These pictures were taken as we were waiting for sweet Gracey's horse riding lesson to end. The trainer we go to is amazing and their land is a kids paradise. They have dogs, horses, playgrounds, bikes, trikes, baseballs, bats, hoops, swings, dirt, mud, cows, manure, motorcycles and most importantly to Luke, helmets. As you can see in the picture.

When we arrive, he can hardly contain his excitement and need to get unbuckled from his car seat. He immediately runs into their garage and puts on a helmet, gloves (backwards) and sits on the child size bike. I can sometimes coax him out to play on the toys, but he always has a helmet on whether on the teeter totter or playing ball.

I have to dress the other 3 children who are not on the horse in pants and rain boots to keep them as clean as possible. It is hard for me, but nothing a box of wet wipes can't fix until we can get home for a bath. I have to strip them all down and clean them as best possible before they can get into my car again. They hate that part, but the reward of a 2 hour playtime at a horse ranch is well worth it. Megan stares at the cows mostly and is fascinated by them.

Gracey does not have a picture attached, since she must concentrate on the horse, and cannot seem to do that if she knows she is being recorded by camera or video. She is so darn adorable! They claim she is a natural and she loves it so much. They have her walk, trot and lope (gallop) in circles and then forms or patterns they are teaching her. It is vital that she direct the horse not with the reigns, but with her head. The horses are very in tune with the rider, and does what it is told by body movements. When she sits on her back pockets and says "whoa", the horse will stop. She can be at a gallop, going towards the fence and it will stop just short of running into the fence when she tells it to. She has also learned to "spin" circles and go around and around by digging in her heel and sitting on the pocket she wished the horse to go in. She can spin him pretty fast and it is so fun to watch. She then stops the horse by simply pulling back and sitting on her pockets and saying "whoa".

It may surprise you all to know that the only thing she really struggles with is speaking loud enough for the horse to hear her as well as the trainer. Most of us know that Gracey says what is on her mind always and it is usually at one level. She is very calm on the horse and her trainer asked me if she was shy since she could never really get a response from her when asked a question. I laughed and told Gracey to answer loudly and be confident. Last week after 2 months of lessons, they have moved her to the large arena so she has more room to maneuver the horse.

Since it is summer now, and hot already, we will be having lessons early in the morning. When I say early, I mean like 6 am and it is a good half an hour from our house. I'm not too sure how I will finagle it since the other three children will still be in bed, but we will figure something out. The kids usually sleep from 7 pm to 7 am, so we will see how tired they all are at waking up at the crack of dawn to get there. I would have her stop for the summer, but I stopped karate last year with Megan for the summer with all our trips and me teaching swim it was overwhelming to get her there. I regretted it the first day in the Fall when we took her back. She needed to continue as well as Gracey will need to. There is no use in starting all over again.

I am hoping to get a picture of Gracey on her horse one of these days and will post it as soon as I get a good one! I need Rachie here to take action shots with her fabulous camera and her expertise.

Karate Again

I know, it seems like this is all we blog about but really we do have more involved in our lives. Just wanted everyone to share in Megan's excitement. She earned her purple belt and was able to break two boards with her running kick. It was very cool. She only had to kick it once and it broke. The picture is not all that great but it's all I have.

Surprise!

We had the chance to get together as a whole family the first weekend of April and surprise my parents for their birthdays. Rachael set the wheels in motion months and months ago and we all arrived at various times throughout the day to see them. They had no idea any of us were coming! It was so fun!

One of the kids favorite things to do when we visit Nana and Grandpa is to visit the Minor's zoo. There were horses there as you can see from the pictures and that is all that needed to be there. We visited them twice and took carrots the second time. What great memories our kids will have doing these things with Nana.

National Kumite Champion!

As you know from our previous blog, that Megan had the opportunity to go to New Mexico to compete in the National Championship Tournament. We took the family to New Mexico and stayed at the Marriott where the tournament was being hosted. A lot of kids from our Dojo went and participated in the tournament. Megan did very well and won all her rounds. She was named the National Champion for sparring in her division. We are so happy with the progress she has made in this sport. It blows my mind every time she fights! You really see it when they fight at the Dojo. The Sensei's have them fight each time they go to practice so they are very good at it, all of them. Megan can fight older boys and girls who are at higher levels and hold her own! Most people are shocked to hear that she fights! She loves to read and is so reserved that it comes as a surprise to them.

