Well all 3 horses are getting along fine for the most part. There is a tiny bit of competition between the guys for the girl(of course), but nothing really bad. Kels & I went bareback riding sometime around 2 this afternoon. She rode Romeo and I rode Rylee first then Bourbon. Rylee is not very comfortable. It's not bad when you're just walking, but trotting kinda hurts.=) Bourbon is much more comfortable, but much more likely to try something(like bucking or just running off, or something like that). Romeo was great according to Kelsey. He didn't freak out or anything when Rylee was left behind and Rylee was fine while we were riding but did freak out a little when we left her alone in the pasture. Nothing bad, just running around and calling after the boys. Bourbon freaked out a little less than Rylee when he was alone in the pasture, but he also was calling back when I was riding him. We all survived though and it was a lot of fun.=) I haven't ridden bareback very much though, so I didn't want to canter yet. Maybe next time...=)

This evening, Becky and I rode(with saddles) a bit then went back for Romeo so Dad could join us. Becky is happy ridding Bourbon, though after Dad joined us and we rode w/ me on Romeo, Dad on Rylee(he hadn't ridden her yet) and Becky on B. we switched it up and Becky rode Rylee, Dad rode Romeo, & I rode Bourbon. She(Becky) did fine on Ry, though I think she got pretty bounced around when we cantered.=) Bourbon is actually really smooth, trotting and cantering(when he gets going). I can't imagine what his gallop would be like...of course, I probably wouldn't be able to get him to gallop, he's kinda old-ish.Oh well...I would like to gallop on Romeo though, I bet that guy's got some speed. Anyways, I guess I've been rambling on quite enough.=) I should go now. Oh, I think Mom took a picture of Rylee right before Kels and I rode.....yup! Here it is.=)

Ok, here's a few pictures of the horses. I will try to take more sometime so you can see Rylee too.

This is Romeo. He's "Dad's horse."

He's really pretty in real life.

 Romeo and Bourbon(This is before the girl came).

 Pretending to be best friends.

Rylee

I was over at a friend's house for a couple nights last weekend and Dad decided to surprise me!I had previously been bugging Dad to call our friends that owned Rylee to tell them we were still interested. So, while I was gone, w/out telling me, he did call them! He said he wanted to have her here when I got home, but it ended up that they brought her on Tuesday. I was so excited!!! When I got home I asked him if he'd called them and he said "Yeah." "Well, what'd they say?" "They said they could bring her over on Tuesday." "!!!!!!!!!" Then I gave him the big hug he deserved.=) Sometimes I like being surprised, and sometimes, my Daddy's a pretty cool guy.=)

I'll end there. I will tell you more later though. Sometime.

~A very happy girl.

Andy

Well Andy's home for the summer. It's kinda funny how he got all excited about riding the horses.=) I always forget, but I think out of the 4 older kids he's the one that likes animals the most(after me of course). We went riding for 3 days in a row, so I decided since the horses aren't quite in shape, we should give them a day's rest.=) They're doing pretty well though. Bourbon enjoys being a brat about the bit though. I'm working on it, but it's pretty frustrating. Did you know that horses are really strong?

Romeo

For those of you who haven't heard, we actually bought a horse! His name is Romeo but he's a gelding. As Daddy puts it, "His 'Romeo' days are over." Anyways, he's super big(16hh for those of you who care) and really pretty. He's a bay(my favorite color-brown w/ a black mane & tail) and he's pretty easy-going. He's about 15 years old and is much more eager to go than say, Bourbon. Dad and I went on a ride yesterday I think and we came to the conclusion that both horses work a lot better when another horse is there. Oh, as of now we're still keeping Bourbon but haven't quite come to a final decision about him. He gets along fine w/ Romeo, so that's not really a problem, but we're not sure how B. will react if we bring a mare on the scene. I'm 85% sure Romeo wouldn't do a thing, but B. is another story. Oh, did I mention that we got Romeo mainly for Dad? So yeah, I still don't have a horse for me yet. Wow. That sounded really selfish. I guess I'm just kinda confused at why Dad still wants to keep Bourbon. He doesn't need 2 horses and while I don't mind riding B. once in awhile, he's definitely not going to be my horse. The horse that I would love to get is a mare and she's really sweet. Plus, we know the people who own her and they don't want to just sell her, they want to make sure the right person buys her. Sorry to ramble on. I'll try to keep y'all(I love typing that=]) a little more up-to-date than I have been. I've really been slacking for a few months.....sorry.=( Oh, and I'll try to get some pictures of Romeo sometime.

