Snowboarding, Horses and Lifelong Friends (literally).

I recall when Kendall was being born, I had asked my co-worker's wife, Rebecca, if she would be willing to watch our new baby girl.  Rebecca was a full-time mom and had two little boys, Asher and Eli.  Rebecca agreed.  Just before Kendall arrived, Rebecca came over to tell me that she was expecting another child.  Would it still be okay if she watched Kendall?  Yes!!!  In June, Hannah was born and a year later Sidney was born.  For three years, Rebecca watched the girls each day, while I went to work.  She had five kids under the age of five.  It was so awesome to have all of these kids grow up together.  

The past few months, Hannah has been going out to the ranch with Sidney 3-4 days a week.  They have been having a blast, and Sidney has been teaching Hannah everything she knows and loves about horses.  The community at the ranch love Hannah too.  Last weekend they helped Sabrina fix up the pens for the Mustangs that are coming.   It has been so good for both Hannah and Sidney to have this time together.

Hannah has her license now and often brings Sidney home after their time at the ranch.  They have started a new tradition of stopping for a McDonald's milkshake on the way home.

Our friend, Tina, has been super gracious in letting Sidney and Hannah work with her horse Lilly.  Lilly loves the extra attention and Hannah thinks she is a pretty smooth ride, compared to Pigeon the jackhammer.

Sidney has been wanting to go skiing/snowboarding for a few years now.  Well, this weekend Hannah and Rebecca invited Sidney to go up to the ski hill with them.  They pulled together boots and a board for Sidney to use.  She had such a blast.  When she came home that night, I asked her about the day.  She was sore, bruised and super happy.  After a few short minutes, I looked over to find her sound asleep and snoring.

What is a day skiing without an order of french fries?

Feeling the Love.

 Valentine Day was very special.  Without any prompting, the girls gifted me my favorite type of gift...homemade cards.  Sidney's even included coupons for a back and foot rub.  Woot Woot!

The card from Kendall was super fun and sweet.  She made me a paper bouquet that I could pick myself.

On the right was the garden of flowers (picture taken after I had already picked them and placed them in the pot on the left).

Each flower was hand drawn.

Each flower had a sweet message on the back.

My dad and Hannah each gave me a sweet bouquet of flowers.  

My mom had given me these beautiful flowers the week prior.  

This family of mine really knows the way to my heart.

Pigeon, Emma and a Gift from Heaven.

Pigeon is such a mellow horse.  One of Sid's trainers, Noel, has a six month old little girl.  Emma LOVES Pigeon.  She giggles when she gets to sit on his back and tries to crawl up his neck.  Pigeon just sits there very still and lets her do her thing.

Who is the crowd magnet, Pigeon or Emma?  I say Emma for the win!  Emma's mom and dad, Noel and Curtis are the ones with the hats on the right.

It is such a family affair.  Sid, Noel, Hannah and Emma spent the day out at the ranch having fun and helping Sabrina get the stalls ready for the Mustang's.  They took turns holding Emma, who is a super joyful little girl.

Sidney and I had an interesting discussion the other night.  We were talking about how much she has fallen in love with horse riding.  It is her thing.  She mentioned that it sometimes makes her sad, because if Kevin would not have died, she would have never discovered horses.  It was at a kids grief camp that she had her first ride on a horse.  I told her that is one way of looking at it.  Another way to see it, is that horses were a parting gift from her dad.  I like that way of thinking much better.  He would be so proud of his girls.  I always go back to a conversation that he and I had when they were little.  We always had the girls involved in some type of activity, be it dance, gymnastics, ice skating, soccer, etc.  I used to ponder whether we were doing them a disservice by not having them focus on just one thing.  As an athletic director, he said the exposure to all the different activities was great.  He was confident they would land on one that they loved, then it would be them driving the bus.  He was right.  They have definitely found their passions.

Revive Team 2023.

The studio where Kendall dances had a team/company sleepover the weekend before the big competition.  It was an all night bonding experience.  I am so grateful they did not ask me to be a chaperone!!!  

The girls received their costumes the week of their first competition.  Everyone is dying over these pink wigs for their hip hop dance.  They are dancing to a Nikki Minaj medley that they have titled Nikki Nation.

It was amazing to watch them perform.  Kendall is really having a great year.

This moment of the dance makes me smile every time.  That is Kendall in the middle standing up, pointing her finger.  I smile because she was originally supposed to do a stunt.  However, at the winter recital, her timing, etc., was off so she improvised on the spot with a lip sync and finger wag.  The choreographer liked it so much that she kept it as a permanent part of the routine.

This is Kendall doing a front hand spring out of the line.  Nailed it!

Their lyrical dance is stunning and brings a lot of emotion out of the audience.  They use a backpack as a prop that is passed from dancer to dancer.  It talks about friendships.  It is absolutely beautiful.

These girls are working their butts off and it really shows.

The judges loved their lyrical dance, as it earned them an overall award.  It was a great first competition to kick of the season!  

February Jump Show. Easy Peasy.

