Happy Birthday Beth!

On Wednesday it was Beth's 5th birthday.

It really does not feel like we have been here over a year already! She is a five year old little girl! I remember holding this little baby, delighted to have a sister! It was just Nancy and I before she was born!

This sweetie is now half a decade, of which she is really proud!

It is the first time Beth has had two birthdays in one place! Every other birthday she was in a different place!

Her first birthday was in Greyton. Her second at Bekezela. Her third in Knysna and her fourth here in Fish Hoek!













I must say, she has really been on a journey, quite an achievement for a five year old!

We love this little girl who is growing up so nicely!





















































Beth with her 'Birthday Bag' with all her gifts in!

Beth had a tiny little party in the rain at Noordhoek Common with some friends who lived down the road.














I made some little quarter sandwiches and my mom made some beautiful little cupcakes. We had some juice and chips.

It really looked like it was going to rain before we left, but we decided to go anyway and hope for the best!

Well, it turned out to be a beautiful day for a picnic birthday lunch, except, it started to rain when we were nearly finished eating lunch! We did not even get to play jumping over cross-country jumps! It was really annoying as there is lots of open space to run and play!














We went to Aunty Sue's house to warm up and dry off and for a cup of tea!

At least we got to eat outside!

In the evening two families came to wish Beth, and they very sweetly brought her a present!

We had cup cakes again and the grown ups had coffee and cup cakes!

Beth had a lovely day and really enjoyed it!

I gave her a scrapbooking kit and stickers!

First Place!

We won the grooming competition!

Yesterday was my second show. It was a practice show to prepare us for the December show. I was meant to only
jump in the 20cm, 30cm and the 40cm which had 50cm jump off! I ended up doing the 50cm which had a 60cm jump off! I had never jumped 50cm or 60cm before! It was so much fun! I got clears in both the 20cm and the 30cm! I won the 40cm with the 50cm jump off! My time was the fastest! Because I won the 40cm, I was able to do the 50cm. I was only praying for a placing in the 40cm, let alone winning it! I was so happy that when I received my rosette, I had tears in my eyes! It felt so good to do that lap of honour knowing I was the winner!




























































I have to say Flash was an absolute star winning a class with me and her owner, beating horses! She is an amazing pony! I will be sad to have to stop riding her when I am thirteen when I move from ponies to horses.















Me waiting for my round.


In the 50cm, I came fourth, which was really nice as her owner and me were competing in the same class! Her owner won and I was quite happy with fourth place!

I was on a jumping camp from Tuesday to Thursday. We got to build the course and ride it on the Wednesday so I did not get the course wrong!

Flash won the grooming competition! Our group won the stable cleaning competition too! I was so happy!

When I passed the finish with a clear round in the 50cm, I was a little bit nervous of the jump off, as 60cm is a HUGE first for me! I remember thinking: "I'm in"!

It was a great day and I received five rosettes! Much better than last time! My family went home after my four rounds, as I had to stay till four as my camp only finished at that time.

My family got quite a shock and this shock really spoilt their good spirits. Our house had been burgled. Someone had gone to my parent's en-suite and opened the window fully, (as it was already a little bit open) and screwed the bars off! They were very neat: the bottle on the shelf was neatly put down, not broken! The towel there was still folded! We had a mild one compared to others!

They took my dad's laptop, without the hard-drive in, so that does not help them much and my mom's engagement ring and our beautiful gold bracelet that had my mom and my name on it. We wore it on our birthdays. They took a few more small things, but it was annoying because somebody strange was 'here' in our house.

It was a quite a bad end to our day, but we are fine now.

Anyway, we had a lovely time. Gabrielle was shouting: "Go Kelly"! It was very sweet!

Meet Popcorn!

Meet Popcorn, the newest addition to our family!
He is a yellow cockatiel.

Nancy has been wanting a bird for some time now, and last Thursday, my family went to Tokai for business reasons and she got a bird!
She was so excited that she now had a bird!
















This little thing is so viscious and every time I go near the cage, he hisses! I am more scared of him than I am of horses!
















Nancy had a cage already, all she needed was food (and the bird of course!)
She bought a swing for him on Friday and she is planning to get him some more toys, but she first needs to earn more money to replace what she spent!
















She wants to teach him how to talk and ring like a telephone! (My mom's bird, Kiki, used to ring and really annoyed my gran!)

I think I will keep a fair distance away from him, as I have enough bruises and cuts as it is and I really don't feel like any bites from a bird!

The Joy Of Being A Big Sister!

Being a sister is really one of the most rewarding things to be in the world. While they give us a tough time and test our patience, they make up for it by giving hugs and kisses!

It was late Wednesday night, four weeks ago. Mom was in hospital and Dad was there too, looking after Mom and new baby Rebekah. Nancy was reading and I was trying to put the littles to sleep, but that, was a misson impossible!

Beth was alright, but Gabrielle was another story! "Mama, and Veri Hungy", was what she was saying, making excuses! She was REALLY trying my patience and WOULD NOT go to sleep, as much as I asked her to!

I did not know what else I could do but pray that she would fall asleep!

During her moans, complaints and cries, she gave me a wonderful surprise! I felt so loved by her and I felt I really was a big sister that my sisters loved!
















She gave me a hug and put her sweet, chubby arms around my neck, and me, thinking she was going to moan again, was so surprised when she said: "I yuv you"!

That was what I needed to carry on! She gave me the water that I so badly needed to carry on walking through the desert! I almost cried I was so happy! God gave me such a wonderful little sister that loved me and relied on me!

Wow! I was so blessed to have her say that!

When I feel like I cannot go on anymore, God sends a little 'something' to lift me up to carry on again.

Eventually, she fell asleep and I was extremely grateful, but part of me wanted her to be awake to give a cuddle again!

I snuck out of the room and said goodnight to Beth, who was still awake at that stage and went to bed.

It was such a wonderful moment, and I knew, there was a joy to being a big sister! What I experienced that night, no money in the world could buy. To have my sister tell me she loves me was so special.

Take time to love your sisters, or brothers for that matter. Appreciate them. Sometimes I get very cross with my sisters, as all people do with their siblings, but I can go and make up and give them a hug and tell them "I love you".