Le Trec

Today was the final competition for the season at Moorfield Riding Center. The girls and I have had a blast putting our new found 'skills' to the test. The competition today was to complete an obstacle course with 12 different stations in the fastest time possible but the points actually came from the difficulty level chosen to complete each obstacle (walk, trot, canter, etc). We had two goes at the course with two different horses.

List of Obstacles:

1. Mounting horse without help in 15 seconds (very difficult for an old, fat girl but I did it)
2. Bending pole ~ walk the horse through two bends without touching the poles
3. Canter through zig-zag but must keep the horse at a steady pace. If you lost the pace you started at, then there was no score
4. Slow walk ~ again, if the horse did not stay at a steady pace you did not score any points
5. Move block from one barrel to another ~ this seems easy enough but some horses don't like going near barrels
6. Canter along a path while keeping horse in steady pace; if pace changes or horse stops cantering there are no points scored
7. Walk across a bridge without stepping off the sides
8. Open a gate, walk through, then close the gate while mounted on horse
9. Zig Zag poles in a circle while in canter ~ steady pace or no score
10. Bring horse to full stop & then back horse up without stepping out of bounds
11. Go through limbo poles while mounted on horse ~ the old woman actually did this :-)
12. Zig Zag poles at steady, fast pace to finish line

Picture summary of Brittney's day.... she did fabulous!

Ben was her first ride of the day

Then Timmie

Sitting tall & proud on Timmie

Open that gate

Gate is closed - success!

Cantering on Timmie

Backing Timmie up

...after finishing the Limbo Poles Timmie decided to take Brittney on a full-out run. No Worries though, she got him under control, brought him back, and finished the race.

Do you know what happens if you don't compete in these events? Just ask Kevin, you get to be the parent lead reign runner :-) So here is Sophie's store:

Sophie gettting ready to go

Sophie loving on Rickie

Mounting Rickie without help

And...she is up

Kevin doing the lead reign dance :-)

Preparing for the next obstacle, but do you see how tall she is sitting in that saddle

Slow & steady walk

Closing the gate while on Rupert

Backing up Rupert

Do you see the judge in the background? She should have given Sophie extra points for her next move...a front flip off of Rupert when he decided to stop & eat grass.

But never fear, Sophie got right back up on that horse with tears streaming down her face. She was determined to show Rupert who was boss :-)

No pictures of me, but that is ok. I had a blast riding Lulu and Cindy. I was able to get both of the horses to canter when necessary but neither horse were too keen on the idea of backing up. Oh well, you can't win them all...

Weekend Get-a-way in Norway

Kevin & I were unable to celebrate our anniversary this past August so we planned to take a weekend once we were back in England. Ryan Air is an airline in England with unbelievable rates to some excellent places. We were able to fly round trip to Norway for £20 (approximately $40). Now that is where the 'cheap' prices ended because it can be very expensive to eat in Norway, there were very few restaurants, car rental & petrol prices (gas) were ridiculous, but does price really matter when it was for our anniversary :-)

On Thursday we arrived in Haugalandet, Norway. We decided to drive around for a little while, pick up a few groceries, and then look for our cabin. Our landlord for the weekend had started a fire in the wood burning stove, so the cabin was perfect for a snuggle :-)

this is the living room with small wood burner in the bottom corner. The tv was full of American television shows ~ who'd of thought that...

They actually had a '7 Eleven' I was so excited I had to take a picture of it. I don't think you can see but the price of petrol was 11.85 per liter and diesel was 10.89.

Here are some of the first views of the fjords we would be exploring over the weekend

...and the waterfalls...

Friday morning we decided to sleep in, fix a big breakfast, and then head off to see waterfalls & go hiking. It was a fairly clear day with temperatures in the mid 70's.

This was the first waterfall we saw that we could walk around. This picture is near the bottom of it, but we were soon to learn that this was nothing compared to the size, volume, & number of waterfalls Norway has to offer.


