Shocking Lilah Video!!

Have I ever mentioned my daughter is fearless? These were taken at the local county fair this past weekend. We had random people specifically stop and to watch Lilah, impressed with her tiny-ness and her fearlessness. She really had fun! She went, "way, way up!!"

Joe Graham Horse Camp July 2010

Thanks to the loan of reliable truck, Nick and I managed to pull off a weekend camping with friends and family. Another couple joined us, and an old college friend just happened to camp between us. We had great rides with well-behaved horses, although one trail ride we shared with marathan runners. We got the horses into water and over bridges - great positive experience for my youngster horses Kate and the Dude! We even went swimming one afternoon to nearby Timothy Lake.

The first day we rode up to Little Crater Lake, about an 8 to 10 mile ride. You had to hike in to see the lake, and they had hitching rails for the horses:

"The Dude" with Tom and Jessica Kennady and "Calina"


"Kate", Nick, "Barry", "Sweet P." and Poppa Mike


Little Crater Lake:

"Kate" and I

Back at camp....

Lilah helping Daddy build a fire:

She also enjoyed helping me feed the horses:

The Kennadys brought over a marionberry cobbler that they cooked over the fire. Yummy!

Back on the trail, Day 2

Nanny Tanny got in on the fun the second day.

Shadow-the-dog also joined us the second day for a 4 to 6 mile ride. Simon-the-dog turned around and headed for home almost immediately. Mike enjoyed riding Sweet P. both days. We all found a happy medium in Sweet P.'s side-pull bridle.

Barry faithfully carried Nick and Tania. I expect this to be his last year carrying bigger riders. In fact, I've even been thinking about retiring him completely....

Happy Trails!

Random Lilah Pictures

Lately I've accumalated cute Lilah pictures I'm going to share in one lump sum!

Lilah LOVES holding Baby Mira (our friends' daughter and Addie's younger sis). Each time we see the Willis family (and we see them pretty often) Lilah begs to hold Mira. Sometimes, however, Lilah's attention wanders and she's been known to drop Mira like a hot potato to chase after the next toy. Which is why I'm in the picture.... :)

The next couple of pictures are taken from Portland's Rose Festival:

Lilah also loves her "Kitty-cat pool". Nick and I refer to it as the "Kiddy pool", which she intreprets to be her Kitty-cat Pool.

The other day we did some art projects. I let her paint green and brown all over her body, and afterwards she was literally running laps around the house in excitement. This was one of the better shots I could get of her -- she wouldn't hold still!

Lilah and Addie at a local park:

Lilah has been playing with her friend Avery at the barn. Avery's a couple months older, and together the girls get into EVERYTHING. Avery's mommy (the other trainer) and I take turns watching them between teaching lessons and training horses, but we cannot prevent the extreme dirt factor. I think this is the dirtiest Li-li's ever been!

Lilah loves Simon as well. Unfortunately for both Simon and I, she is able to pull open my dish-cloths drawer. Simon gets blind-sided as he naps from Lilah, who eagerly puts him "nite-nite" by covering him in my formerly clean dish towels, resulting in more laundry for me and lack of sleep from the dog! :)

Nostalgic Childhood

I recently found something special from my childhood:

My Charlie-horse!! I had him tucked away with my sewing supplies, meaning to sew his other ear back on. Needless to say he's been waiting in my closet for at least a couple of years until Lilah found him. Now he's her Very Special Toy she's been sleeping with at night.

Something also special from my childhood -- a quilt my grandmother made. I love home-made quilts anyway and wish I had more of them. I think it's pretty cool for Lilah to sleep under a quilt her great-grandmother made!

Hood River July 2010

With a year away at camp, Nick and I have spent this summer re-connecting with some of our favorite "normal" summer activities. One of our favs -- taking the horses to Hood River!! We get to visit with Nick's parents, and are able to throw the horses out in the neighbor's hay field where they are turned out for 90% of the weekend. (The other 10% we are trail riding them!) We also don't have to worry about feeding or watering them, as the waterer is automatic and the hay is abundant! It's a vacation for everyone! Except for maybe Nanny Tanny, who was left behind to watch Li-li while Poppa Mike, Nick and I went trail riding.

This year we are once again have "Kate" in our possession. She was my project horse the summer after Lilah was born, and at the time belonged to a family/friend connection. I took Kate back this past spring with the goal of selling her for this family/friend, and, to make a long story short ..... we now own Kate.



This is how Lilah spent most of her weekend:



The second day we went on this beautiful ride. See the rock line in the picture? That's the edge line, where the earth gives way to a several hundred foot drop. Creepy when you're on unpredictable animals, although I'd like to think the horses are smarter than that... :)

Barry and I

Barry, me, Mike and Sweet P.

The new horse Kate

Kate and I

Nick, Sweet P, Mike and Barry

On the trail up!

Thank you Nanny Tanny for putting us up and taking care of Lilah while we were out!

4th of July

After cold weather and getting screwed up on 4th-of-July activities happening actually on July 3rd, Nick and I settled in for a nice holiday weekend at home. We went to the Fort Vancouver activities where Lilah got to witness her first (very small) parade. She also got to run crazily at a concert, get free toy hand-outs, and see real-life "princesses" (women dressed in vintage 1800s garb).

After stopping at a couple other BBQs, we came home to our own private BBQ with Jake and Carol. We heavily sedated Simon-the-dog, who was so looped he literally couldn't walk straight. So we know he couldn't run either!

Each year we are impressed and nervous at the amount of illegal fireworks Vancouver residents put up. At dark we went over to the local school and had an extensive, front-row-seat firework show. Lilah was not a fan. Much later, we returned home and set up our own fireworks, quickly becoming the neighbors you don't want to have. Maybe we've lived here a little too long....

The Tenants

Our good friends Jake and Carol from Camp have decided to move to Portland. In the ease the transition, they moved into our basement for a few weeks until they can find jobs. Since then, Jake has found full-time employment, and they have begun searching for their own place. In the meantime, we've enjoyed having their company for the following reasons:

1. Jake makes coffee in the mornings before he goes to work. Therefore, Heather gets an instant cup of hot coffee promptly upon getting out of bed.

2. Lilah is entertained and enthralled by both persons. (See pics below)

3. Jake and Carol are amazing cooks. And we've been reaping the benefits.

4. There's almost always an insta-party when everyone gets home from work!






Much love to you Jake and Carol!