We bought some new appliances for our kitchen on Black Friday. Our refrigerator was old and in
need of replacement. Steve decided we also needed to replace our ten year old dishwasher which never worked well. Then of course with a new refrigerator and dishwasher I thought we needed a new stove. So we got a flat top with a convention oven, which the cats love! I am thrilled. If we could redo our cabinets and counters we would have a whole new, yet still very tiny, kitchen.
We have began leasing a horse for Sophia. It is a two day a week lease. Navajo was an former lesson horse and is a great horse. Sophia is able to ride him in two of her lessons each week and then to practice with him. He has been super. He does have a condition which affects his eyes so he needs to wear a fly mask to block out UV rays during the day. We are hoping this won't be a problem for shows.
The month was filled with preparing for Christmas. We shopped, baked, wrapped gifts, decorated and cut down our Christmas tree. We love finding the perfect tree and the cats enjoy climbing on it. I can't believe it hasn't fallen over yet. Sophia wrapped one of her gifts, that she had picked out with incredible attention to detail.
Sophia had a baby tooth that would not fall out. She needed to get it pulled. The actual extraction went well but she bit her lip afterwards. It was very sore and swollen the week leading into Christmas. She was still sore on Christmas day.
Sophia picked out pajamas for everyone. She outdid her self this year.
Nick and Aiden were able to join us for Christmas. It was nice having the whole family together. We had a pork roast for dinner on Christmas Eve and then played some games together. On Christmas day we opened up gifts here and then went to Steve's mothers to share Christmas with his family. We came back to the house for a yummy lasagna dinner.
The animals enjoyed the holidays too. The cats were loving playing in all the boxes from Amazon.
Sophia and I went to Lancaster the day after Christmas to celebrate with the Acampora side of the family. It is not the same without Grandma Barb but we had fun hanging out together. Linda brought some life to the party with a dice game that involved opening a gift with oven mitts on. She also got me with a prank Christmas gift box. It was a lot of fun. We did a little shopping, went to Chocolate World and of course on a horse and buggy ride.
We ended the year with our traditional fondue. We had a quiet night at home playing a game and watching Mary Poppins. It has been a great year. Looking forward to making more memories in 2017.
