Freestyle Dressage

My dad just sent me this YouTube clip. It is amazing! If you are at all interested in horses, you should check it out. The horse is dancing....even if you don't know anything about dressage, it is VERY impressive to see. They even made the commentators speechless! :-)

Girl Scouts

We have taken the plunge into Girl Scouts! Claire is offically a Brownie now! Getting involved mid-year is very overwhelming at first (at least for me, Claire jumped right in and did great!). But, because it is mid-year a TON of stuff is going on right now. Selling Girl Scout cookies is the biggest thing on the plate right now. Claire (and myself!) have taken a lot of pre-orders for the cookies that are delievered on Feb. 23. A big thank you to everyone who bought cookies from her! It is exciting and she does earn a patch for her hard work, so its all worth it in the end.

Her troop is participating in "Thinking Day" in a few weeks. Each troop has a country they have been learning about; Claire's troop is learning about Poland. On Thinking Day, the troops come together to share what they've learned. And, the each troop dresses in the type of clothing of their country. As you can see from the picture, this is how the Polish girls dress. Claire was able to pick out the fabric, and one of the moms sewed it together. I think it turned out nice. I'm not sure where she'll be able to wear it again, but it's still fun to do. (Kind of like a bridesmaid, I guess) :-) All in all, I'm as excited about Girl Scouts as Claire. I wasn't in them when I was young, so now I finally get to join in. Her troop is hopefully a good one; they seem to do a lot of activities. Claire's calendar is getting full very quickly. :-)

Claire's New Room

Here are the pictures of Claire's new room design. She decided to go with a "tropical" theme. :)

Five More Days until Christmas!

Claire makes this announcement each day, to let us know how many more days until Christmas. It has been going on since December 1st when we got out the Advent calendars. I love her anticipation for all holidays (including birthdays), but of course Christmas is high on the excitement scale. I have done my shopping, made my Christmas party mix, mailed the cards, decorated the tree and now am just waiting, with a special countdown by my favorite girl. It scares me sometimes when I think I am ready for a holiday early. Am I missing something?? Did I forget to get a gift for someone?? Am I really READY? But, then I just sigh, take all that worry and give it to God (He wants it anyway) and then I feel ready. I am excited for Christmas. This is the first year in awhile we are staying home, and not going to a single place. It will be nice to wake up and just enjoy the moment, not having to get dressed, hurry and open presents. We are REALLY going to enjoy savoring the moment - in our pajamas :) I hope you are feeling "ready" this season. ENJOY IT! It won't come around for another 365 days!

Latest Pictures

Mike has been uploading some of our family pictures onto a new spot: www.flickr.com/mizner

You should check it out when you have a chance. There are pictures there from our recent trip to the Nellis Air Force Base 60th Anniversary Air Show. The air show was great! We got to visit with an old friend of Mike's from Civil Air Patrol, Nicole, who is now a Thunderbird Pilot. It was so amazing to talk to her in the morning and then see her fly, along with the other five pilots in the afternoon do an outstanding display of acrobatics. It was the perfect day too... partly cloudy, 75 degrees. It made a great backdrop for the pictures.

Also, Claire has decided she wants a website too! :-) She came to me one day, told me what she wanted, and even drew out a picture for me so I would know what it should look like. Here's what she came up with: cmizner.blogspot.com Check it out when you have a chance. They are all pictures that she has taken. She is becoming quite the photographer. When she takes your picture, it looks like she barely has you in the photo, but amazingly, they come out well centered. The composition of her photos is (on average) better than mine!