Emily rode on a Bentley

Yesterday Emily and I went to Fayetteville,

TN to try out a Bentley. He has horsepower,

but not the kind that gives her Daddy a thrill.

Emily saying "Hi" to Bentley.

Emily's first experience riding bareback.

Look ma, I'm trotting.

It helps having your own personal seat belt.

Working on balance. They had a great time!

Wish I Could Do That.....

Don't we all wish we could sleep as hard
and as long as kids can. I know I just wish
I'd get more than 6-7 hours a night.

Michael wore himself out and fell

asleep while we were watching t.v. He

stayed like this until Banner came up

and gave him a big ole kiss.

Emily fell asleep before we cut the cake
for my parents mini-anniversary party.
She woke up the next morning and the
first words out of her mouth were "Did
you eat cake last night?" To make up
for it, I let her have cake for breakfast.
Real healthy Mom. Oh well.

Last Day of Dance Camp

Emily attended two weeks of dance camp

this year. They worked for 7 hours a day on

singing, acting, tap, hip hop, ballet and jazz.

On the last day they had a mini-show and

these are photos I took during the show.

(Isn't it great that her tap shoes matched

this leotard she's had for 2 years!)

Posed....ready for her jazz routine.

Emily and Michael Riding on the Farm

On Saturday we got out with the horses for a bit of riding.
Michael is definitely the more aggressive rider between the
two of them. He kept after me to go "faster" and to "trot".

He doesn't have any clue about steering yet, so we
kept him on the lungeline or leadrope. Trotting on
Peanut was alright, until the girth (belt around the belly
that holds on the saddle), got too loose and the saddle
slid down to the side. Michael got to experience his

first fall, thankfully without incident.

This photo of Prancer and Michael is at the trot.
I want you to look at Michael's tongue. He better
be careful or he's going to bite that thing.

Emily did great on Prancer. I had her work on changing
directions and utilized a couple of Bradford Pear trees
for some figure 8 work. She had lots of fun and I can't
wait to spend some more time with her and him. Kind
of cool that she is riding the horse I have had for 22 years.

Prancer sure did enjoy his bath.

Skiing Pictures...It Must Be Winter in July!

I know...I know I am posting pictures from March.
Here's the scoop, I left my camera with the new
photos at home and don't have them to download
today. Soooo...we are going into the archives for
some photos. I apologize to those who have already
seen these, maybe you'll get double the enjoyment.
Every year we go to Salt Lake City, UT for some
much needed swishing. There are 9 resorts within
an hoursdrive of downtown. We like being able
to go to different places everyday.

This picture of Emily and Michael was taken at
The Canyons Resort in Park City (Home of the
Sundance Film Festival every year). They were
having a good day and we started expanding their
skiing with some detours through trees, a very
short mogul run and some kickers.

A kicker is a small, but very steep, hill.
They are often found in treewells or beside
lift poles...Anywhere there is a difference
in snow levels. This picture show Emily in
the middle of going over a kicker. She
forgot the advice given to her to lean forward.
I couldn't have timed this photo better. The next
second she found herself flat on the ground. Thank
heavens she had her helmet on! She cried for a
bit and then got up and went on her way.

These photos show the kids starting down a blue
run with Kenneth, the ever watchful father, looking on.

He usually stays behind so he can come to the rescue
if need be. Blue runs are the intermediate runs and
the kids are skiing them like ole pros.

I like this picture which shows Emily on her
way down the same run. It gives some idea
of the steepness of the run.

If anyone ever wants to join us, just let us know.
We are always looking for an excuse to go and ski.

Girl's Weekend 2006

Every summer my girlfriends from UT and I get

together for a weekend of friendship, no kids and

no husbands. It is always a lot of fun and a nice

get away. This year we went to Rend Lake

up near Mt. Vernon, IL. Suzanne invited all

of us up to her neck of the woods. It was

beautiful, but very, very hot.

Elizabeth, Jennifer and I went horseback

riding Saturday afternoon.

Elizabeth on Marblehead.

Jennifer and Elizabeth waiting

to go on our trailride.

Suzanne and Laura on the deck of our boatel.

