Pony 4 Sale

I have mentioned our pony, but no pictures. Here she is. She was a huge hit at the family reunion, but now she is for sale on Craigslist.

She is the only animal on our farm that is not for food purposes. Although Levin had eaten horse in Kazakstan and claims it's not so bad . . . I think it's illegal isn't it?

I rode the pony one time - her first morning as a Flake pony. Did I ever tell you I don't like riding something that has a mind of its own? I was scared I would break her back, but Levin and Oliver assured me it would be okay, and it was. I noticed no other adults rode her however. I think they just thought it'd be funny to see me on her.

If you've always dreamed of owning a pony - now is your chance!

It Was A Horse Race

As I mentioned in my last post we took a few road trips end of August - end of September. The first was to upstate New York to visit Levin's sister. She took us to a horse race! It just so happens they do horse races every year that same week we happened to be visiting. None of us had ever been, "to the track" before. To spice it up a little we bet $1 on several horses. If you're new to gambling like we were, let me explain. You can bet on a horse to win, a horse to show (come in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd doesn't matter which one), or a horse to place (you choose the specific 1st, 2nd, 3rd.) Or you can choose who you think the top three winners will be. I told Levin to place a bet on #4 to show for myself. Well, he came in FIRST! I only won 89 cents. They had also chosen #4 to win and Levin's nephew had that ticket. He won $8! If only we'd bet $100! :) It is the same nephew that met with doom at the family reunion rodeo the week before so maybe he needed a boon. Not to teach a bad lesson that gambling is awesome his parents made him buy donuts for all the other kids with his "earnings."

PS. Note how much better Layne's eye looks less than a week after Milky Way slammed him into the fence.

PBR - Professional Bull Riders

Last weekend we loaded up the kids for our third road trip in I think 6 weeks and went to Charlottesville, VA for a rodeo! It actually wasn't a full rodeo, just bull riders. I didn't realize until we got there this was serious stuff, not just some local rodeo. Last year's world champion was there! There were also some pretty famous bulls there. We had a few Australians (an Australian won) and some Brazilians too. When we first got there it was so loud and they were doing pyrotechnics (is that right?) and I was a little scared for my children, but they did awesome! We had a fantastic time. We met Levin's sister's husband and his two children down there (up there for them) and also Oliver (Levin's brother we live very close to) and his family. We had such a fantastic time!

Mine and Levin's forget to bring inside the camera streak continues so these are pictures Justin gratefully shared with us.

What an awesome family! :) Aren't we cute?! I know we are because a lady a row up and over kept holding her camera over her head so she could take pictures of us. Ha ha. Isn't that funny? There were a few kids around Leah's age, but Oliver was the only baby in the arena.

Sunday morning we woke up early and before church went to tour UVA campus. It is a beautiful campus and we saw Edgar Allen Poe's dorm room. If I look tired it's because I was.

Here is my baby boy! You couldn't see him so well in the other photos because I had him all covered up in a blanket. Rebecca, this is the blanket you sent us with Dani. We use it all the time! It is the perfect size and thickness.

Here is Leah. The morning before we drove down to the rodeo we had some pictures taken of her at Sears and she turned into a little modeling queen and was more than happy to model for Uncle Justin. If Sears ever gets us our pictures I'll scan and post.

Leah said, what? You posted all those cute pictures of Oliver and only posted me in my white trash outfit? Nor fair!

So here is my cute girl!

I have good news and bad news about Leah. She no longer screams in a super high pitched voice when she doesn't get her way. She used to do it with such gusto her cheeks would shake and her face would turn red. It was annoying as heck, but also sometimes quite funny. That's the good news. The bad news is that she now says, but I want it, I want it whenever I don't respond immediately to her request or try to tell her no. No matter how many times I say no, or in a second, or yes, right now, but it's taking me time to deliver she says, but I want it, I want it, the whole time. Good thing she's so cute!

More Oliver

Cousin Joel snuck in my picture.

Little O

I realize I don't have enough pictures of Oliver, so the other day I just started snapping while he was laying on my bed. Here's what we got.

So handsome!

So happy! Check out those chubby thighs!

Hmm . . do you think you took enough pictures mom?

Are you crazy woman?? Stop taking pictures of me!

Happy Birthday To Me!

My birthday was September 11th. We had a small party with Oliver's family on Friday, then on my actual birthday Amber and I went out to Mimi's Cafe and then shopping. Then on Sunday we had some old friends from our singles ward in northern Virginia come over. It was an awesome weekend.
Levin completely surprised me with an iPod. Yea! I'm a cool kid now. :) It actually is coming in handy with some teach yourself Russian software. I just need to use it more.

The Friday before my birthday Levin had to go into Washington to the USDA building for some work related stuff. I took the kids and walked around the mall and fed our parking meter. I got just short of Lincoln Memorial when I had to turn back for fear of a parking ticket. While at USDA Levin learned he'd gotten a $500 spot award. We'd already planned to go to my favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory. Yum Yum! Since he got the award we splurged and got this scrum-diddly-umpcious cake for my birthday. It was so rich, so tall, and so wonderful! I want some so bad looking at it. We ate it Friday, Sunday, and Monday (sharing it of course) and I never tired of it.

Earlier, during the Flake reunion, Levin had surprised me with this beautiful print. His brother Lincoln lives in England and brought it with him. I'd never seen it before, but loved it. It is called Jesus' Childhood and is painted by Gerard von Honthorst (1590-1656). I got it framed and there she sits propped up on our mantel. Our sea shipment has not arrived yet, so all other wall decorations are still en route.

It was a great birthday! Oh, Mom I don't think I ever told you, but I got a pair of jeans and a case for my iPod with your birthday money. Thanks!