Sarah's Thirteen

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

 
Today not only do we celebrate the Resurrection of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ, but we also had the joy of celebrating our daughter's birthday!  Thirteen years have gone by so quickly...  We are so thankful for the gift of Sarah in our lives... and so proud of the young woman she is becoming.

 The gift of a beautiful ring... 
a tangible reminder to strive to maintain strong faith and whole heart purity...

 a symbol of our enduring love for her...

 and, most importantly, representing the everlasting love of Christ... 

whom she has welcomed within her heart.

What a blessing to walk this journey with her... 

Happy Birthday sweet Sarah!

Spring Tea

Today we had a lovely birthday tea with some of Sarah's
closest of friends...

It has been a blessing to share and grow along side these precious young ladies.

We decided to get creative with our Spring Theme ...

we "planted" Cakes!

They turned out lovely!

and tasted wonderful too!

Living Out Her Passions

My daughter has a passion.

It is not an all consuming passion, but it is a deep seated enjoyment of horses!

I don't know how it all started. Perhaps is was her first viewing of Black Beauty... or just falling in love with the beauty of a horse in the pasture...yearning for a horse of her own.

The reality is, a horse of her own, is most likely not in her near future. Yet, we encouraged our daughter to pray and to wait. As life has unfolded we have encountered many opportunities to enjoy and be around horses. God has a way of answering little girls prayers...

Sarah using "Princess" to demonstrate the importance of grooming

One of these opportunities has been involving our family in 4H.

This past month, Sarah has devoted herself to researching, preparing and writing an oral presentation for the Ada County 4H Horse Illustrated Talk/Demonstration contest. This year she chose the topic of "General Horse Care". As always, she is full to the brim with fresh knowledge and eager to share with others all she has learned. She prepared an 8 minute illustrated talk and did a fabulous job presenting her information!




What a joy to see her confidently speaking in public at such a young age.

Sarah received a 2nd Place Ribbon for her efforts!

An Evening of Music, Fellowship and Chocolate

Thursday night we held a violin recital in our home to celebrate Sarah's finishing up Book One of the Suzuki Music School.

We are so thrilled to see her graduate on to the next level!

Sarah warming up before the Recital
Her beautiful dress was hand made by her Grandma Linda!

Many of you know that Sarah has been learning to play the violin since she was just a wee toddler of two. This journey has had many ups and downs and side stops along the way... She began in Tokyo, Japan...

Sarah with her first Violin Teacher in our apartment in Tokyo
Winter of 2001

We soon made a move back to the States, where after a few months of looking, we found another excellent teacher to continue her instruction... This was a time of building a foundation...of good habits and technical skill... and after a year or more of pre-twinkles we finally graduated to begin Book One. Two moves and two instructors later, she is finally moving forward at a strong pace...

Sarah and Jenny, her wonderful violin Instructor,
playing a duet

Although it seems a long time for Sarah... and sometimes she has felt like she has been taking one step forward and two steps back...she has worked hard and diligently the entire way. The time spent has served her well as she has matured and worked to finish up the first of many books to come...



As with anything of value, hard work and diligence are at the core of success. Playing an instrument takes daily commitment... we are so proud of Sarah for sticking with it.

Friends

Of course, after the recital, we enjoyed the fellowship of friends and family that came to support Sarah and we feasted on chocolate covered strawberries and a double chocolate cake prepared by my wonderful and talented mother.

Our Chocolate...

A special thanks to my mother, Linda, Jenny (Sarah's Violin Instructor), and Pat (our wonderful pianist), for graciously sharing your time, gifts and talents to make this evening very special.

What a great memory for all of us to draw from as we move forward to book two!

A Week of Horsing Around, Part Two

Tuesday, Sarah participated in the Chickasaw Choctaw 4H Beginner's Horse Show. She did splendid! It was a bit unnerving and Wyatt was acting up a bit. We think he may have been testing Sarah's strength and fortitude a bit. Horses feel the confidence of their rider and he was giving her a run for her money! Her confidence began to waiver and he knew it... After a few tears and a couple of pep talks, we put Sarah in the ring...she kept it together and did a fabulous job.

The Opening Ceremonies
Sarah and a couple of her class competitors

Sarah was number 28...
Can't tell with the long braid blocking the number!
Getting into position for her Showmanship Class

Here is her Showmanship Class
The Judges are making their first inspection

Sarah setting Wyatt up for Showmanship
My little girl in a big arena...

Sarah feeling good after her Western Walk/Trot Class
1st Place! Way to go!!

Here is a video clip of her English Walk Trot, if you want to view it just make sure you stop the music playing in the left side column!

Sarah ended up coming home with two first place ribbons (both for her Walk/Trot Western and English classes) and a 4th place (for showmanship). She also walked away with the Grand Champion, High Point Ribbon! She scored the highest total out of all of her class of 10 and 11 year old competitors. Hurray for Sarah!

The next day... a proud Grand Champion and her horse.

We are so proud of Sarah. Her hard work and hours of time spent preparing for the show paid off in a bounty of great memories...

