This has been a crazy week. I was trying to download the photos in this post last Saturday, after seeing my niece perform in a small horse show, but I lost my internet connection and couldn't get it back. So, Monday, a man from the company we get our internet service from had to come out to see if he could fix the problem.

You'll never believe what it was -- we had our phone plug plugged into the surge protector! Yep, that's it. He took the phone plug out of the surge protector and has it plugged directly from the phone line to the computer and so far so good -- weird!

During the past week, I have been able to reconnect with two friends that I haven't seen in a while. I went to lunch with one and we had a lovely time catching up. After lunch we visited some of the shops in my favorite nearby town and I purchased some loose leaf tea in a tea shop. It was so much fun spending time with this young lady and we both decided we need to get together again.

Then, I attempted to contact a friend who I haven't had contact with for quite some time. Unfortunately, it was because I had received some sad news that I felt she needed to know. This led to us getting together to do some catching up as well. One day this week, we met at a park with our kids, and while the kids played, we chatted away. It was nice to reconnect with her again. We were very close in the past and whenever we do get together, even if a length of time has passed, we always seem to be able to just pick up where we left off.

We've also been trying to do school, but sadly, we only managed to get two days in this week. We really need to get a regular schedule going. I have also been spending a lot of time talking and emailing with my neighbor lady helping her learn more about homeschooling, as they have decided that homeschooling is they way they want to go. That has been such a blessing. I love helping others begin the homeschool journey and walking through it with them because I believe whole heartedly that homeschooling is the best possible way to educate children. Well, I'll try to post more about this on my homeschool blog, so that those of you who aren't interested in all the homeschool talk won't have to read about it unless you choose to.

Now for the photos I was trying to post last Saturday. My niece was in a small horse show and we were able to go and watch, and, of course I took photos. Anthony did some videotaping for her as well:




In the above photos, Steph rode a horse named "Fruit Loop". She rode Fruit Loop in the jumping event.

In the photos, Steph rode a horse named "Thor". She rode Thor in the synchronized riding event. I think it's pretty apparent that she likes Thor better than Fruit Loop.