Parent of the Year Award Pony Finals

I couldn’t be a happier Mom parenting the two most amazing girls.  I got this lovely award at the 2022 Pony Finals.  I wouldn’t be the Mom I am in this recommendation if I didn’t have the best girls that make me want to be the best I could for them. <3

From: Bethanie Cooper <bplewis2@ncsu.edu>
Sent: Sunday, August 7, 2022 10:11 PM
To: Pony Finals <ponyfinals@usef.org>
Subject: 2022 Outstanding Parent Award Nomination
 
To whom it concerns,
 
It is with my great pleasure to nominate Diane McKinney, mother of Katie McKinney, for the 2022 Outstanding Parent Award. Diane McKinney has been a member of our barn family for many years. She started out not knowing the difference between a halter and a bridle and has grown to be the best groom, pony photographer and supporter of not only her own girls but of every young girl at our barn. In October of 2021, Diane was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. Somehow, through intensive chemotherapy and treatment, Diane managed to make it to horse shows with a smile on her face and a camera ready to take pictures of our girls and their ponies. Diane is the first barn mom to reach out and offer a word of support in hard times and the first barn mom to provide a hug and praise in the good times. She is an incredible parent and words can not convey how deserving she is.

Thank you so much for your consideration,
Dr. Bethanie Cooper, DVM
NC State University 
College of Veterinary Medicine
Pony Finals Parent of the Year Award 2022

Covid-19 Pandemic 2020

Just so I NEVER forget….. April 2, 2020

Gas price a mile from home was $1.89
School closed until at least May 15th.

Self-distancing measures on the rise.

Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other.

Limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors.

Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.

Entire cities locked up.

Entire sports seasons cancelled.

Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events – cancelled.

Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings – cancelled.

No gatherings of 50 or more, then 10 or more.

Don’t socialize with anyone outside of your home.

Children’s outdoor play parks are closed.
We are to distance from each other.

Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.

Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer.
Shelves are bare.

Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.

Government closes the border to all non-essential travel.

Fines are established for breaking the rules.

Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.

Press conferences daily from the President.

Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.

Government incentives to stay home.

Barely anyone on the roads.

People wearing masks and gloves outside.

Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

Why, you ask, do I write this?

One day it will show up in my memory feed, and it will be a yearly reminder that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.

We have so much!
Be thankful. Be grateful.
Be kind to each other – love one another – support everyone.

We are all one!

Carowinds! Our First Time -for the win!

Too funny.  The girls were like, let’s start slow then move up to the bigger rides.  Well that didn’t happen. First ride was the intimidator then off to the largest roller coaster in NC the Fury 325!  After that nothing but extreme coasters.  At the end of the video is a frontal view of the Fury as if you were the passenger.  🙂

Last Horse Show of the Year

Well it was another great horse show. Both girls did a great job.  Hannah got two 6th place ribbons and being all the girls were so much older that was great!  Then Katie was the bell of the ball for sure.  She walked away with a ton of blues, red and Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion. She rode two horses Muffin and Peter.

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Hannah-isms | After College

Before school yesterday Hannah announced that her and her friend Gillian would be moving to California to become UTube Video stars.  They would be having 4 dogs and two other pets, maybe cats.  When I said the apartment might get a little stinky she said it would be a 3 bedroom apartment with one room just for the pets.  Evidently she isn’t aware of the cost of living in California. XD

2017 Eclipse!

So funny that Hannah is the exact same age I was when I saw the last eclipse.  Of course now we have so much more available to view it.  We made a make shift lens for the camera from one of our eclipse glasses.  Lily Katie’s friend came over to join us. And everyone got to sneak out of school early. Actually Hannah wasn’t in yet but Lily and Katie got to skip their last class.

Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com Diane McKinney Photography http://dianemckinney.com 2017_Eclipse0016 2017_Eclipse0017 2017_Eclipse0018 2017_Eclipse0019 2017_Eclipse0020 2017_Eclipse0021 2017_Eclipse0022 2017_Eclipse0023 2017_Eclipse0024 2017_Eclipse0025 2017_Eclipse0026 2017_Eclipse0027