Christmas

Christmas this year was so much fun with our girls! We got to do all of our holiday traditions and more.  Here's Leonie at the Christmas tree stand picking out our tree.

 

 

Elsie with our tree.

 

Next up we decorated gingerbread houses at a friend's house.  Here's Leonie putting candies on her house.   The girls mostly used the candies for decorating but did eat several as well, haha.

 

Elsie enjoyed putting icing on her house.

 

The final products.

 

Once we brought the tree home the girls helped us put up the star and lights.  Elsie needed a little boost for this one!

 

After Grandma and Grumps arrived we had more fun - with cookies!  Here Elsie (in pink) and Leonie help Grandma cut out cookies for decorating.

 

They had just as much fun decorating the cookies later.  Leonie on the left.

 

But eating them was the best part!

 

Their first decorated Christmas cookies. This is a big tradition in my family and I plan to continue it with the girls.

 

On Christmas Eve the girls got to open one gift before bed (another Bertch tradition).  This year they got books.  Leonie on the left.

 

The last thing we did before bed was to set out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.  The girls didn't quite understand this tradition yet.  They wanted to sit and wait for Santa to come and eat the cookies!

 

Christmas morning!  Santa brought new duplos and some food toys for the girls to play with before breakfast. Elsie on the left.

 

Here we are opening our stockings.

 

Christmas day was a little overwhelming for the girls with all of the gifts.  They mostly liked to hand out the presents and then help people open them.  Playing in all of the packaging was fun too!  Elsie in pink.

 

Leonie taking a little rest with one of the presents from Uncle Nathan.

 

One last tradition - homemade Christmas ornaments each year.  This year my mom and I made these rocking horses from old art supplies.

 

Horseback Archery

Last weekend Mow and I participated in a horseback archery clinic as an early Christmas present.  I've always wanted to try shooting from my horse and this year an instructor finally came close enough for me to attend a clinic. I spent Saturday and Sunday at a farm in South Carolina (re)learning to shoot and teaching Mow to accept this new sport.  We did ground drills in the morning and then worked with the horses in the afternoon.  It took a while for Mow to be comfortable enough with the sights and sounds of the bow and arrows but once he figured it all out he was fantastic.  Here are a couple of photos I managed to get during the weekend.

 

I enjoy taking "between the ears" photos of different trail rides but this view is a little different!  There were four targets set up (made of two hay bales each) along a track down one side of the arena and that made up our practice course.

 

Mow and I waiting for our turn.

 

The instructor brought all of the archery equipment for us to use so we could try out different styles of bows and quivers.  This red bow and quiver were my favorite and I've already ordered myself a bow!

 

Walking down the track and shooting at the first target.  I never managed to shoot all four during one pass but I got close.  Speed is a little more important for this type of archery than the tournament style I'm used to!

 

 

Finally, a short video of my first attempt at shooting at the trot.  Most competitions are done at the canter (even faster!) but we aren't up to that point yet.  Maybe some day!

 

 

November

The weather has been cooling off and we've been enjoying a lot of outside time this month.  The girls are great garden helpers now too as you can see in the following photos of them helping me pull up sweet potatoes.  Here's Elsie.

 

Leonie.

 

Here they are with a cool green mushroom we found while hiking.

 

We had our first fire with the girls this month as well.  They were fascinated by the flames and very good about staying away from the heat.

 

We've been playing a few games during our inside time.  Here's a game from when I was a kid and the girls seem to love it too.

 

 

My kitchen helpers keeping an eye on a loaf of bread in the breadmaker.

 

One of the most exciting events of November was finding a litter of kittens abandoned at the end of our road.  I was able to trap all five and we started fostering them for Tabby Tales.  The girls fell in love with them instantly, of course!  Here's Leonie with Yahtzee.

 

Elsie playing with Yahtzee and Balderdash.

 

 

Leonie and Checkers.

 

We continue to visit the Chiropractor weekly and the girls are getting pretty good at giving us adjustments, haha.  Here's Leonie adjusting daddy with a mask on from the toy bin.  Elsie is assisting.

 

At the end of the month we all got the flu and had to change our plans for Thanksgiving.  Luckily the girls faired pretty well, unlike Matthew and I, but here they are resting on the couch one morning. Elsie on the left.

 

 

We were supposed to drive to Tampa, FL for Thanksgiving to visit with my family but decided to stay home and stop spreading the flu.  Instead of a traditional meal, the girls helped me make tortillas for the first time and we had tacos.  They turned out great and we might have a new tradition now!  Here they are helping to mix the dough.  Elsie on the left.

 

Patting out the dough.

 

Elsie rolling the dough.

 

Leonie's turn.

 

The final product!

 

We're all feeling better now and here's a silly photo of my cuties!  Elsie on the left.

 

 

Finally, some videos from this month.  Playing with the kittens.

 

Leonie playing a game.

 

 

Elsie's turn.

 

 

 

A day at the park!

 

 

Family Photos

This year we did a mini family photo session to get a few shots for our Christmas cards.  We couldn't put them all on the card, so here they are instead!

 

 

Endurance Ride

Last weekend I took Mow to our first endurance ride since his injury (torn suspensory ligament) in August 2018.  It had been almost exactly two years since our last ride and it was so good to see all of my endurance friends.  We tried out the new Hi Tie system for camping too.  Here's Mow eating his dinner on the Hi Tie.  Works great!

 

All tacked up the next morning and ready to hit the trails.  The 25 and 50 mile competitors left at the same time for this ride so I could ride out with friends.

 

Photo during the ride by Becky Pearman.  We had a great time riding with friends for the first loop and then by ourselves for the second loop.  It was a little chilly but no rain and Mow completed all 25 miles with flying colors!  I think we're ready to bump up to a 50 mile ride next time. We even placed 7th and stood for best condition.

 

Relaxing post ride.  We finished early enough that I was able to attend the awards dinner and then drive home.  This ride is close (1.5 hours away) and I didn't have to leave Matthew solo with the girls for much more than 24 hours.