Happy New Year Friends!
Another crazy year's slipped by too fast!
This post is an ongoing photo dump (edited) of 2015 ...
In random order here are a couple other highlites I jammed in...
Sarah got a new pony that i bought from a student.
She and Zade immeditaely qualified for JNAFHC over BIG jumps
The Farmer finally got a green combine!
And harvested lotsa beans n wheat and hay!
We had a family Fourth Reunion in upstate New York
Our kids won't be the littles any more as my brother brought his son AND announced there the BABY GIRL, DANNI, that joined the family this Dec!
We gained some new ponies (and lost some, like Piggy, GiGi, Bear, Bessie, Sparkles, Firefly) Darling "Chessie" was born on Memorial day night after we'd returned from a day at the Chesapeake Bay with Aunt Betsy n Chuck n JoJo
As we sadly outgrew our small ponies we were able to find two budget friendly pony projects. The most amazing is Jack's new mare, Brookside, Make Believe, who is a FULL sister to his beloved Brookside Merit! The Lord was guiding us to this mare I'm certain as she fell into my inbox twice in unlikely scenarios and came from North Carolina!
Just like Merit in many ways, but taller and younger!
She too had been primarily a broodmare with very little riding before we bought her. With Sarah's help, Jack's been able to get her showing and hunting very quickly.
She's a super talented jumper which Jack loves but is also intimidated by...
The other gorgeous but completely opposite type welsh mare (a Farnley pony) is Sassy.
Poor Sassy wants to be laid back and loving but got a very rough start at the hands of a bad trainer. Sarah is slowly working on restoring Sassy's confidence but Sassy is a strong ride!
Sarah received many compliments on her riding at this show, where Sassy bombed around brilliantly but too boldly!
This is priceless Brookside Merit with Jack after she'd taken a new student, Julie, in the show ring for Julie's first blues!
Merit, along with Piglet, also was a star in early spring pony racing and hunter pacing!
Another hidden blessing that came from my blasted broken collarbone is that my kids became very confident riding without me. I was very proud of how diligently they worked through the Maryland Spring Hunter Pace series. They were by far the youngest team with no adult help and won the Jr Optimum flat division!
Dipping their toes into pony racing with their idols the Leatherman ladies was pure joy.
They were last on their slow show ponies but had much fun and met new friends!
Fall 2015 was fun!
School started with big changes as we no longer drive as a family each morning since they go to different schools.
Sarah's in MIDDLE SCHOOL - Ack!!!!
We fox chased a lot (including another run at the Jr North American Field Hunter Championships which were cray cray)
This was Carrollton's Opening Day
The two Brookside ponies (student Bella on Merit) were gorgeous.
My sweet baby brother, his wife and America's cutest kid came from Vienna for a visit!
Jack's 10th birthday (end of July) was Minion themed from start to finish.
I even dressed his beloved "Moo" as a minion!
After breakfast, then a farm style pause while we bred our mare "Charlie" (now safely in foal and due July 4th), we headed to the indoor fun park and then to see Minion Movie and Ledo's!
So Halloween had more Minions!
And since schools don't let them wear costumes they had "theme days"
Oops, this was Spring musical 2015 when Sarah wore one of my old hunt ball gowns as a wicked stepsister. Of course sweet Morgan was a good fairy!
Sarah was also a singing dwarf!
Later at Sarah's graduation, we were very surprised!
Our smart daughter received The Presidential Award for academic excellence
and then, was quoted from earlier in the year as saying she wanted to be a stewardess when she grew up! I attribute that to her love of people and travel and pointed out she could easily see the world while being a CEO as well... ;-)
Loved these pics of Sarah from last Feb that I copied from my talented photographer friend Lori at Dancing Fireflies blog
GiGi and Firefly found loving new owners, as did Piglet and Sparkles. And we found new friends in the deal!
My fun and fearless "Bear With Me" could not overcome the serious back issues that brought him into my life... He is now buried here and will forever own a big part of my heart.
The boys left just after Sarah's birthday and drove to Kansas where they had great success hawking n hunting. Jack shot his first rabbit that was moving fast and John got a wild pheasant.
This year's redtail hawk was named with the Minion theme after her big beak and is called "Grue!"
Combined with 1 year old Copper tracking and flushing bunnies she's amazing!
This was Sarah's 12th birthday in Dec when her present from JoJo was a trip to see theater production of Ramona. She brought her theatrical friend, Morgan who as is tradition, came ice skating with us too!
So, my pics are way out of order in some cases, but I'll be a boastful mom and finish with the school year...
Both my kids are stellar students as well as athletes - I guess that's an upside to the farm lifestyle - lotsa physical labor and somewhat isolated from neighborhood socializing
This was Jack setting a ridiculously long time hanging school record on field day!
Sarah and her fifth grade friends at field day with beloved teacher Mrs Wheeler
Jack somehow manages to be teacher's pet and jock!
Ladies love him! ;-)
But mostly he'd rather be playing ball...
