The Birthday Gals!!

On Saturday, Sept 19th, I celebrated with Amanda our birthdays. Amanda's is Aug 19th and mine is Sept 17th - we kid with each other saying we are like twins but with two different birth dates though. There is this wonderful Tea House in Three Hills where you can have a beautiful pot of tea and a yummy as well as delicious desserts on Saturdays and Sundays. They also serve a great dinner. On this night we had chicken crepes with a type of Hollianda Sauce and Rosemary on top of the sauce, with a fresh organic salad. I had the organic lettuce and toasted almonds and Amanda had the berry salad with the roasted almonds. We were stuffed by the end of the night - but no worries we still had room for dessert. Ended the night with a light chocolate mint stick. Thank you for a wonderful evening Amanda (sorry Amanda - tried my best but I couldn't get that flash off the fireplace glass)

The Birthday Gal!!

Amy and Garron and family gave me these beautiful garden patio stones - perfect for my new landscaped garden beds. I also received some bulbs and some more flower seedings.

The look of surprise on Casendra's face after Uncle Garron took a photo of her after putting the whole oreo cookie in her mouth. Still is a cutie-pie though.

Casendra enjoying the Sunday morning sunshine with her favourite pink blanket - think I know what her favourite colour is at the moment - maybe it is pink (lol)

Here comes the Birthday Cake!!!

John did the honours for bringing the yummy Oreo cake - it was delicious; as they all sang Happy Birthday.

I was protecting that yellow ducky - Logan had it too close to the cake candles - that's all we would need a fire.

Ethan was my great helper with blowing out my candles - we blew out all the candles in one shot!!

Friends at the Birthday party

Pretty in Pink!! I love this photo (thanks Garron) - Grandma Char with her granddaughter Casendra showing what type of glitter she is going to have in her hair.

Amy with her mom Char

Myself and Andy (thank you Andy for a wonderful prayer before dinner)

Sara (my walking partner for this weekend's Susan Gorman End Breast Cancer Walk (Oct 2-4, 2009) in San Francscio)

Garron - one of our photographers using my camera (Sierra was the other one that night)

Sara and John

Journey

Ethan

Casendra - Grandma Char put in glitter in her hair

Solomon - he sure has come out of his shell - he is just so cute to watch

Likes his cuddle times with his Auntie Amanda

Mike, Meagan, Logan and Baby Emily

Meagan with Baby Emily (5 months old)

Mike on his crutches (recovering from a major work-related accident)

Meagan with their son Logan at dinner time

Me with Baby Emily (just before she started crying for her mom). For those on Facebook - this is the Baby Emily I speak off of who I have been babysitting. Her big brother Logan has been going to swimming lessons with their mom. Despite doing this for a few Sundays now - Emily still cries as soon as she knows she is not in her mommy's arms. Our cuddle time comes when she becomes exhausted from her crying. I must say though, this past Saturday, it was our best day yet - only like 30 mins of crying - but found a soft blanket she liked and found her eyes tired so she did sleep for a short time too - did have some success - she did get me a couple of smiles before I left.

Sierra - our Reserve Champion

Sierra - our Reserve Champion for the Horse Show. Stylish and Confident young lady. In the morning before the horse show, Sierra was excited to share that she will be the first person to ride Pebbles - watching them in the ring - they both enjoyed each other's company.

I must admit - it was great to see some healthy competition going on - I know I have said it before - in my limited knowledge of horsemenship - both Guido (??) and Sierra looked the most comfortable and most natural on their horses compared to their classmates. Both Amy and I figure you will see Guido taking part in the Calgary Stampede one of these years. Right out of a scene from a movie, as Guido galloped to the finish line after completing going around the 3 barrels - his cowboy hat comes flying off. Hard not to smile when it happened.

One of the ribbons they received was presentation of their horses. Grandma Char braided Pebbles tail (adding some pink glitter to the tail and rump area I believe too) and Sara braided the mane. Here Sierra is being pinned with a ribbon for one of their skill demonstrations.

Sierra's Fellow Riders

Runner-up with a blanket; Champion (Guido??) with a shiny silver belt buckle; Sierra - Reserved Champion - a beautiful duffel bag with their trainer/teacher. Seeing her belt buckle - she must have one a few of these horse shows too.

A closer photo of your Top 3 Riders

Sierra with her fellow classmates/riders

I had never attended one of these things before - as it was a competition for them - the one thing I was so encouraged about - was how they ran the horse show for this age category. Total encouragement despite obviously seeing they were having difficulties with handling their horse - the announcer and those in the ring were encouraging the student with positive reinforcement (doing that clicking over the mike which might help with motivating the horse too). Everyone received a ribbon and the audience applauded for everyone and cheered for me during and after their skill demonstration. A wonderful example of how to encourage and build up someone's self esteem level despite not finishing "first" all the time.

Sierra's Cheering Squad

Sierra's Cheering squad - Mom (Sara), Grandpa Andy and Grandma Char (not pictured was the international student living with Sara and John and the kids - Dom who is from Thailand)

Cousin Journey, Auntie Amy and Sister Casendra

Grandparents Andy and Char enjoying the sun in between the skill sets. Sierra is a 3rd generation of horsewomen - Grandma Char, Mom Sara and now Sierra - all have a natural ability to ride and understand their horses. Their calmness and TLC was an obvious positive outcome to Char's horse Rosie who suffered a major injury at the beginning of the summer. It is amazing to see (and very happy about it too) how the leg/chest wound has been healing and getting smaller daily.

Sierra's Horse Skills Showcased!!

Sierra showing us her control and coordination with Pebbles as they go around the poles. I was in awe of how well she did - total confidence. Thank you Sierra for allowing me to be a part of your day - it was a true pleasure.