The Headless Soloist

Okay, so this is what happens when my darling Matt is given a brand new camara and is told to take pictures of my choir concert. :)
Well, as I have mentioned before, I sing in the Bottineaus Women's Choir and we had our Annual Christmas Concert. It was a beautiful concert. I wish I had a CD of it, because, if I should say so myself, WE DID AWESOME!
I had a few tasks, throughout the concert. We sang a version of The First Noel to the accompaniment of Pachelbel's Canon which had two piano parts. Two weeks before the concert the 2nd pianist backed out, so I jumped in at the last minute and agreed to play. During the intermission there were 5 of us who sang solos. I sang a song called "Still A Bach Christmas" which was absolutely beautiful (if I should say so myself)and left hardly a dry eye in the audience. Then during the second half, I had a small solo part in The Christmas Song. According to Matt, I was the star of the show.
I had tons of fun and am very sad to see the season come to an end. But alas, I will still have the opportunity to sing with my darling Matthew in the Anoka Ward the Sunday before Christmas.

Farewell to Xenos!!

Xenos the Racehorse is now Xenos the Amish BuggyHorse. We sold him to the Amish in WI because he just didn't wanna be a racer. He's a good boy and will be treated like royalty by the Amish people. Chances are, he'll stay in WI but might find his way to OH or PA. His stablemate, Black Pepper went with him. Many Amish horses are ex-racers that either didn't make it on the track, or like Xenos, would rather be petted all day! Norman Glinz, who bred Xenos, has offered us a faster horse named Tempstar. We'll get him after helping Norman with the colts that will race this year at the new Rollin' Aces Harness Park in Forest Lake, MN (near the Twin Cities).

Nieces and Nephews are simply the best!!!

These 4 little tikes are 4 of the most special people in my life, second only to my darling Matthew. I thoroughly enjoy every minute that I am able to spend with them. It is so fun to see how excited they get when they see Matt and I. I think that I have achieved "Favorite Aunt" :D. But we won't tell Julie and Tiffany that, they might be a little jealous. Anyways, these are some pictures of the kids enjoying there time at the races, staying in the hotel, and their Auntie Jen!

A Visit Inside the Barn

When we were in Fargo, On Saturday morning everyone was able to come in to the barn and see all of the horses. I think that Jackie was a little afraid, but we won't tell anyone. The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves and it was fun for Matt and I to show off a little. Harness Racing is becoming our lives and it was fun to be able to share that with family. Xenos and NeverLast enjoyed all the attention as well.

Harness Racing 2007

The 14th thru the 16th of September, our horses, Xenos and NeverLast raced in Fargo, North Dakota. We had a blast. My mom, Jolynn, Taylor, Beckham, Jackie, Curt, Abby, Ally and Stephen all met us there. Alas, our horses came in last every time, but Matt got to wear his "Colors" and we learned a lot.

1st Annual Gourley Family Reunion

At the end of July the whole Gourley clan made it back to Minnesota for an exciting 1st Annual Gourley Family Reunion, and what an exciting week it was. We all arrived on Monday, with Matt and I arriving first, we drove straight through the night after Matt got off work at 11 Sunday night. The trip was pretty uneventful other than that I hit a deer, good thing I had a cop in the car with me. Julie and Tiff arrived later in the day. Abby was so excited, she called my cell phone at 8 Monday morning and just couldn't understand why I didn't come to her house first.
Monday night the reunion started with some grillin and a game of volleyball. Not sure which team won, but I would guess that it wasn't the team that Julie was on, because she was wearing white pants.
Tuesday we all went the exciting game soccer practice. It was tons of fun watching Sean and Curt help Abby and Taylor as they learned the game. After the practice we headed back to Jackie and Curts house for some chow and a Mini Lasso Ball Tournament. Gramma and Grampa Gourley and Uncle Ken met us there for a fun evening.
Wednesday we headed to the Water Park of America and we all had a blast. Dad and Matt stayed home and waited for the Dishnetwork Guy, since he was only a couple hours late, and then they headed to the shooting range. We were in Minneapolis when the bridge collapsed, but thankfully we were not on the bridge. We all then met back at Mom and Dads, and Matt and I made hot dogs, beans and cheese, a favorite dish from when we were kids.
Thursday a few of us had the opportunity to go to the temple and do family sealings. What an opportunity that was. Matt and I were able to be sealed for my great great grandparents. That evening we all went to Canterbury Downs for dollar night and enjoyed the horse races.
Friday morning we all headed up McGregor, MN to our cabin. We had a Lasso Ball Tournament, which Jolynn won, Congratulations Jolynn!!! We enjoyed good food, good company and relaxed. Gramma and Grampa Gourley were up there as well, and Uncle Ken and Aunt Kim came for a visit as well. We all headed back to Mom and Dads Saturday night.
Sunday we went to church and then we all dispersed for our separate homes. Tis sad to have to leave, but it was a very fun week. Being with family is always enjoyable.
Can't wait til next year!!

A Look at What We Do For Some Fun

Well, here is what Matt and I spend our days off doing. It sometimes feels as if we have 2 full time jobs. Although we don't get paid for this job, we don't have to pay to board for our horses which is really nice. We go out to the farm every day and help the owner, Norman, jog 9 of his horses and then we jog our 2. This is a picture of Matt taking our mare, NeverLast, out of the barn to jog her. You ride on a jog bike when you are training, during actual races you ride on a sulky and you are a lot closer to the horse. I haven't been brave enough to want to try that yet, but I love helping jog and training days, when we turn them is a blast cuz you are flying around that track.

Here is Matt jumping on the jog cart as NeverLast is jumping at the bit to get out to the track. NeverLast is a great horse, she will definitely get us some checks.

Here is Matt out on the track, it is a half mile track. Most days we jog the horses 4 miles. Usually I jog NeverLast and Matt jogs Xenos, but today we were doing training miles and turning the horses, so to help speed things up I harness while they jog. Turning the horses involves taking them 3 miles the wrong way of the track as if you were just going to jog them. Then you turn them around the right way of the track and you go either 1 mile or 1 1/2 miles at a pretty quick pace. By the time we are ready to take the horses up to qualify, which each horse has to do before they can compete in the races, we will be doing a mile in 2:30, which is going about 25 miles an hour. Tons of fun. To qualify they have to do the mile in 2:15 which we can't do on this track because the track is too hard. Actual race tracks are softer and the turns are banked, which makes it a little safer. Actual races the horses will be doing the mile in closer to 2:00.

Here is Matt coming off the track with NeverLast. She had a great workout today. On days that we turn the horses, I spend the day in the barn harnessing the horses so that when Matt and Norman get off the track the next two are ready to go. Keeps me hopping but boy am I getting pretty good. If I wasn't there to get the next two horses ready while they were out, we would be there all day. On most days though, I jog NeverLast at the same time Matt is jogging Xenos. Harness racing is a blast! Way more entertaining than Thoroughbred Racing.