Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
2009 Ruby Kennedy Clinic
Ruby has trained numerous World and Reserve Champions in multiple disciplines in PtHa, AMHR, ApHC, POAC, ASPC, APHA & AQHA. She also holds a judge's card in many associations, giving her the insight needed to ride and coach for success.
This clinic will be geared for the rider wanting to learn better control and develop a better partnership with their horse. Whether you are going to the show pen or a trail ride, it all starts with respect and control. ALL LEVELS of riders, horses and disciplines are welcome to this clinic.
We will evaluate riders' and horses' skills and break the clinic into 2 groups. This will give the horse/rider combination 1 hour of riding then 1 hour break throughout the 2 days. It will not be an intense clinic, and will be geared towards having FUN while learning.
On Sunday, we will have a mock show for all clinic participants that are interested. There will be two classes with awards: 1) Hunt Seat Pleasure 2) Western Pleasure
The classes are offered for fun and awards, but more so to hear from the judge firsthand what “worked” and what “did not work” during your ride.
This clinic will be geared for the rider wanting to learn better control and develop a better partnership with their horse. Whether you are going to the show pen or a trail ride, it all starts with respect and control. ALL LEVELS of riders, horses and disciplines are welcome to this clinic.
We will evaluate riders' and horses' skills and break the clinic into 2 groups. This will give the horse/rider combination 1 hour of riding then 1 hour break throughout the 2 days. It will not be an intense clinic, and will be geared towards having FUN while learning.
On Sunday, we will have a mock show for all clinic participants that are interested. There will be two classes with awards: 1) Hunt Seat Pleasure 2) Western Pleasure
The classes are offered for fun and awards, but more so to hear from the judge firsthand what “worked” and what “did not work” during your ride.
WHEN: JUNE 20th & 21st, 2009
WHERE: 2 Bit Quarter Horses, Jordan MN
FEES: $150.00 for the weekend
STALL FEES: $15.00 a day
CONTACT: Scott or Dianne 952-492-6166
Spectators welcome
* Deposit required to reserve your spot *
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
"To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord."
"To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord." Sometimes when our heart can't accept or understand the loss of someone we love more than life itself, we just have to take God at His word and blindly trust Him.
Val went home to be with the Lord tonight, two days ago the Dr. said she had pulled through the crisis, but today the state of her health started to decline. Val had been very weary, tired of all the battles, and she had indicated that she was ready "to go home." It has been 20 months since her initial surgery, and I don't know anyone braver than Valerie was in the face of all of the surgeries, procedures, and amputations. We had alot of good times too during the last 20 months. Val's greatest fear upon learning of her mitral valve repair was that she would be left alone in the hospital. I assured her she would never be alone, and there was not one single day in all of these months that Valerie ever spent without me or her father. The last 10 days, her Dad was at her bedside all through the night, and either Regan and I with her during the day.
Val talked alot about heaven, and although she didn't want to leave her family, she seemed to grow closer to the Lord and more reconciled to "going home." We rejoice in the fact that we had a beautiful, wonderful, precious daughter for 37 years, and that we will see her again someday. No daughter could have been a greater joy, and we thank the Lord for giving her to us.
Thank you for all the prayers, they were not in vain. Val got to spend many more months with Kennedy because of answered prayers, and for that we are grateful. Again, much love to those who have shared our battles.
Gene, Sharon, Regan, Phillip and Kennedy
Val went home to be with the Lord tonight, two days ago the Dr. said she had pulled through the crisis, but today the state of her health started to decline. Val had been very weary, tired of all the battles, and she had indicated that she was ready "to go home." It has been 20 months since her initial surgery, and I don't know anyone braver than Valerie was in the face of all of the surgeries, procedures, and amputations. We had alot of good times too during the last 20 months. Val's greatest fear upon learning of her mitral valve repair was that she would be left alone in the hospital. I assured her she would never be alone, and there was not one single day in all of these months that Valerie ever spent without me or her father. The last 10 days, her Dad was at her bedside all through the night, and either Regan and I with her during the day.
Val talked alot about heaven, and although she didn't want to leave her family, she seemed to grow closer to the Lord and more reconciled to "going home." We rejoice in the fact that we had a beautiful, wonderful, precious daughter for 37 years, and that we will see her again someday. No daughter could have been a greater joy, and we thank the Lord for giving her to us.
Thank you for all the prayers, they were not in vain. Val got to spend many more months with Kennedy because of answered prayers, and for that we are grateful. Again, much love to those who have shared our battles.
Gene, Sharon, Regan, Phillip and Kennedy
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Update on Val
Dear Christian Brothers and Sisters,
The day started out well, with Val passing the breathing test, and the Dr removing the ventilator. It only lasted for 15 minutes, and then Val's breathing became very labored and they had to quickly reinsert it. Gene called and said I should get up there quickly as possible as they were going to take her into surgery and they considered it very risky.
