Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Like father like daughter

Ella is in so many ways like her daddy! From the beautifully contoured eyes, lush hair, cute nose and mouth, all the way to the courage (and skill) to rock climb, ride horses, and play sports.

And it was only a matter of time... until she took up golfing. Hrishi loves golf and plays whenever he can. He's over the moon now that she is getting her swing and putting on. And she is so happy  these cool junior golf sets are a steal at Walmart.






  







Friday, January 25, 2013

"Thank you"

I grew up with hearing and saying "thank you" a lot. It's just part of how I was raised.

I love saying it and hearing it.

It makes me happy.

In the middle of those hectic mornings of making breakfast and lunch, it is music to my ears to hear it spoken from the heart, with true gratitude by my truly wonderful husband and daughter. I love you guys and I'm always going to be there for you, cooking those healthy meals (or just cooking :)), packing lunches, sitting through homework,  piano practice, horseback riding practice, ballet practice, and whatever else comes our way.

I am happy and grateful beyond words for all the small and big miracles God brings about in my personal life and our family life as a whole. Thank you, dear Heavenly Father.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The little Champ

This past weekend Ella had fun at her horse show. Yes, she wanted to win at least a couple of ribbons, but most importantly she got it in her head that she was just going to do her thing and not worry about the prize. I guess all those talks from mommy, daddy, and Jacqueline helped. Sure, we want her to be competitive and set high expectations for herself, do better than she did last time, but most importantly, we want for her to have fun and enjoy the ride (not only figurately speaking :)), as this is the THING she absolutely loves.

I found this old picture the other day and put it side by side with one from this show. How cute is that? That is probably the first pony she ever rode, Ricky, at Mahoney Park in Omaha.  Last weekend was Cessna at Sienna Stables in Missouri City.



Now back to the show: we got to the stables bright and early, picked up her bib, and headed for Cessna's stall. On the way there, we ran into Jacqueline, her trainer who gave her a big hug (for good luck, Ella says. :). She looked so darn cute and smart in her black velvet covered helmet, breachers, white shirt, and jacket. It was cold and foggy, brrr!! We watched Cessna eat her breakfast, and talked about why donkeys can't make good lesson "horses" until right before 8 when Hrishi tacked so she  could start the warm-up. The show began a little late, right before 9 as the judge was driving from North TX and was delayed because of the fog.

Here she is warming up and being led in the arena by Jacqueline.





Theory drill:




Our beautiful rider:




This time around, she competed in nine divisions total: five in her age group for walk/trot and poles, and four divisions in the 14 year old walk/trot/canter and jumping.  So all in all from the time she mounted until she was done, she'd been on horseback for two and a half hours. She has incredible stamina and focus. She didn't want to munch on anything just took sips of water and Gatorade during the short breaks.



















The Judge:


With the big girls, holding her own:




I'm so very proud of her, watching her do her thing out in the arena: ride that horse like there's nobody's business.





After she was done, we stayed and watched the next division and saw some nice high jumps from the older girls.  The sun came out and it was a beautiful, beautiful day.


Ella got to hang out with a little friend, Rowan who also takes lessons from Jacqueline and rides Cessna:



Aren't they cute?



At home we had a celebration of pizza and sparkling grape juice but not before she added the "loot" to her ribbon shrine. :)




We thought that after all this she was going to be tired, sleep early, etc. etc. But no, she had more energy than ever!!

Now we're talking about "showing" out of town (that means competing in outside shows, in this equestrian language I'm learning faster than I can.) Maybe once a year. It's so expensive. Ouch!

 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

New Year so far

I rang in the New Year with a 5K race. Literally, January 1st. It was the Commitment Day race/rally, a pretty cool event organized by Lifetime Fitness across the country. The weather was kind of horrid but it could have been a lot worse... that's what I told myself at the Start line when it had just started raining. Cold, windy, and rainy made for a fierce run. It was great to cross the Finish line and see Hrishi and Ella there all excited for me. It had been a long 3.1 miles. It never really feels that long in good weather conditions or better yet, on the treadmill indoor. I was pretty soaked, but hot and beyond myself that I had gotten up on New Year's morning (early, early morning) to go do this. The pictures probably show enough of my enthusiasm.


