February update

February went by very quickly.  The month started with a Chinese New Year celebration with Sophia's China sister.  The kids all had fun together.  It is so nice to see how well they all get along.  There is a special bond between these girls.

Sophia is learning how to jump small cross rails as a stepping stone to higher jumps.  She loves it.  I have to close my eyes.

We got snow on February 13.  We ended up with around 11 inches which is a lot for us.
 Sophia loved playing outside in the snow.  She goes out and stays out for hours without ever complaining about how cold it is.  Steve helped her build a really cool snow fort.  She played in the fort and went sledding with the neighborhood kids.  Those nights she falls asleep in minutes.

We had a Clue party with her friends.  We all picked a character and dressed in the character's color.  It was a lot of fun.

The school had Wacky Tacky Day.  Sophia wore a very wacky outfit.

Noelle still sleeps with Sophia every night.  Noelle has been on insulin since January and the change in her is amazing.  She is a fourteen year old kitten now.  She jumps and plays like I haven't seen in years.  She also stopped her excessive grooming and her belly is starting to grow fur again.  I can't believe the changes in her. 

January update

We had a very exciting January.  The biggest thrill was celebrating Steve's 50th birthday.  He didn't want a party but Sophia and I could not resist.  We planned a dinner with some of Steve's closest friends and family. There were 14 people at dinner.   It was supposed to be a surprise but Steve pried some information out of Sophia so it wasn't a total surprise but it was still nice.  Sophia and I made a cherry pie and had people back to the house for some pie and German Chocolate cake.  Steve really enjoyed the evening.








































We had a couple small snow storms.  It was enough to shut down the schools so that was fun.  It was very cold so playing in the snow had to be limited.

Sophia and I went to a basket bingo event held at her school.  Sophia won big.  She won a door prize, a bingo game and a raffle for a basket.  She won every way possible.  The basket she won in the raffle was filled with pool stuff.  We can wait to use it next summer.

Sophia was also in a small drama performance as part of her after school drama class.  She did a great job.

Sophia continues to ride horses.  They started jumping over poles this weekend.  The poles are low but they are learning to jump.  Sophia loves it.  I am quite nervous.

We found out that Noelle was diabetic.  She is now on insulin and a totally different cat.  She has stopped her obsessive over-grooming.  She is more playful and seems much happier.  In fact, Noelle and Shadow have been playing with toys that Grandma Bev gave them this Christmas.  If we don't pick the toys up at night we are woken up to them playing and tossing them in the the middle of the night.

December update

What a fantastic month we had.  It was busier than ever but we enjoyed all the holiday festivities.

It snowed a little on Dec 6th.  Just enough to play outside and have Boba take Sophia for a dogsled ride.

Grandpa Skip's memorial service was held on Friday, December 13th.  Nick and Aiden came in for that.  It was a great celebration of his life.  Reporters he worked with, friends and family members shared stories of him through the years.  He was an incredible man.

  This year we cut down our own tree.  It was fun picking out the perfect tree.  We had a blast decorating it too.

The Brownie troop did a craft project and caroling at a local nursing home.  We went to a Christmas party at the barn.

We went to see Grandma Barbara the weekend before Christmas.  George, Tracey and their girls joined us and Linda's family for a Christmas dinner.  The food was great but the service was very slow.  We were at the restaurant for three hours.  Thankfully your cousins kept you busy so the time passed quickly.

We had a great Christmas with Nick and Aiden.  Santa brought you My Little Pony Monopoly and Fluttershy.  You got lots of gifts from the family.  We then went to Grandma Bev's to spend the day with her and Grandma Beadle.  You got a HUGE horse from Grandma Beadle.

We lost Gir on 12/26.  She was very old and found it difficult to get around.  I am going to miss her sleeping on me or on my pillow every night.  She will stay alive in our memory.

November Update

We started the month with Sophia turning eight years old.  Hard to believe how quickly the years have come and gone.  As she matures she is turning into a remarkable young lady.  She is funny, bright, caring and a joy to be around.

She spent her birthday at the barn doing a camp day seeing school was out.  She had a blast there.  It was a perfect day.   We had her birthday party a couple weeks later.  We had a cooking party at our house with five of her friends.  We made pizza and cupcakes and played cooking related games.  It was fun.  The kids enjoyed themselves and the food.

She competed in her last horse show of the season and placed better this time than in September.  She also took a couple of private lessons at another stable and during one of the lessons they were going over low crossbars and her horse actually jumped them rather than trotting over as expected.  She was thrilled.   We ended the month with a trail ride, Steve, Sophia and I were joined by another family and we went on an hour trail ride over Thanksgiving weekend.  I have a new appreciation of all the work and courage it takes to ride a horse.  You won't see me cantering or going over poles anytime soon!

 Sophia had a career day in school.  She talked about how she wants to be a horse trainer when she grows up. She did a great job presenting her information to the parents.

Aiden spent a weekend with us.  Sophia loves spending time with Aiden.