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Friendship.

Have you ever just met someone and instantly felt comfortable - like you've known them your whole life?  Or you've met someone and it's not until later that you realize all that you have in common?  There is a click, a connection, a bond.  And if your friends are crazy like some of mine, you'd better buckle up and hang on because it's usually a heck of a ride!

Friends hold you up in the worst of times, the best of times and all the times in between.  Friends share emotions with you - joy, sadness, grief, anger, happiness, fear.  They laugh with you and at you.  If they are good friends, they'll even tell you when you're being absolutely ridiculous.  And there are even friends that you can pick up right where you left off with - if it's been a while since you've talked.

I'm lucky enough to have all kinds of friends like this.   And so are my girls.

Friday night, Emma was recognized at a banquet at Kuipers Family Farm.  What a beautiful place for a horse show banquet!  This was for the school show series she participated in this summer.  She and Talledega were grand champions for the short stirrup hunter and equitation divisions.  Escapar Farm did great. 

Front Row: Annie, Emma, Grace, Alex and Sara; Standing: Lauren, Lexi, Tasha and Lauren

Meet Alex.  She is one of the first friends that Emma made when we moved here.  These two were inseparable for the first three years we lived here.  They both loved horses and One Direction.  What else do you need?  They found new friends in middle school, but as Emma says, barn friends are forever. 

Alex and Emma

They pretty much spent all summer together at the barn as barn rats.  They worked their tails off - cleaning, organizing, moving horses, grooming horses - and the reward?  Riding horses.  This is the kind of summer I always hoped Emma would get to have.  When I was her age, I worked as a trail guide for a stable.  I worked from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm three days a week for $20 a day (let's do the math on that.  $2 an hour.  Ha!)  But it didn't matter, I loved those horses.  I'm sure my mom didn't love the way I smelled at the end of the day, but she knew I was learning responsibility and loving every minute of it.  At the end of the summer, I had more money than any other 8th grader I knew. And what did I want to do with it?  Buy Z Cavaricci jeans and IOU sweatshirts.  Oh my poor mom. 

Abbi finally got to celebrate her birthday on Saturday.  I took her and a few of her friends to Schaumburg Water Works.  It's like a miniature version of an indoor water park.

Christina, Gracelynn, Lauren, Abbi and Grace

Abbi and Grace have been friends since we moved here.  Abbi met Lauren and Christina in middle school, and Lauren has gone to ISYM camp with Abbi for the last two years.  Abbi met Gracelynn this year in high school.  It's about a 45 minute drive to Schaumburg from our house, I got to listen to them talk about all kinds of things on the way there.  From their views on standardized testing to kids that have gotten in trouble to how they are doing in the classes they are in. They were each encouraging, silly, and singing along to the music.

I know that Abbi and Emma are thankful for their friends.  And I am too.  Every single one of you.  :)