Today I was circling the parking lot at the gym, looking for the perfect parking spot. (As in, one closest to the door) Once I settled on a spot, I walked in, mentally whining in my head about the stairs I was going to have to climb with Lilah in my arms to get to the work out room. Then I thought, "Wait a minute ... Isn't this the whole point of the gym?" I guess some of the workout is just getting there with a baby in one piece ....

Heather's New Friend -- part 2

I took 10 of my Riding School Interns to a horse expo in Albany over the weekend as a reward for all the hard work they do in the Riding School. While I was there, I found a bumper sticker that really speaks to my situation with Blackjack.

It reads:

"Ride a Draft, it will make your butt look smaller."

Heather's new "friend"

He's big, beautiful, and black!

Meet "Blackjack", a full draft horse with hooves literally the size of dinner plates! BJ's owner is going to college and doesn't have time to ride him, so I am gladly exercising him for her. I am thrilled to have a horse to ride without paying the bills on one!

Now if only I could take him trail riding ...

-Heather

We have the strangest cat.

As many of you know, I would like to get rid of her. But I wouldn't feel right about giving her to another home knowing she pukes an awful lot and sometimes decides the litter box is optional. Nick wants to make her an outdoors-only kitty, but Sophie is terrified of the Great Outdoors. So we continue to debate.

Meanwhile, she does occasionally redeem herself, like when Lilah yanks on her tail and Sophie just purrs through it. (She really is an odd cat)

This picture I SWEAR is not staged. I came back from the shower to find Sophie happily curled up with Lilah's pacifer. I mean, honestly, what is up with this cat??

-Heather

-Heather

To Crawl, or Not to Crawl?

Happy Easter!!

Help! I've been turned into the Easter Bunny!


Lilah Rose, 3/23/08






Lilah's first Easter, 3/23/08



Daddy plays with me!


Nana 'n me at the hospital!

Happy Birthday Sweet "P" !!

Today is Sweet P's 14th Birthday! It also marks 10 years since she & I have been "together". In those 10 years, she has gone from being a WILD, barely-broke, explosive mustang to being a responsible, safe, and caring lesson horse and a steady-eddy, ride-anywhere trail horse. And I've gone from a horse-crazy high school girl to ... well, a horse-crazy wife and mother!


Sweet P with one of my LOH students, 10/05



Simon was too pooped to make it back to the horse
trailer ... so Sweet P carefully carried us both back
the last mile. 7/06



Nick's steady trail horse, 5/07



A family shot, 3/08





Sweet P doesn't always make life easy, and she definately doesn't always live up to her name, but I love her to pieces and hope to have her in my life until the days she dies.



Happy Birthday Sweet P! Here's to the next 10 years!



love Heather

Oh crap! I've been spotted!

Lilah in Lyle!

We did a quick trip to Lyle, WA this weekend, which is just across the river from Hood River on the Washington side. That area is BEAUTIFUL!! We got to hang out at our good friends' mother's place. She cooked LOADS of good food, Simon got to toured her property with her dogs, and Lilah made a new friend. Next time we go back, we get to try out her hot tub and Heather's bringing a horse to trail ride on!





Lilah's "Aunt" Jessica playing with the doggies!


(Oh the life of a dog...)










This horse was very curious about Lilah, and very gentle when checking her over. Lilah loves getting this close to horses -- guess she's well on her way to being a horse girl!

Hope you all are having a good week!

love, the Tyrrells

We have christened Betsy!

Guess what my daddy is doing?? :)

S

FEED ME Seymour!

Please feed me! I want real food! No formula!




I will eat this strap. Why aren't my parents taking the hint??


Finally -- my first food experience -- rice cereal and formula.
Mmm-mmm-mmmm, but messy!

Heather pulls a Britney Spears!!

After this picture was taken (at a dead stop in our driveway!) Nick took the truck keys away from me. Now he is in Seattle ... with the truck keys. So now I can't drive our new truck while he's away. And once he's back in town, he'll be driving it again.

NIIIICCCKKK -- can't I please have the truck keys? I'll promise to use a car seat for Lilah!

-Heather

Out with the Old, in with the New to Us

Its been a few years since I've gone through the whole car shopping process, and my most recent experience prior to this weekend was purchasing the 93 Chevy Silverado 2500 in the image to the left. To those of you wondering why we need a "rig" of that size, we just do, ask Heather.

Old Blue served us well. We got her when she was a young 157,000 miles full of spit and vinegar. But after 40,000 miles of horsing around and Baby L, I felt it was time to retire her at 197,000. After many weeks of searching car listings and several hours at a dealership in Hillsboro (thanks for the help Bryan!), in her place we now have the 2003 Suburban 2500 shown below which for lack of a better name, I've decided to call Betsy. Betsy is exactly what we needed/wanted in a Suburban and now we can take the horses to central Oregon AND bring friends along! We're taking reservations for every weekend this summer and spots are filling up fast... so pick up that phone and call us today for your fun filled vacation package!

-Rell