A Week of Horsing Around, Part One

Sarah has had a great time the past few days riding and enjoying working with Wyatt. Mom and Dad are tired and ready for a break!

Monday, She went on a trail ride with her 4H group in the Eagle Foothills... We all went up to see her, and the rest of her group, off and had a fun BBQ and picnic. All of the girls had a lot of fun!

The girls giving Shorty a make-over before the trail ride...

Sarah and her love....

Wyatt giving me a big smile! No Joke, I asked him to smile
and he did!

My little girl is getting tall and slender...

Sarah and her trainer and 4H friend, Courtney.

Sarah Jane (and her pony Shorty),
Sarah's dear friend and 4H buddy...



Some of the 4H gang getting ready to head out...
Happy Trails to You. Until, we meet again...

Skirts Made for Two!

Here is the latest in our "sewing threads of beauty and modesty" collection...

Sarah and Isabelle

These beautiful young girls are modeling the newly sewed
twirling skirts!
Every girl needs a skirt to spin and twirl about in...
(Sarah picked out the horse fabric of course.)

Sewing Threads of Beauty and Modesty

Have you gone shopping for "girl" clothing lately? I sure find it difficult to find modest, feminine and tasteful clothing for my 10 year old young lady... I actually want her to look like a young girl, not a grown up woman or trendy teenager...

I have been looking at some great web sites and have found some adorable hand made skirts for young ladies... the problem is, they are all so darn expensive!

Well, I got to thinking, I do have a sewing machine, and I do have a general idea how to sew fabric together... although I am a bit rusty. I dusted off the machine and put my hands to work!

And here is the product of my creative juices!

Sarah picked out the vintage fabrics
and designed the skirt (with a bit of my help)...

I think it turned out lovely for our first go around!

Beautiful Girlhood

Girlhood is the opening flower of womanhood.
It has charms all its own. The wonderful change from the child to the woman, the marvelous blossoming of young, healthy girlhood, will ever be God's great miracle in life's garden.

Girlhood is like a half-open rose.
We are charmed, both by the beauty of the bud and by the wonderful coloring of the rose.
We behold the familiar traits of childhood that have always charmed us and held our affections, but blended with these in ever changing variety are
the graces and powers of womanhood.

Excerpt from Beautiful Girlhood, M. Hale, Revised by Karen Adreola

Sarah presented a speech at the
District 4H Illustrated Talk and Demo Contest this past weekend...

It seems my little blessing of a child is growing up. Today she marks the occasion with TEN birthday candles atop her cake. Where does the time go? It is so obvious to me as I look at her... those young little chubby cheeks have slowly melted away...to a more mature, beautiful and slender face. Her legs and arms have become long and out of proportion to the rest of her and she has even shown sign of fluctuating emotional moments! (Oh the dread of hormones...)

Sarah sharing a silly moment with her girlfriends!

Today she stands on the threshold of girlhood. I likened it to a garden for her. I explained that all of her life she has played in a beautiful walled garden... safe and secure . This was her childhood. Today the garden gate has been left open for her to peek out into the wide world around her. Someday, I told her, she will walk out into the wide open world and rarely return to her safe garden... accept for an occasional trip to enjoy it's nostalgia and familiarity... She will go out and create her own garden. This is what womanhood will be...

Yet, for now she is not given leave to wander freely, she is given permission to step outside the garden gate and explore and enjoy the fields and the streams... and practice gardening.. on her own, within close proximity of her safe and loving garden. This is what girlhood is.

Girlhood is an in-between spot. A time to grow and learn what it means to be a woman. Yet, the little girl enjoys the wonder and joy of childhood... carefree and safe within her own home and family.

As we all know, girlhood is not without danger. Sadly, the world outside can be filled with disappointment and emptiness...

In light of this fact, I truly believe God has placed her Father and I in a position to protect and guard her, as well as, train her up... to be ready to face the joys and evils of this world and thrive in it.

A proud Mother with her beautiful daughter!

To celebrate this special birthday for Sarah, we decided to invite some close local friends and hosted a lovely tea party complete with all the finery... white linen, bone china, and tea with sandwiches and little sweets. I also invited the young girls and women to share from their hearts a bit of advice and Godly wisdom for Sarah... as she begins the path of girlhood...

It was a lovely time... and the thoughts shared were most helpful and beautiful. Sarah has a new memory box to place the written sentiments in... to look upon in the future whenever she needs a little encouragement or wisdom along life's journey...

It was a lovely party! We missed all of you who are so much a part of Sarah's young life... If you would like to send her bits of wisdom for life's journey ahead, feel free to send her a note of encouragement.

Meet Wyatt

Here is my daughter's new love... Wyatt. He is a very gentle, yet spirited, bright bay, whom Sarah is working with this year for her 4H project. Sarah's 4H leader has been so generous to our little girl... she has allowed her to work with Wyatt and has been teaching her all about the various arts and responsibilities of horsemanship.

Today my little girl tried her hand at English Riding! (Although, she did not rid herself of her pink, very western, cowgirl boots!) She rode confidently in the English saddle...

We will miss Wyatt over the next month while we are away... but will look forward to meeting him upon our return in December.

Cheerio!