Lost and Found

Yesterday was the most heart-wrenching day I have ever had as a mother. My daughter went missing for an hour and a half. We were at our End of Summer Church Picnic at Mashamoquet enjoying the day relaxing and enjoying the company of our church family. Kaleigh was sitting in our 'area' having a snack when I glanced at the time and saw that it was 4:30pm. Time to get going I thought, so I started to pack up our things and walk them to our car which was parked pretty far away. When I got back she was gone. No big deal, probably in the creek with her friend catching frogs again I thought. I was ok with it because I wasn't completely packed to go yet anyway. I continued to pack up our things and waited for Eric to return from his volleyball game. At about 5pm I sent the boys over to the creek to get their sister so we could go home. She wasn't there. I checked the beach, not there either. I checked with some people I knew and no one had seen her. I ran into the mother of one of my daughter's good friend who confirmed that they were indeed together but that she had not seen them in a while. We both set out looking in opposite direction to look. After about 45 minutes and still no sign of them, I started to panic. The worst went through my head. Could they possibly have BOTH been abducted? The older sister to the other missing girl informed us that she had seen them heading up the hiking trail. So the other mom headed up the trail while I continued the search in the park. She came back down about 15 minutes later saying that she could not find them, she had hiked quite a ways and could not imagine that her daughter would have wandered THAT far into the woods. It was about then that both of us started to panic and about 25 of our church members headed out in all different directions in search of the girls. We contacted the park rangers who contacted the DEP and within minutes we were giving physical descriptions of our girls and answering health questions about them. Way too much time went by with nothing but phone calls saying that so and so had been to the end of this trail and had not found them. I was getting hysterical when a few women came over to pray with me. It calmed me and I held onto the comfort that they were indeed together and just lost in the woods, not abducted by some psychopath. I received a call a bit after 6pm saying that they had been found and were on their way down the mountain. The tears of relief came along with the praises. I hugged her bawling and telling her how glad I was she was ok but that she was in so much trouble. We talked later that night about how upset I was and how important it was for her to ask permission before going that far because no one knew her whereabouts. She apologized and I think she realized how badly she had scared me. Needless to say I am grateful beyond words to everyone who jumped up to help search for her and thankful to the Lord who watched over them.
But wait...the story isn't over. As everyone came down out of the mountain we found out that 3 of our teenage girls who DID tell their parents they were going on a hike had beed gone for three hours now and no one had seen them in the search for Kaleigh and her friend. SO, the search team went back into the woods in search of the girls. They, a bit wiser, had followed the sound of some voices and ended up in a campground. They found someone with a cell phone and called to let someone know their whereabouts. Someone from our search party that was in a vehicle and not on foot, went and got them. They were safe, now we just had to wait until all our adult search team were back and accounted for. It wasn't until after 7pm that everyone was accounted for and on their way out of the park. It was a long and emotional day but it ended on a positive note for those of us who got our loved ones back.

Sharp Family Reunion 2010

Every year we have a reunion for the Sharp side of the family. I must say that it is a weekend I enjoy to the fullest. My husband's extended family is the BEST! It is never a dull moment when the cousins get together. Our reunion has taken place at many different locations over the 12 years I have been a Sharp, but this latest location is one of my favorites. It is at Camp Westwood in RI. Nestled on a gorgeous lake with a huge facility that meets all our needs. We have a big place to gather for meals and if it is raining. Cabins for all, a bathhouse, boating, rope swing, fishing, soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball. This year we even did some Zumba, as Stacey Tucker (Eric's cousin's wife) is an instructor. This year, Stacey and I were in charge of children's activities. We had a craft, and some relay games, and a tug of war rope, and of course candy! Everyone REALLY got into the tug of war. We eventually did some adults vs kids. The kids beat us 2 to 1. Each night the teens took the younger kids on a game called 'ManHunt'. I'm not real sure of the rules but I know my kids LOVED it! The older kids are soooo good with the younger kids. This year we had family come from as far as Texas to join us. Great to see you Shelly and Larson! We had Sharps from the states of Texas, West Virginia, CT, RI, Maine, NH and PA. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend.