I get a great rush of adrenaline standing there waiting for that start gun.  It's probably one of my favorite parts of the race: that exciting moment when I visualize the entire race being a success and me having tons of fun through all the pounding, heavy breathing, blaring music in my ears, and the rest of the runners, volunteers, everyone and everything.  

One of my greatest supporters :)



  Start

Finish line!!!




On my way out I grabbed some yummy breakfast kolache and burritos for Hrishi and the race prize  (sack, t-shirt, and a cool journal to record commitments for the new year.) Ella was very happy that she also got a t-shirt, being the child of a registered runner. :)

With my other amazing supporter:

 

This was not intended to be a silly picture but I almost lost my balance.

 Race inspired-art. (I love my amazingly alert, talented, and in the moment artist.)



[One of the reasons I wanted to do this right on January 1st is because for some reason, this first day in the new year always feels a little strange to me, mostly melancholic and nostalgic for the year that had just passed, and I wanted it to be fun, exuberant, and energetic. No mopping around watching TV and snacking but rather RUNNING out there in miserable weather and feeling the pulse of the crowd. (That part of racing grows on you after the very first race and gets more and more exciting and something to look for, every time you are out there. I live for the pre-race and post-race atmosphere.]

Then I wanted to make sure I got to the temple 1st Saturday the year and solidify my temple attendance by going at least once a month, another goal of mine. So I made it there. It was another weather miserable day but we did it. We went.


Things have been good. Lots of prayers and thoughts for some family health problems, back to foster parent training (it's really hard to fit this back into our already crazy busy schedules after work but we are committed.) Unfortunately, from a time constraint perspective, these trainings "expire" every year so they have to be retaken on-site, but fortunately, they are a good refresher to ensure all rules, regulations, and paperwork are up-to-date and kept to a tee for the foster children's safety.

Ella's report cards make us happy and proud, as well as her every day spark of life, humor, and smarts. She's doing great and we're working on extra stuff at home (math, reading and comprehension) to supplement homework.


Homework



Horseback riding, piano, and ballet are back in session. In fact, she's preparing for a horse show this weekend. She'll participate in two divisions, the pre-beginner walk-trot she's done in the past, plus the "big girl" jumper/hunter division where she'll make her debut in cross-rail jumping, in addition to walk/trot/canter in a group. She's going to do well, I know it. She's working so hard every class period, one whole hour on that horse rain or shine. And every time she jumps those jumps my heart beats a little faster. I'm nervous and scared for her but every time she jumps them it makes me a little bit braver and a lot more thankful for her and her guardian angels.


The best moments in life:


Enjoying her flour-less chocolate black-bean cake (this cake kicked off my adventures in the gluten-free world of baking.)


Passed this pretty little tree and had to take a picture. To me it's a depiction of winter around here:


Back to baking: the true test of a baker is to successfully make horse treats. Ha-ha!! Well, I made them last night and am now waiting to validate my "success" tonight when Ella's equine friends will get to taste them. :)
They're seriously yummy. I tasted them, of course. What can be bad when you mix oats, grated carrots and sugar cane syrup???


This is what I found on her doll house on Saturday when I came back from my long run. Her interpretation of the seed of faith/testimony. Love it!!!


Taking pictures of her model. She modeled her school building, surrounding streets, and lake out of paper, plastic toys, and lots of tape.


And at last, but not least, THIS my training program. 44 more days of prep. And my spine/neck/nerve is starting to bother me. I had to pull back for a few days but I'm back in action running very few miles (like 2) a day. Oh boy, I'm a little scared that I can't finish training because of my spine. This is going to take all that I have got and MORE. I'm praying and thinking through t scenarios that will allow me to continue training without any (further) damage.



October Birthday!

Ella turns 12!!!!! Lots of milestones: graduated from Primary, moved into Young Women's, got her temple recommend. She is such an a...