Where did 25 years go? Happy Anniversary Eric!

 25 years ago today, with a borrowed dress, wide eyed with the world by the tail, Eric and I said "I do" in my then bosses home surrounded by family and a few friends! 

25 years ago... wow... it's hard to wrap my brain around 25 years! 

I completely hit the jackpot when I saw him walking through the lobby of the bank where we both worked! And this poor guy had no idea what he was getting himself into when he held my drink at a work function oh so long ago!

25 good, hard, fun, frustrating, heart wrenching, exciting, tearful, joyful, annoying, "I can't live without you", "I can't stand you" blessed years. 

 I remember my boss at the time we got married sitting me down and saying, "Sharon, you are going to have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks, good years and possibly bad years. But always remember to communicate with one another. Don't ever just throw in the towel."   At the time I vividly remember thinking, "Times that I won't be able to stand Eric? This perfect human being that has asked me to marry him? The one that I can't stand to be away from? That's the silliest thing I've heard! We are SO in love!" 

Time does have a way of presenting all the feelings from good to bad... and to be honest, we've had many of those "bad" times my former boss spoke of! 

I will say that even after 25 years of marriage, I cannot imagine my life with anyone else. This guy has shown me more Grace than any other human being. He has loved me in spite of the extra dogs I bring home without mentioning it to him!

He has loved me through my endless Kinser Vale obsession....

He has loved me through my, "Can we buy another horse?!" And continues to love me through that!!

He has loved me through more things than I can count.  But most importantly, he is an amazingly devoted husband to me and father to our three girls.  He has more Integrity than anyone I know.  His morals, his values and his love of God shows in so many ways.  He pushes me and our daughters to be better people. He has learned patience over the years and he is the "go to" person for the girls.  He is the one they call for advice which just makes me love him even more!

Eric and Emily

Eric and Sarah

Eric and Elizabeth

We are soon to be empty nesters and I look forward to that next chapter of our life. I look forward to growing old with you Eric van der Walde!

Lizzie signs with South Carolina Equestrian Team!

This morning we had the privilege of watching Lizzie sign her National Letter of Intent to be part of the South Carolina Equestrian team!

Lizzie's love of horses started at a very young age!  She would watch rounds over and over and never tire of it!  

Sisters, Sarah (L) and Lizzie (R)

Lizzie and her trainer Aaron Vale have a special relationship that has grown over the years! Lizzie typically calls Aaron "Grandpa" which gets funny looks when they are walking a jumper course or Indoors! They also took pride in telling people that Lizzie was adopted because she had dark hair and Emily and Sarah are both blonde! We owe such a huge gratitude of thanks to Aaron and everyone at ThinksLikeAHorse for being a huge part of this! 

Middle of the night schooling at Harrisburg

Indoors!

Washington Int'l Horse Show

Lizzie attends Greenhills School which is a private college prep school in Michigan and her horses are with Aaron in Ocala, Florida.  Without the program offered by Aaron and his team of employees, it would have been difficult for Lizzie to achieve her level of riding and her school work.  Because of this unique situation, and with the support of both Aaron and her teachers, Lizzie has excelled in both riding and education, both of which caught the eye of several NCEA riding schools.  After making several Official Visits, Lizzie knew that South Carolina is where she belonged.  

Lizzie has one Junior year left and plans on making the most of it!  She will be spending the winter in Ocala doing the HITS Circuit and hopes to qualify for Maclay, USEF Medal, Young Riders and her jumpers for Indoors!

We look forward to this next chapter for Lizzie and we are excited to see what this next year of riding has in store!