A couple weekends ago, we started a little project to add a Trakehner Logo to the barn gable. Here’s the progress:

First we had the Trakehner logo printed out on a 36″ tall sheet of paper. Using a razorblade, we cut the design into the wood. We made the cuts visible with a sharpie, and cut the logo out with a jigsaw.

Then Anna painted it and I put it up on the barn:

Here’s a view of the front of our barn now, with the new logo:

We probably could have brought the logo down a little bit, but I think it looks great! You can see in this last picture, the newly-stained wood, and the trim pieces that really put the finishing touches on the barn.

Trakehner Logos Everywhere!

For Christmas, I bought Anna a window sticker for her truck window, and we finally got it completed! It is Anna’s horse-breeding business’s logo accompanied by the Trakehner logo. Here’s a picture:

You can see more about Anna’s horse-breeding business at her Top Priority Trakehners Website.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Anna, Carol and Ashton went for a trail ride and rode through our lake to get to (and from) the trail. It was very fun.

Here’s the mandatory picture of Mocha. Although I have two for you this time because I couldn’t decide which Easter picture was better.

Love,
Ashton + Anna

Here’s a video where Ashton investigates where all this water is coming from:

The best part of having a lake in your front yard is the beauty. Water can sure be beautiful.

We have even had a few flocks of ducks stay with us for a couple days on their way to Canada.

At one time we counted 14 ducks swimming around. They were really hard to get close enough to take good close ups (even with my zoom lens). They were so cute swimming around in pairs.

While large parts of the lake were still frozen, Anna went out into it to retrieve a gate that had floated away. The dogs followed, and Rosco jumped up onto the ice. (He ended up getting stuck in the Ice, but Chief and Anna came back to break through the ice.)

So here’s a picture of the road that used to go to lead us to the neighbor’s house:

And what would an Ashton Anna blog update be without a picture of Mocha?

Enjoy!
Ashton&Anna

To the right, you can see our latest addition to our Ranch, Linux, Trakehner colt (boy). You can also see Anna, Ashton and Mocha.

Florida

This year started with a trip to Florida so we could see family and spend time in the Florida sun. We stayed with David and Marcy for few months. Ashton found some beach volleyball players and amazingly got a sunburn in the middle of winter.

We also got to spend time with Ashton’s relatives: Grandpa Joe, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Lenny, and cousins Jared and Evan.

Montana

In June, Anna’s Pregnant Mare gave birth to Linux, an adorable, kind colt (pictured above).

Ashton learned how to weave apple pie crusts (and make apple pies).

We had another handful of friends visit us this summer. Grandpa Joe and Geoffrey visited for over a week. It’s always so much fun having Grandpa Joe around.

Just before our family came to visit, one of my best friends from school agreed to come and live with us for a year. Ashton has been teaching him websites, and he’s been helping Anna with the horses and running the ranch.

While Geoffrey and Ross were here, we managed to have a successful one-day LAN (computer game) party!

November

In November, Anna went to the Florida to visit her friends at Valhalla Farms and attend the American Trakehner Association’s Annual Convention. Ashton went to Front Sight for a four-day defensive handgun course, and then to Los Angeles for Delphi LA’s Alumni Weekend.

Websites in a Flash

Our website business, Websites in a Flash, has continued to expand. We’ve been very fortunate to find some very good help and have been keeping them busy with lots of work. We’ve had a lot of fun working on projects together. We even had a “Formal Friday” where we all went out to lunch dressed to the nines. We have a lot of fun.

Trakehners and Dressage

Anna has continued to show her horses in Dressage competitions in the North West. She had three successful shows with several first and second placings. She earned second place in her division for Trakehners across the nation!

You can see her horses at http://www.tptrakehners.com/

<3,
Ashton and Anna Sanders

Since I couldn’t leave this as such a boring post, I decided to continue by posting pictures of some of the randomity of 2010: namely anything that wasn’t important enough to have it’s own blog post. Enjoy.

On October 8th, we had “Formal Friday”. We even went out to lunch at the Hot Spot. =)

AshAnna watched Julie and Julia together and Anna got super excited to cook some yummy foods. This was our breakfast the next morning! Yummy!

Oh, and I (Ashton) cooked my first apple pie. I still have lots to learn, but it was edible…

My friend from Von Rocko gave me an awesome storm trooper picture for a present, and I fell in love with StarCraft 2. (I got to play the beta for a few glorious months.) Here’s my work station:

Anna competed in 3 Dressage competitions this year, and qualified to compete a the championships!

What would a blog post be without a picture of Mocha being adorable:

Enjoy,
Ashton

Because of the weather, we’ve been keeping the below three horses in the “large paddock.” Today, we let them out to run around in the field. They ran around for a good 10 minutes.

From left to right is Maple, Onora and Aspen.

While I was out in the pasture I took a picture of our house in the snow:

Then I finally got a good picture of all three dogs… it’s really difficult:

From left to right is Penelope, Rosco, and Ansli. (Although theoretically, Rosco is the only one Ashton and Anna own. The other two are his good friends.)

Here’s Blu and Chunky. Chunky is doing a pretty good job of continuing to lay eggs, even on the very cold days. Last year, our chickens stopped laying when it got cold.

Mocha looking majestic:

Mocha checking out the Toyota:

After I came inside, the two mustangs that have been living on our back 10 acres finally stood together so I could get a picture of them:

Onora has a crush on the two mustangs, so when she noticed they were hanging out by her fence, she came running over:

Soon to be followed by Onora’s little best friend: Maple

That’s all 11 of our animals on a winter morning.

Ashton Anna

Round 2…
Fight!

Mocha was sitting on my desk looking out the window as she normally does every day. It was still nice and cool outside, so I opened the window so Mocha could stick her head out… The second the window opened: Mocha jumped out of it, landed 10 feet down, sprinted 20 feet into the bushes and a second later came out with a snake:

As you can see the snake was about as long as Mocha is!

Then she took the snake under our porch to play with it.

After I took that last picture, I brought Mocha inside so the snake could return to it’s life in the hopes of getting large enough to help Mocha and Rosco in the quest to remove all gophers from our land.

And since I’m posting about Mocha, here are some picture of Mocha being adorable:

Hahaha, what a spoiled cat.
-AshAnna

First: Mocha. I’m sorry, she’s just so ridiculous I can’t help but take the pictures:

(This one’s so awesome I created it as a 1440×900 desktop too.)

Ashton finally got his hair cut:

Ashanna created a flowerbed on “the dull side of the house”

Here’s the progress on the stone wall:

We rented a post-pounder for the weekend.

We woke up the other day to this:

There were three of them in this next picture… but I was too slow.

Chickens:

Enjoy,
AshAnna

Mocha on a Post:

Mocha on a Mouse:

Mocha on a Car:

Mocha on our DISH:

Mocha in the In-Box:

Mocha gets a bath:

Mocha says, “You can’t see me sleeping on Anna’s clean sheets”:

Mocha walking:

Mocha is also very well known for badgering any “alien” dog who visits our house. This is Mocha intimidating Penelope and Pudgy:

Mocha never ceases to amaze us.
AshAnna

She will hang out on your shoulders for hours at a time.

Enjoy =)
Ashton