Winter Wonderland with Friends.

We ventured out to Indian Creek Plaza to enjoy the opening weekend of their Winder Wonderland.  My parents, Grace and Liza joined us for the fun.  It was absolutely gorgeous to see all the lights.  

Clyde the camel was there for the evening.  We all agree that Liza got the best picture with him.

The girls skated on the ice ribbon.

Of course, they hung out by the bonfire as well.  Checking their social media accounts for sure.

After skating, we took a few more pictures and grabbed some warm drinks.

Yep, I am ready for the holidays now!

Thanksgiving and the Holiday Kickoff.

We have had a busy holiday season thus far.  The girls are keeping us all super busy with dance and horse.  Kendall is also still working at her first job.  It has been a great fit.  They have been working with her busy schedule very well.  She works anywhere from three to eight hours per week, which is just about perfect.  She is enjoying the financial independence and has been learning to manage her money well.  She has learned a number of new skills to include customer service and running a cash register.

Sidney has been having a few things come up with her health, so her neurologist suggested she have a sleep study performed to rule out sleep apnea as being the cause.  So Sidney and I spent a night at St. Luke's for the procedure.  Thankfully, she does not have sleep apnea.  In some respects, Sidney is glad, but I think she was also hoping for a silver bullet that would explain what is going on.  

Kendall has been practicing her press to handstand.  She is getting better each time.  This requires tremendous strength and is super impressive.

The girls and I attempted to put our tree up the evening before Thanksgiving.  This was a major concession on Kendall's part, as she has a real thing about Christmas decorations going up before Thanksgiving.  Sadly, the lights would not come on for our trusty old tree.  We decided to part ways and purchased a new tree with working lights.  After we got it up, the girls and I decided to take a timed selfie.  I love these sweet girls.

No other reason for this picture, other than it is just a super cute photo.

Sidney has resumed her holiday baking.  She is working hard to perfect her hot chocolate bombs.  

Bella was spayed right before Thanksgiving, so she spent the holiday in a cone.  She only chewed through one of them that had to be replaced.

These dogs are equal parts super cute and super annoying.  They are just waiting for Sidney to drop some of her caramel corn.

Bailey seems like such a mellow sage now that we have Bella.  With all of their playing, we deemed it time for Bailey to have a spa day.  He came back fluffy and clean as a whistle.

Bella was not really sure what to think of all the Christmas decorations at first.  In fact, she proceeded to chew through the light chord of our new Christmas tree.  Thankfully, it was fixable.  Otherwise, some nice family may have gained a cute new puppy:).  She has decided that she likes to take her naps amongst the presents.  It is actually quite adorable.

The Dog Pound.

 Oh My Goodness!  We watched my parents dogs for about five days while they went up North.  There was never a dull moment.

It is a great thing all of these dogs get along so well.  The scene either looked like this...

...or this.  They were either playing like mad or sleeping like babies.

Chocolate, Cake, Crafts and Candles.

 The first picture is not totally related, but it fit the title of the post.  Sid got a whim to make a tiered cake for Sunday night dinner this week.  It turned out super cute and was very delicious.  I love that they are very capable young woman.

My mom and I went to the Craft and Chocolate Affair at the Nampa Civic Center.  It was the first time they have had it since COVID.  I had never been, and it did not disappoint!  I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I did not.  

I picked up this adorable 'custom' ornament to add to Kevin's tree this year.  Genius idea!

I also spoiled myself with this lovely dough bowl soy candle.  It was gorgeous, though we burned it way too fast.

Yes, it was a crafty, yummy day!

Scholar of the Week!

 I am super proud of both the girls.  They have been working very hard at school this year.  One of the things we are really working on is pride and ownership in their work.  

Sidney's work was recognized by the teachers a couple weeks ago, as she was awarded scholar of the week for 7th grade.  I just love her biography.

Jump Series and Jackpot Challenge.

Sidney has been getting some extra opportunities this fall.  Alyssa seems to have adopted these three girls (Ava, Nellie and Sidney) as her 'girls' and has been taking them to all sorts of fun events.  Here are a few pictures of the Jackpot Challenge, which is essentially an outdoor obstacle course for both horse and rider.

 

Sidney has also been taking the opportunity to ride all of the horses, which stretches her riding skills.  She wrote Reno for the Jackpot Challenge.  Excellent choice, as they walked away with a ribbon.

Sidney bought AT LEAST three different costumes for her and Marley.  As it came down to it, she scrapped them all and went for this 70s vibe.  This duo could not be cuter.

One of the biggest challenges came last Saturday with the first round of the winter jump series.  Sidney rode Indy.  Indy is an excellent jumper.  There were ten jumps in the course.  For horses and riders that have not done a jump course before, it can be very intimidating.  Sidney had a tremendous amount of anxiety the day of.  With much encouragement from her coach, Alyssa, and her teammates, she pushed through it.

Though both Indy and Sidney are fully capable of maneuvering cross rails and higher jumps, they decided to work through the ground poles.  They looked great.  There are several more of these to come, so I expect getting through this first one was accomplishment in and of itself.

Bendy Girl - Part 2.

Never have I ever been this flexible.  Not only can she touch her toes, but she can extend past her toes (two blocks worth).

I cannot recall what move this is called, but it is essentially a standing split.  It goes without saying that she can do her left, right and middle splits.

Now this is just creepy crazy, but not as crazy as the one in which she twists out of it.

Kendall is loving dance and challenging her body in many ways.  She has been working hard both at class and at home to train her body.  Her goal is to move up a level in some of her classes after the new year.  

She is also enjoying her Team.  They seem to have a great time together.

Each of the teams set up a table for the Creature Crawl BBQ.  Her team chose Harry Potter.