Happy 13th Sophia!!

 We now have 2 teenagers in the house!!! Sophia wanted to have friends over for a sleepover. So, 4 friends went to dinner, rollerskating, watched lots of TV, spent most of the night laughing...and got a tiny amount of sleep!!!

 

 Her actual birthday was a 3 day weekend, so we came to the ranch to celebrate. We had lots of fun with the cousins but didn't take many pictures!!

Sophia is growing up so fast!! We are so proud of the person she is becoming. She is smart, talented, responsible and getting so grown up!! We can't wait to see what this year has in store for her!!

Basketball Team...

Sophia worked SO hard on the A basketball team this season. She survived all the early morning practices and hard workouts. She played hard every game! It was so fun to see how much the team improved over the season.

All their hard work paid off when they won all 3 games in the end of season tournament. They were awarded the consolation trophy and were so excited! Hard work pays off!!

Beach Fun....

The kids and I went with Lisbeth Anne and Emmy for a quick beach weekend. It was chilly and rainy...not the best weather for the beach, but we had fun. We went to "the secret beach" and found lots of shells! And lots of starfish!! We've never found them before and this trip we found atleast 10!! When we got home, Ranger ate some. :( I guess it must be the colder weather, but it was a GREAT time to find shells!!

We were sitting on these rocks on the jetty while watching the surfers. The waves were big and it was fun to watch. Then out of the blue, a BIG wave comes and soaks all of us except Emmy!! Needless to say it was a cold ride back to the house on the golf cart! The Dunlaps new house is so nice and it's fun to be able to go down there for a quick weekend!!

All the love for Ranger....

 There is no shortage for Ranger love around our house!! He gets so much attention....and is so tolerant of what the kids (especially Joshua) do to him. 

New Years at the ranch.....

 New Years at the ranch is always lots of fun! It has been pretty cold...but not too cold to ride in Mom's new CanAm 'toy'. The kids were so excited to ride in the Oldsmobile 

(Mom's new name for it). Mom and I were in the front and it was cold!!

 We made the kids take their annual river pic in the cave. It was a bit hard trying to get them all to smile and look normal. But..it's better than nothing! Lined up the same way every year....I just love this picture!!! Love seeing how much they have grown and changed each year. 

Christmas 2018....

 The annual cousin pic in front of Shirley's tree! :) We went to the Christmas Eve service and then back to her house for dinner and presents. It's always loud and chaotic with 7 kids. The big presents for the kids were a Virtual Reality headset, James Avery rings and a gift card and a laser tag set for Joshua and Christopher to share. The boys had so much fun playing!!

 

Christmas morning at our house brought lots of fun! 

 All 3 were beyond excited to get their top gifts!! I love the look on their faces!!! Jake got an Iphone XR. Sophia got an Apple watch. And Joshua got a semi automatic 22.

Later in the morning we went to Mom's to exchange gifts with her and have lunch. Overall it was a great Christmas. Seeing the kids expressions when they opened the Santa bag was priceless!!

Caroling Fun....

 Joshua's friend Patrick had a caroling party this year. There were about 15 kids from their grade and they had a blast caroling and then doing a white elephant exchange.