Birthday Girl!

Last year for Penelope's birthday party, we went to River City Cheer with all the cousins and a few friends too. She loved it so much, she wanted to go again this year! All the cousins were hoping for that too, so we booked it early and could hardly wait for her big day.

It was SOOOO much fun. They have a huge room with wall-to-wall mats, a big foam pit, a huge swing to swing over the pit and jump in, an extra long trampoline, rings, poles, balls, and more! It's definitely a place where a kid can be a kid (and a few adults can too!)

After all the crazy play, we went to the party room. Penelope wanted a tropical party, so we had fruity Starburst candies, water bottles with colorful fish stickers, a HUGE monkey balloon, and coconut icecream! It made me want to go to the islands...

Penelope got some new riding boots from us, and she was pretty excited about that..and has big plans for them! We also got her the traditional stuffed animal she loves, this year it was a BIG Beagle which she named Emmerson. Her sister even bought him a collar, and he had birthday charms on it too, for a sweet extra touch.

It was just a really fun party. I still cannot believe that she turned 11 though!

After the party, we had to hustle up and head right out. It was the 4-H Awards Day too, and Chena was one of the announcers. It was an extra special day for Penelope too, because she received her Northwind Riders Horse Club riding jacket! It takes a year to earn it, and she did a great job and was so excited and eager to get the coat with her name on it.

Looking at her name!

Happy Birthday sweet girl of mine. You really are a "Penny From Heaven" as your birth announcements proclaimed.

Squishy Face Meets the Black Beauty

Duvall: "Come a little closer, I want to kiss you.."

Charlotte: "Bring that thing over here, I want to bite it. I'm not afraid of anything fifteen times bigger that I am. I could chew its mane off, and that bridle looks like a nice chew toy too.."

Us: "Uh, okay, that's probably enough of a meeting for now, you think?"

Surprise! Its a New Puppy!

Incredibly, we added two new family members to our household on the same weekend. I was up in Fairbanks, visiting friends and buying a new horse, and Michael and the girls were plotting to sneak a puppy into our lives.

Meet Charlotte!!!!!!!

She is an eight week old yellow Labrador Retriever, and just about the most precious girl you can imagine.

Mike was thinking about getting a Lab puppy, but was not sure it would be this year, he thought he might like to wait for next year. He asked me to just check around, see what litters were available, etc.

I made one call, to Dandelion's puppy instructor, who is a Lab breeder. She got back to me recently, and said she had a litter, up in Willow. I thanked her, but didn't give it much thought.

While I was up in Fairbanks, she called me on my blackberry and told me she was driving to Willow, to evaluate the pups for show, and would I like her to bring a pup back with her? I told her no, we were not ready, and didn't want a female (all that she had left), and etc. I gave her our home phone, and didn't think about it much again.

Turns out, she was quite the salesman! She called him, told him about the pups, and directed him to her website. He said he didn't want a female, and she told him to check out her program, look at her gallery of photos of her females, and call her back. He did, and was intrigued. You might even say hooked. He wanted to go and see the pups. They were located over four hours away. That is, by car. So he and the girls jumped in the airplane and flew into Willow. The breeder who had collaborated with her, who owned the mother Lab, turned out to be Dee Dee Jonroe, a well-known musher and Iditarod contender. They were picked up at her private airstrip and wisked away to see the "babies". The girls played with the puppies. Michael talked about bloodlines, genetics, size, weight, temperament, etc. The girls didn't worry about any of that, they were already in LOVE. Together, they all decided on a little girl puppy. The deal was made, and they climbed back in the airplane, with a new precious addition, and flew home.

All this was unbeknownst to me, and it was decided to keep her a secret and surprise me when I got back home.

And so it was that when I pulled into the yard, after a long two-day horse hauling adventure, there sat my big tough husband on a hay bale...holding his newest love in his arms...little "Sharlie" girl.

I was SHOCKED. He just doesn't do things on a wim, and it was a pretty major decision to become a three-dog family, just like that. I jumped out of the car and ran to him, not sure if I wanted to kiss him first or the sweet golden baby with the huge dark eyes and floppy ears! She was the cutest thing.

Well, they wanted to wait and let me help them name her, because I'm good with naming animals (lots of practice!) but they all got tired of calling her "Baby" and waiting for me to finally get home. So they brainstormed a bit, and came up with Charlotte. The girl we bought our new horse from is named Charlotte, and the girls really liked her name. Plus, Michael's favorite movie of all time is Charlotte's Web, he used to watch it almost every day when Lex was a toddler, and he has the whole thing memorized.