The procedure took over 2 hours and they inserted a trachea and removed huge blood clots from her lungs that were obstructing her airways. They couldn't remove all of them, but are hoping to remove though other methods. Val was soundly sedated and they won't wake her til in the morning. I hate for her to wake up to a trachea, we know that "road" very well, and it is an ordeal-----------------------suctioning. feeding tubes, then pureed food, speaking valves, BUT first is the lip reading, I am terrible at that. I humbly pray for a speedy recovery.
I tried to sing to her yesterday, but that didn't go over very well. If any of you have even a moderately good voice, please feel very welcome to drop by and sing to her. She loves for Merci and Kelly to sing. It was so wonderful today to have Godly, caring people come by and sit with us. We never knew how Mr. Bullard,Headmaster of Christian Heritage Academy, would minister to our hearts and spirits, and Jerry Brown coming so often to pray and lift us up. Then we are blessed to have family, I have called my Aunt Shirley many times late at night during an emergency to pray, and Valerie loves for my sister, Connie, to pray with her. Gene's brother, Phil will sit with her and talk to her, and relieve the boredom. The were all there today, and we felt so grateful and blessed.
We also felt the power of your prayers behind us. I think I said that Dr. Doug said that he had only known 5 patients who were as sick as Valerie and lived through it. How many times have we been told that, and still the Lord has prevailed. I told Mr. Bullard that I couldn't bear for Val to have to go through so much suffering, and maybe it was the time to just let her go "home". Mr. Bullard reminded me that we weren't the ones in charge of when the Lord is through with Val down here. Thats TRUE, so I guess we will keep on praying until HE says it's enough...
Well, I am falling asleep at the computer again. May blessings rain down on you, and the Holy Spirit refresh your spirits.
Sharon
The day started out well, with Val passing the breathing test, and the Dr removing the ventilator. It only lasted for 15 minutes, and then Val's breathing became very labored and they had to quickly reinsert it. Gene called and said I should get up there quickly as possible as they were going to take her into surgery and they considered it very risky.
The procedure took over 2 hours and they inserted a trachea and removed huge blood clots from her lungs that were obstructing her airways. They couldn't remove all of them, but are hoping to remove though other methods. Val was soundly sedated and they won't wake her til in the morning. I hate for her to wake up to a trachea, we know that "road" very well, and it is an ordeal-----------------------suctioning. feeding tubes, then pureed food, speaking valves, BUT first is the lip reading, I am terrible at that. I humbly pray for a speedy recovery.
I tried to sing to her yesterday, but that didn't go over very well. If any of you have even a moderately good voice, please feel very welcome to drop by and sing to her. She loves for Merci and Kelly to sing. It was so wonderful today to have Godly, caring people come by and sit with us. We never knew how Mr. Bullard,Headmaster of Christian Heritage Academy, would minister to our hearts and spirits, and Jerry Brown coming so often to pray and lift us up. Then we are blessed to have family, I have called my Aunt Shirley many times late at night during an emergency to pray, and Valerie loves for my sister, Connie, to pray with her. Gene's brother, Phil will sit with her and talk to her, and relieve the boredom. The were all there today, and we felt so grateful and blessed.
We also felt the power of your prayers behind us. I think I said that Dr. Doug said that he had only known 5 patients who were as sick as Valerie and lived through it. How many times have we been told that, and still the Lord has prevailed. I told Mr. Bullard that I couldn't bear for Val to have to go through so much suffering, and maybe it was the time to just let her go "home". Mr. Bullard reminded me that we weren't the ones in charge of when the Lord is through with Val down here. Thats TRUE, so I guess we will keep on praying until HE says it's enough...
Well, I am falling asleep at the computer again. May blessings rain down on you, and the Holy Spirit refresh your spirits.
Sharon
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Urgent Call to Prayer
Dear Prayer Partners,
Val got back from the Dom. Rep. at midnight Thurs. night, very tired and weak. Over the last 20 months Valerie seems to get increasingly anxious before and after ANY procedure. To the point that they cannot control her anxiety with anything that normally calms people down----------anti-anxiety drugs, sleeping pills, etc.. Even when we get her home it seems to last for weeks. For instance I went in her room at 4:00 the other morning (before she went to the D.R.)and she was scooting around organizing her things. There were many issues involved, but it was definitely exacerbated by the extreme stress she felt and inability to sleep. I felt like she wasn't well, so I slept with her and noticed the strange sounds she made and the coolness of her arms and legs.
When she woke up, I suggested we go to the hospital for a little check up. She said she felt too bad, but soon realized it was a necessity. They drew blood samples and the tests revealed several bad problems. First was the bleeding, then the acid build up, white cell count, and her temp was 93.7. She felt so cold that I was very frightened.
