Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Christmas


Christmas by the Lake
Moore Farm and ASPIRE
So the story begins with Christmas by the Lake.  It is December 2010  and the Moore’s decide to take their vacation at a condo in Clear Lake.  Christmas by the Lake include: snowmobiling, laughing and playing with grandchildren, swimming, sitting in the hot tub(cold), shopping, shopping, shopping, Cabin Coffee, visiting, listening to Christmas carols, singing, dancing, watching the beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the snow over the lake.  The beauty of the frost on the trees was breath taking.   We watched the parade in downtown, fireworks over the lake, visited with Santa, ate and ate, watched people jump into the frozen water and then into a hot tub (Polar Bear Dip), went sledding.  We made lots of memories.  Marilyn was able to spend time with each of her grandchildren.    It was a Christmas to remember. 
On this Christmas as Marilyn celebrates her time in Clear Lake this year along with her family members we will treasure more memories and enjoy the peace and quiet of this beautiful house on the lake.   This year Marilyn and her family will spend Thanksgiving and Christmas by the Lake.  I believe it is becoming a tradition.  Clear Lake is truly her place of refuge.   It is where she can breathe and relax and enjoy the many blessings and memories she has encountered throughout the year.   It is a chance to reflect and thank God for the many blessings. 
Blessings you say, so many this year.  Marilyn and Don spent a great deal of weekends camping at various campsites.  Their favorite was Morwood by Oelwein.   It was great to spend so much family time by the fire and create different memories.   Marilyn has decided she loves camping as it gets her away from the everyday things.  Marilyn enjoyed spending camping time with Don, Dale, Christine and Kameron.
Blessings you say, more blessings with over 1,000 individuals served at ASPIRE with over 300 volunteers and 4,000 hours of service.  Blessings you say, successful special events, Let’s Dance, Cowboy Breakfast, Dances with Horses.  It was a truly awesome year.
Blessings you say, more blessings bestowed on ASPIRE with the new and returning employees, including Jen, Jenna, Molly, Bobbi and Alicia. Marilyn is truly blessed with the wonderful employees and the great service they provide.  Thanks to Larry for helping the instructors through their teaching hours.   It has been great to see them blossom and grow.  Thank you Cindy for helping Marilyn this year as ASPIRE trekked through all the changes.  
Blessings you say, more blessings with our horses, Sonny, Erika, Blue, Kily, Bo, Buddy, Benny, Cody, Pixie, Ginger and Maverick.   The horses give their hearts and souls to our great volunteers and participants.  They are amazing and Marilyn’s life has changed because of the relationships she has developed with these majestic animals.   Blessings from the beautiful barn cats, Snappy, Penny, Mouse and Patches,   Snickers the dog and Shadow the house cat.   Marilyn and Don are truly blessed to have Snickers with them as he developed an obstruction in his stomach and had major surgery.   He is fine now but they were very worried about him and have thank God for his healing powers along with Dr. Bixby. 
Blessings you say, a week over the fourth of July in Clear Lake brought us some very weird happenings.   The week was not complete without stories and scary episodes, from storms that knocked trees down to smoke alarms going off to TV running through channels and couldn’t be shut off, to Kameron waking up and talking to someone who wasn’t there.   Marilyn decided that this cabin was not for her.   She said she does not want to rent this cabin anymore.   It was a week of memories and small blessings, boat rides, sunshine, swimming and lots of work cleaning up tree limbs. 
Blessings you say, Camp Hope was a success.  The first time in the history of this camp ASPIRE had a college intern plan and implement this camp.  58 people were served and it was a wonderful week with all the campers.
Blessing you say, to all the wonderful volunteers, interns, horses, sponsors, riders, families, campers and ASPIRE’s board of directors.  
Blessings you say, to a new a beautiful granddaughter born in July, Briana Leigh Carley.  
Blessings you say, to a Marilyn’s husband Don.  His work and volunteering, along with her son Dale, her brother Craig and friend Rich for helping to keep the lawn beautiful, hay unloaded, bedding unloaded, keeping the fence fixed and all the maintenance projects around the farm.  Thank you to Don and Dale for supervising the Americorp team.  It was a true blessing to get the old hay out of the barn, ramp painted, arena painted, stalls cleaned with new sealer on the walls, part of the house painted, all the equipment cleaned and waxed and much more.   We truly appreciated the work they accomplished and the patience from Dale and Don in supervising the crew.
Blessings you say another Christmas by the Lake.   As I close please join the Moore’s and ASPIRE in celebrating Christmas for the true meaning, the birthday of Jesus.  Go out and create memories and enjoy time with family and friends.   Find a place of peace and relaxation as we have done with Christmas by the Lake.
Blessings you say, to Marilyn’s family, Craig (brother), Dale(son), Christine(Dale’s girlfriend), Kelly(daughter), Adam(son-in-law), Kameron, Justin, Autumn, Briana(grandchildren) and Don(husband).  Each and every one of you has contributed in making special memories for Marilyn this year.  Blessings came with laughter, work, fun, tears and memories.
2011 would not have been the same without all the special memories with family, friends, volunteers, riders, horses, coworkers, sponsors and our special pets.
A blessed Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at the Moore Farm and ASPIRE.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

