Commencement Ceremony

Below are a bunch of pictures from Jesson's graduation ceremony. We were so glad that Grandma and Grandpa Bateman, Aunt Terri, Eric and Taylor Fletcher, both set of parents, and Ryan and Buddy were able to come to the graduation.

Graduation Pictures

Below are a few of Jesson's graduation pictures. We let Jesson and his dad loose on the campus and they came back with some great pictures. I especially love the one with the pom-poms and the feather boa that they borrowed from another graduate! Enjoy!

Congratulations!

Jesson is owed congratulations on two fronts this week. First, this Sunday he will graduate from the University of Florida with his Bachelor's Degree in Health Science. Second, we just received his letter of acceptance into the University of South Florida's Molecular Medicine Graduate Program! This means we are moving to Tampa this summer to begin a whole new chapter of our lives. We are very excited! Way to go Jesson!

Random Shots

Here are a few pictures that don't really all fit together, but they don't fit anywhere else either!

Sometimes I give Reno extra food to make him eat a supplement or medicine or something and I always soak it with water. I wet it down for two reasons. One, it makes him take in more water, which is always good. And two, it mixes up the medicine with the sweet feed and camouflages the taste. It always makes me laugh when he eats it because he makes these slurping noises and gets it all over his face, like in the picture below:

Reno at the farm, being good and eating his 2nd dinner.
I got a new blanket recently. Jesson and I are both cover stealers so when we would go to sleep at night it was every man for himself. One of us always ended up out in the cold. To solve the problem I bought a new blanket. Little did I know the dogs would love it and take it over! One day I went upstairs and found Turk sleeping on top of it...

...and Griffon sleeping under it!

Every once in a while when Griffon and Nano are both SUPER tired they will sleep together in the same bed. It's always cute to catch them when it happens.

Turk when he was a puppy. He is now more than twice this size! We jokingly call him "Shamu" because he is big and spotted!

Road Trip!

A few months ago we went with Buddy to check out a puppy he was thinking about buying. Obviously, he went ahead and bought the puppy as we have already put up a post about it, but we had a few pictures from our trip down there that we liked that we wanted to put up as well. Enjoy!

Nano always like to sit up front on my lap.

Griffon doing surveillance out the side window.
Teaching Turk how to do surveillance. Maybe one day Griffon will trust him enough to let him keep watch over one side of the car all by himself.....maybe.

Turk making friends with the dog in the car next to us.

Falling asleep after a hard days work.

All of our dogs LOVE Buddy. They get very excited when he comes to visit!

Griffon ultimately found a place to sleep, in the Captain's seat of course!

Buddy is about the only person Nano will leave me for.

Turk being a happy puppy.

Book Sale!

Every six months in Gainesville (April and October) the Friends of the Library host a book sale. It's a huge warehouse FILLED with every type of book you can imagine. New fiction books to old classics, there is something for everyone. Jesson and I go everytime and always have a blast! Below are a few pictures showing the crowds. We always go on the opening day and get there early so we can get in and get all the good stuff! Jesson usually heads straight for the computer software and sci-fi sections while I hit up the cookbooks and craft sections. We meet up afterwards and compare loot! It's a lot of fun and we always look forward to it!

Miss Maggie Moo

Jesson has been riding for almost a year now. He has come really far and it has been fun watching him learn. He is such a natural on a horse! Below are pictures from some of his lessons. Pat Deasy is his instructor and he rides a Clydesdale mare named Maggie. They are a great team! There is also a picture of his saddle. Yes, he owns his own saddle now! We found it in a tack shop in Ocala and were able to barter more than 25% off the price! On a side note, he and I competed in a pairs competition at the beginning of April and got 4th place! He has the ribbon hanging in our office now!

Jesson's new saddle (18" MW Karl Niedersuss Close Contact):

Taking instructions from Pat:
Giving Maggie a breather between jumps.

Up and over the cross rail.

Practicing his jumping position at the canter.