Me running Tug of War game


Me and Stacey (The Zumba diva)


Eric and Henrick (The life of the party)


Kaleigh and Parker with cousins Ashley, Kayla and Mikey


Luke being Luke


Family soccer game


Parker showing Dan his skills


Kaleigh and Kaylee

Around the campfire

Six Flags

Every year my children enter Six Flag's Read to Succeed Program through our homeschool group. They are given a time line and must read 360 minutes within that time frame. We keep a log and if they are successful they get a free ticket to Six Flags. The tickets were to expire on August 8th, so we went in the nick of time on Thursday the 5th despite the forecast for scattered thunderstorms. We picked the perfect day to go. The forecast kept many away and the line was not long at all. I think the longest they waited in line was 10 minutes. We did get rained on briefly but it felt wonderful as it was so humid. We brought along the boy's friend Colby as he has a season pass, and it was perfect. I didn't have to go on any rides :)

4-H County Fairs

This year Kaleigh competed in two back to back 4-H county fairs. The New London County Fair was held on July 24th. Many of her 4-H group competed in this competition. So we arrived at the farm around 6:30am to wash, and load up the horse and all the necessary items to be at the show by 8:15am.

The first class was showmanship. This was her first time ever competing in this and it showed. She placed fifth out of 11 in her class.


Her next class was Novice Walk-Trot Pleasure where she placed 1st and, Novice Walk-Trot Equitation where she placed 3rd. She also entered into the Open classes, where she is up against non 4-Hers of all skill level and both Western and English riders. She placed 2nd in both Pleasure and Equitation and 3rd in Command.


Trail class was the most difficult course I think I had ever seen. There were huge stuffed animals everywhere, lots of reeds for the horses to eat(which her horse did!), and many foreign things to a horse...like this noodle gate.




All in all, Kaleigh and Pride did well and got 1st place in trail. She also took home Reserved Champion in her division.

My proudest Mommy moment was when she won the Sportsmanship Award for being out there and having fun and cheering on her fellow 4-Her's no matter what anyone placed. She never got mad at her horse and kept a good attitude.

Oh and remember the post about Kaleigh's photos that she took? She ended up entering all five photos and got a blue ribbon and Best in Show!

Fast forward one week to July 31st and we land at the Windham County 4-H Fair.

Her first class of the day was showmanship and she nailed it! She practiced and practiced all week and the judge was so impressed he called her out to demonstrate to everyone the correct way to do it.

She ended up placing 1st in showmanship, 2nd in 4-H Equitation, Command and Trail. 3rd in Open Pleasure and 4th in Open Command.


After all the classes, came the fun stuff...the costume contest. Kaleigh and Pride went Hawaian and they placed 4th.


She ended up getting the Champion ribbon in her Walk-Trot division.

Car vs. Tree

On July 17th we got a phone call from our tenant around 8:30pm that a tree had fallen in the driveway and hit one of the vehicles. When we got there we tried to clear a path for the other tenants who lived there to be able to get in and out of the driveway. Eric was cutting tree till 11 o'clock at night. Our tenants were fabulous and jumped right in to lend a hand clearing brush and tree limbs as he cut. It took many days to cut and haul away the rest of the tree. We ended up having a tree removal service come and take down what was left standing as it was too close for comfort to the cottage.

Fourth of July

This year a friend of our asked if we would host a 4th of July party for the two CFC softball teams. We love a good party so we couldn't say no. There was plenty of food, volleyball, good games, and of course FIREWORKS!!!!!








And of course no softball gathering would be complete without the wedgiefest! Eric and Forrest always get into it. And this year they brought in a new recruit...Chad Wolfe!

This year Forrest came prepared and brought an extra pair of undies. What am I going to do with you two?

Kaleigh turns 11

On July 5th Kaleigh had a pool party at her grandmother's house to celebrate her 11th birthday. This year Kaleigh picked a missionary in India to give to. The couple runs an orphanage there and Kaleigh requested money instead of gifts to be donated to these missionaries. Together they raised just under $100.




On her actual birthday, she spent the first part of her day with her best four legged friend

and then had a playdate with her two legged friend Laura. After we dropped Laura off, we went to dinner at Friendly's with Mem-Mem. We ended the evening at Daddy's softball game.


Dear Kaleigh,

My prayer for you my daughter is that over the next eleven years, as difficult as they may be as you grow from a little girl to a women, you continue to seek the Lord. May you grow ever nearer to Him. May your heart long for His word and that you keep in His will for your life. That you seek to honor him in all that you do and be blessed and happy. I love you dearly and am blessed to be called your mom.

Love always,
Mommy