Londyn and Sky

Sky is our newest addition. She's a 6 yr old Paint mare. It's been very interesting to watch the pecking order evolve, which really didn't take long at all. Kip is in charge, Sky is not, but Sky holds her own. They've done well together, but it's easy to tell whose in charge. Courtney and I took them out riding yesterday and even while riding, Kip has to be in front or she gets very worked up. Once she's in front she's always looking behind her to know where Sky is. If they ride side by side, the walk turns into a trot and then quickly into a race so they're very competitive.

Lucy - Color Coordinated

Lucy's father just happened to dress her on this particular Saturday. The goal was comfort, not style. Pink shirt, purple pants(for comfort), and red socks(tis the season..or was). The hat thing is her own doing. If there's a hat lying around she's sure to put it on. She loves to wear everyone's shoes these days, but somehow she knew she was outmatched with this cowboy boot!

What's New

Why is it that it takes the holidays forever to get here and then when they're over, times goes by so fast? It seems like the last two weeks have been a blur! Lucy started out with a cold last week and she passed it to Courtney and I and now Londyn has missed some school due to the same bug. Adam has escaped it for now.
On Saturday Londyn had her first basketball game and she did great! This little girl has got some potential and she didn't get it from her Dad and you would know that's true if you've ever had the misfortune of seeing me play basketball. She made 7 or 8 baskets and is one of the better players on her team.
The kids are always asking me when we're going on our next Daddy/Daughter date or Father/Son outting. They must have fun because they're always asking when we're going again. I took Adam to see the new D-League basketball team about a week ago and so on Saturday after her game, I took Londyn to the horse auction. Sounds redneck right? Well it is and they have one here every Saturday and from now on we're just going to stay away because we came home with another horse!! What were we thinking? Driving home I kept saying..."We are crazy" and Londyn said, "Dad, you've said that a hundred times!" I couldn't believe we had just bought another horse. Long story short, she was such a steal that I couldn't help but bid on her. Final price...$175.00. People have too many horses and don't want to feed them through the winter or don't have the time to spend with them so this year and probably this year only the prices are unbelievable.
You wouldn't believe this horse, she's a beautiful Paint with very nice markings, sorrel and white with a white mane and she is just friendly as can be. I'll post some pictures of her another day. We named her Auburn Sky and we'll call her Sky for short. We had a professional rider come over and run her through various exercises to see to what extent she's been trained and he just couldn't believe what a great horse we got. It was with his help that we bought her on Saturday otherwise there was no way we would have bid on a random horse. These two horses take up a lot of our time, but we just love it and the kids are fantastic about their chores and taking care of the animals. At the same time we've been very busy re-modeling our basement and you should see Adam go to town on that. I've never seen him so excited to swing to hammer and he's been a very hard worker. He wants to work on the basement every night and we do, but not every night.
So that's what we've been up to. We hope you are all doing well and enjoying the new year!

We want to know your favorite part about this Christmas or any Christmas!

Courtney said..."My favorite part about Christmas is the stockings, the excitement, and the Christmas morning breakfast. It's the only breakfast I really make each year and it carries on my mother's tradition and reminds me of home."


Londyn said..."My favorite part about Christmas is opening presents and celebrating the birth of Jesus. I kept waking up all night long and couldn't wait to get out of bed in the morning."


Adam said..."My favorite part about this Christmas is playing with toys and sledding with my family. My favorite toy this year was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse."


Lucy said...."dabadabadee, dabadabadoo!"

Ryan said..."My favorite part about this year was laying in bed pretending to be asleep as the kids came upstairs to see what Santa brought them. Listening to the giggles and wows and ooohs and screams as the kids dove into their stockings and Santa gifts. And then they came running into our room to wake us up by jumping on the bed. We let them come back two or three times, each time begging us to get out of bed...even though we were awake the whole time. That was my favorite part."

Christmas Day Sledding

Getting ready for Christmas!

The kids are so excited for Christmas they can hardly stand it. They want to tear into their presents today if mom and dad would only let them. Courtney told the kids today that she was going to put a sign on our roof telling Santa not to come unless they shape up. Somehow, I think Santa will still come to our house. We don't have a chimney though so we're not quite sure how he's going to get in, but he does have magical powers so he'll figure out a way. The kids are excited to make him cookies and leave some food for the reindeer. We will spend Christmas eve reading the Christmas story, the kids will be allowed to open one gift, and we'll indulge in delicious goodies reserved just for the occasion. We'll try to post more pictures on Christmas day after things settle down and we change out of our pajamas....sometime around 3pm.

Burr!!!

Old man winter might be here for a while. Just when we think the snow is going away, we get more...and more...and more. We will be enjoying a very white Christmas this year! And with all the snow comes the building of snowmen, sledding, skiiing, and evening horseback rides through the snow.