~Abby

Zeke's Blog

Hey guys! Just thought I'd mention that Zeke started a blog. It's called:

The Nameless Blog

He changed the name. I guess someone w/ authority thought it was too gross.

Goin' Good

Well, Pride and Prejudice has been going well so far- we've sold out 2 shows so far and expect to sell out at least a few more if not all the rest.=) All of our audiences(big and small) have been great and that always helps.=) I hope that all of you who weren't able to come this past weekend can come this coming weekend! But you'd better get your tickets quick.

Ecuador Part Something

Sorry, this is really old. This is from Ecuador.

Some of the kids decided to color. Andy just couldn't miss such an opportunity to show off his superior coloring skills.

Andy w/ the picture he colored all by himself!
Max.

Zach.

Jared.

Maddie.

Nate.

Isaac!

Zeke.

Mr. Rogers and a monkey in the zoo. He said if you get too close they sometimes take your glasses.

A taper in the zoo. No fences around it. It was just sittin' there...

The monument "at" the equator. It's not exactly right, but it's close enough!=)
Becky doing a cartwheel over the equator!
Andy.
Guinea pig, yum, yum!
A guy at the equator finger painting. Yes, he did all that w/ his fingers, nail,or palm!Ben.
Nick. He likes pink.

Part of Quito.
Looking down from the cable car in Quito.

Me and Ben in the bus.

A feather that I bought for my Aunt Feather who loves horses and likes to paint(especially birds)

The resort.

The awesome view on the way up the mountain while riding the Peruvian Pasos (horsies). This is one of the few times we were going slow enough to take pictures.

An Iguana in the tree outside my hotel room window in Guayaquil.

Flying out of Quito on the way home.

The "gross" pictures.
Angel and her momma.

Opening Night!

Tonight's the night! I can't wait, but I guess I'll have to.=/ For those of you who didn't know (though I'm sure most of you do), Mom and I are in Fine Linen's production of Pride & Prejudice. I am a lowly ensemble person at the ball & party (my stage name is Amber). It's been a lot of fun, even though I was very tired after some practices and I was sick during one. But I get to dance and giggle w/ my good friends Ashley, Jeni, Sarah, and Abby in the background. Fine Linen's productions are always amazing so you should really try to come and see it!=) Oh yeah, Mom plays Lady Lucas (one of the town busy bodies). She's rather funny to watch as she interacts w/ Mrs. Bennet (Amanda Engelke). Anyways, here's a link to the flier w/ info. about times/dates and such.

Fun(not) w/ Fire!

I suppose I should tell you what happened.... Monday I guess it was. Well, first of all, it was super nice (around 70) and I really wanted to work outside(weird huh?). So I asked Dad if there was anything he wanted me to do(he said no), then I asked Mom & she had me move some chairs from the shed to the deck. Then she said we might have a bonfire on Friday(if it doesn't rain) so would I clean out the fire pit? So I started "cleaning" it out and everything was going great. I decided to burn some of the grass around the pit so it wouldn't be so prickly (and so I wouldn't have to bring the mower all the way out). Then I cleared some grass & brushy stuff that was bugging me and when I was finished w/ that, I decided to burn that grass too. Well everything would have been perfectly fine had Elizabeth not run into the shed where Mom couldn't see her. I'd seen her(Lizzy) wandering toward the shed, but I assumed (of course) that Mom was watching her. So there I was, tending the fire around the pit, pouring a "water wall" so the fire wouldn't go too far(a.k.a. into the wood pile) when Mom calls out if I'd seen Liz. Mom said I needed to look for her and when I found her bring her back to the house. So (w/ some consternation) I left the tiny little fire outside the pit and went to go get Elizabeth. She was in the shed, so I took her inside and went to the bathroom then headed back outside. Well, I could see the fire from the house and it was rather tall so I told Mom I'd be outside then ran to the fire. (Wow this is getting really long, sorry, I'm really bad at summarizing.) Anyways, I got to the fire and started frantically pouring bucketfuls of pond water(thank you LORD for the pond!) on the fire, but soon realized that I should start pouring a water wall instead. Isaac saw the fire and came to help me and we managed to keep the fire from spreading to the long grass, which was my main concern. I guess the fire had jumped over the bricks that I was about to pour water on when Mom called me and spread to the brushy pile and along the bank.We finally got it completely put out(my capris were totally soaked by then ) and Isaac wanted to stay by the little fire (in the pit) for a bit! I told him I was done w/ fires for the day and that we needed to go inside.=) At least he had fun pretending to be a fireman. I was almost inside when I saw Dad pull in and head down the road towards the shed. I guess you could see the black from the road(bummer huh?) So I had to go out and explain everything to him , but he took it rather well. He wasn't really mad at me but very concerned about what could have happened. Then I went inside and told Mom. I knew she'd be fine. It was Dad I was worried about if you know what I mean.=) I wonder if the black will wash away by Friday?=\

