Emily's Golden Birthday Party

My two boys, Elijah on the left and Nick on the right, have never played together. Three years age difference hasn't provided that situation until now. Don't they look great? I won't tell you about the almost-fist-fight that I stood my 5'5" self in between two 6'0" boys after the game. It's a sibling thing so the altercation isn't the point. The point is moments like this.

My Emily-Lou-Whoo is turning 11 tomorrow. Her Golden Birthday. Homer and I wanted her to have the best birthday ever (because frankly, they've all been kind of crappy until now for various reasons).

We took Emily and four of her friends (plus Olivia and Lucas) to Chena Hot Springs (60+ miles from my house) for the night. Even though the horses had been "put away for the winter" the girls got them out just for Emily's birthday. What a treat!! None of her friends had ever been on a horse before! (Lucas didn't want his photo taken.)

There's Laura the handler, Skye on Rio, Zoey on Rusty, Eva on Coby, Emily on Buckshot, Callie and then Tiffaney waiting for the second group
Look at Lucas!! He's been on a tiny pony once, but never a big horse and he rode by himself. What a doll!!

That's me on Coby. What a huge horse. Seriously, I barely got on him. Do you see how far the stirrups are from the ground?

Through the creek...
Here's the second group. Do you see the size of the feet on my horse? He was so big! And the boy to the far right is Butch. He's 25 years old. What a great kids horse. Such a gentle giant.

Emily had the most amazing birthday. We rode horses, they swam in the hot springs, cake and presents, swam some more. After staying up late they got up for lunch, husky puppies and the Ice Hotel...those photos tomorrow. Such a wonderful weekend without work on the mind. So nice.