Earth Day celebration

We had another great weekend.

After horseback riding lesson we went home, packed up food and drove about 40 minutes to Brazos Bend State park, the home of the American alligators. And alligators we saw, lots. spotted, snapped, and recorded them in video. It was wild and beautiful, scary and exciting. I absolutely loved the beautiful swampy areas. I'll let the pictures do the talking. It would be unfair to mother nature to try to label and express in words alone how much joy it brought to the heart to just be there in the middle of it all.

And the closest encounter!!! This thing is real!!

We could barely break ourselves free from this awesomeness (to which we'll for sure go back soon), but we drove back to town so Ella could attend the kids yoga class at our gym in honor of Earth Day. She was shy but warmed up to the instructor and the rest of the kids by the end of it all.

On Sunday after church and a little nap, we took it to the nearby park to pick up litter and help clean it up a bit. We mainly picked up the trash lurking near the pond shore where we so often go and watch the cutest ducks, turtles, geese, and other creatures there are. 

I am so grateful to Ella for coming up with the idea. In fact, I'm so proud of her too! She rocks! She knows a lot about recycling and reusing and constantly reminds us to do our part to keep our Earth clean.

She worked so hard and did a great job! At times we thought she was going to fall into the water all together, while reaching out to fish all the trash that she could. :)

The Happy Trio!! :)

We finished up the day by the poolside at the gym, doing some yoga poses and just relaxing. 

(The cutest yogi I know!! :))

Beach time

Last Saturday, after horseback riding lesson and house hunting, we packed up the cooler with yummy rotisserie chicken, hard boiled eggs, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon, ciabatta bread rolls, and lots of other snacks, mainly chips (healthy ones! :)) and candy, and off we drove to Stewart's beach in Galveston. Only one hour drive away, it made for a quick nice get-away.

Unfortunately it was very windy but fortunately, was warm enough that it didn't bother us too much and Ella was able to play in the ocean and jump the waves to her heart's content. We had a great time, love how close we are to the beach and can't wait to go again.

 It was a great day!!! We can't wait to do it again!!!

EASTER 2012

No fancy dishes, as in the actual meal, nor in the presentation, yet lots of quality time spent on focusing on the true meaning of the holiday via Scriptures reading and Friend magazine activities (I LOVE LOVE LOVE that magazine, don't you?) And fun making our traditional Easter Bunny cake loaded with sugary frosting, sweetened coconut flakes, and fresh strawberries (yes, I somehow managed to squeeze those in there between the cake layers! Ha-ha!)

As always, Ella made a bunch of beautiful cards for us, her horseriding instructor, and her cook at school. Her love and appreciation of others is just wonderful. She also really enjoyed coloring eggs this year, and of course making (and eating) her Easter Bunny cake. She didn't get her Easter basket yet (well, she got the one mamaie and tataie asked that I put together for her in their behalf), but what I had actually ordered for her hasn't made it yet due to some address and then UPS sorting mix-up. But that's okay because my wonderful husband turned it into a really nice teaching moment when he asked Ella what was Easter all about, right when she was starting to feel dissapointed and somewhat frustrated because the "Bunny" didn't make it with her treats... .) I just love my Hrishi! He rocks on each and every single level! My "dry" Mormon boy! (That's how he recently (jokingly) referred to himself! ;))

Easter Sunday was so beautiful, weather-wise and spiritually too. It was loaded with testimony and Holy Spirit. We watched several featured clips on the Ressurection on lds.org before heading out to church. (I just love how powerful those are.)

We were back at Sienna Stables for Ella's horseriding lesson on Saturday. Ms. Lori introduced her to the English style this time and it looks like she's going to stick with it as opposed to the Western style. She loves obstacle/jump riding and according to Ms. Lori she did extremely well with English.
Her balance on the horse is just amazing. She rode with her arms up in the air, behind her back, her head, and turned side ways. TIt was really fun and exciting to watch her.  I don't have close-ups of this as they were deep into the arena but I've got a video.

Ready, set, go! :-)

Learning the differences  between Western and English in holding the reins, turning, etc.

Bonding with Flag:

The Sweetest Bunny ever!!

\

(We made paper bunny ears and taped them to headbands. And went for a walk outside our apartment complex and to the nearby park wearing them!! )

A million dollar smile!

The worth of souls

Today we toured one of the elementary schools, trying to find a good fit for Ella. One of the things that was said made me ponder. As we were walking the hallways where the children's art and English and Science assignments were hanging, the staff pointed out how some children are more advanced and others are not or lacking... she pointed obvious differences in the children's productions. ...While the differences were obvious, seeing each child's picture next to the their assignment, made me think of a truth I hold so dear: "Remember, the Worth of Souls Is Great in the Sight of God", D&C 18:10.

Although we are evaluated and judged based on output and results in pretty much every area of our mortal life, let's remember the worth of souls and how precious each and eveyone of us is to Him, the Father of us all, regardless of our earthly physical or material merits, be it grades, paychecks, cars we drive, real estate we own, or trophies we earn. Let's try harder to see through the worldly "order" of things, and inside our neighbors' souls, love more and judge less.

(This thought, truth, or realization or call it whatever you'd like, is so much more important to me as I am a very competitive (with myself, mostly) person and I always push so hard for perfection, and push my sweet Ella to excel in all the things she's involved. I just need to remember this more often and focus on the value and worth of a soul more. If I just could just get a clearer glimpse of HOW MUCH HE TRULY LOVES EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US, iunderstand that love more and more every day, and let it guide my every thought, action, and move.)



The Rider's in the house!!!

This beautiful spunky girl of ours has seen her dream come true, or one of her (big) dreams.
She started horseback riding lessons this Saturday at Sienna Stables.

She learned quite a lot in her first 30 min lesson:
To lead her horse.

Turn left and right.


Go forward, back up and even ride facing backwards.

She did amazing and her instructor, Ms. Laurie thinks she's going to be a strong rider and pick up real quick. No doubt about it, knowing how much she loves these animals. (I just loved her confidence and how much she enjoyed herself every single moment on that horse in the arena.)

Leading Ginger back to her stall.

Later in the day we stopped by Charllotte's Saddlery, an equestrian speciality store, to pick up the basic gear: boots, breeches (pants), and helmet.

What do you think???

Oh she was so excited and so happy!!! And I am so happy for her that she can do what she loves.

After her lesson we stopped by this beautifully flora and fauna diverse park where I was taken back by this sign:

(Whoa, alligators?? We didn't see any though, which is probably a good thing.)

We did see a lot of turtles. In fact, they're everywhere. Here's Ella feeding one at a nearby pond.

We walked around, saw a wedding that was going to take place right there at the park's pavillion, saw the bride (and I told Ella it's good luck to see a bride?!! at least that's what I think ;)), and just had a good time.

Took some more pictures, of course. There are these really neat steel modern sculptures throughout the park. Really cool.

Some pictures taken one of the afternoons we went and fed the strange but beautiful looking ducks and geese at the nearby pond:

And I loved the few talks I was able to tune in to for General Conference.

President Packer's talk in particular caught my attention:

"One of the great discoveries of parenthood "is that we learn far more about what really matters from our children than we ever did from our parents. We come to recognize the truth in Isaiah's prophesy that 'a little child shall lead them.' "

I can't wait to get caught up with the rest.

Have a blessed day!! (And can't help post this one too with my never ending "eat your veggies" motto!! :))