March 2019

March was an incredible month in many ways. We had many ups but one real big down. I will start with the hardest first. Just a couple weeks after Steve's sister, Leslie's 54th birthday she drove herself to the hospital. She was diagnosed with metastasized lung cancer, stage 4. To say this was a devastating blow doesn't even begin to capture the emotions we are all feeling. Steve's mother, Beverly, died two years ago on July 3, 2017,  just a few weeks after being diagnosed with metastasized lung cancer. Leslie's cancer is in her lungs, heart, spine and brain. We aren't sure how much time we will have with her but are trying to make the most of every moment we do have with her. Please send positive energy into the universe for her, Steve, her children and all the rest of her family and friends who love her so much.

Fortunately we also had some really good times in March. While it does not take away the pain it does make you appreciate all that we have and celebrate the little things, hug the ones we love a bit longer. Sophia had an incredible month with all things horses. She competed in the 4-H State Horse Bowl with her Junior team. In Horse Bowl they compete by answering really hard questions about equine subjects such as part of a horse, parasites, farrier tools, diseases, nutrition, riding disciplines, etc. They worked really hard and studied for months for this. Look at how thick that notebook is!!! Sophia did exceptionally well. She was the 7th highest ranking individual in the Junior teams of about 25-30 competitors.

Sophia and her Pony Club also competed in Quiz. This is very similar to the 4-H Horse Bowl were they are asked to answer questions and demonstrate their knowledge of equine related material. Sophia's team ranked 1st place in their division. Sophia isn't only interested in riding, she also in eager to learn about horses. 

Sophia's 4-H club had their annual awards banquet. Sophia was recognized for the work she has done the past year, including completing the 4-H Record Book, which is not an easy task!

Sophia and Steve went to a Horse Expo and had a blast. I couldn't go because I was at a workshop. They came home from two days at the Horse Expo and joined me for a Mall "Sleep In." Our troop ran a craft station for the 4th-6th grade Girl Scouts. We arrived to the mall around 10:30 and night and didn't leave until 5:00 AM. It was a LONG night but the girls had fun.

The next day Sophia competed in a dressage show at the new barn. She rode a horse named Lucy. She did amazing. the "warm-up" was held outside... and it started to snow. She was wet and cold but still performed well. She ended up getting sick after the show but I think it had more to do with having a busy weekend and no sleep the night of the mall sleep in than the snow.

Our Girl Scout troop held its annual Cupcake Wars. We had almost 60 girls attend. My girls did a fantastic job of running the stations. It was fun but 60 girls hyped up on sugar is not for the faint of heart. 

The final horse event was the ISHS Invitational Show. Sophia and many of her teammates individually scored enough points during the season to be invited to this show. Sophia did an amazing job. She placed 1st in walk/trot, 2nd in walk/trot/canter and 2nd in jumping and was the reserve champion of her division. This is all while competing against the top riders in the show series. 

Perhaps the biggest news is that I finished knitting the poncho Sophia asked me to make for her about three or four years ago. It has taken me that long to make it. I doubt she will even wear it but I feel accomplished for finishing.

And I will close with a picture of Otto seeing he was left out last month.

February

February was a pretty uneventful month. Sophia competed in one ISHS show and had a blast. She did really well. She placed 4th in the walk/trot class, 2nd in the walk/trot/canter class and 1st in the jumping class. 

We attended the Pony Club Banquet. The girls all got recognized for the work they have done with Pony Club in the past year. Sophia just joined in September so she didn't have any accomplishments outside her D2 rating but was recognized nonetheless. She had a blast with her friends. The parents also pitched in for a gift for the barn, a brand new jump. It was a great night.

As part of the Pony Club the older members take responsibility of teaching the younger kids. Sophia and her friends helped design a lesson to teach the younger members about horse parts at their Quiz practice. They made it fun for the girls and had the girls jumping a pretend horse jump when they got the answers right. Pony Club is so much more than just riding. She is learning great skills.

I was able to hang out with Andrea on her visit to town. It is always great to catch up with friends. We split some cheesecake the the Cheesecake Factory which made it even sweeter.

And all our furry animals (even Otto who is not pictured) are doing well. Until next month...