Remembering 2008

It is hard to believe another year is almost over. Our year was filled with all the normal events of work, school and church but included in our memories of 2008 are birthday celebrations, finishing Kindergarten and moving onto first grade, new job, dance lessons, horse riding lessons, NASCAR race, baseball game, bull riding event, trips to Florida, Jamestown/Williamsburg and the mountains and several trips to Kings Dominion. Let's also not forget the never ending projects on our home!!! Ed even managed a not so small playhouse for the girls in the yard! Life is busy and we often don't get to see or talk to those that we hold so close to our hearts. We are so blessed and our lives are filled with so much love and happiness. We wish each of you a wonderful 2009!!!!


Here are some pictures to remember the year!

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

First Grade Winter Program

Emily had her First Grade Winter Program tonight and it was WONDERFUL!!! Enjoy a few clips of the program.

Oh Christmas Tree.......

We went in early December and picked out our Christmas tree! It was cold that night so we went very quickly. We had a great time decorating it and even Meggie relaxed and had some fun!!!

Snow!!!!!

Virginia gets snow some years and others not much. Being from Florida we always dream of a really good snow storm. Also since I lived in Utah until I was 15 I still think of snow in the winter and miss it A LOT!! Well this was officially our 3rd taste of snow this season but the other 2 times didn't stick at all. Since January and February are really the winter months that get snow we are being to hope!!! This is what was left last weekend, keep in mind the sun had been up for about 5 hours before I went to take the pictures.

Build-A-Bear

Since the house is under major renovation we did a last minute change of plans and went to Build-A-Bear. Emily said the plastic in the kitchen embarrassed her. I couldn't blame her, it embarrasses me also. Next year she will do a move party at the house!!! And, if you didn't already guess............she built a horse!!!

Happy Birthday Emily!!!!

It is hard to believe that she is already 7 years old!!!! Where have the years gone? Thanks Emily for bringing so much joy and happiness to our lives. We love you!!!



Emily has requested to have dinner at Red Robin tonight so more pictures to follow!!!

To cute to not share...........

Some cute pictures of the girls.

One Down, Five to Go

Well I have faced one of my fears with Emily riding horses..............her falling off. Saturday Emily rode a horse that was a bit larger than what she normally rides but she was such a great horse (Logan). Emily did really well with getting her ready and she was riding really well. As the lesson progressed she starting trotting and because the horse was a bit larger and a bit faster Emily got out of rhythm and started to fall out of the saddle and I was watching!! I have heard stories from others and here I was watching her fall. I am not sure if Emily managed to stop the horse or if the horse was just good enough to stop but it allowed Emily to swing her leg over the saddle and land on her feet!!! I wanted to run across the ring and check on her but decided that playing it low key was best, especially since she landed on her feet. Her teacher (Ms. Alex) walked over and had her get back on the horse and go right away. Alex told her that to be a real rider she needs to fall off six times. Emily looked scared for a few minutes but by the end of the lesson she was out trotting again and felt proud that she was on her way to being a real rider. I hope this week (weather permitting) she still feels the same way.

Emily getting ready to start her lesson.

Mountains

This weekend we took a drive to the mountains. Since Ed is still recovering from hand surgery and can't work on the kitchen we thought it would be fun to see the fall leaves in the mountains and have a picnic lunch. We were a little too late for the trees, most had turned and fallen already but we still had a great time!!!! Next year we will plan a little better to capture the true fall colors.

Some of the views.


Emily hanging out


Such sweet sisters!!! This is my favorite photo of the day.


Amanda loves to tilt her head for a picture.


The girls thought it would be funny to chase me. They chased each other even more.


I wish the camera could capture how pretty it was.

Amanda!!!!

I wanted to share some photos of Amanda. Since her dance classes are during the day we don't get to stand around and take pictures (too distracting). We do have some on a disposable camera to develop but we all know how much longer that takes!! Here are a few of Amanda just being Amanda and a few of her at school!!

New Riding Lessons

Emily has graduated from private riding lessons to group riding lessons. That required us to change schools because the only available times for her were on Sunday. The new school requires her to get her horse ready each week, that means she has to groom the horse, clean the hoofs, put on the bridal and saddle the horse. The new lessons also mean she is on her own with the horse without a lead line. Once the lesson is over she is responsible to put everything away, groom the horse again and put it in the pasture. She went from a 30 minute class each week to 1 hour plus the prep....and it was cheaper for us!!! Thank you Cedar Knoll!!! This is a lot of responsibility for her but she is learning so much. She will continue to ride different horse each week. This week she rode Babar who was very stubborn but it gave Emily a challenge to get him to do what she wanted. She currently has 4 other girls in her class.

Last Day at Kings Dominion

The end of the season has arrived and Kings Dominion will be closed until the the Spring. Our season passes have expired but not without great memories and lots of fun!!! The girls love all the rides just for them. And to think, we haven't even seen all of the park yet.