The whirlwind of time we live in

This is going backwards but oh well. There is a girl that was in our ward before they split that gives riding lessons. Carol signed the girls up a while ago, but we had to cancel. We signed up again and the girls loved it!. Emmett wasn't part of the lessons but Alex let him take a short ride any way. I think he liked it!



Here is Maren riding. I believe the horses name was Selena, which Maren just informed me Selana starts with a C. She is learning to read, but I don't think she has fully grasped the nuances of English phonetics. Still she is one smart cookie.

Here is Jessica. Look at that form. If she let go of the horn, she would look like a champ!

Cora is having a blast. The arena was indoors and was quite dusty.

Cora was also nominated for Class President. She and her best friend and one other student all gave a short speech on why they should be class president. Her best friend won, and she came in second, so she is VP.




This is dated, but a couple of weeks ago we went down to Fort Hood to see Abe and his family while he is stationed there for about a month. The base has some cabins that are pretty nice and not very expensive. The kids loved seeing their cousins and playing on the playground.

Taylor was not at all excited about sharing her swing with the boy.

Emmett liked this circle ladder, but I think it freaked his Mom out every time he decided to go up or down!

This swing was just outside of the cabin. It took several tries just to get all of the kids looking in the right direction.

There is also a lake on base with a beach area. Carol is helping the kids make a sandcastle.

The kids loved the beach and swimming as always. It was great to get to hang out with Abe and Meredith. It is awesome to have so much family in Texas, even if they are several hours away. We can't wait to see everybody again. Meredith says it is Carols turn to plan the next outing, but I think the next one is going to be Thanksgiving, so sorry, but we hosted last year which means it is Leah's turn. (Unless Abe is going to be working, then we might want to come down there.)

Also, one of the reasons that no posts have been made lately is that about the same time we went down to Fort Hood, I finally got a sample size large enough to finish my dissertation. About a week after that I found out that I had roughly 4 weeks to finish it and turn it into the graduate school. As a result I have been devoting almost all of my time for the past month trying to get done. My defense is scheduled for the 25th, and as long as that goes well I will graduate Dec. 16th. I would appreciate your prayers, if you remember, as I prepare to defend my disseration. Thank you!