Days come and go

I find that days are passing faster and faster nowadays. It's Monday and then it feels like the next day is Thursday already, and then the weekend is there.  I love our busy life but I just wish we could slow it down a bit and stretch out the moments so we can soak more and more in. The other day we found Ella's birth keepsake box and in there, her first hospital little shirt and onesie!! They are so tiny that I almost could not believe my baby was that small... and that it was all seven years back.

When I came back from Omaha last Friday, I was handed these amazing love letters:

 

I was speechless when I first read them, I just teared up and wondered if I was really worthy of such love.... .

 

So getting home and having a free weekend with nothing planned was just wonderful. We watched  talks in each of the sessions of General Conference and I've been trying to get caught up with the rest. I really love that we had summaries/excerpts available right after the live sessions. And although we might have not paid attention 100% the entire time, I could feel the Spirit in our home and the peace and testimony that were flowing in by just allowing ourselves to hear the word. 

 

In between sessions we took Ella and her friend Noah from the ward out. They have had play dates before and enjoy hanging out together. They did a bunch of things from rock climbing, to horse feeding, soccer playing, to Halloween decor posing, and horse fighting (that was actually a bit scary. As it turns out you should never throw a treat to a horse on the ground, especially when there are other horses around. They do fight and kick galore!!)

 

 

And we enjoyed being the parents of two cute kids for a short while! :)

See? Happy mommy carrying water bottles. :)

 

Hrishi was just so cute clicking that I had to "pose." :)

 

 

 

Then came Monday with horseback riding lesson. Practiced diagonals a lot and some cantering. Notice jackets and long sleeve shirts, yes it's cooled down even down here but only temporarily. We're now back in the 90's. Now, I really don't mind that!!!! :)

 

"Scootering" around how she calls it. I just love how cool she looks with her half chaps on.

 

 

This girl has some moves! :)

 

 

Tuesday and Wednesday just flew by and here I am sitting on Thursday night with the latest updates. Speaking of updates, a ballet report is in order since horses have taken over our life lately. Nutcracker rehearsals are coming along great, lots of work from both the angels and their amazing instructor, Mr. Michael. Classes are going smoothly and everytime I think to myself that maybe ballet would be the one thing to give up on, when I see her do so well, I change my mind all over again.

Today Mr. Michael was out of town and they combined classes with an older class. It was a joy to watch these little ballerinas get help with form from their older "sisters." It was even more fun to watch them do the Pollichinelles part from the Nutcracker together. Ella was in heaven!!

 

(She is in the front/center in the burgundy leotard.)

 

 

 

The all loved this part of the booty shake! :)

 

 

All about horses

This past weekend was all about horses and our little rider. Ella competed in the her first All Horse Show competition at Sienna Stables. She did wonderfully well. She made us so proud and grateful for her and all that we get to experience by being her humble parents. She is one amazing little girl. She was nervous, sweet, looked smart in her show attire, and did great. And she got ribbons for all four divisions she competed in: group walk and trot, individual walk and trot, figure 8, and pole trot.

The days leading to that big day have been so full with excitement and anticipation, lots of practice on and off the horse, and nerves. I have to admit that I had a few butterflies in my stomach the night before and the morning of, as I was doing her hair and realized that my BABY was going to ride on a horse in front of a judge and a bunch of folks. It reminded me a little bit of the nerves I used to have when I would have a piano recital or competitions.

You wouldn't think she was nervous but I tell you, she was!

One the other hand, Hrishi was cool as a cucumber as always!! :)

We were so blessed to have our dearest friend Kalpak, as well as Andrea and Shu who are Ella's biggest supporters. It made this special day even better, just to have their support and companionship. Of course, the entire family in Romania and India cheered for her and wished they could have seen it live.

Going into the arena for warm-up:

So here is how it went down. We got there early to tack and get in the arena for warm-up but instead we just got to take lots of pictures while waiting for Ms. Jackie to be available to tack Jenkins. She had a lot of students competing and apparently they knew someting we didn't, they got there even earlier than we did, ha-ha! :) So our dear Ella only got about five minutes of practice before the actual competition started. If you know her horse, Jenkins, you would know that she likes to take her sweet time, getting warmed up and focused. She did well under the circumstances though.

They started promptly at 8:30 am. The judge and a helper stood in the middle of the arena observing each of the riders as they walked or trotted. Then they went to ask some technical questions about the reins, saddle, bit types, then asked them to walk and trot again, then the figure 8, then the pole trot.

It was serious business out there and all of the little riders did an excellent job.
Here is Ella doing her walk and trot.

She got 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, and 5th places in the four divisions. Jenkins and her would have had a great chance for a 1st place in the last division if Jenkins wouldn't have been tired or actually if both would have had a tiny bit more energy, but that's fine, it was just the first show and a great experience!! I just can't say that enough. I am grateful to have witnessed it. I am and we are so very proud of our little rider, of how hard she works, not only on that horse but at school, piano, and ballet, and how she is always up for new challenges.

Here the judge was walking around taking notes:

The judge asking the technical questions:

 

 

 

Waiting her turn between divisions:

Finishing up her last division. Tired but happy to be done!

The Ribbons table!! :)

With the "loot", happy and relieved!!

After picking her ribbons up she hurried back to Jenkins' stall to share the prizes with her and take some pictures. She was trying to figure out how she could clip all of them onto her mane!

With Andrea giving Jenkins some love:

The cutest champions!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

By now Jenkins was hungry! :)

We came home and I finished up whipping together some appetizers, Hrishi fired up the grill, and  we sat down for a little celebration. It was so wonderful to share these happy moments with Andrea, Shu, Kalpak, and a couple of other dear friends.

 

I made this cute little horse shaped cake as a surprise. She loved it!!

 

 

It was one of those perfect days, although tired and high on sugar, she kept going, playing and being her happy self until late afternoon when the friends left and I was able to put her down for a late nap. she needed it, she had been up before 6 am three days in a row.

 

A few snaphots from the practices before the show, on Friday and Saturday.

On the way to the dress practice. She was so happy to hear her show colared shirt:

 

 

Looking sharp in her Hunter jacket:

 

 

Indeed, memories in the making.

 

Washing Jenkins. Oh, how she loved to give her a nice scrub.

 

Last practice before the big day:

 

 

 

She's all excited about the next show that might be no sooner than November. We'll have to see how cantering is going to work out for her on a different horse.

 

 

Premium Chocolatiers and a bit of Omaha

This is stuff is indeed premium, the Premium Chocolatiers chocolates! First off, I was ecstatic to find such a company manufacturing cocoa and soy based chocolate in a dedicated facility, free of any milk and nuts allergens, a few weeks ago and then ordered some for Ella. I timed it so it would get delivered for the horse show.  It made this little girl so super happy that she ate four chocolates (crazy me for letting her) in one sitting and last night was telling me about her little goal not to eat any more chocolates or sugar of any kind until Friday. We both made this little promise that we wouldn't! :-)

I left early Tue morning for Omaha for my week long business trip and I already miss her. How can I not when she woke up at 5:30 am knowing that I was going to leave, and asked me if I brought sweaters along for the cold weather in Omaha, and crying when we hugged and kissed good bye, and begging me not to leave?? I broke my heart in half. I miss you little one!!

Some pretty pictures of Omaha fall colors.

(These were taken outside of the Omaha Lifetime where I ran a few hills.)