ASPIRE 2011

ASPIRE lesson year has drawn to a close.  I will miss the riders over the winter.  They are such a big part of my life during the spring, summer and fall.   Jen worked on our numbers for this year.  The total number served was 1089.  What an awesome year!  Thanks to all for making this a successful year.  We had a total of 322 volunteers. 123 volunteers from groups.   All adding up to a total of 4,303 hours.  This does not count my volunteer hours or Don's volunteer hours.   We had an almost entirely new staff this year.  This has truly been a year of teaching and facilitating.  I am so proud of Bobbi, Cindy, Jen, Jenna, Molly and Alicia for the great work they accomplished over the course of 2011.  Again Thank You All so much for making this possible.  Thank you so much Cindy for stepping in and helping to make this year run so smoothly.   I truly appreciated your kindness.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Thanksgiving and Beyond

Tis the season!  Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast approaching.  What are your plans?  How will you celebrate?  I will celebrate by being thankful for all the blessings that God has bestowed on me, my family, and ASPIRE.  I feel truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.  The horses are an amazing blessing.  Our family dog and cats are entertaining and blessings.   ASPIRE is truly blessed with the wonderful people that work here, volunteer here, serve on the Board of Directors, and all the wonderful people in this community that support ASPIRE through your financial gifts, time or service.   As a leader for over 12 years it has been an amazing journey.  I have experienced so much in the past 12 years.  Families that are struggling with children with special needs, volunteers, interns that are trying so hard to get through college and yet dedicate their time to help our riders and horses.   It is truly my faith in God and the blessing he has bestowed on me that keep me in the drivers seat to keep on keeping on.   I struggle with issues everyday.  My life is a roller coaster ride some day's.  My favorite saying is"By the Grace of God go I".   God will never leave us or forsake us.   He is always by our side carrying us through the hardships.  He is there giving us gigantic hugs.  He is there saying it is ok "I Love You".  On this holiday season I pray you will take a moment and thank God for the many blessings he has bestowed on you.  You see life is not about stuff it is about the relationships we have with God and how that affects our relationships with others.  I pray for all of you to have a safe, peaceful and very blessed Thanksgiving!  Enjoy this beautiful day and laugh a little, love a little, give a little and be thankful that God has blessed you with this day!  Go out and make memories!  Peace and hugs for a beautiful day!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Volunteer Recognition and Beyond

ASPIRE hosted it's Volunteer Recognition dinner Thursday evening.   It is always a night to remember.  A number of people came out to support the volunteers, riders and our wonderful horses.   A special thanks to our wonderful board members, Harold Getty, Kim Ihlenfeldt, and Larry Scura for supporting ASPIRE.  We truly appreciate your attendance and enjoy your presence.   A wonderful thanks and gratitude to our great staff, Bobbi, Jen, Jenna for being there to support all volunteers, riders, board and sponsors.   We appreciate them and look forward to working with them again this year.   Great team!   Thanks to Cindy Kline for all the help this year to help guide and teach our new staff.   Congratulations Cindy on Volunteer of the Year.  We could not have made it through this year without you.   Congratulations Jeff Porter on Barn Volunteer of the Year!  ASPIRE just wouldn't be the same without you and your mom keeping the barn clean and our horses healthy.   Erika our beautiful horse of the year!   Can't wait for her trading card!!    She truly is my sweet lady!   Thank you to my precious grandchildren Kameron and Autumn for helping to hand out the gifts to staff!  Thanks to everyone that helped decorate, cook, serve, and cleanup.   Thanks Craig for making it so easy to find our way around the kitchen.   You are a true blessing!   ASPIRE would not be the same without each and everyone of our great volunteers, staff, riders, horses, sponsors, board, interns and our families to support us.   Please join us in saying a warm thanks to all of those involved in making this year a success.  Thank you Lord for blessing my life with all of the great and wonderful people.   As we think about 2012 I hope you will consider, riding, volunteer, making a donation or being an intern.  Your presence and dollars at ASPIRE is the future success of beautiful program.   God bless and have a wonderful weekend! 

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Volunteer Recognition

I hope you will join us for the Volunteer Recognition on November 3rd.  It will be a grand night of celebration.  It is impossible to operate a program of this magnitude without the sincere and compassionate, dedicated volunteers, interns, board members, advisory board members and our wonderful staff.   A huge hug and gratitude go to all of you that have made this year possible.  A gigantic hug to all of our riders that light up our world and make it possible to see the real changes that happen on a daily basis. I want to honor our beautiful horses. These magnificent animals give their hearts and souls to make a difference.   Winter is long and we miss all of our riders and volunteers.  Please come and visit us and the horses.   You are always welcome to come and pet the horses and say hi to our staff or help Bobbi in the barn.  This year has flown by so fast.  It only seems like yesterday we were watering horses down because of the extreme heat and now we are thinking about the S word and cold.   Where does the time go.   What do we do with all  of our time.  Are we making a difference?  We are making a difference in each person's life that walks, drives or rides at ASPIRE.   A friend left me this quote: "ASPIRE to inspire before you expire."   I strive to inspire others and make a difference.  Please, Please join us Thursday evening, November 3rd at 6:00 p.m. for a beautiful slide show and free meal and celebrate all the great horses, riders, volunteers, sponsors, board members and staff.  It will be a night of joy and laughter and good food.   Please join our team in making a difference and inspiring others.  Go in peace and hug someone today.