The Plan

  Yesterday, Lilli and I went exploring. She was excited to roam around and brought a little bag in which to put treasures that she might find along the way. It was afternoon, just before a rain system moved in, so the air was very still and warm. We went to visit my tree, then cut across the middle of the property to cross the dam, since the pond actually has water in it right now. There were two of our horses in the very back pasture, and Lilli wanted to see them. I noticed that she was dragging a little, and finally, once we got all the way back there, she said, "Mimmie, my feets are hurting. I need you to carry me back home." Looking way up the hill, across several acres to the...

read more
Mimmie’s Heart: Letters to Brody #3

Mimmie’s Heart: Letters to Brody #3

  Two. You are two years old today, which is unreal to me. It seems we just brought your tiny self home from the hospital, our St. Patty's Day baby, the first boy for your Papa and me. I'm not sure you'll ever realize the thrill in that, as, even though your Papa has loved all of his girls so much, there was a part of him that always hoped for a little boy to enter our lives. We couldn't have asked for any better than you. What's even better is that you love both of us, your Papa and "Ninnie." You get equally excited to see us both, completely comfortable in our presence, as we want all our grandkids to be. You are so happy, and so funny, with all your little expressions of delight at...

read more

The Great Uncomfortable

  Our Hope for the Trail fundraising campaign is coming to a close in about 27 hours. In the midst of it, we've welcomed (and enjoyed the heck out of) our new stud colt, Flynn, made some significant transitions (more on that later), and have still managed to raise almost $13,000. Because he promised, and you came through, Kevin also managed to squeeze in a trip to Walmart with the dear ol' Uni-lazy. It took great courage and denial of dignity, but he pressed through and made me proud. So, without further ado, I present the following... Sometimes you're called to do something that makes you incredibly uncomfortable. You're pushed WAY out of your comfort zone to make strides for the...

read more
What’s Really Important

What’s Really Important

  It's been a special weekend. In the wee hours of Friday morning, we got a call from Maddie, telling us that her pregnant mare, April, was finally in labor. Twelve days late, all of us had begun to wonder if it would ever happen! We threw on clothes and ran to the barn, to be greeted by a sweet little stud colt and a first-time momma, licking her little guy clean. Meet "Bravado's No Fool" (out of "Sugarcreek Bravo" and "Almost a Fooler"), known to us as "Flynn." Flynn means "reddish in complexion," which is appropriate for this little cutie. He came into the world on the 33rd anniversary of Kevin's dad's home-going, which was a really neat thing, since the next day, we had plans to...

read more
How My Uni-Lazy Might Actually Make it to Walmart

How My Uni-Lazy Might Actually Make it to Walmart

  Remember the Uni-lazy? The big, brown, footed Snuggie suit? Well, back when I first posted about it, I had also thrown that crazy pic of me, in the suit, up on Facebook. It garnered a fair amount of attention. One person said that he would make a $50 contribution to our favorite charity if KEVIN would wear it to Walmart, and Kevin said it would take a $5000 contribution to OUR charity, Hope for the Trail, for him to ever even consider it! That comical exchange got us thinking, though, after it all died down. Could that be a way to have some fun and raise some money? We were getting ready to roll out our new web site in the coming weeks, and had already planned a crowd-funding...

read more