We found joy this weekend

We had a really fun weekend. My younger set of kids have a completely different mom than my older kids. Yes, they were silly and we had fun but there is something that they taught me. That children don't stay children. When I looked at the smiles this weekend I cherished them differently than I cherished my adult childrens when they were young. I thought that Alicia, Ashton and Autumns childhood would last and now I know that in the blink of an eye we will be at another highschool graduation, college graduation, wedding or the birth of a grandchild (none coming yet). And I will cherish all those moments. But this weekend I had some beautiful moments with children being children and I loved every moment of it. 

Below you will see a picture of makeovers gone terribly wrong, but look at those smiles. This was the first time we met Aubreys new friend Audrey. We love her, she was so much fun! 

 Sunday after church was our annual picnic. Jayda & Brie were argueing but this is what friends look like when they realize that their hurt feelings were all a misunderstanding. I think that we (adults) could use a lesson on forgiveness from children.

 Can't have an OVCC picnic without a fun game of frisbee golf. Aubrey and Audrey had tons of fun here.

 Then we ended our weekend with horse riding lessons with the best teacher, Ms. Jan. I appreciate her patience and firmness with my kids. Here is Aubrey with Sierra, this horse was a wild mustang that Jan trained. Sierra has a mind of her own, she is safe to ride but needs a strong rider to make her move.

Love is an Arabian and she is wonderful. My kids like to joke that they "love love and love riding love". Joey is a bit more cautious and Love is the perfect horse for him.

Cabbie is a 30 years old Arabian and Jayda loves him. Jan is very good at caring for her horses and is helping Jayda understand that growing old and death are part of living. Its a good thing Jayda is so light because Cabbie loves having her ride him. He was happy to be working again. 

 Hmmmm.... does this look like dirt to you? Ya, I didn't think so either. Time to go shower and relax .

 I hope that you all were blessed by God this weekend and were able to find JOY in living and loving.