January 2016

January seems so long ago as I write this in the ninety degree weather in June!

This month started off with a trip to New Jersey to celebrate Christmas with the Acampora's. Unfortunately Linda's family could not make it down this year. George and Danielle arrived early on Friday. Aiden, Sophia, Steve and I had a nice dinner at the pub with them and then went back to the room and played some games. Tracey, Gianna and Angela joined us later that night. We had a great day on Saturday just hanging out. We had a wonderful dinner in the room. I made salad and two different desserts, mini apple and blueberry pies and chocolate fondue. Tracey made lasagna and George brought his delicious ribs. It was all so good. We then sat around the table with the adults partaking in wine and played games. It was so relaxing. This is becoming a new tradition. I miss my mother so much but no doubt she is with us in spirit. This weekend falls on her birthday so it is nice to be with family.

We had quite a lot of snow this month. Snowzilla dumped about 22 inches of snow on us from January 22-24. We all love the snow, well except the shoveling part. Sophia spent about hours outside sledding and playing in the snow.

Sophia bought a saddle pad with a gift certificate that she got from Christmas.

We had a very frightening time with Kaegogi. We took her to the vet twice in October because she had been vomiting. They gave her some meds and she slowly bounced back but not 100%. In January she took a turn for the worse. She had lost a lot of weight and was vomiting many times each day, she became lethargic. You can even see it in her face here. We were ready to put her down but our vet ran some test and could not find anything wrong with her. She put her on an appetite stimulant and a probiotic. I also changed her food to a limited ingredient diet. She pulled through. She put weight back on and got her puppy playfulness back. We are so relieved.

Poor baby

Feeling a little better.

All the other furry babies are doing well too. 

Otto continues to amuse us with his antics.

December Update

This post is long overdue. I will be happy when I can finally get it off my to do list. The "170 days overdue" message is making me crazy!

December was an exciting month as all Decembers are. Busy with the holiday preparations and excitement.  We cut down our own tree again. It wasn't long after we got it home that Otto decided the tree was a new toy for him. We weren't sure if the tree would be standing by Christmas but it survived.

Nick and Aiden both were able to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. It was so great having everyone home. 

Sophia picked out pajamas for all of us. She outdid herself when she selected mine. 

We made cookies for Santa and had a great dinner out on Christmas Eve.

Nick and Aiden went to see Star Wars in their new pajama tops. 

We opened gifts and had a delicious homemade Italian lunch at our house and then headed to see Grandma Bev. Grandma Bev, Leslie and the kids were planning on having dinner with us but Beverly fell while walking the dog right before Christmas. She ended up in the hospital and having surgery on her hip. Thankfully she was able to spend Christmas at home. She is one tough woman! 

Steve, Sophia and I celebrated a quiet New Years Eve together. We had salmon for dinner, played a game and then topped it off with our now traditional chocolate fondue. Sophia decided that she needed more sugar and filled up a pie tin with whipped cream and smashed her face in it. Oh, to be young again!

Sophia made it till midnight and then promptly fell asleep on the couch. She lasted longer than Steve.

November update

Sophia turned ten years old on November 1st.  She had a party on her birthday at Build a Bear.  She had a great time with some really good friends.  She picked Olive Garden for her birthday dinner.  It was a great day.  Hard to believe she is ten years old already.

Sophia made her own cake for her birthday.  She did an awesome job.

This year's gift from China.  The character for love.

Sophia rode in the final Hunter/Jumper show of the fall series.  She did an awesome job.  She had a scare during the canter class of beginning equation.  There were fourteen horses in the ring and she was cantering between the fence and a jump when two other horses came from behind and cut her off. She had no where to go because she was up against the fence. Her horse spooked but some how did not buck.  Sophia stayed calm through the incident but then got upset when she was leaving the ring. She didn't want to go back in again.  Luckily the next class was a cross rails class which is done individually.  Her coach missed the run in incident and just sent her back in.  Sophia did an awesome job in the cross rails class and then even went out to do two other classes. She did verticals for the first time in a show.  Sophia overcame a lot of fear when she got in the ring again.  She rode through the fear and came out successful.  She was beaming with pride when she finished.  She finished the day with a 2nd place, 3rd place, 4th place, 5th place and 6th place ribbon but she came out with so much more knowing she did not give into the fear.

 We had Thanksgiving at our house. Steve's mom, sister, niece and nephew joined us. We had a wonderful dinner and yummy dessert.  Sophia created a scavenger hunt for our guests.  It was very creative.  They had to search for clues.  The found items spelled out Happy Thanksgiving.

Life is good!