UPDATE

Well it’s been a while, but here’s the news. Sara has finally participated in her very first rodeo. It was a Jr. Jackpot. She did really well in her age group competitions. She took first in the flag race and 2nd in western pleasure and keyhole. She is loving the camaraderie of the people she rides with. They are all older than her so they have a lot to teach her. She did great on her core testing. She did great. The girls have one week of school left. The summer is soon to begin but where the heck is the sunshine!!!!!
Zada Has enjoyed riding club. She gets frustrated when she can’t ride whenever she wants but she gets over it. The last two weeks of kindergarten are really busy. Last Friday we walked with the kindergarteners and the first graders to the movie theatre to watch Tale of Despereaux. It was so much fun. On Monday we are going to watch them do dances from A round the World, Sara will also be participating. Then on Tuesday we are doing the kindergarten Under the Sea day. Wednesday we are heading to the pool for the end of the year BBQ for the kids reaching and exceeding their reading minute’s goal. Then on Thursday we are walking to the park with the kindergarteners to have a picnic and let the kids run around and have fun. Then my Zada is graduating from kindergarten at 9:00 am on Friday!!!! She is getting so big.
Things with Maya have not really changed since the last update. She will also finish school next Thursday. So sad cause we don’t know if she will be returning to the Early Learning Center next year. The prices are just getting to outrageous.
Mark and I have decided to go to school this summer. I’m taking two classes and so is he. Just light fun classes at least I hope they are. We finally came up with name for my horse. Her name is Pepper Ann. She is amazing and I love her to death. Anyways that is the newest thing going on with us Jackson’s.

Well let’s see what’s new with the Jackson’s? Well to begin Sara has begun riding club and loves it. She is so comfortable on a horse it’s so great to see it. Zada is also doing riding club but in a different way. She rides with the kids but she won’t be doing any of the competitions this year. It is mostly so she can get more comfortable in the saddle and learn a few more of the basics. So every Tuesday and Thursday night we are down at the rodeo grounds letting the girls practice.
School is almost over for the semester. Thank goodness. I so need a summer break this year. But then again why not just push through it and finish up my bachelors I haven’t decided what I am going to do quite yet.
Sara brought home straight A’s on her report card for the third term. I am so very proud of her. Core testing begins the end of this month and will proceed through the middle of May. She works so hard and I am so grateful she has a love of school and a love of learning.
Zada has begun a pretty strong friendship with a little girl in her class named Zarina. They play every chance they get and it has been really good for her to have someone other than her sisters to play with.
Mark has been going to the tack and horse auctions with gentleman by the name of Leonard and it has been a great learning experience for Mark. Leonard has a lot to teach and loves how Mark just sucks it all in like a big ole sponge. We were able to get another horse. She is quarter horse dunn who is eight years old. She is a mare and she is Gorgeous. We are still working on a name and it is slow going because Mark and I can’t agree on a name. Hell you would think we were naming a child.
Miss Maya has not been doing too much. She hangs out with mom during the day and watches cartoons or colors and reads books. She is such a great little helper. She is so considerate of her mommy when she has had a long day at work. She sits quietly on the computer and plays learning games while mom naps on the couch. She’s such a cute little munchkin.
So that is the update.

Las Vegas Weekend

We took a family trip to Las Vegas in February, the weekend of the 20th. Mark loves Vegas and wanted to share it with the girls because it is his favorite. So we took the girls to Vegas. We stayed at the Sahara and spent very little time in it. We took the girls to Excalibur and had an awesome breakfast buffet. Yummy. Then we walked the west end of the strip. The girls were in awe. Mark and I were excited to show them Vegas at night which as every one knows is absolutely awesome. But that first morning there we also took the girls to the MGM Grand so Maya, my lion lover could see the lions. We got there just in time they had just finished feeding so the lions were really active we got some great pictures and Maya was in heaven. It was truly amazing. We also took the girls to the Shark Reef Aquarium that is at the Mandalay Bay. It was really neat. But nothing like the aquarium in New Orleans but that is just my opinion. We went to M&M’s World and the Coke store. Sara loved M&M’s World and wanted to just spend the rest of the day there. But we finally left. Went to the Coke store and we tried the drinks from around the world it was so fun to see the girls reactions to each different drink. Most of them were nasty. We had some lunch and took the girls back to the room for naps. Naps didn’t go to well they were too excited so we got up and we went to dinner at Caesars Palace. It was actually a really bad buffet and it was the most expensive. So it sucked. After dinner we took the girls to Madame Tussuads and they had so much fun seeing all the wax remakes of the celebrities. Sara about passed out when she saw Beyonce. We got some good pics with her, I married George Clooney and Mark climbed into bed with Hugh Heffner. We tried to let the girls see the pirate show at Treasure Island but they had to cancel it because of the wind. So that was disappointing. Then that night we went to bed and got up early the next morning and checked out. We went to the New York, New York for donuts and chocolate milk. An expensive breakfast. Then we went to the Mirage so we could go to the dolphin habitat and the Secret Garden where they had two new baby white tigers. The dolphins were Zada’s favorite. She loved watching them in the water. We went to see the baby tigers which were Sara’s favorite. We spent about 45 min watching the tigers, there was a trainer in with them so they were playing and pouncing it was awesome. Then we went and saw the rest of the big cats that they had in the garden the Black Panther was great hit. Then we left and as we were leaving we had to go through the dolphin exhibit and the trainers were working with the dolphins so the girls were able to see them jump and work with the trainers it was awesome. We went to lunch at the Rio for lunch because it is my favorite place to eat in Vegas. Because my Dad used to take us there. Then we headed home. We got home one hour before I had to be to work. It was awesome.