Sarah

Kit has got many workouts this week.. at least six or seven times he's been ridden I'd say. Sarah loves pictures of him with her so here is yet another!

Fall is in the air!

Here are the latest pictures that I took at the farm(where we keep the horse). We've been helping out some with the pumpkin stand there. Enjoy! Eric getting those pumpkins to look "just right" for people driving by to see so they'll stop in and buy!!!
Sarah's pumpkin on the left(compare to an earlier shot posted from last month) and Christian's on the right on the farm house steps. (they are going to try to sell them at the pumpkin stand!) The kids each grew a giant at the farm and cared for their pumpkin throughout the summer. Eric figures they weigh at least 150 pounds each. BIGGIES!!! (except for the kitten by the "bunten farm giants" sign... haha!) Next year we'll try some new "tricks" to see if we can get them to grow even bigger..

Here is Christian with some mushrooms found nearby (amongst some gourds).. they are called "hen in the woods" and are edible. They were cooked up at the farm that night and eaten! They grow near the base of oak trees and the farmer (also chef) told us they sell for about $10 a pound, so Christian is on the search!!! Oh, and here is the kitten that gets loads of attention from the kids (especially Christian) while we are at the farm. He was found in the barn crying for his momma who seems to have disappeared, so now he is a pet. His name is Azlan (the name of the lion in "the lion, witch and the wardrobe".. the spelling I'm not sure of!)

Sarah helped husk some gorgeous indian corn . This is always fun because each ear is a surprise with different colors.. you never know what they'll be until you open them up!

Lancaster Fair

We went to the Lancaster (NH) fair last weekend with our good friends Mike, Nancy and their children. We got to see their kids participate in the argiculture part of the fair with holstein cows from their family farm. It was a great time! This fair has a lot of agriculture which is my thing for the fair! We got a gorgeous day too, not hot and it was sunny. I've had the pictures for a week, but with school in full swing I hadn't had a chance to upload them. It's a rainy Saturday here in NH, so I thought I would give it a whirl! It didn't seem to take as long this time either and everything worked okay, so I took advantage!!! The last few times I've posted I ran into problems.. slow, would not upload etc. I had good luck this time! :) Sarah on daddy's shoulders at the fair (quite the patriotic shot with the flag !)

Friends! Sarah, Shannon, Liam and Christian

Shannon and Sarah decided to go on this CRAZY ride! They are up there somewhere...

Shannon and Sarah when the ride was through!

Shannon and Liam with family at the "cow costume" contest. Their family owns a farm in our town and the kids went this year with their cousins to show. We missed the regular show they were in but we got to see the costume show!! They did"horses" with their riders! They got best in show! :) They did very well in the regular showings too. Good job kids!

Sarah giving some love to one of the babies from the Tullando farm at the fair!

Miscellaneous

It's not the best shot, but here is Eric on the zip-line over at our friend Nancy's brother and sister-in-laws house. (with Shadow the dog chasing!) Christian went on it a couple of times over the summer too, it's quite a long one and you drop into the water. I'm too chicken to try it ! :)

After the zip-line!

Here they are on the first day of school! We started August 25th. It was a good first week! Christian started the sixth grade this year in a new building (middle school!) and Sarah started third grade.

Here is the picture of Sarah's big pumpkin that I could not get on here last time....

farm and friends

The "S" girls (all four of them!)... Samantha, Shannon and Sarah together with Sally posing by the big pumpkin at the farm where we keep Kit. (it's actually a chicken house) I helped paint this monster last fall, it has another face on the opposite side.

Shan, Samantha and Sarah with new baby Devon, "Freddie"

Eric raking hay (we call it "fluffing the hay"!)

I have one more picture of Sarah with her giant pumpkin. We're in a contest this year to see who can grow the biggest pumpkin at the farm... it won't let me post it though!!! I'll try again next time.

catching up!

Kit and I
Eric's Mom came over for a fun visit. She gave Sarah and I some lessons on Kit and now we feel much more comfortable riding him. I can recognize all of his gaits now and know how to ask for them. I even have a favorite: the running walk. She also was here for the farrier's visit. Kit, being a Tennessee Walker, has an extended gait and his feet need to be done just so or he trips, then it can get dangerous. Our farrier did a great job. Donna asked for "little teacups" for his hooves and they look just like that. Check out our farriers website here: www.vermontgypsyhorses.com. He and his wife have some beautiful horses!

The kids with their grandma.

My brother Randy and his family came for a nice visit too ... here is Christian and Sarah with their Uncle. (Christian says "ZERO!" Uncle Randy!)

Uncle Randy and Aunt Wendy (with a pickle!) Wendy and I went to the annual flea market in our town which is a big event held on "the green". This year there was a produce and farm goods tent set up and Wendy found a lady there selling these amazing pickles.. my mouth is watering just writing about them! We have a great time at this annual event.

Christian and Sarah with their cousin Zachary.

Camping

We went camping up near the Maine border last weekend. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids in the water. What a view huh?!