Carriage Rides at a Wedding

The girls got gussied up on Saturday night and gave rides at a wedding reception. Someone had contacted Jim a few weeks ago about giving wagon rides at her daughter's wedding. So Jim came up on Saturday morning and picked up the girls. He took them to his house and gave them baths. In the afternoon, we went to Jim & Ruth's and had pizza with them. Then, we braided Kate & Classy's manes, put the flowers and tail bows on, and harnessed them with beautiful show harness. Boy, did they ever look nice! After the reception, we undressed the girls and had ice cream. Then, Jim and Ruth brought the girls home.

Here I am with Kate. I always pause for a quiet moment with each horse before we hitch them.

Jesse even got gussied up, too.

Here are the girls, hard at work giving wagon rides.

Wagner's Wild Weekend

Each year, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Doris host a big family picnic. This year it was kind of goofed up because of our nephew's wedding being on our usual weekend. It was rescheduled to the same weekend as my family picnic - so we couldn't go for most of it. We did stop over late on Sunday so Jacob could ride four-wheeler a little. Later, we brought the horses over and gave rides.

Logan, Jacob and Jamison hanging out!


Angie, Amber & Doris enjoying a ride. Jesse is driving and Kaelyn is co-piloting.


Christina, Phillip, Jamison, Logan, Jase & Jordana waiting for their turn at a horse ride.

Jesse and Clay driving the horses. Classy is on the far side and Kate is on the near side.

Melissa was crowned WWW Queen.

Wayne caught a nice cat fish in the neighbor's pond.

June is co-piloting at 80 years young! Eldora and Anita L. are in the back of the wagon.

June had to try out Levi's four-wheeler! I hope I'm as good when I'm her age! She is awesome!

Hughes Family Picnic

This weekend was my family picnic. My mom and stepdad have held it for several years at their camper lot. This year, it was held at our house. It was a lot of fun and the cousins got to spend some time together!


This is Jesse giving Katie a ride on the four-wheeler. She prefers 4 hooves to 4 wheels, but was a good sport about the pink-and-white helmet (but said the hot pink mohawk wasn't her kind of weird)!


This is John riding an ATV for the first time ever! He was very good and rode very safely. Jacob is following him on his beloved Z400.


Here is Charlie boiling water for the sweet corn. Julie and Gordon are in the background.


Here is the rest of the gang gathered 'round the fire pit waiting to make s'mores.

We are all looking forward to next year's picnic!

Orlando

In the quiet light of the stable, you hear a muffled snort, the stamp of a hoof, a friendly nicker. Gentle eyes inquire, "How was your day old friend?" and suddenly, all your troubles fade away. ~author unknown

Friday, August 13th, the horse I've long wanted to own came home! His registered name is WF It's Up Two You, but he is better known as Orlando. He is an Appendix QH and is a gentle giant at 17.2 hands. He is 6 years old and was born at the stable where Jordana takes riding lessons. I've loved Orlando for a while and am so lucky to have him! Thank you, Tipson, for making this happen!


We hope to bring Jordana's horse home once we have a riding ring, and, after Kate's baby leaves at the end of this month so we have a stall for Mac. We will MISS Kater Tot a whole bunch - it will be a sad occasion for sure. But it will be nice to have all of our horses under one roof!


Here is Kater Tot. He has grown so much and is tall enough to look me in the eye! It's been fun having a baby around, but we realize that we do not have the knowledge to train a foal. Think about the last puppy you had . . . You could pick him up if he got himself into trouble or was disobeying. Can't do that with a draft horse foal . . . We recognize that if we kept him, we would likely end up with a poorly trained one-ton animal. It's better for him to go to someone who knows what to do . . . But we will shed some tears when he goes.

And look at this motley crew! Jim came up and helped us hitch the team when we began to harness Kate again. When we gave the horses a break, I jumped out to take a picture and the gang decided to pose for me!

Mike & Mandy's Wedding

August 14th, our nephew, Mike, married his long-time sweetheart, Mandy. They have a beautiful baby girl, Bristol, pictured here with Jesse holding her. Mike is the son of Jesse's sister, Sandy, and her husband, Charlie. They have four kids and four grandchildren. We wish all of them many years of love!

Loyalsock Valley Early Days

Sunday, August 8th, we went to Loyalsock Valley Early Days to enjoy the antique machinery and horses! My dad went along with us and we had a great time! Our friends, The Randall Family, had their beautiful horses and wagon there, giving free rides to the spectators. Recently, they started a horse ride business, offering everything from weddings to eco-friendly logging. We wish them luck with this new venture! On the riding mower, is our friend, Logan, who was a big help to us at the fair because he taught us how to trim a beef steer for the shows. Thank you, Logan! The "blue train cars" are used to give kids rides. I would love to make something like this. And the steam engine was just plain neat!

Jacob's 15th B-day

On August 12th, Jacob turned 15! The count down is on for the driver's license!

Visitors from Florida

Liberty, Tommy and the boys surprised us with a visit during the fair! We hadn't seen them since we were all together at Disney in February. Addison is 5 years old (red shirt) and Grayson is 4 years old (blue shirt). I couldn't believe how much they've grown since we saw them last.

Liberty is graduating with a degree in Fashion Design and is about to start an internship with Ralph Lauren in NYC! I have to eat crow about this . . . I am a very practical person and worried that she wouldn't have any employment opportunities with a fashion design degree. Boy was I wrong! Tommy is exploring several jobs in the NY/NJ area and they hope to be settled in early Fall. I am so excited to have them within 4 hours driving distance!

4-H at the Fair!

Jacob and Jordana took their 4-H animal projects to the fair in mid-July. They both did a great job and had a good time with all the other 4-H kids! Thank you to Uncle Wayne & Aunt Doris for selling the baby pigs to us last Spring! And Jacob's holstein calf came from our good friends, Ed & Christine - thanks to them for selling Jacob such a super calf! And Jordana's angus came from Uncle Charlie & Aunt Sandy - special thank you to them! The ribbons are from the first swine and beef shows. They got more ribbons at the second shows! It was a long, hot week, but still a lot of fun!

Barn Open House

On, Sunday, July 11th, we held an Open House for the barn. We wanted everyone to come and share this joyous time with us. We also wanted to thank everyone who helped us with the construction or by giving our animals a temporary home. We had a great turn-out and a great time! The horses loved all the attention, too! Our friend, Larry, arrived with his horses and wagon - what a perfect way to come to a barn open house! And my great-aunt, Atti, came and it was wonderful to spend time with her (she's 88 years young!). Many thanks to everyone who came, and to my mom and sister-in-law, Doris, for keeping the food going so I could visit.