Happy LEAP Day!

Upward Celebration

For their "banquet" the Upward basketball and cheerleading program chooses to have a motivational speaker instead of your standard award ceremony. This family was AMAZING! This couple and their 12 CHILDREN all can do unbelievable tricks, with a basketball and otherwise, but the most remarkable trait they have is their faith.

http://www.champions-forever.com/

Georgia Tech Benefit Show Weekend

This weekend we travelled to Alpharetta to Kinsey's first horse show of the show season. This was her first time both cantering AND jumping in a show and we were all a bit nervous! Day one, the weather was great, lots of riders were there to show and Kinsey did really well. She ended up with a first place, 2 thirds, a fifth, and a sixth in 6 very large classes. She was the youngest one in her group and really learned a lot. The second day, things were a little bit interesting. After very heavy rainfall all throughout the night, the arenas were practically underwater and the rain was still falling. Anyone who knows Kinsey knows she developed a very intense fear of rain and storms last summer. I prepped her during the week for the weather and she seemed as if she might give it a try. Right before practice, she seemed a little nervous, but when it was showtime, she seemed cool as a cucumber! Although the classes were smaller because many riders decided to scratch, Kinsey Reserved Championed her flat (walk/trot/canter) class with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place and also Reserved her jumping class even though Joe refused one of the jumps twice. The ribbons were a great addition to the weekend, but the gains she made mentally were far bigger! We are so proud!

Short Sweethearts

Happy Valentines from my two little loves!

Barn Day

Another lazy weekend, still recovering from the nasty cold bug. The kids and I got out and spent Sunday afternoon visiting with our favorite pony!

The Famous Valentine Fox???

Look who we ran into at dinner tonight! Everyone's heard of the Valentine's Fox, right???

100 Day

In preparation for Max's big pirate birthday coming up next month, we decided to stick with the theme for his 100 Day Party Hat for school this week. He picked out this great hat and we glued 100 dubloons on it. It be a hit with his mateys! ARGH!

See Kinsey's 100 Day Hat here

GIANT game!

We had a very nice, relaxed night watching the SuperBowl with our good pals. It's a sad truth when you are so excited that the house empties just after halftime and everyone can still be in PJ's before 9:00. Such is this sweet life!

Lazy Puzzle Day

So Kinsey and I haven't been feeling 100% so we decided to stay home Sunday morning and put together this fun puzzle. It was such a sweet, lazy morning!

Go Glads!

Saturday night, we got hooked to hockey big time! We loaded up a party bus with the Gilland and Guthrie Gangs and headed out for food, fun and LOTS of fighting! We had an awesome night watching the Gwinnett Gladiators battle it out with my hometown Greenville team, winning in an exciting shoot out. Jack and the kids even sported some replica jerseys. This will definitely be back in our agenda this winter!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Time for the Father/Daughter dance again at Kinsey's school. She looked like a princess in her flower girl dress from Hillary's wedding and Jack bought her a beautiful corsage to match. The pair had the time of their lives while meanwhile, Max, Nan, and Granddaddy were watching what had to be the most exciting game in middle school basketball history as my team took it's third straight championship in a nail-biter, double-overtime win! Way to go Bolts!

The Story of Joe

Anyone who knows us knows this precious paint pony has been a part of our lives for almost two years now. We first met him at Kinsey's 6th birthday party and she has been riding him ever since. His owner recently decided she had outgrown him and much to our liking, "My Pinto Bean" became available for lease--much more up our alley at this point in our lives. So as of February 1st, we welcome this sweet little guy into our Patrick family for 2012.