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!! :))