on to win his second game 4-2! But then he lost his game yesterday 3-0. Let's hope that the girls pick things up a little bit and get back on the win list.

First day of School - August 2009

Okay, here they are....... first day of school 2009.

Bob is getting quite handy with his cell phone, and took this picture after I had gone to work.

I can't believe how quickly they have all grown up.

Sara has gone into High School this year, Nick into 8th grade and Hayden has FINALLY left what I call "baby school" and moved on up the ladder to Middle School.

Let's hope for a great year!!!!

Sweetie & Princess Night @ Chick-Fil-A

Here we have Sara, Hayden and Sweetie. Sweetie is the little miniature we have out at the barn. She is a pistol to say the least. Sara and Hayden rode in the back of the trailer with her to make sure she was okay, which I might add that she did very well for her first "field trip" in a very long time. To the right we have a picture of us all at the "chick" and being of course Sweetie being adored by a couple of the Princess customers! Sara painted her hooves sparkly pink, which the girls just adored! In the photo, we have Sara, me, Linda, Carly, Denise and Sydney in the front. We had a really good time, and hope to do it again.

Sara & Haley @ PSJ

Sara and Haley decided to both do the PSJ show at the local grounds her in South Carolina. It was a nice change from driving the 4 hour drive to Aiken - showing - and coming back all in the same day!

They both did quite well considering the amount of people who turn out to these shows.

We are very proud of them both.

8th Grade Graduation

Here they are...... Sara and her Dad! Today is Sara's day. She is graduating from Middle (Junior) School and is moving on up to High School! Doesn't she look lovely? I am sure you all know that she got her fashion sense from her lovely Mother... right!!!

Anyway, sarcasm asisde..... Sara is so excited to be going to High School. Her graduation gift was a new laptop! I think that excites her more!

Sara was only 1 point away from being on the honor roll for a full year, which was an incredible feat for her. We are so very proud of her for all her effort and hard work.

Way to go Sara..... enjoy high school - but work hard!

Graduation

Hayden FINALLY graduated from Elementary School. I say finally, because it seems like he has been there forever! I suppose when two children have gone through elementary, it seems to drag out and take longer for the last one.

I reminded him today that he is now out of "baby school" and he is moving on to the big leagues. Let's hope that he manages to stay out of the principles office - I knew the principal all too well at this place. Time to grow up and move on!

Good luck Hayden!

Riding Time

Here's Nicholas at the quarry that we ride to. He had been bugging us to take him on a trail ride. Well, this was one to remember. He rode the nicest of the horses, as we did not want anything to happen to him. Then we arrived at the quarry and he decided to take a little dip! You don't really know what might be lurking in the water, so he jumped in several times and then came back up and out really, really fast.

I don't think he is impressed with riding, as the "jewels" got a little bit smushed due to the horse wanting to trot a little bit.

Getting ready for Michigan

This is one of Hayden (at the front) running the 1.5 mile training run for his trip to Michigan. We had to drive 5 hours to Raleigh just to train for this trip. They had ice time, then went over to a school to do the run. I think we walked 2 miles to the school, just so they could do the 1.5 mile run!!!

Easter 2009

I know this is old (Easter) but I wanted to post it anyway and try to catch up on our "goings on" Each year, Bob hides eggs and the kids get to hunt for them. Our back yard is not like the one we had in Florida - we have less places to hide them. I am not sure who likes the hunt more..... Bob or the kids. If Ihad to guess I would say that Bob is not ready to "let go" of his tradition just yet.

Oh yes, Nicholas found the GOLDEN EGG yet again this year. He is the only one thus far who has EVER found the golden egg. Sara is certainly not happy about that!

The Barn

Well, what do you think???? I think everyone did a great job painting the fence. This is the "AFTER" picture and I am very proud that the girls stuck it out. It was a windy day, and we all had paint on us. Unfortunately, the only thing that got the paint off of us was gasoline! Ughh. We now have a few horses with gray paint on them, as they all had to be "nosey" and see what we were doing.

Our next project is to powerwash the outside of the barn and then paint it red! Hopefully by the end of March it will be done.

More pictures to follow..........

The Barn

Well, here's a BEFORE picture of the steel girders at the barn. They are so rusted that we decided something needed to be done. Whit powerwashed all of the fence, and we all got together and spent the afternoon painting them gray.

13 Years Young

WOW!!! I can't believe it - already! Mum always told me that they grow up quickly. She was certainly right - mind you, how do you ever doubt your own Mother???

we got Nicholas an ice cream cake and had a fisherman and a bunch of fish (the blue ones) placed around the oreo cookies. He loved his cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU NICK!!

Walking the course.....

I thought this was a great picture! Sara, Jenn (our trainer) and I went to Aiken, SC. for a big horse show. The courses are very difficult to remember but if you "walk" it ahead of time, it's much easier to remember. Sara had a series of 14 jumps to memerize and complete them within a certain timeframe. Well, she remembered her course (Yeahh - what an accomplishment) but was outside of her time limit. Not a big deal to us, because the accomplishment of just remembering her course was huge for Sara.

In the picture you see Sara (in uniform) - Jenn in Red Hat and a "seasoned" competitor in the white hat. He was a great help. This show was especially great for us, because Badger did not refuse one jump, did not knock one jump down and Sara remembered all of her courses. We came home ribbonless, but for us we won the world because of all 3 accomplishments! Way to go girls!!!

Hello, anyone in there???

Hello, is anyone home??? This is the little opossum again. He decided to take a peek through the french doors as he heard us fussing and trying to get a good look at him. He does not seem fazed by us at all. He seems to be very young, so we don't really want to scare him off - he's cute now, but I know he will get bigger and end up being a cheeky bugger for sure!

Dinner Time......

Our friendly backyard friend, opossum comes for a visit looking for food. This particular evening, Bob had put chicken in the cat's food bowl (I keep telling him not to do this, as Sally does not eat the stuff) and the opossum sniffed it out a mile away!

He is enjoying a little feast for sure.

Tampa Finalists....

Hayden and I visited Tampa, Fla. for a hockey tournament in February. It was a great weekend, and although we did not win we made it to the final and got beat by a very good team... the Florida Everblades. It was a great game to watch and I am sure be a part of. Both teams played excellent, and if I say so myself, the best team won!! Congrat's on 2nd place boys.

In case you do't recognize Hayden, he is to the left - back row - next to the Coach.

50 YEARS & STILL GOING STRONG!!!!

WOW!!! What can I say??? Mum and Dad will be celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary on Saturday, March 7th. What an amazing milestone!
Mum and Dad have gone through so much together, ups, downs, more ups and more downs, but through thick and thin they have stuck together and worked through sooooooo much.
CONGRATULATIONS to both of you, I know you will have many, many more GOOD years ahead of you!
I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!