March Update

So, March has proven to be a busy month for our family. It is about time we post an update:

-Andrew has officially started his co-op for his last semester of high school. He has chosen to do it with a roofing company "My Three Sons" owned by someone from our church. He doesn't mind the hard work, or being on the roof, but had a harder time getting used to carrying shingles up the tall ladder. He is still working for McDonald's (don't want to lose his discount!), so we really don't see him a whole lot anymore. He is a hard worker and we are very proud of his accomplishments. He also was recently accepted into a 1 year student leadership program for next fall.

-Hannah is half way through her exchange trip in France. She recently went on a trip to the French Riviera, Cannes, and Italy. She is really enjoying her stay over there, but has expressed some times of homesickness. Her ability to speak French has improved greatly (or so we have been told) and she is already talking about going back to live there someday after high school. She is still working on completing her high school courses for this semester at her school in Canada. This she has to do online.

-Leah is gearing up for her next show season. She is hoping to start competing in a high level of eventing this year, which also means higher costs. She has decided to approach different businesses to ask for their support by sponsoring her. She has put a lot of time and effort into doing this. So far, three different companies have offered her some financial assistance. She will be wearing their company logos on her saddle pad and some of her riding clothes in order to advertise for them. She is still looking to sell Shiloh, her last year's project horse. He is really a great horse and has come a LONG way since she bought him.

-Daniel has been itching to get outside to do some skateboarding and bmx riding. Last week we had some milder weather, so him and a friend spent some time at the local church parking lot trying to master some tricks on the board. He is also coming to the close of his years at Linwood Public School as he graduates this June. He recently went with Jim on a "Father/Son Getaway" and really enjoyed it.

-Julia has decided to buy Leah's pony, Jackson, and has been looking at leasing SusieQ to another pony club member. She has grown quite a bit this last 6 months and we think Jackson will be a good fit for her. She has worked hard the last 2 months helping with chores, since Leah was doing Grandpa B.'s chores for him while he was down south. She is currently singing in a special vocal choir at school. They get to perform at the Center in the Square in May. She is pretty excited about this opportunity and also a good little singer.

-All of us in the Baxter household are thankful that another round of spring cleaning has been completed. (Well, not quite. . . got my room to do yet) Every year, we take the week of spring break and do the dirty task. It isn't much fun, but it sure is worth it after it is done. The last two days of break were spent doing more enjoyable things such as swimming, having friends over, shopping, and dining out. I don't like to torture them too badly : )

Leah's first horse

This is Leah with her first horse. . .Leah. We decided to re-name her (the horse, that is) to Ginger. Julia is sitting in the saddle. I probably should have known not to try to switch her to western riding, seeing that her first ride was in an English tack. Oh, well. . .Ginger had to put up with two different sets of tack because I wasn't going to switch either! I love this picture, though, as I think it is a great picture of our two "horsey" girls when they were small.