At Four

I realize that this is a month late, but we were in Ethiopia on Ana's birthday. I had made a purple outfit. So I just took pictures of her in it today! There's a lot of pressure on her now as she is the one who speaks English and knows the rules (supposedly). I appreciate her laugh and smiles even in transition.

We Made It!

After 36 hours of travel and being split up on the first leg and (me) having to sit in the airport with the girls for about 6 hours and having kids sprawled all over you for 10 hours, we made it. Let me just say that Singapore Air is AWESOME. I've flown them before, but never on a long haul. There was excellent service--the stewards even learned the kids' names, the in flight entertainment was light years ahead of Lufthansa and the American airlines, and they fed you great food constantly. (I wonder what business class would be like!) Even though the flight was longer--it was worth it!

Passports Coming!

Yeah! They released the passports today and they will arrive on Monday. We also confirmed our tickets for Wednesday AND our flight isn't until 10:30am. This will allow us to get a good nights rest. Because of our delay we got to spend an extra day with Grandma and Grandpa Clark today. Thanks for driving up to see us!

Be Thankful

I think we are now leaving on Wednesday-almost a week later--all because the State Department required one little stamp. BUT, truth be told I was not looking forward to being on a flight by myself with all three of them that left at 5am! We're also enjoying lovely fall weather together and lots of horse rides! Thanks for all your encouraging e-mails!

We Passed...Again!

We had our court date in Indiana yesterday. The kids sat quietly and the judge was very kind. Now the birth certificates are what is standing in the way--they're telling us that we have to wait 90 days. (With Ana's we went right after court and picked it up, so we know this is not true!) If that is the case, we'll just use the wrong, misspelled names on the passports and change them later.

The Trail Ride

Here's "my" horse Annie.

The woods were quite beautiful and would be STUNNING in October when all the leaves have changed color. This picture also shows Annie leading which was a major milestone as she is a true follower!

This picture shows why Grandma got a smaller horse!

I debated with Fred and Betsy what to call this post. I thought about entitling it "My IN-Laws Just Tried to Kill Me," or "Death by Trail Ride." They said I should call it "We Told You to Get Off the Horse," or "Isn't This So Much Fun?"

We started out Friday morning and drove almost three hours down to the campground in southern Indiana. After getting settled, we went for a "short" ride. The horses did great even though we went up and down some large hills AND a deer jumped across the path in front of us.

The night was interesting as none of the horses liked the horse behind them and didn't sleep most of the time. Annie laid down and her head hung out the stall (normal stalls being much too small for such large horses). Every time she lifted her head she hit the gate. How do I know? Because I was sleeping in the truck and could see through the windshield! F and B slept in the trailer on a deflated air mattress.

The next day we rode for seven hours--that was the killer part. Not only were the horses, who normally stand out in the field and eat all day, dying, but their riders were quite sore too! It was quite interesting to see all the different horses and riders out on the trail. (This is the largest ride with over 220 horses there.)

That night was the auction and dance. Although I attended neither I can attest they lasted well into the night!

Thanks for taking me F and B. It was an experience that will not be soon forgotten!

Granpa's New Purchase

So, I'm skipping a lot of posts for this, BUT I know all you Eilers are dying to see Grandpa's new purchase. The funniest thing was when the horses ran up to check them out!!