Mommy's home!

Mommy took a long business trip to Germany. It was super-great to return home to the family, in time for Mother's Day.

I want to give a very big THANK YOU to my own mother for coming to our house to help for a week.We definitely could not have done this without her! She did EVERYTHING. Wow, we were so lucky. She shopped, cooked, cleaned, taxi-ed, petted, managed, laundered, and restocked. It was amazing. THANK YOU, GRAMMABON!! (And thank you to Grandpa too, as he had to get by without her for that time. It was sacrifices, all around! :) )

Photo op at the HP site when returning the rental car.

Cleaning the picnic table. Any excuse to use the hose...

... and then they decided to put their swimsuits on.* But Miri was a little cold and didn't want to get wet. So she "had a plan"...

...which involved wearing her rain coat over her swimsuit.

Aleaha thought it would be fun to set the pool under the slide. You think the water might be a little chilly?  

Miri's ready-set-go collage. (slight wardrobe adjustment needed after the slide)

Shorty, having a test-ride to see how he will be as a lesson horse for Aleaha. Although he was a little unfamiliar with expectations in the arena...

...he did super-great on the trail-riding test. Pawed at the water for a moment, then calmly walked through it. Yay, Shorty!! 

Back at the ranch, after that workout, he needed a good roll in the dirt.

Such a honey-pie, this guy is.

Arby, ready for his close-up.

Jake, ready for his dinner!

* In photos of our backyard this time of year, you will see that we have electrical tape up everywhere. And if you look carefully, many photos include horses in the background. Yes, we are rednecks and let our horses graze in the backyard. It solves a couple of problems at one time. We tape off areas where they aren't allowed to go, such as the swingset area. This keeps the horses safe from the children. wink-wink