Veteran's Day Fun

Last Wednesday, the kids had off of school for Veteran's Day. Todd and I debated what to do...whether or not he had to work, etc etc. We ended up splitting up. I took Sierra off on a Mother-Daughter ride with two other Mother-Daughter(s) sets from the POA barn/school. Todd took the three boys out to the quad/motorcycle track. He was supposed to take my other camera for pics of the boys, but he very "conveniently" forgot. Well, at least I got my pics for the day:).
l to r: Haley, Marlie, Catherine, Hannah, Sierra, Deseree, and Nylene - headed out for fun at Upper Bulldog. We had a great ride - just all of us girls.

We could've had a little bit cooler weather, but we still had a good ride.

When we got down to the big wash, we had some fun loping around. It was cute to watch the girls having so much fun...well, and even the moms had some fun loping around.

After the ride, we just had to stop at QT to get something to cool us down. Sierra opted for a very yummy chocolate shake (we are very familiar with those ever since the QT was built right around the corner from our house:).

I think the girls enjoyed their treats almost as much as their ride. It was a fun mother - daughter day. We can't wait to do it again!

20 Years Later

I still need to get the group picture, but I thought I'd post anyways and add the pics later. Unfortunately, my camera didn't work that night. I brought my old one with a small lens...but I had forgotten that I had dropped it and the small lens was broken:( so I couldn't take any of my own pics...much to Todd's delight:).

Anyways. Todd and I went to our 20th High School Reunion. You wouldn't believe all the old people there. ha haha. We had a great time visiting with our friends that came, but many of our friends were also missing:(...a little disappointing. I had fun visiting with the gals though and so we have decided that we are going to go on a girls trip. I can't wait!

It's Only Been 2 Weeks...

...but here we go again. For some reason the November POA show was at the beginning of the month (Thanksgiving?) so it was only two weeks after the October show. We headed out to Westworld in Scottsdale.

Sierra started out in the Bareback Horsemanship class where she got a 3rd (out of 4-5ish). So, she is still working on that one. But, then in Open Western Pleasure she earned a 1st place out of ten!!! In her age group class, she earned 2nd out of eight. She is working on fine tuning her seat...elbows in, hands down, etc. Buster knows what he is doing so he is helping her along.
About a week before the show, Sierra told me she didn't want to do the jumping classes. I was shocked. She loves to jump. ??? She said something about it being easier on Pepper. From what they say (cause I have no clue?) Sierra has to squeeze Buster along to get him going, but then hold him back to get the correct form. So, it's not quite as natural or easy as with Pepper. (She just needs to learn HOW). Well, I kind of stretched the truth and told her that she was already signed up for and paid for even though I hadn't paid yet. So, it was too late to back out.
Guess what?! She earned a FIRST place in Hunter Over Fences, a FIRST place in Huntseat Equitation Over Fences, and a FIRST place in Hunter Hack (all three jumping classes). She won't be hesitating to jump him again. Way to go, Sierra and Buster!

The rest of her western and english placings varied from 2nd to 6th ( a couple of classes she made an obvious goof...which is okay cause that's where she learns).

In her gaming classes, she was disqualified for pole bending because her pony did something wrong and so she made him go back and redo it...causing her to be "off pattern". But, then in the next two, Go-Go and Figure 8 Stake she earned first places even when she just took it easy.

We left a little early because Todd and I had our 20th high school reunion to go to that night. It was a fun (but long:) day once again. She won't have another show till Feb. 6th. (That leaves lots of weeks for practicing:). Keep up the good work Sierra and Buster!

Salute to Takota

Wow. I am getting teary-eyed just starting this post. How does one adequately say thanks and send loves out to a dog somewhere up in heaven? Sweet ol' Kota. He was the perfect dog...well, after the age of three:).
Todd and I bought Kota from a breeder as a six week old puppy. He was cheaper cause he wasn't papered so we could afford him. $125. One of the best $125 we ever spent!
He was so dang cute. Lance was eighteen months old when we bought Takota. Lance loved him. We all loved him...well, most of the time. He was the typical labrador retriever puppy. High energy. Loved to chew. Could jump five feet high from a standing position when he saw you coming to the door. Patient. Tolerable of the 18 month old boy that played with him. Loyal. Loving. Practically perfect.


