December 2018

December was an incredibly busy month. We got our tree early this year because we knew we would be busy every weekend. We went the weekend of Thanksgiving. This meant Aiden was able to join us this year. We picked out a concolor pine. It held its needles beyond Christmas. 

Sophia had her winter concert. They sang beautifully. Sophia is really beginning to look like a teenager.

I went away for a scrapbooking weekend. It was nice to get away. I didn't get as much done as I wanted to put had an awesome time. We were a very small group so it was nice to catch up with people. The following weekend I went back to the same retreat center for Etna. We had 28 people in the house this weekend. It was an awesome weekend with lots of learning. Michael came in from Hawaii for the series. He spend the night before and after with us. It was great to see him again. Then finally the 3rd Saturday of December was spent running a Girl Scout activity with over 50 girls in attendance.

Sophia rode with the high school team again. Her pony was very poky and didn't want to jump. She still did well bringing home two thirds and a 2nd place ribbon.

Aiden came down the weekend before Christmas so we had our Christmas dinner with him, Leslie, Emma and her boyfriend Matt on Saturday. Sophia worked very hard to make gifts for Nick, Natalie, Aiden, Leslie and Emma. She made them all galaxy shoes. It was hard to color all those canvas sneakers but they came out great. Everyone loved them.

Sophia also made peppermint bark for her teachers and riding instructors. She loves to give gifts from the heart.

Sophia decorated Navajo's stall for the holidays. With all the riding at the new barn we can't do the half lease with Navajo any longer. Sophia didn't want to give him up and asked Jade if she would be interested in splitting the half lease. Lauren was okay with this so now Sophia and Jade both share him.  Sophia is still riding him three times a week.

Sophia gave her presentation about photography to her 4H group.

We spent a quiet Christmas morning with just me, Steve and Sophia. We opened gifts. The last gift for Sophia was a pair of tall riding boots. We sent her on a scavenger hunt to find them. We went to Heather and Todd's for a Christmas evening open house. It was a great day.

The dogs were all dressed up for Christmas. Boba wasn't a big fan of the outfit but he tolerated it.

We weren't able to see Nick or the Acampora family for Christmas. Hopefully we will be able to see them soon.

We also had a quiet New Year's Eve. We celebrated with fondue again. Mr. Twinkletoes eats with every night with Sophia. He especially enjoyed the chicken we had on New Year's Eve.