Whirlwind of Life

Last Sunday we said goodbye to Katie's horse, Cappy.  He was her first horse and our family's second so we all were attached to him.  Katie wants to jump - big- and Cappy just doesn't care much for jumping.  We have tried for 6 months to sell him with no one even coming to take a look.  With horses, they are expensive to feed, their hooves need trimming every 6 weeks, and vet bills are pricey.  Thanks to our good friends, the Hortons (www.thehortonhome.blogspot.com), and their ongoing relationship with Windy Gap, a Christian camp in NC, we were able to donate Cappy to become Windy Gap's newest trail horse. Although it was sad to see him go, Cappy is going to a great place - a place with less flies, where it's not nearly as hot and humid, and where a sweet lady named Anna will oversee his care.

 



After we finished Katie and Cappy's photo shoot, Shelby and Oreo had to have their turn in front of the lens!
 

This is the facial expression that reflects mine and David's innermost feelings at times - bordering on losing one's mind-  with the noise level in our kitchen when all 8 kids feel the need to talk at the same time! 
Happy Birthday, Honey.
If we go insane, at least we'll be together!

David received his best birthday present ever in 2007 when Lilly was placed in our arms.

Happy 6th Gotcha Day, Lilly!

This year's gift was a jade rooster pendant to reflect the year of her birth on the Chinese calendar.

We celebrated with homemade strawberry cake with fresh strawberries, which we had recently picked, in the cake and the icing.  It is heavenly and if I had more time I'd post the recipe here: )

Lilly was so excited to receive her very 1st trophy - just like the big kids have.

This was Lilly's first year taking gymnastics.  David and I predicted years ago that she would be a gymnast - she has the perfect muscular body for it as well as the energy, determination, and spunk!  She has learned quite a lot this year.  Though she progressed enough to be on the competitive team next year, we declined due to the time and financial commitment involved.  She's only 7 so she has lots of time for that in the future!

Due to all of the above activities and baseball, school projects, and my continued nesting, this represents the extent of my packing.  Yes, I am happy to report my papers are in order for the trip!  This week involves a big grocery run to keep David and the kids well-fed while I am gone, maybe some extra cooking to put some more meals in the freezer, fine-tuning the schedule for babysitting, carpooling, etc for the children, and packing 1 large suitcase for Dawson and me!  I have 4 days left to accomplish all of this because I'm leaving Friday!!!