Dr. Doug (cardiologist) came and and looked Val in the eye and said "Valerie, you are very, very sick, do you want us to use aggressive and maybe hard means to save your life, or do you want us to just treat you and let nature take its course" Val has been getting weary of the battles, and I wasn't sure what she would say. We of course would have stood by her decision. She very definitely said "Please try to save me". They rushed her from her room to the ICU where a team of Dr's and nurses began giving her antibiotics, drips, oxegen mask, blood infusion, ex rays, etc.
Gene spent the night, he has had little sleep in 5 nights, and when I left the Dr. told us that they were doing everything they could, but they could not give us any assurance she would pull through. As always my first thought is of Kennedy, because if Val wakes up with the Lord, what a day of rejoicing that will be to see friends and family and then see the beautiful Light of the Lord Jesus Christ. About 10:30 Gene called and said her numbers were better, she was talking to him-------------trying to be humorous, and her temp had risen to 97. This morning I called and he said about 2:30 am she begin to get very anxious and they couldn't calm her down, so they had no choice but to intubate her. Her most dreaded thing is the ventilator, thankfully they had her sedated.
I don't know where all of this is going, but the Lord does. I was thinking of the scripture we used to have on a poster in her room in Mpls. "And I will give you a NEW heart, and I will put a new spirit in you". I prayed that long and hard.
Then this morning I was reading the rest of the verse, and I thought "We all need a heart transplant!!! It says. "And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you, and I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender responsive heart. And I will put my spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations". When we turned to the Lord in repentance and asked for Salvation, we got a heart transplant, but sometimes we don't "guard our heart with all diligence", and we let it get hard and cold--------spiritual "plaque" builds up and we get blockages. The only thing that matters in this world is our relationship with the Lord. AND, each other.
If Val lives through this, how will it affect her stemcells? We don't know. Her blood was down to six, and that means her platelets or blood cells were breaking down. Did the stem cells cause this? I don't think so, Val wasn't feeling very well when she left, then extreme stress, two 10 hour flights, problems regulating her blood, and no sleep probably triggered something already there. Four other people had the procedure when Val did, and they seemed to have no problems. We talked to several people there for check ups when we were in Florida, and none of them had had problems and all of them were happy with the results. It saved our neighbor's husband's life. We would absolutely do it again if we had to make the decision all over.
I know you are probably tired of these "rollercoaster" crises of ours, we would appreciate intercessory prayer, but just pray as you feel led. We have certainly had more than our share of your prayer time.
Love, Sharon
April 23, 2009 Fellowship Get-Together
Please feel free to join us at the Red Robin restaurant in Apple Valley on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. We're excited to chat and gear up for the riding season after the long, cold winter.
When: Thursday, April 23, 2009 @ 6:00 p.m.
Where:
Red Robin
15560 Cedar Avenue
Apple Valley, MN 55124
Restaurant Phone: (952)997-6250
Restaurant Website: http://www.redrobin.com/home/locate.aspx?id=631&dist=1.78
When: Thursday, April 23, 2009 @ 6:00 p.m.
Where:
Red Robin
15560 Cedar Avenue
Apple Valley, MN 55124
Restaurant Phone: (952)997-6250
Restaurant Website: http://www.redrobin.com/home/locate.aspx?id=631&dist=1.78
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Hope & Horses 2009 Planning Session
The H&H 2009 Planning Session will be held on Sunday, March 8, 2009 at approximately 10:00 am. We will be gathering after the 9:00 and before the 11:00 worship services at Hosanna! Lutheran Church ( http://www.hosannalc.org/ ) in Lakeville, MN. Please meet at the tables opposite the Alpha podium in the Atrium.
***PLEASE NOTE: It appears there is a bit of confusion regarding Hope and Horses. In no way is H&H affiliated with Hosanna! Lutheran Church. We are not a Hosanna! Small Group, nor have we ever been at any point in the past. We are simply meeting at a neutral and central location, due to the fact that many of us attend there, and it is convenient. But let me be clear that we are NOT affiliated with the church. Thank you, and I apologize for any misunderstanding. I simply posted their website so you could look up their location and get directions in the event you are interested in meeting with us to discuss 2009 trail rides and get-togethers. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!***********************************
***PLEASE NOTE: It appears there is a bit of confusion regarding Hope and Horses. In no way is H&H affiliated with Hosanna! Lutheran Church. We are not a Hosanna! Small Group, nor have we ever been at any point in the past. We are simply meeting at a neutral and central location, due to the fact that many of us attend there, and it is convenient. But let me be clear that we are NOT affiliated with the church. Thank you, and I apologize for any misunderstanding. I simply posted their website so you could look up their location and get directions in the event you are interested in meeting with us to discuss 2009 trail rides and get-togethers. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!***********************************
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