Spring, I miss you!

I want spring to come!!!! I like winter and I love snow, and I don't mind it being cold, but we've had plenty this year already. I want it to be warm so I can wear shorts and a T-shirt and run around barefoot and squish my toes in the cool mud and for it to be warm enough that that feels good! But I suppose I will have to wait. I'm not very good at that. Another thing I don't like is not being able to ride! It's either too cold so I don't want to ride even though the ground would be ok, or it's nice and warmish and I want to ride but it's too muddy! Daddy likes to run so he doesn't really appreciate it when I ride B. on the trails when it's muddy; it kinda makes umm....gouges right where Daddy wants to run. It's great for twisting ankles though!

Igloo!

So, I think it was yesterday, Zeke & Isaac decided to build an igloo. They started from a fort wall they'd built before and it's gotten pretty big. As soon as I found out what they were doing of course, I helped too. I've mostly carved out the inside, envisioned & instructed, packed, and supervised(to make sure my instructions were carried out). I did haul a few wheelbarrows-full(?) of snow though. Zeke has mostly hauled and did the initial carving and a little after we enlarged. Isaac has umm.......oh! he helped clear out a lot of the snow is was getting from carving out the inside. Not sure what else he was doing; probably playing Star Wars. Anyways, I got some pictures for ya! I tried to get some of the inside and w/ Joy(dog) inside, but that just didn't work. Joy was just too busy trying to lick my face to pose for a picture.

Inside-ish

I took this picture coming home from somewhere awhile ago....

Zeke

Zeke got braces! I'm sure some of you already know that, but yeah. Let me see...I think it was yesterday morning, so Thurs., I think. He said he'd have them for 2 years, then his teeth should be a lot better. For those of you who know what Zeke's teeth look like I'm sure you will be relieved. I sure am.;) Of course, now Mom's all worried that I need braces, which I probably kinda-sorta do, but then Dad decided that since my teeth are fine health-wise(it's just hard to brush certain spots), that I could wait until I was married or something. That'll be awhile....

Anyways, Zeke said that while his teeth didn't really hurt at first, now they do a little(especially when he bites anything remotely hard). Mom and Dad both had braces, but Mom's got messed up again because of something having to do w/ the roof of her mouth, and Dad's got a little squished 'cause he didn't get his wisdom teeth out. Anyways, Dad informed Zeke that as soon as your teeth stop hurting you have another appointment and they crank it real hard. Zeke did not look excited about this. But he did manage to go to basketball practice w/out the world ending, so I think he'll be fine. The only problem is that now since so many people have braces, it's not weird anymore, so I can't really tease Z effectively.=( I might survive though. I'm sure I can find something else to tease him about....hmm.....

Yeah. So that's it. Why is it that I can't summarize? At least I didn't write quite as much as last time...oh, pictures to come soonish, hopefully. I asked Zeke if I could, but he said no. I'll convince him to change his mind eventually. Sitting on him might work...

Ok guys, I know I haven't posted for what, a month now? Yeah....sorry 'bout that. I will try to be at least a little more umm....argh!!! Don't you hate it when you can't think of the right word and you know that there's one particular word that you're trying to find so you sit there for like 5 min trying to think of it and by then you've forgotten what kind of word you were trying to think of in the first place and.......well, that happens to me a lot. It's annoying. Kinda like Zeke! I mean, ....... never mind. Anyways, I'll try to post more often(or something like that), so like, hopefully at least once or twice a month?=D

We get to start doing dissections in Biology soon! I think we get to dissect a worm next week.=) I'm excited. I must confess though, that the part that'll be the funnest(yes that is a word; in my book at least...) is grossing out my girl friends.=D Yeah, that's fun. Of course, I'm a girl myself, so sometimes I have to pretend I think it's gross, and some things are gross, but most of it I find extremely interesting.=) I got excited just reading the instructions. Just think how awesome it'll be when I actually get to make incisions and figure out exactly which guts are which...anyways...=)

