Since my last post lots has happened. McKenzie graduated from the Academy with honors, we are so honored to be her parents, we could not ask for a better child and role model for the others, I truley believe that she can do anything she wants in life. These last 2 years have been bittersweet, letting her go to the Academy was not a easy decision, at least not for me, when you love someone as much as I love her you tend to fight with your emotions when it comes to the "big" decisions I knew the right choice was to not hold her back but my heart physically hurt knowing that our "little family" would truley never be the same. But sometimes loving someone means letting them go and being truley being selfless, and when it comes to my kids they always come first no matter what. She will be taking off for Purdue this fall then who knows where, but one thing is for sure I will never worry about the choices she makes, she definitely has a good head on her shoulders and nomatter what she chooses in life we will always be here to support her. Our mare "Glory" did finally have her foal, she delivered a healthy bouncing baby boy, we named the colt Fury, and he is full of fire. and Glory is the best mother we could ask for, unfortunately she waited till noone was around to have the colt, so we didnt get to witness the birth, however the placenta was intact and healthy and Glory acted like she knew what she was doing. We are having so much fun with this little one, he is growing so fast, he definitely is going to be a jumper which is exactly what we were hoping for, he is what you call a Warmblood, which is a fancy breed that they use in the Olympics for jumping as well. I will post pictures when I get to a computer I can do that with. We found out yesterday that Bills Brother and sister in law were approved by a birth mother to adopt her child, we will be praying everything goes smoothly for them and baby. Aiden amazes me every day, he is such a witty young man, and a very hard worker and sooo compassionate, I couldnt love this child more, he literally makes me smile every day I am alive, somedays I truley could not make it through without him and I really mean that.  Hunter and Avery and my constants, I can always count on them, they are so determined and so grateful for each and every day they truley LOVE their horses and would do anything for them, Im pretty sure they get their love of animals from me lol. Its soo nice to have them to count on they are soo special and they love their jobs working with the horses at the Schroders they cant wait to get home each time to tell me a story, they act like its recess instead of a job, I hope they always keep that fire in their hearts, it makes me happy to know they are happy, isnt that what life is truley about.  And last but not least Dalton.  This last year has been very rough for him and for us raising him. He is going through lots of changes emotionally,physically, and spiritually, his priorities are changing and thats OK, it is his life to live, it is just hard for me to watch the pain and sometimes the sorrow that goes along with it. As a mother your first instinct is to Love and Protect. I am like a mother bear I would fight to the death to protect my son, but sometimes I have to stand back and let him fight his own battles and its hard for me. I love this child more than life itself, we have always had a special bond, we have always just understood each other, he knows when I am hurting and I know when he is struggling. But he is growing up into a wonderful young man, and I truley believe that he knows right from wrong and I want for him whatever he wants as long as it makes him happy. Whether that be going pro, or moving on to trade college I will be so proud of him nomatter what he chooses, I never ever for one minute in his life, through all the physical therapy, occupatonal therapy, speech therapy, educational tutoring etc questioned whether he would be successful in life, never a doubt crossed my mind, failure was never an option, he would succeed no matter what we had to accomplish and I still believe that today, I love you Son dont ever forget that, when it seems like things are getting to hard just look back and Ill be right there behind you, as I will for all my kids. I remember being pregnant for each child and wondering how can I love the next one as much as the last one, and with the birth of each one I just did, isnt it amazing how you can have 5 totally different but equally amazing children and love them all equally and feel just as deeply for each and every one of them, Im not sure I deserve them but I Thank God everyday for them, and I pray for their Health, Happiness and Safety each night before I sleep. I have a friend that recently lost her 2nd son within a years time, so I will try to never take advantage of the time we have together.  I love you McKenzie, Dalton, Hunter, Avery, and Aiden!!!!!!!!!!!!

So apparently I am not very good at keeping our blog updated LOL. I guess our lives have been pretty boring that I havent fealt the need to update.  Lets see what I can come up with, Kenzie will be graduating in a few short weeks, hard to believe our baby girl is growing up and is almost 19, surely I am not old enough to have a child of that age?? She has been accepted to Purdue and will be attending there in the fall majoring in Genetics, she really likes research and would love to work in a lab somewhere, hopefully helping match people for transplants or discovering some cure for some genetic mutation.  Dalton has started his motocross year off with a bang, well not really LOL he is on a new KTM 2-stroke this year and it is taking him some getting used to as well as some dumb bad luck, he so far has taken a large rock to the nose and crashed pretty nasty last weekend with some bruised or broken ribs, so was unable to race the rest of the weekend. But he will get used to it, it is just going to take time. Also big news for Dalton he is now the proud owner of his own truck, he is soo happy.  Hunter, Avery and Dalton all 3 have jobs now they work every Tuesday and Thursday for 2 horse farms, one is a breeding farm for halter horses and the other is a ranch for Western pleasure horses, they clean stalls and feed horses as well as work with the foals and sometimes the girls get to exercise the horses, they absolutely love it and the girls have been using their income to support our horses hay habits and Dalton has been using his for gas money as well as parts for his truck and bike, which has helped mom and dad out a bunch as the horses eat $120 a week in just hay.  Yes they are worth it, but it does get a little overwelming at times.  Our Mare Glory still has not delivered her foal she is now over 2 weeks overdue, she is driving us all nuts, we keep thinking that tonight will be the night, she is tired of being locked in a stall as well but we do not want to take a chance of her delivering where the other horses may bother her while delivering.  The kids will be finishing out their school year at the end of May, it will be nice not to have to worry about that for a while, however I am looking for a new curriculum for next year, Abeka is a excellent program however it is very expensive and very time consuming for the kids, Hunter sometimes takes 8 hours just to finish one days work and that is not my goal in homeschooling them.  Of course I want them to learn but I also want them to have a life. Bill and I have just been working a way, no big news there, Aiden has started raising chickens, he has 8, he and Daltons girlfriend are going to have a competition to see whose hens lay the  most eggs LOL. Aiden has this all figured out how to sell them and what they need to eat and how much light they need etc. he is becoming quite the little farmer boy, and also let me tell you this kid has grown, OMG we just had to buy him all new jeans at Christmas size 10s he has already outgrown them. its only been 4.5 months WOW.  Well hope that tides you all over for a while. LOL