The same weekend that Sidney picked out her Mustang and Kendall had her first solo and team competitions of the year, Sidney had her fourth jump show in a series of five.  It was such a crazy weekend, but so much fun!!!  She has been practicing her jumping skills with her trainer, Noel.  She even saved up some money and upgraded her jumping saddle.  She was ready to go.

It is shocking to me that in November, her and Pigeon had never even entered a jump show and here they are killing it.  In fact, in November, she was super nervous to try 2' and I am not even sure she entered 2'3.  Now they are flying over these jumps like there is nothing to it.

They did super well in the competition.  There is one more show left in March.  Currently Sidney is sitting at Reserve Champion in her division.  It is hard to say where it will finish with one show left, but we will relish in where she is at today.  Crazy exciting!

Solo 2023. Glorious!

Wow!  Just, wow!  This has been such a fun year.  Kendall put in for a solo to compete this year.  She has been working hard with her choreographer and was ready for her first competition.  From horses to false eyelashes and everything in between.  This is our fun!  

She was all set for her first run.  Her nerves were running a bit high.  They competed on a floor that was a bit slippery and it was at eye level with the spectators and judges, which can be a bit un-nerving relative to a stage in which everything beyond the edge of the stage is darkness.  All that being stated, she did marvelous!

The next weekend, she competed her solo again at a different competition.  She felt much better the second time around.  Each time they compete, they get judges critiques the following week.  She was able to incorporate the judges feedback and came out stronger than ever!

All around it has been such a positive, growth experience.  I am super proud of her for all the hard work and dedication she has exhibited.  Most of all, she is having fun doing it.  That is by far the most important thing.

Three of the girls on her team competed solos at the competitions.  It is great to see how these girls support each other.

I joked that we are going to have to build another shed out back for all of her trophies:)!

Mustang Mania 2023 - Part 01

 I am not sure where I caved in, but here we are.  Actually, that is a lie.  I know exactly where I caved in.  You see, Sidney's dream has been to train a wild Mustang.  The BLM has an adoption program each year.  There is a local couple, Matt and Stacie Zimmerman, that organize an amazing event called the Mustang TIP Challenge.  Each participant brings home their Mustang and gets 100ish days to work with it.  In July, everyone comes to the Horse Park at Idaho Expo for a competition.  For youth 18 and under, the Mustang must be 2 years old or younger.  For safety, and also because their Mustang's are younger, the youth competition does not have a riding component.  All of the work is in hand.  The trainers must walk their horses through obstacles, halter/un-halter them, load them into a trailer, etc.  There is also a free-style component, in which the trainer (and sometimes horse) wear costumes, pick a theme song and show them what they have accomplished.  This can often involve items that demonstrate the horse has been de-sensitized.  

This past year I have seen such growth within Sid and her horsemanship, as well as her confidence.  I talked with the Zimmerman's and learned a lot about the program, which helped me toward my decision.  I also talked with Sabrina, the owner of the boarding facility, and the trainers that Sidney has been working with.  Everyone indicated a green light.  In fact, they thought it would be an amazing experience for her. 

So, here we are.  Over 150 Mustangs and Burros were rounded up and brought into the Wild Horse Corrals a couple months ago.  The horses came from Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho mostly.  On February 10th and 11th, the corrals opened their doors to trainers to get a look and select their picks.  Each trainer submits their top 7 picks.  Mustangs are assigned in the order the BLM received the applications.  All youth horses are assigned first.  The next day, adults are assigned their horses.

There were about 8-10 pens filled with Mustangs.  BLM did their best to sort them by age and gender.  

What do you look for in a Mustang, really?  From what I am told, it can be luck of the draw.  As you enter you are given stat sheets on the Mustangs, which include age, gender and which herd they were rounded up from.  For your first year, there are some herds to avoid unless you really want a challenge.  The specific location in which horses have to survive in the wild, can determine some of their temperament.  In areas where there are lots of predators, these Mustangs tend to be a bit skittish.  Other things to consider?  Coloring, size, curiosity, build.

We spent about 3-4 hours scoping these horses out.  Do not let the sunshine fool you, it was frigidly cold, mostly because of the wind.  I should also mention that trainers come from all over the place, Montana, Northern Idaho, Washington and California, to name a few locations.

The 3 year old geldings seemed super sweet and curious.  Some of them would even come up and let you touch them.  After we fell in love with a few of these 3 year olds, we remembered that we had to choose 2 years and under.  Interestingly, a lot of people mentioned that these horses will behave much differently when they are on their own, out of the comfort of the herd. 

Saturday night was the youth assignment announcements.  It was like Christmas Eve.  The group chat was blowing up with anticipation.  I am pretty sure I broke the refresh button on my phone.  After a much anticipated wait, the assignments were revealed.  Sidney got her first pick.  On March 4th, she will be bringing home a 2 year old gelding from the Eagle Nevada herd.  She is still contemplating names, but she wants to bring him home before deciding.  Let the adventure begin!

We learned, after the youth assignments, that a non-profit Mustangs Forever, paid the adoption fee of $125 for all of the youth horses.  What an amazing gift!

Juanita Eva Stone.

I was honored to make the announcements for my Grandma's Celebration of Life.  I know I have said it before, but she was such a strong woman.  Independent, for sure.  I am grateful that the girls got to meet her and spend time with her.