Run, Peter, Run!

Peter has been running again- this time on a Stratford Family team in the Ragnar. The weather didn't cooperate, in fact, the race was cancelled when they were about two-thirds of the way through their rotation. But, they all ran hard- including Bruce, running through sleet in the middle of the night so that our 13 year old nephew didn't have to run by himself.

I Live With A Serial Killer

It was only a matter of time.

We knew it. Gus knew it. But the robins had no idea.

Yep, Gus pulled the wreath right off my front door to get at the robins who had built a nest there. Sure, it was not the smartest place to build a nest, but robins don't think about those things, do they?

2 little blue eggs, smashed.

This is definitely the face of a psychotic serial killer.

I bet Gus is wondering why we are not as proud of him after this latest escapade. When he brings dead mice and birds as gifts to the back door we always make a big deal and tell him what a great hunter he his.  I'm confusing my cat.

The Circle of Life. Up close and personal.

My First Legit Show

Last week marked a pretty big milestone for me- my first horse show! I know what you're thinking. "All you ever do is go to horse shows!" True, but this one I actually rode in.

For your viewing pleasure:

We won that round! When they said my name, I. Could. Not. Believe. It. I realize that it looks like we are slowly wandering our way around the ring, but actually we are going at least twice as fast as we do at home, (because I like to go slow!), and it felt like we were careening around at supersonic speed.  I had to dig deep and find my bravery.

After two days of showing we were named Reserve Champions in our division with the second highest point total! Crazy, right? My division was for everyone jumping 2 foot high jumps who was 13 years old and older. Yes, a barely-teen won, but she was so excited and cute and we are riding buddies now.

FYI, Snoopy's name at the horse show is Hot Wheels. It suits him, I think.

When I was done, Shannon and Snoopy had their turn. She rode him in a division for anyone 18 years old and older, jumping 2 and a half foot high jumps. Easy peasy. Like Bruce said, "It was like bringing a gun to a knife fight." They cleaned up and were the Champions of their division. So cute!

The ribbon display on Snoopy's stall was a little ostentatious. There was not room for them all. (giggle!)

Kari, our trainer, made us pose for a picture. She never does that. She must have been overcome by the mother/daughter/cute horseness of it all!

Riding at a show and staying calm is going to be something I'm going to have to work on. I was so nervous that I couldn't stand still. Although, I did have the presence of mind to take a picture from on top of Snoopy at one point.

In the end, I learned a few things:
1. I can do things that are out of my comfort zone.
2. Grey horses are so hard to keep clean when all they really want to do is sleep in their poo.
3. I have a lot of supportive barn friends.
4. Hard work pays off.
5. Shannon and I make the best horse show team.

We will be missing the next horse show because we'll all be at Disneyland. What a decision! Horse show or Disneyland! Of course, my cute family won out, as they always will. The next show after that is in the middle of May- I'll keep you posted on our progress!

Easter Sunday

A Recent Afternoon

A recent afternoon at my house.

Noon:

 1:00:

 2:00:

3:00:

There were several more hours of different sleeping positions, but I didn't want to bore you. :)

The Crazy Ones

On Saturday nights at the Arizona horse shows, the crazy riders come out.

They compete in the Grand Prix- a timed jumper event, with a big money prize payout.

They go as fast as they can, and it counts against them if they knock down a rail.

This girl used to ride with us in Utah. Now she travels around the West, competing in these events. She's 14 years old.

It pretty much takes your breath away to watch these horses go around.

This year's winner also won last year's event. He's from Sweden and has a teenage girl rider fan club. It helps that he's handsome and really nice to them and gives them ribbons that he's won at other shows.

But....he's still crazy.

M's Senior Pics

Lucky me, I got to take senior pictures for this cute girl.

She lives in my ward.

When I taught the music in Primary, she was my "go-to" girl. She always knew the answers to every question. Super smart, this one.

So smart, in fact that she got a mind blowing score on the ACT and has a full-ride scholarship to Utah State. She wants to be a nurse, like her mom.

She's also a long-distance runner. She lettered for her high school team. She even has 4 500 mile pins. That's 2000 miles, folks. I will never do that. 

I get to see her a lot in Young Womens. Crazy thing is, now that I'm in there, she's leaving. And we've connected. And she GETS me. Now she's leaving to go be a grown up. It's gonna be hard on me...

Scottsdale Flowers. Oh, And Cactus.

March is a beautiful month in Arizona. Lots of flowers were blooming.

Of course, there were cactus (cacti?):

And the lemon trees at my friend's house were producing like crazy! I brought home a at least 20 huge lemons and that was just a tiny fraction of what was on their trees. Imaging growing your own citrus!

When I got home, Bruce and I had a juicing night where we juiced all of the citrus from our recent travels. We froze it to use for lemonade in the summer. That's going to be nice!

A Show In Scottsdale

Well, hello there! It's been a while. Lots going on here, but I wanted to catch you up on at least one of the things I've been up to. I got to go to the Scottsdale horse show again in March with some riders from Utah. The weather was perfect- in the 80's! :) There was some of this:

And a bit of this:

And this:

And even some of this.

I battled once again with the lighting in the covered arena. :(

But these bows made up for some of the trauma:

Props to D for looking fabulous at all times. I like to match my horse when I ride too, but D takes it to a whole new level. Even her dog had a matching collar.

Kari tried her hand at sewing a button back on a jacket. It wasn't pretty.

Her dad, who lives in Scottsdale stopped by. It's always good to see that at 83 years old, he's still a ladies man.

Slinky, the Bad Dog, even cooperated.

It was fun to spend the weekend with my barn friends in such a wonderful place!