We Have Horses!

I know what you are thinking....did they really need MORE animals?!! Probably not but I think we are done now! I have been wanting another horse for about 5 years now and Taylor has been asking for about a year. I had helped a lady last fall who owned a trail riding business and found out last week that she was getting out of it and selling a bunch of horses.

The one Taylor is riding is Dazzle...he is an arabian and around 20 years old. He is a great beginner horse for the kids. I am riding Rock...a quarter horse and also some where around 20 years old. He is very calm also but a little more spirited than Dazzle and alot taller!

She offered us such a good deal...Dazzle was very cheap and Rock was free!

Mason's first horse ride...he thought it was pretty cool!

Brody's first horse ride...that was fun!!

Grandpa Remembered

This is my grandpa and grandma.....George and Faye Hodge.

They were married in 1943, one week before my grandpa left for World War II.

Grandpa grew up in the Lake area where I now live. He met my grandma in Eldon, MO.

Grandpa was born February 12, 1925 in Tuscumbia, MO.

A couple years ago he took my mom and I on a memorable drive through the back woods of Tuscumbia (which he told us was named after an Indian Chief).

I sat in the back seat and took the best directions I could so that my family would be able to find these places again. He took us to 3 different cemeteries and also past his grandpa's 160 acre farm where he grew up.

Down the road from that farm was his other Grandma's farm. She was a Shoshone Indian and raised 6 kids on her own while working the farm after her husband passed away from a appendicitis.

As we drove down the drive that use to lead to his grandma's property he was telling us how her little log house use to be up on the left.....and to our surprise, there it was!!

That was so fun to get out and walk around the small building where my grandpa hung out with his grandma!

My mom even remembered being there as a young girl and chasing Grandma Burlingame's chickens (even though she was told not to!)

My mom also tells me there was a huge feather bed up in the loft that was handmade!

I wish I could put a couple pics on here of the old log house and grandma burlingame, but I dont have them on my computer...maybe another day!

My grandpa set off to World War II in May of 1943.

He was an elite member of the 101st Airborne, Screaming Eagles. He served in the 502nd Parachute Infantry, Company A.

He started D-Day in the cabin of a C-47 transport and was suppose to jump 20 miles inland from the Normandy Coast. Due to heavy flack, the pilot jumped his company too quick and one entire platoon jumped in the English Channel.

My grandpa landed on a grassy bluff right in the middle of a German Regiment. He was held captive for several days until the 4th Infantry Division over-ran the bunker and released him.

He continued on to fight in four major campaigns with the 101st.

He was in the battle to take Carentan. He jumped in Holland and spent Christmas morning fighting Germans in the Battle of the Bulge.

The weeks he spent in the forest outside Bastogne left his legs and feet permanently damaged from the freezing temperatures.

If any of you have seen "Band of Brothers", this is exactly what my grandpa went through. If you have not seen it, I would recommend it....it is a great movie.

My grandpa was interviewed a few years back and it is filed in the National Archives and can be watched via the internet.

After the war he went on to raise 2 daughters...he had 4 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

He was married to my grandma for 56 years when she passed away in 1999.

This was their 64th year and he met her in Heaven on October 28, 2007.

We all miss him very much.

Dorothy and Toto

For Halloween we were at church. This was the first year our church did "Trunk or Treat" and it was a really great idea. We probably had about 50 cars that participated. They were in a big U shape in the parking lot and handed out candy out of their trunks. Many people decorated the backs of their cars and some of them got really creative with lights and music. Next year we may have a "decorating contest". Taylor wanted to go as Dorothy so of course Sissy got to be Toto....it was pretty cute!!

"TRUNK OR TREAT!!"
Thanks for checking the blog!!

Taylor's Birthday!

Taylor had a good time on her birthday....actually it ended up lasting a week or more. We celebrated the weekend before while Cassidy was visiting and that is when we went to the pumpkin patch (on the previous post). Then she had this party with her friends at the house. They decorated treat bags, painted pumpkins, had pizza, cookie and ice cream. It ended up being a rainy cold day but they still had fun...we just moved the craft time into the greenhouse!
I took them all on the Rhino to the back field where they had to find their pumpkins...
Later in the evening when it was dark I drove them around in the field for probably 20-30 minutes. They had a big blanket over top of them and a flashlight and told scary stories. There is nothing like a bunch of girls screaming!!
This was the weekend we celebrated with Cassidy and my mom and dad. Taylor likes the big cookies better than cake, so I ended up making her one for each party.

It doesnt seem possible for her to be 9!!!!