We were unable to get a complete picture of the Svandalsfossen Waterfall. The mist coming off of the waterfall caused the picture to be blurry & after hiking around it for an hour we were both sopping wet (we looked like we had just stepped out of a shower). The pictures do not due justice to the force associated with this waterfall.


Langfoss Waterfall is a world famous site that is popular with Norway Fjord Cruises. There are no words that can sufficiently express how magnificent this site is.

Saturday we were up early because we had to catch 2 ferry rides. As we travelled through the day we realized nothing much was open, but there were still beautiful & breath taking scenes ahead...



The water was smooth as glass on the ferry rides & the views were awesome.



'Island of Calm' ~ this is a perfect house for me in the middle of a fjord... I would like to know when I can move in?




The 'Old Church' in Ardal is from the 17th Century. We learned it is a typical example of the decorations seen in Renaissance churches. The alter piece scene is a depiction of Golgatha.


One of the last stops for Saturday was in Jorpeland. We hiked parallel to a beautiful waterfall that Kevin felt the need of climbing to the middle of...

Sunday - after cleaning up, travel back towards airport, everything closed, Viking village, return flight

On our way to the airport we were quickly reminded that not much was open in Norway, but we found a true gem hidden in the ruff...a Viking Village. We had about an hour to tour the little village replica before heading off to the airport.


Look out for the Viking coming out of her bedroom. Oh my she looks grumping in the morning...

Once we were home it was time to start the laundry, cook the dinner, play a quick game of Ticket to Ride with the girls, & off to bed to start the normal routine of daily life.

My best memory of the weekend is the realization that Kevin & I were able to renew our love & commitment to each other! What an amazing blessing that is...

I know, I know

I know it has been forever since I have updated the blog... you know it is bad when Kevin asks if I am going to update it :-) Well, it can get a little overwhelming when you realize just how far behind you have gotten & know that you will never catch up, so here is my plan. I will start updating with the last few weeks & then will slowly back track some of the bigger items - Sophie's birthday, August home leave, and horse riding. I will force the dates so that the post shows up on the top, and after a week I will replace the date with the correct date so the post goes back in its proper place. We'll just see where it goes from there.

She's back... or at least on her way to getting back

When Kevin & I first moved to the UK we had three things we did right away... 1)purchase TV, 2) Internet, House Phone & Cell Phone setup, and 3) Join the gym. Yep, that is the rating that Kevin assigned to our tasks :-) TV first, communication with world second, and our exercise & physical health second.

Over the last 2+ years I have enjoyed my time at the gym, from swimming with the girls; to participating in various classes - kickboxing, body combat, body pump, yoga, etc; to having a personal trainer for a few months; to enjoying the perks of massages and pedicures. Some of my best memories at the gym were when I was working out with friends ~ Janice & I used to take 2 classes a day...man was I in shape then.

In January, Kevin & I decided to cancel our gym membership & purchase home gym equipment. This would eliminate the regular membership fee, the travel time and would enable Kevin & I to work out together. We got a fabulous deal on gym quality equipment from a shop here in the UK and had a great location for it here in our home. We even got a TV for the workout room. We were set.

Almost every morning you can here Kevin in the gym at 6am. He has really enjoyed the home gym & benefited from it. Me on the other hand, I hate it. I feel like I spend so much time at home already that I really missed going to the gym, seeing other people, and basically just getting out of the house. I could always find an excuse to keep me from getting on the home equipment - laundry, cleaning, or basically just laziness.

Last Thursday I decided to take things into my own hands, and I rejoined the gym. I love it. My goal is to go to the gym 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes, but once I get in better shape I plan on rejoining the classes and spending a few hours there. So, here's to weight loss, better conditioning, better health!

There is no place like home...

We have been trying to decide whether or not we are going back to Illinois in August. There have been many factors - money, time, family, friends, etc. But my biggest concern has been whether or not going home would amplify our homesickness. Now don't get me wrong, living here has been excellent, we are enjoying our time, making fabulous & life-long friends but as the saying goes "there is NO place like home."