(a hotel with boat docks)

The whole group.

Jennifer and Rebecca at the winery.

Surprise!!!

Last night we surprised my parents with a party

celebrating their upcoming 40th wedding

anniversary at the home of

Arlyn and Ted Cherney.

Mom was presented with 40 orange roses.

One for each year of their marriage.

She said that the color couldn't have been more perfect.

Well of course not..I picked them.

These are traditional Russian
Bride and Groom Cups. Arlyn had them at Mom's and Dad's
seats. They were also given a vodka toast in Russian

by their very good friend,

Igor Babailov (the gentleman mentioned in a

previous post who painted my children

and is currently working on

the portrait for Pope Benedict the 16th).

This was followed by a russian chant

(I can't remember the word)

which requires the bride and groom to kiss.

We did that a couple of times!

Mom and Dad with Arlyn....

what a superb hostess and chef.

We had traditional russian food

served in such abundance that

by the time dessert rolled around

I felt I should be rolled out of the house.

The table for 14 set with all Russian china and crystal.

It was beautiful.

The guests of the party.

Nana's Funeral

We buried my grandmother, Era Maye Wright, at

Lebanon Presbyterian Church in White Plains, AL.

It is down near Auburn but definitely in the middle of nowhere.

Her family was from this area and the cemetary at the church

is filled with her family. She was buried

beside her parents. That makes me feel good.

These are Nana's children and their spouses.

Having all her family there was a wonderful tribute to her.

She lived for her kids and grandkids.

A picture of all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.We were all beginning to feel the affects of the heat.
It was around 100 degrees and wearing black didn't help.



Her grandsons and great grandson were the pallbearers.

It was a fitting tribute to her life.

Out Riding Go-Karts and Playing Putt-Putt

We rode the go-karts first.
The kids were so excited.
Michael rode with Daddy
and they passed everyone.
Emily rode with me...
everyone passed us.
Mommy isn't quite
as adventurous driving
around the course.

Here's Emily lining up
for her putt. She is
definitely going to need
to work on golf...don't
we all.
Her stance looks good
here, but oh if you could
have seen her swings.

Yes...swings with a putter.

Michael had two
holes-in-one on this
18 hole course. He was so
impatient...couldn't wait
until he got to putt again.

He had a great time....and
is constantly pestering me
to go again.

Emily's Last Day Of Horse Camp

Emily had a great time at horse camp last week.

Here's just a couple more photos of her.

These are two of Emily's buddies. Meghan is the girl on the left. She was in Emily's Diamoniques dance class. They had a great time together at recital. Rachael is in the middle. She and Emily were in the same 1st grade class this past year. Emily had a lot more fun going to horse camp with these sisters since they were already friends.

She rode Angel on Friday in their "show".

Angel's size was a better match for Emily's.

Emily Goes to Horse Camp

Emily is ready to go, but waiting his turn. She rode Cinnamon

on Tuesday. The shortest camper on the tallest horse.

Quite a sight!
Look Ma...one hand!

Emily and Cinnamon at the trot. Cinnamon

enjoyed it alot more than Emily did.

Third of July

We watched the fireworks in Brentwood on Monday night. Lots of fun and lots less crowded. I think the kids really enjoyed it, Kenneth sure didn't enjoy getting his picture taken.

Tuesday we went to Memaw's house and watched them on the t.v. Nashville has a huge fireworks display downtown over the river. The symphony accompanies the fireworks show. It is the only large display set to live music. It was wonderful on t.v. I bet it was spectacular live. Not worth the crowds with the two little ones.

Hope you all had a great Fourth of July!

Pictures of me....Was I ever that young?

This is me in 1977. It is definitely the

best picture of the three on this post.

Good ole Olan Mills. At this time they

were the only game in town for photos.

Whew. Not the best picture I've ever seen of me. My brother, John, is on the right side of the picture beside me. The others are three of my first cousins on my father's side.

My grandmother sent us some photos that had been scanned in. I think the title is pretty appropriate if the picture is any indication.

There are two things I want

to say about this photo.

1. My dad was looking

good in 1982.

2. What in the world was I

thinking about my hair?