A Dream Fulfilled

Having five daughters, it's a given that we're going to have some horse lovers in our home.  They have all expressed interest in these huge animals at some point, and Jason is convinced he will be a hobby-rancher some day, so we are learning about horses as a family.  We went out (all but the two littlest ones) to the Dream River Ranch, not too far from home, to learn about these beautiful creatures.  The trainer there spent five hours with us teaching us safety, how to groom, saddle, and ride.  What a great experience!  Of course, it takes more than one lesson to learn everything, so we plan on making this a regular occurrence.  Here are Ashley and Rachel picking out their horses.

 Jason and Rachel hard at work brushing Amber.

 Melissa and Ashley were brushing Fancy.  We also cleaned their feet (not easy!!) and combed the tails.

 Sara got the biggest horse, Dylan.  He was a very gentle giant. She was giggling uncontrollably when we got to trot.  So fun!

 Melissa rode Fancy.

 Ashley rode Storm, which was great because she loves XMen.  Ashley was a natural out there!  She is great.

 Rachel rode Yankee.

 Here is a group shot of all of us.  I rode Amber and Jason rode Pearl.  He was only a little embarrassed by his horse's name.  She was pretty enough that he didn't care too much.

Ashley is 14

Ashley is now 14 years old.  That's the make-up milestone in our house, so that's a big part of what she got, along with clothes and jewelry.  I also took her to get her first pedicure!! That was fun.

 She was really full from eating too much pizza.  So full that not even a chocolate cheesecake looked good.  I think she enjoyed it more the next day when there was more room for it.  I know I enjoyed it both days!!

School Time

School started this last week.  The girls were excited to meet new friends.  Ashley is going into the 8th grade at the junior high,

 Melissa is in 6th grade at the middle school,

 Rachel is in 4th grade at the primary school,

 And Sara started kindergarten at the primary school.  She was so excited to finally start school!  Too bad they only do half day kindergarten here.  That's a concept I will never understand.  Yesterday they learned about the number 1.  Wow.  They even take time for recess in that wee little three hours of school. 

Pictures, Finally

I am finally getting to a point where I can blog again.  Moving with six kids is no easy task!  We still have a lot to unpack, but it's getting there.  This is a picture of the path all the girls walk to and from school.  Two kids go on base, the older two go 20 minutes into town, but the bus stop is at the base school, so they all walk this.  It takes them 10 minutes to walk it.  You can see the school if you look at the tree in the middle of the picture--it's the tiny building to the right of that tree. 

Our beautiful home!

 Our very cute street with actual sidewalks and street lamps.  You have no idea how excited I am about that!!

 The family room.  Oops.  Left a pair of kids p.j.'s on the floor. 

 Kitchen and dining room and Emily playing play-doh.

 Master bedroom.  Quite a bit smaller than our last house, but that's ok!

 View of the backyard as seen from Ashley's room.

 View of the commons area in the back of the house as seen from Emily and William's room.  Notice the playground.  Those are everywhere here.  It's awesome.

 This is one of my favorite things about this house--a huge pantry.  I love it.  A lot!

Palmyra

Jason and I had been to Palmyra, NY to see the church history sites before, but our kids had never had the opportunity.  We decided to take advantage of living so close and take them before we move. The Hill Cumorah was the first stop.

 On the way back down.

 The Hill Cumorah, where Joseph Smith received the gold plates.

 This was the printing press where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were miraculously published.   Melissa and Rachel got to learn how to fold the first 16 pages as they appeared when first published.

The view of the Sacred Grove from the Palmyra Temple.

This is what's left of the fence on the eastern border of the Smith farm.  It's on the grounds of he Palmyra temple.

 In the Sacred Grove, my favorite place in the world. 

Emily was so done with the 90 degree, 90% humid day.

The view of the entrance to the Sacred Grove from the Smith family home replica.

For more information about the church, visit mormon.org.

Graduation, Again

Jason graduated--again.  I think this was his 8th, but by far the best one.  Short and simple.  I would say it's his last, but he still entertains the idea of MFM (high risk pregnancy) in his future, so we'll see.  He's a real doctor now!!  This is him with the other two from his graduating year of OB/GYN residents. 

Melissa says that friends at her school told her that doctors are rich.  She asked me if we aren't rich because we have so many kids.  Then when her dad graduated, she asked if we are going to be rich now.  If only it was that simple!!  We are truly rich with blessings, though, and will always be grateful for that. 

I can't communicate how glad we are to have all of this schooling and training behind us.  This has been a LONG, hard road and I couldn't be more proud of my incredible, hard-working husband for what he has accomplished.  Congratulations, Jason!!

Rachel's 9th Birthday

Rachel had a great birthday.  We went to the park and played, then came home for her favorite pizza dinner and some fun presents.

 She decided on the oreo cake again this year.  I tried a different filling this time and it was wonderful!  Happy birthday, Rachel!