Umm, so some of you might possibly be wondering how the horse is doing... he's good. It's weird though, because I really don't talk about horses much because most of my friends aren't really into them (or if they are they've learned too) so I don't ever bring the amazingly awesome creatures that God created to help fulfill our longing to fly into the conversation. I used to, but then I learned not to. I really don't know very much about horses considering how much there is to know, but it's so weird to think how little even my fam. knows. Like today, Isaac told Zeke that he knew more about horses then Zeke did. So I started quizzing them w/ super easy questions like: What's a stallion? Describe the color 'bay'(the best color btw).

Yeah, so Zeke ended up knowing more and Isaac kept telling me to ask different questions, but I'm not quite sure what all he knows. He didn't really answer any of the questions....oh, he did know what a saddle blanket was/is?. But Zeke only kinda-sorta knew what a gait is and.....I guess I should do a better job educating my family huh? Fail.

I miss you Becky!!!!!!! I'm glad you can go to college and learn stuff and all, but I miss not being the oldest at home and (not) doing dishes all the time and being lazy...=)jk I miss you for reasons besides that too.=) While I think I am getting a little bit more responsible and don't complain most of the time I still feel bad because the thought of, say, unloading the dishwasher just doesn't occur to me till Mom asks me to do it. You're good at that stuff.=) I just kinda try to catch up w/ school and dream about the days it won't be muddy and I can ride Bourbon every day and stuff.

Well Daddy just informed me that I need to get off the computer so I guess I'll have to get off now. See y'all later!=)

"Finally!"

Isaac lost his very first tooth tonight! He is very excited to have "finally lost a tooth."

No, don't shoot, don't shoot!(complements of Daddy)
Nice front yard find by Mom.

A Horse!

Well, I finally have a horse in the pasture.=) We don't own him yet, right now we're just "trying" him, to see if he'll work for us. I think Mom said something about how this came about, so I won't tell you the whole story over again, but I can tell you about the horse. First of all, his name is Bourbon(apparently like Bourbon Whiskey), and he's a registered American Paint Horse. He's about 19, but still young at heart. I guess he used to be a stud till they gelded him a few years ago and that's why (as Mom said) he doesn't get along w/ other horses. Actually, it's just other geldings that don't work, he gets along w/ mares just fine...till you try to ride him away from them. That's pretty common though. When our friends brought him over, Linnea(the guy's granddaughter) and I rode around the property a couple times, the first time just walking, then we cantered some. It was fun.=) He hasn't galloped yet, but I don't think he's up to that quite yet. He's kinda out of shape right now, but then, so am I.=] Today my entire family wanted to ride of course(they were being kinda weird about it too, but I guess that's what families are for), so I walked them around one at a time. Then I got to ride and B pretty much took off as soon as I got on. Not super fast, but I could tell he wanted to go. Btw, sorry if this is really boring for you, but for those of you who like horses...

Anyways, he didn't listen super good the first time around and he wanted to sprint around all the turns(did I mention he's done barrels?) in the brush area, which is not very safe, so I got him a little slowed down on some of them, but as soon as the path had a section(no matter how short) anywhere near straight, he'd shoot off again. It was kinda thrilling, but I'd rather he listened to me a little better. When I got back after a short, very quick ride I let Dad go for a bit of a ride. Same thing happened to Daddy. I think Bourbon was feelin' frisky and wanted to explore...quickly. When Dad got back, Mom was going to ride, but I think we kinda scared her off unintentionally when we told her he wanted to go, explore, and wasn't listening amazingly. She decided to wait till another day. So I got to go again. Again, I didn't go very long or far because he's not in shape, it was the first day, and it was starting to mist cold. He listened a whole lot better the second time around. I took him at a walk(he even walked around the turns!) through the brush trails so he could start to learn them, and then after I let him canter along the back stretch, he slowed right down when I asked him to. It was much more fun when he listened to me.=) We'll see how he does tomorrow.

The little kids love 'im though.=) Especially Isaac. He's out there all the time petting him or something, probably picking some ticks off to. Bourbon is loaded w/ ticks! He also needs a bath...I think I might save that for Tuesday depending on the weather. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this works out for us. Keep your fingers crossed!;)