For instance, the other day I had a sitter and I was running errands. I drive down the street to get to our house and I see a lone child, walking slowly and no other children in sight. Now, keep in mind, there are about 20 kids that exit the bus at the same time and there were no other kids ANYHERE! I know it's Megan and I pull up beside the "pokey puppy" and roll down my window. She keeps on walking, nose in her book until I finally say her name. She is so surprised to see me driving along side her. Needless to say, we had a discussion about how she can not read from the bus stop home and she must be aware of her surroundings. She could get taken very easily or run over and never know what happened.

Since the tournament, Gracey has signed up for Karate and is loving it as well. She moves in slow motion, which surprises us because she usually has so much energy. hen we took her to her first tournament 2 weeks ago, she did very well and came in second in her fighting. It was only she and Cassie (her cousin) fighting in the division, but I was so happy to see her moving quickly and actually hitting and kicking. She came home with a trophy as well and was so excited with it all. Sadly, I did not have my camera, so you'll have to wait to see Gracey in her karate gear with a trophy on a later blog.

We also signed Jamers up for Karate and she lasted only one week. She just wanted her mommy the whole time so we decided for her to make the decision herself when she gets older.

Luke is so ready for Karate. He loves it. When we get there, he puts on the sparring gear and mouth piece of Megan's and punches walls, the bags, and practices with Megan. I can barely keep him off the mat during class and have now resorted to strapping him in his stroller during the time we can watch. He loves to watch and cheer everyone on. When he is 3 he can officially begin "Lil Kicks" and it's gonna be great. The only downside to him watching Karate and practicing is that he tends to want to punch and kick anyone around so we have to keep reinforcing that he can only do it at the Dojo.

Easter

Easter was fun as always! The Easter Bunny hid the baskets very well this year! The kids and Jim had a very hard time finding where they could possibly be.

We have church at 11 and I was in charge of the Easter Program, so we got ready and arrived early enough to get great seats. I chose seats in the third row from the podium since I had to be up in the choir seats throughout the program. Megan and Gracey were singing in a primary group I worked with to sing with the choir so I wanted them close. I practiced with my choir at 10:30. Ran around setting up microphones and getting folders passed out and finally sat down in the pew, waiting for Jim to arrive with Luke. I was frustrated since I was nervous and had a lot to do, plus get in my seat before the meeting started. Right before sacrament started, I said to my friend, "where the heck is my husband? He only had to get Luke and himself here". She turned around and looked back and said, "he's sitting in the back". Lo and behlold, there is Jim with Luke on his lap, just calmly sitting. I sent Jameson to collect him and move his body up to sit with us.

I took my seat and the program went extremely well. It was such a special program with narration and special musical numbers. We had a beautiful meeting and the spirit was so strong. I sang a solo called, "Whole Again" that I sang last year and was asked to sing it again. It is my favorite song and was able to record it for my Dad's Christmas present this year. The choir was unbelievable! It amazes me how we always practice and how much I plead for people to come and join us, and the day we perform, the choir stands are full to capacity and they sound so wonderful. I love my calling and according to the Bishop, I am never being released. His wife is the ward music coordinator and they love music so we have programs quite often. We put on a Young Women program this year and a Christmas program. I am so thankful to have a Bishop who loves music and knows that the spirit testifies so strongly through it.

After our meetings, we headed to Reb's for a fabulous dinner. We had great food (as always) and an easter egg hunt for the kids. Then the older "boys" threw footballs and plastic eggs in the front yard (with the kids trying to catch them, but with no success) until we headed home. What a great day we all had.

On Feb. 22nd the school hosted their annual Daddy Daughter dance and this years theme was "Gals and Pals". The kids were so excited, especially Gracey, since she loves everything horses. The school provided dinner and there was a DJ there and they danced the night away. They even got to line dance and had a session of instruction. The girls love being alone with Jim so it is so great for them.