Sweet Endings and New Beginnings.

 It has been an amazing first year of dance.  Kendall has had the time of her life, getting to know these girls and learning the ropes of competitive dance.  They had an end of year get together to celebrate the season.  Elerie is a senior and will be moving to California to attend college.  Maddie is going to be dancing for her high school team.  The rest of the girls are planning to stay at Echo and try out for team/company for next year.  They may or may not end up in the same dances.  It was a very good environment for these girls, as they encouraged each other and cheered at one another's successes.

This past weekend was also auditions for team/company.  Kendall auditioned and gave it her all.  Now she must wait 9 days to hear the results.  She will either be placed on the competition Team or be part of the studio's Company, which is a lot more competitive.  Either way, it is a win-win.  She would love to be chosen for company, but understands that Team is also a good option.  We will wait and see, but I am proud of her for giving it her best!

The Colors of Spring.

 I love the four seasons!  Fall and Spring being my favorites.  I love how beautiful our yard looks in the Spring.  The flowers are blooming and the grass is so green.

It is nice to be able to mess around in the backyard before the temperatures get too hot.

I took a picture of this yard on one of my  morning walks.  I love all of the colors!

The 'Ranch'.

Out at Hidden Valley, we have the cutest little alcove near Pigon's stall.  Sabrina agreed to let us put up a little shed to serve as a tack room.  Terrell had bought this cute red bench with some money her bible study friends had given her after Kevin passed away.  When I learned that she was not planning to take the bench to Montana with her, I asked if we could put it out at the ranch.  She said that would be a great place for it.  

I had this little plate made for the back of the bench.  A little reminder of Kevin and his presence every time we are out there.  I love it!

You can see Pigeon visiting with his horse buddies in the background.  We could not ask for a better set up!

In preparation for our first road trip, Sidney bought a hammock and tested it out in the back of the trailer.  Yep, that is where the Eh Capa kids choose to sleep on road trips.  It fit nicely.  She and all the Fortinberry girls climbed in it to test it out (not pictured).

Not sure if this is vet approved, but Pigeon will do just about anything for a Smartie!

Kendall has even gotten on Pigeon for a couple of rides (and also been bounced right off of him).  She seemed to love it.  She told Sidney that she was going to 'spend some time out there really working on him' to which Sidney promptly rolled her eyes.

Junk Drawer May 2022

 A few tidbits from our lives.  This is a picture of me right before leaving the house for the Leather Slappers event.  I was sporting Kendall's Revive Dance Team shirt and Sidney's Eh Capa hat.  I love these girls, and I love being their mom.

So, this is Sid just hanging out around the house.  Notice her beaded hat band for Eh Capa.  This year we are adding beaded strips to their wrist cuffs and chaps.

So....after about 3 hours of beading, I realized that the pattern had called for the strings to be too short.  Yikes!  After starting over and about 3 more hours more of beading, I realized I had started at the wrong end.  Double Yikes.  After starting over, yet again, and about 3 more hours of beading Bella got ahold of it.  Triple Yikes.  I must say I was never more happy to finally finish a beading project.

A couple years ago, I almost ordered this cute dog stamp and punch.  Unfortunately, I waited too long and they retired it.  Since then, I have scoured the internet, but refused to pay the insane amounts people were asking.  I finally found a 'make offer' on ebay and am happy to report my offer was accepted.  Now, to find time to play with this cute little set.

Sidney and Liza have been regularly hanging out, sharing horse time.  After one particularly hot bike ride to ride the horses, Katy decided to take the girls out for BBQ.   They were grateful for the good food and air conditioning.

Yes, I finally got out to hit a bucket of balls on Mother's Day.  Yay!!!  I bought myself this cute little putter cover over the winter.

What is a junk drawer post without a picture of some lovely flowers?  I received these from my mom on Mother's Day.

Season Openers.

Sidney and Pigeon have started doing Eh Capa practices.  This is all very new for Pigeon.  He is doing amazing and always gives his very best, but it does take time to learn the unique role of the Eh Capa horse.  At times, I think Sidney gets impatient and wishes it would happen overnight.  In reality, she understands what she is asking and is very pleased with how they are progressing.  The team had a couple unique opportunities to try their skills out early in the season.  The Treasure Valley Leather Slappers drillteam invited them to one of their performances.  It was a great low pressure opportunity for new horses and new riders to experience the noise and excitement of performing in front of the crowd.  Everyone did an amazing job!

Here are a few pictures of life in Eh Capa.  The girls waiting in the heat for their call time.

Hailey and Sidney riding their first year horses into the arena for their first performance.

A few of Sidney's friends came out to cheer her on including David and Hannah Nelson and the Rawlins family.

Katy took some beautiful pictures with her iphone.

Here is Alyssa with all 'her girls'.  I love that she still includes Sidney in this group, as this is where it all started.

Nothing beats a cute horse butt shot.  Here is our cute little red trailer with the upper doors off for the summer.  Lily and Pigeon have become so easy to load.  It is pretty great to have both horses able to load in both a straight load and slant trailer!

The next opportunity was to walk in Parade America.  Sidney did this last year with one of Alyssa's horses.  This would have been Pigeon's first parade, and it was a big one.  Think about every spooky noise or site imaginable; motorcycles, balloons, sirens, planes flying over, yelling, etc.  When we arrived Pigeon got a little freaked out.  He gave Sidney a bit of a 'ride'.  I was really proud of her as she seemed to remain calm.  Here is a picture one of the other mom's took of me checking in with Sidney after Pigeon's little freak out.

After they both took a deep breath, they joined the line for judging.

Then it was off to the parade entry waiting line for a very long wait.  Everything seemed to be going well, so I walked to the parade start to watch the festivities.  The Eh Capa Papa's had their eye on everyone and would let me know if something was needed.

They keep all the horses at the end of the parade line.  So, I watched everything.  It was awesome.  Then came the horses.  The minute they started, I got the call.  They had to pull Sidney and Pigeon.  It was just too much for Pigeon.  He got a little amped up and backed up onto someone's lawn and was jumping up on his back legs.  So, I met them back at the trailer. Sidney was very frustrated and disappointed at first.  After a bit, she was able to put it into perspective.  Safety first!  It was just a bit too much for Pigeon's first parade.  I am proud of them both for hanging in their as long as they both could possibly make it.  It was great experience, and they will both be that much more ready the next time.

This is me typing up this blog while Sidney sets up some jumps.  I love this place!

Hello Spring! The Beautiful Sunsets.

Boise has the most incredible sunsets and this spring has not disappointed.  One of Sidney's Eh Capa teammates, Haylee, boards her horse Lily at the same place we board.  they have taken to riding together quite a bit.  It has been great to have someone to enjoy this experience with, as her family are first time horse owners as well.  In fact, Tina, is the one that gave me the information I needed to take the plunge as well.  Tina has done some professional photography and sent me these pictures after one of Sidney and Haylee's evening rides.  Gorgeous!