December 4th was the anticipated arrival of my sister and the boys. She had a work conference in Texas and decided to bring both boys, which meant for five days, the boys shuffled between my parents’ house and our house.
- We played….
- We had sleepovers…
- We had visits from Santa and The Vienna Volunteer Firefighter Department…
- We decorated cookies…gingerbread Christmas Cookies and shortbread Hannukah cookies….
- We read books, watched movies, and cuddled….
- We celebrated my mom’s birthday at Bear Branch Tavern on a themed character night and continued the celebration at Papa and Grandma’s house with dessert…
- We cousined and had a fabulous 11 days together….
We visited the doctor, recovered from sicknesses, got sick again, took medicine….
- Harper – had the flu right before Thanksgiving so was overall recovered in December
- Avery – had several doctor visits after originally having a cold in early November and her residual cough, sore throat, and congestion coming and going throughout December
- Emerson – felt ick some days but nothing that warranted a doc visit
- Justin – had cold symptoms and a pulled muscle in his back Christmas Eve
- Me – cold symptoms starting mid-December that turned into an ear infection, a lingering cough, sore throat, and fluid in my ears
We celebrated Hanukah eight nights….
- The Rakicisanys and The Goldmans came over to celebrate the first night of Hanukah
- Papa and Grandma came over to celebrate the second night of Hanukah and we indulged in the first night’s leftovers
- We lit the menorah each night, Harper even lit the menorah on the last night, a first in about five years.
- The girls opened presents from Justin and I and my parents, all mostly practical…snow boots, rain boots, regular boots, new comforters, night gowns, bras, and my personal favorite panties!
- Cora and Gracie joined us for one night during Hanukah and they got to experience it…Gracie was even repeating the blessing after Avery!
Christmas…
- We went to VPC Christmas Eve Service in person for the first time in two years…we even ran into friends! The service was interactive, and Avery and Emerson even went on stage with some positive encouragement from their friend Addy!
- We enjoyed Mama Tigre takeout for the second year in a row.
- Karolin arrived Christmas Eve and celebrated Christmas with us!
- Our newly renovated fireplace nicely featured our stockings and Christmas signs.
- Our elf Nevis arrived the day after we decorated the tree and hung out in silly spots until Christmas Eve, always keeping his eye on us.
- Santa was so good to the girls….while their wish lists were shorter than years past, he still knew exactly what to get them! Avery was thrilled with her polaroid camera, dance attire, and bracelets. Harper was thrilled with her sewing machine and art supplies. Emerson was thrilled with her peg board and gold necklace holder.
- We got Avery and Emerson mostly clothes…Abercrombie Kids is the place of choice…good thing for incredible sales! Harper received mostly art supplies from us…as her drawers are already overflowing with more hand me downs than she will ever wear!
- Oh yeah…and the surprise late in the day shared gift for Avery and Emerson….my old phone that they can use when they go certain places (i.e. dance, skate night, friend’s sleepover, walk in the neighborhood, etc.) as a way for us to get in touch with them. They have wanted one for SO long. We expressed 7th grade was the time…but we decided to go for it early…truly to make our lives easier and have them not worry when Justin and I are a few minutes late picking them up from an activity. They are very happy about it…though they wish they could use apps other than texting as it relates to Justin and me.
- Breakfast was a hit and lived up to its hype…orange scones, bacon, sausage, fruit, scrambled eggs…the best part was the girls help with the preparation of it!
- Dinner was a grand slam too….and the best part was that Justin pretty much took it over and he knocked it out of the park! Individual filets with burgundy mushrooms, garlic green beans, and homemade rustic bread (courtesy of Emerson).
- Dessert was just as delicious, and the cake looked professional with Karolin (and Avery) assisting with icing. An almond chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting for the win!
Friends and More Fun
- The girls cashed in on their Zava Zone Hannukah ticket.
- We had the McMillans over for make your own pizza night and the kids and grown ups all had a great time.
Deep Creek…
- For the 3rd year in a row, we rented the same house with the Brophys and the Nidays for four nights…three nights in December and one night in January.
- Everyone went snow tubing (except me as fluid in my ears was causing a ton of pressure and I chose to rest at home)….they had a fantastic time and weather once again was close to 60…yet conditions to tube were still excellent as it had been very cold for the week prior.
- Walking on the frozen lake…taking advantage of the sunset and my new camera.
- A few of the kids enjoyed the hot tub.
- Each family made a special meal…our red sausage sauce, homemade rustic bread, roasted red pepper dip, roasted pear and arugula salad, and bacon wrapped dates will definitely be in another rotation.
- We lounged, celebrated Donald’s birthday and New Year’s.
Cheers to 2023!