Monday, April 25, 2005

April Showers Bring May Flowers....

Or, so I've heard. I wonder if that includes snow showers....
We had some snowfall this weekend which amounted to about 10 inches or so (this doesn't include the many drifts between the house and barns). Maybe we'll be glad of the extra moisture come summertime!
We had invited some friends from church to come for a visit, but we weren't expecting a snow storm. They decided to make it a fun adventure, (definitely a memorable one) and we had a wonderful visit! We ate, played some hymns, and visited the stable. All of us young people fought the falling snow and drifts "laughing all the way," (or maybe it was a mixture of laughing and exclaiming at the amount of snow which fell into our boots) as we headed to the stable. The horses were glad to see that these visitors offered cereal bars from Annick's stash! Hopefully, the weather will be nicer when we have them over again. :-)

In the stable. Posted by Hello

Visiting Posted by Hello

Faith, Annick, & Evvie Posted by Hello

Annick & Grace Posted by Hello

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Goodbye Daisy....

Daisy (a Personal Pony broodmare), left our stable last week. She is now at another Personal Pony stable for breeding etc. Here are some pictures of Departure Day :-)

Annick & Daisy Posted by Hello

Evvie & Daisy Posted by Hello

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Driving with Ethan

Today we took our little neighbor, Ethan Rambeck, for an authentic pony-cart ride! He loves horses, so he was absolutely thrilled! The pony, Sonny Boy, is part of a program which gives ponies to special needs children. Annick is a trainer for the program, so we get to see the fruits of her labor on a regular basis :-)

A Sunday Drive. Posted by Hello

Giddy-Up! Posted by Hello

Going For A Drive In The Country. Posted by Hello

Abby Rambeck(Ethan's new sister) wonders,"Where's my knight?" Posted by Hello

Quite Sappy....

Our spring "homeschool field trip" was spent visiting our next-door neighbors, the LaBries, who have a maple syrup evaproator. They have collected sap from the maples along our road and boiled it down into syrup. It is the best syrup we've tasted so far! We would bring our own little bottles to restaurants if we could! Here are some pictures from that evening :-)

The Evaporator.  Posted by Hello

The Boiling Sap! Posted by Hello

Sweet Profits. Posted by Hello

Mr. LaBrie Posted by Hello

Papa & Mr. LaBrie Posted by Hello

Fresh From The Tap. Posted by Hello

John, Tim, and Mark Schultz Posted by Hello

The Ring Posted by Hello

Mel and John Schultz Posted by Hello

It Is Finished.

No, this has nothing to do with Easter. This is a statement made by Mama's cousin (through marriage), our Aunt Martha (we usually visit her for Thanksgiving). Why did she say it? Well, April 2nd (before 1 p.m.) marked the last time she would have a single son. Yes, John Daniel Schultz ( the last of three sons) entered into holy matrimony with his affianced Melanie Jo Schutte. It is finished. All three are married! Aunt Martha now has three VERY happy sons, three sweet daughters-in-law, and one adorable granddaughter :-)
The ceremony was short, sweet, and holy. Usually John (a solid Christian and fantastic builder) is a matter-of-fact type of guy, but it was great to see his other side. A 'real-man' deameanor, which was softened a little bit as he watched his bride come down the aisle! He was positively glowing! Mel is very sweet and ready to enter into all his building projects :-)

We're All Here! Posted by Hello

My Favorite Things ~ Catrina

Some of my memories of this year's trip to Arizona were:

Learning how to make beaded jewelry, and finishing clay projects we started last year,
Playing with Evvie outside,
Going to a luncheon and high tea with Grandma and Aunt Judy,
Bowling, shuffleboard,and mini golf,
Playing Grandpa's war plane computer game,
Visiting the library for books and movies,
Having Easter dinner with Grandpa and Grandma's friends (they are our second family). One of our 'aunts' brought her Golden Retriever, Gaia, and I had fun walking her around the yard :-)
I also enjoyed the plane trips. Looking out of the window was alot of fun!

Aunt Fran, Annick, Mama, and Gaia Posted by Hello

Bowling and Beading ~ Evvie

During our vacation, we had fun playing several games as a family. One of them was miniature golf. Papa, Mama, Catrina, and I competed in this exciting pastime! I made a hole-in-one, and Mama made one also on a second try.
Ever played shuffleboard? We had fun with that too because there weren't any rules available :-)
Bowling was probably the highlight of the games we played. Some of us got a strike or two, and Mama beat me by two points!

Another fun thing we did on our vacation, was learning how to make beaded jewelry. Grandma set up a time to visit a lady she knows, to learn the art of making jewelry. We girls had such a good time! Allison made a necklace/earring set out of earth-tone and carnelian beads and brass accents, Annick made a necklace out of sky-blue beads, a pretty cross pendant and silver accents, Catrina made a very grown-up necklace out of lapis lazuli chips, white stones, and gold beads, and mine is made with malachite (forest-green color) beads, silver accents, and a cross pendant. Our teacher, Mrs. Driscoll, even served us some of her husband's home-
made sherbert! It was a mixture of chocolate, lemon and raspberry.
Mm-mm good!

Aunt Pam & Catrina Posted by Hello

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Mama Mia! What A Thrill!

Two days before we left Arizona, our Grandpa Marshall(also vacationing in Sun City West) decided to take us out for dinner. We chose the Olive Garden, because "when you're here you're family!" Plus, they have those terrific bottomless salad bowls and breadbaskets :-) They sure do serve big portions though! My pizza was enough for dinner, AND lunch the next day! We found out that the Olive Garden is quite popular in Sun City, especially on Monday nights...
The parking lot was so full that Papa and Mama had to park in Best Buy's lot! We girls got lucky though. We drove with Grandpa and got the spot closest to the door!(Having a handicapped permit helped!) Now that's what I call luxury!
We don't go out very often, so we enjoyed this special time, especially since we were with Grandpa. All in all it was great: yummy food, fellowship, what could be better? I'll tell you. Getting a thrill out of exploring that particular place usually spoken of in 'hushed and reverent tones'. (Odd though it may be, who doesn't say something about the decor in some bathrooms, in restaurants or otherwise?) Well, this one had four closets. Closets? Yes, indeed ladies, four brown slatted doors faced us (you know, the kind usually found in old houses?), surrounded on three sides by floor-to-ceiling stone-like walls. Definitely something to relate to those in your party who didn't visit Mrs. Murphy!
Anyway, the evening was very interesting. The rest of the building had big arched windows with green shutters, tawny-orange colored walls, and Italian lights strung all over the interior. Allison was lamenting the fact that she had not brought her camera, since the decor was lovely. We definitely recommend going to the Olive Garden for dinner. So, if you are ever hungry at night, don't head to the 'fridge; head to the Olive Garden! Full of good food, fellowship, and maybe, just maybe, if you're lucky, a thrill or two! Mama Mia! ~Annick

Bob & Bill Posted by Hello

Annick and the Guitars Posted by Hello

Grandpa's Guitar Posted by Hello