Graduation Week

I can't believe it, but it is here, High School graduation.

I finally caught up on blogging and had to "fix" some dates, so keep scrolling down to see some new posts.

This weekend Brian made this ice chest table.

I love it and look forward to filling it with flowers as soon as he has used it as an ice chest once.

Miranda spent the day with us and since it was so hot out, we brought the sprinkler out.

She LOVED the water.

I can still hear her laughing.

Then we came in and played the drum.

She also likes to beat the cymbals (aka plant).

Happy Birthday Mom!

A couple weeks ago we celebrated my mom's birthday. It was a gorgeous day and we had fun walking through her flower garden..
As she talks with my sister about all the different flowers, I toodle behind taking pictures.

We planted flowers in her fountain this year

which I know she will enjoy everyday.

A perfect day, for a wonderful person.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Donkey Basketball

The FFA program organized a game of donkey basketball and Tayler and Kylee took part.

Tayler trying to ride her donkey like an upper level dressage horse...so did not work.
She did have the easiest time getting on her donkey though. Another good use of those long legs.
Kylee is doing a flying mount. I can't remember, but she just might have keep going right on over to the other side.
Tayler DID score for her team! Yahoo!

Kylee's donkey got it's second wind and took off with her.A much needed half time break.

Game on again... Kylee has the ball. The rules are, you can't move with the ball unless you are mounted. It is much harder to get on while holding onto a basketball.

Miranda came to cheer the girls on and decided to take part in the action too.

I hope she grows up wanting to ride. That would be the icing on the cake for her mommy.

I think there should be a new high school requirement. No graduating until you get involved with donkey basketball. It was hilarious. Everyone had a good time.

Trail Ride

The other day my friends, June and Vickie, called me and said they could see some pelicans from where they were and they wanted to take me on a trail ride to take pictures of them. I am game for anything they want to do, so the next night Kylee and I mounted up and hit the trail with them.

June was our leader. She and Vickie sandwiched me in the middle of the gang so they could keep an eye on me ,since I am the least experienced rider. I bet they were a little nervous because half the time I had my reins around the horn and my camera up for a picture. (I think that is rule #1 ....oops)

Then there was Kylee....she was a whiner. She said Hannah didn't remember how to be a trail horse and they often took detours around the trail thinking they had a better path.
It was so pretty and peaceful. I think I am hooked. I can't wait to go again.

We did STOP to take some pictures too. June and Vickie were so good. They said we could stop anytime and take pictures. (I think they really just wanted me to hold onto the reins).

Ahhhh....life is GOOD.

Back on and June and Mallory are checking out the contest going on in the back. Vickie and Kylee were competing to see who could control their mount the best up and down steep parts of the trail.

Oh yeah, we ran across a family of owls too. This one trusted us enough to ride by, unlike all his friends that flew off.

And the purpose of this ride was to prove that we have pelicans near Pendleton.

Look at all of them. What a neat discovery.

Thank you June and Vickie for inviting us along on one of your adventures.

Yummy Strawberries!

Dinner time came and Miranda couldn't wait to get her hands on the strawberries.

Yummy, she double fisted it.

Oh so sweet.
Time for a bath.
This girl is always happy, I don't think I can get enough of her.

Outdoor School

Tayler spent this week up at Outdoor School as a counselor. This is her second year and she just loves it. Here she is on her way up Buck Mountain.

Here are a couple of girls that are in her group.

High School counselors at the " Top of The Mountain".

Milton Freewater 4H Horse Show 2009

In April Kylee competed in the Milton Freewater 4H horse show. She did great.

She makes showing a horse look so easy, but believe me it isn't.
We had beautiful weather for the day. We're back at the trailer getting ready for the afternoon when she will ride in the English classes.

She brought home 5 medals for placing as the "Champion" in 90% of her classes.

Kylee is on the right with a couple of her friends that she has shown with for many years.

(No they didn't plan to dress the same)

Kylee won High Point Horse showman for the day and received this huge trophy.

Jessie (one of Tayler's close friends) was able to present the trophy to her so that made it extra special. The rule is, if you win the showmanship class of your animal, you have to compete in the MASTER SHOWMANSHIP class. That means she has to show a steer, dairy cow, horse, sheep, pig, and goat. Hilarious! We don't have a clue how.So Kylee went to the animal barn and found friends to help. I was so impressed with how many people were willing to jump right in and give Kylee a crash course in showing all the different animals. She had two hours to learn.

This is Rhett, who she knows from FFA. He is REALLY nice and knows a lot about pigs.

Then came the steer. We learned it burns your arm to show a steer because you have to hold their head up for so long.

Jessie shows steer each year so she was able to help.

Off for the next crash course on sheep.

This is Taylor M. who won the sheep showmanship class.

Learning how to make your sheep "brace" against you is hard too.

Then comes the goat. They are the easiest to move since they seem so small compared to all the other animals.

Last but not least, the dairy cow. Isn't she pretty? Reminds me of the silver Brahma bull I once wanted.

Okay, the MASTER SHOWMANSHIP class is underway just 12 hours after we started this day. Sheep were first and Kylee did pretty well...

Next came the pigs. They are the hardest because they just run away from you all the time. Kylee was happy that the judge asked her a question that she knew the answer to; thank you Rhett!

Next is the steer. Kylee did really well (the kids that helped her sat nearby and they were commentating for me). Next, the goats. They seemed calm and basically knew the routine, so the kids just had to walk by them and keep their eye on the judge.

One thing I learned is that they are to keep one hand behind their back all the time. I like that Kylee is having a blast doing this.

I only got one picture of the horse part of it because her horse was a pain. He had never done any showing before and was very young (which means stupid). It was a real challenge but Kylee got points for taking him because the judge asked for a volunteer for someone confident with horses to take him.

An hour has passed since this class started and Kylee is still smiling. Now it is time to finish up with the dairy cows.

I thought it was interesting how all their sizes varied here. Look how big the mama on the left is compared to this wild little baby in the center. She kept leaping into the air.

Today was the most fun we have ever had at a show and what an experience to see Kylee and her friends work together. Fun! I hope she qualifies to do it again next year.