When we are here in England we seem to be fine - we really enjoy ourselves & our daily routine. The girls enjoy living in a subdivision where the neighborhood kids can come over, they can ride their bikes, and take the dogs for a walk. The school is within in walking distance as well as a convenient store which allows for regular walks for ice-cream or lollies.

But when we return to Illinois and stay at our farm, well that is just home and words can't describe how much we enjoy it. We have our lake, our land, the home construction, the memories, the friends, our church, the big-kids visits (my former youth group), and the family visits. Each time we go home we find it gets harder & harder to come back to England... so we were thinking maybe we wouldn't go home this summer.

We planned a week vacation at Cornwall here in England the week after the girls get out of school. It will be a girls only vacation shared with our best friends the Hunters. We have booked an apartment right on the beach and the Hunters know Cornwall like the back of their hand. I anticipate this to be a fabulous holiday.

Next I was planning to fill the time with daily outings here in England - safari parks, farms, horse riding, water parks, etc. There also is a Christian Family week called Grapevine which includes camping, music, and lots of friend fun time. And before you know it, I figured summer time would have ended & school would begin again...

Each night it seems that Kevin asks me if I'm sure about not going home in August. He was constantly searching for cheap flights but finding ridiculous prices instead. Finally, today I said just book it - we'll go home for the month of August. Well let me tell you - God is good! Kevin booked our flights, we got the last 4 seats on the plane, and the girls were free. Can you believe that - the girls were FREE. When does that ever happen - especially during summer travel time.

So family & friends, mark your calendars now... we will be home Aug 3rd through the 25th. I plan to eat plenty of Mexican, drink lots of Diet Mt Dew, and visit with as many people as possible.

I told Brittney tonight that we were going home in August for a visit - you should have seen the huge smile that came across her face; it was priceless!!!

Gymkarna - Girl's First Horse Competition

Mother's Day Sunday was spent as a family enjoying our first horse competition. We have been taking lessons for a little over a month, and the competition is really just a chance to spend family time together enjoying the horses. Gymkana is a sports day type event with horses. There were multiple races with Kevin or I holding the lead rein, and the girl's rode a different horse for each race.

Pole Weave ~ in this race the girls had to weave their horse in & out of the poles

Do you see that confident look on her face...
Brittney's turn...
Brittney was riding Marco & he wasn't too impressed with Kevin's lead rein skill. He kept biting Kevin during the race...
Cup Race ~ while trotting, the girls had to grab a cup on one pole then place the cup on the next pole

Flag Race ~ the girls would collect a flag at one end, trot to other end & place it in cone while continually moving, then repeat

For this race, Sophie rode Rupert & based on his size she had a bit of an advantage don't you think... BUT let me say she had great hand/eye coordination & dad kept Rupert at a steady pace.Look at how tall & strong Brittney is sitting on this horse. She looks really good when she rides & very comfortable!

Sack Race ~ the girls will trot on the horse through 2/3rds of course & finish via the sack. I took over the lead rein on this race so that Kevin could get some much deserved rest.

Potato Race ~ the girls will collect a potato that has been placed on top of a drum at one end , trot to the other end & drop it in a bucket at next end, then repeat. I was 'scheduled' to run this race with the girls. It was starting to get much windier & cooler, but we are still having a ton of fun!

Do you notice on the picture above that Sophie's right hand is free (she is holding the reins in her left hand). That is so she can pick up the potato, but the only problem this time...mom was actually running half way fast & Sophie had started to get a little too comfortable with this race. She fell of the horse half way through (we were in first at that point) - quite a few tears were shed, BUT she got back on that horse & finished the race. I was so proud of her for that.

After Sophie's fall, I really needed a rest so Kevin ran the last race with Brittney. Brittney did excellent - she came in first. She has excellent hand/eye coordination & is very comfortable on the horse. She was able to maneuver the course with skill & handle her horse with confidence. She definitely deserves to be proud (mom & dad were so proud of her!)

In the end, we had a blast! The girls did fabulous. They collected a rosette for each race they were in which is really good considering they have been riding for such a short time (and no, everyone did not get a rosette; the rider had to actually place in the top 4 to get a rosette). Excellent day!