So Charlotte it was, and it really fits her perfectly.

Charlotte with her feather:

A face just about anyone could love!

Who? Me?

More Charlotte stories to come! (and yes, I know we are spoiled rotten..that's not lost on me right now.......

New Horse...Meet Duvall!

Its a long crazy story, but for now I just want to say we have a new family member! He is a beautiful registered Polish Arabian gelding, named Duvall. We are all in love with him already, and he just got here!

He's settling in great, he really loves Mukluk the mini. They had fun getting to know each other.

Chena and Penelope rode him for the first time today, I got to ride him before we bought him, and Michael can't wait to go out on him.

Friends already!

He had no trouble getting to know Summer, in about ten minutes they were scratching each other's necks in perfect contentment. Silly geldings.

He's quite the guy...he has a fun goofy friendly personality, and he is very curious. Super sweet, and well trained with a willing energetic spirit. We are going to have so much fun with him!

It was a Drive By Shooting

The dogs were starting to drive this little orphan crazy, so as he went running by I started shooting!!

Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I love fall, the way the colors of autumn flow up a hill, each one just a shade different enough to set off the next beautifully. I am soaking up this scenery into my very pores, to hopefully last me until the long winter is gone and trees will flutter with leaves once again.

Kenai River, near Cooper Landing

Tern Lake, at the Seward "Y"

School pictures...Chena!

Time for Chena's annual "school" pictures as well! Boy, has she GROWN since last fall. Now she is not only wearing my shoes, she has outgrown most of them. :)

Since her buddy, "Buddy" is such a big part of her life, we took him along to include in some of her pictures. She just adores him. ( Buddy is our neighbor's dog, and she walks him two to three times a day)

She loves hats, luckily..since I have been putting them on her since before she had any hair. Everyone used to say to me when she was a toddler "How do you get her to keep those cute hats on?" and I'd tell them "I tell her, leave your hat on!" and she does. (although one time she had the sweetest little hat that looked like a strawberry, and when she was seven months she yanked it off of her head and threw it out of her stroller when I wasn't looking at the Washington State Fair. Never found it)

Anyway, here's Chena Danae, at 12.

Loves- horses...anything to do with horses but especially JUMPING. Also loves training, riding without tack, dressage, trail riding, and especially enjoys hanging out on horseback with her horsie buddies. Also loves reading, (speed reader!) walking Buddy, science, basketball, games, drawing, climbing trees, playing with Mukluk, her pets, her vaulting team, her 776 Gals club, babysitting, mom/daughter lunch and shopping dates, swimming, and loves loves loves baking and cooking.

Hates- thrift store shopping, putting on a coat in cold weather, or rain gear if its raining, avacado dip, most kinds of cheese (except on pizza then its fine and good) being interrupted in the middle of a good book, running out of baking supplies, spelling, super long plane rides, socks, going to bed, making her bed, organizing!

Especially good at- riding and showing, making special dinners for her family, making food "pretty", running fast, writing stories and poems, memorizing scripture, drawing horses and landscapes, logical thinking, helping Dad work on planes, planning events for her friends and making things happen, public speaking/presentations, keeping mom on the schedule, getting up waaaay early!

Friendship skills and qualities- full of compassion, energetic, enthusiastic, fair, funny, quick-witted, peace-keeper, forgiving (to a fault), soft-hearted, sweet, kind, loyal friend to her little sister, always thinking of special things to do for people, especially those going through hard times.

Quirks- likes to dress up in aprons and skirts to go out and play "pioneer girl", pick berries, climb trees, etc. Hates the color pink, loses her stuff everywhere she goes, loves arranging her school desk, different every day, needs to know the daily schedule, especially what time we are leaving the house (drives mom batty), saver and hoarder of money, but will give it away, never ties her shoes, falls off of things, like chairs in the middle of dinner..bar stool, couch, whatever..she can fall off of it.

Favorites: the color orange, Toby Mac music, her best friend Sadie, moose roast and potatoes, Cotton Candy Kidz Cream milkshakes, pizza crusts, babysitting jobs, her Wintec saddle, Buddy, soft pajama pants, Fourth of July, our cabin, Janet, Jillie, and Lilah Bean.