As he grew up, Kota just became better and better with age. Sierra joined our family and he once again, tolerated a young child climbing all over him. As Kota aged, he settled down. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. He went with us everywhere. To the cabin (above). Camping. To the Dunes. To Apache Lake (where he loved to retrieve the frisbee from out of the lake). Kota was wonderful!
And, then came another boy....to poke and prod. Zane's face would just light up when he could get over to Kota. And Kota would just lie there and take it all in. Perfectly.

Kota didn't mind when Sierra covered him in sand at the Dunes. Kota just wanted to be with the family. He was part of our family.

At 12 and a half years, Kota was slowing down quite a bit. His hips were shot. He was deaf...or at least had very selective hearing. If I wanted him to come, I would have to pat my leg and get him to see me in order to come. Cataracts even filled his eyes. Yet, he stayed patient, tolerable, and loyal. Weston had to be reminded that Kota was old so he needed to be gentle when he hung on him. The kids wanted a younger dog to play with since Kota just laid around all day. And, so because of Kota, we knew our next dog could only be another labrador retriever. We adopted Cash last summer from a Rescue Org. for Labs. (Todd didn't want to go through that chewing puppy stage again...although Kota was worth every chewed up item).

Kota took in his new partner with a welcoming wag of the tail.
But, now at the age of thirteen and a half, Kota has gone to the other side...wherever those special spirits are. We miss him greatly. Cash has big PAWS to fill to become even half the dog that Kota was. Here's a ten gun salute to one of the best, most loving, loyal, and tolerable dogs ever. We love you Kota!

Taking Pictures

A mom has got to be careful taking pictures of her kids. For example, my older two are just plain burnt out on it. Sierra, luckily, can still be coaxed into it. Lance wants nothing to do with it. It's a shame too cause he's such a nice looking kid:). Zane and Wes are still pretty good with it. They also like to be the photographer too....maybe that is why they are willing to be subjects more often then. Wes walked by when I was done downloading pics. He was upset about something so I tried to distract him by getting him to pose for me. Didn't work. Such sad eyes.
But, then he lightened up....he wanted to take pics of me. Hmmm. I am a photographer myself cause I prefer to be behind the camera:). I said - how about we do it together? He loved it and he was suddenly in a much better mood.

Horrible Harry

Now that Zane is in 3rd grade, he has to do a monthly book report. The first month the teacher told the students that they had to make a mobile about their book. For October, the kids got to choose. Zane loves art and so he made a poster showing Harry going to the Moon Watch in his Spacesuit. He did it all by himself (even the felt cutout for clothing). Way to go Zane!

Trick of Treat

We had a fun filled Halloween, as usual. How can one not when candy is involved? Sierra was thinking about not going out...feeling that she was too old. But, I had bought this costume on clearance last year so I convinced her to go out and have some fun. It's some sort of a Diva costume. ?? But, whatever it is, she looks great:) if you ask me. Half way through trick or treating we came across some of her friends and so she spent the rest of the night hanging out with the girls.

Zane was too funny, as usual. He saw this costume in a catalog at the beginning of October and knew he wanted to be a sumo wrestler! The night before Halloween, we went to a Fall Festival at the elementary school. Zane had so much fun. All the girls loved to chase him around and "try to pop" him. He loved all the attention!
He also loved to show everyone his "turtle trick" when he would sink into the costume just like a turtle going into it's shell. pretty funny. always the entertainer.
Wes wore the ol handmedown suit and was a ninja. He had a lot of fun trick or treating until we hit a couple of "scary homes" and then it was all over. He didn't want to go anymore. So, Todd took him back to our friends home and hung out there until Zane and I were done. Luckily, Wes still had a good bucket full of candy.
Sierra begged to bring Cash along with us. She found an old Wonder Woman cape from when we went to Magic Mountain a couple of summers ago. And, so Cash tagged along. I was bery impressed at how he behaved too.
Although he sat on his cape and ripped it, so the majority of the night was spent with his tail hanging out. Hopefully, Sierra wasn't planning on using the cape for anything else. (Lance came with us, not dressed up, to our friends house where we started trick or treating. But, then he just stayed there and hung out with everyone until we got back.)