Official Christmas Countdown (in case you needed to know): Only 10 days left!!!! "Where has December gone?!?," you may be asking yourself. Well, same here!
December started out with a bang when we celebrated Lucy's birthday (see post), and sadly, Jon bid a fond farewell to his '98 Toyota Corolla. It was peacefully laid to rest (aka donated to) the Make a Wish foundation, and will hopefully serve us one last time by giving us a nice little tax deduction.
I met Jon shortly after he inherited this car after his mission, twelve long years ago. Since then it earned quite a loyal history within our family-- from our first date in Provo, to driving out to Philadelphia, to bringing Lucy home from the hospital, then Nevada to North Carolina, and of course faithfully driving Jon the 80 miles roundtrip to Pope AFB day after day for FOUR long years. When all was said and done there were almost 250,000 miles on it, and I honestly can't remember even one significant repair we had to make. This car was one in a million. It just wouldn't be right not to include its loss on the family blog. Be well, little Corolla, you served us well....
My mom took this classy Christmas picture on Lucy's birthday, right after church. Love that my kids are always just so "them" even in our pictures!
My Christmas present also arrived that weekend in the form of a new kitchen table. I'd bought the last one at a RC Willey Clearance Center when we lived in Las Vegas six years ago, for about $300 and it was on its last leg-- literally. This one seats 8, so although we're not anticipating any new arrivals (like, EVER) it'll be nice to have some extra seats for guests!
As promised, December has been full of concerts and recitals and Christmas cheer. Lucy has been participating in choir so far this year, which is held Friday mornings at 7:15 a.m. Unsurprisingly, she LOVES it. There she is, top left corner.
Jon worked that night so it was just me wrangling 3 kids in the back row, but all in all they did pretty good. The choir sang some fun Christmas songs I'd never even heard before, and getting to perform just solidified Lucy's love for music even more.
That weekend we had a girl's date planned to have Yule Tea down in Colorado Springs at the Glen Eyrie Castle. It was gorgeous sunny day with blue skies and a little bit of snow left on the ground from a previous storm, and the setting was just beautiful!
Our date included Aunt Kylene and Sophie, so it was pretty special. I decided not to bring Leah again because as fun as it is, the service between courses is so sloooooow, and I didn't want her to get bored halfway through and have another Lizzie-Monster-Baby experience like last fall!
I am secretly hatching a plan where Jon and I can come stay the night alone in the castle, as it doubles as a hotel too...
These two were in heaven! The halls of the castle were decked in boughs of holly and Christmas trees, carols were playing in the background, and the tea and various edibles were top-notch!
Our yummy sandwich course: Island pork on cheddar biscuits, bleu cheese and chive quiches, cucumber and prosciutto on crackers, and smoked turkey with cranberry cream cheese triangles.
The pies de resistance was definitely dessert. There was audible "oohing" and "ahhing" when it was brought out: Gingerbread scones with maple glaze, pistachio and dried cherry cookies, peppermint fudge, and cranberry teacakes. Seriously yummy!
A picture with everyone before we drove back home. I'd had a CPR renewal course earlier that morning for work, so Jon was literally at home with the kids all day. He was such a good sport to let Lucy and I spend some one-on-one time together!
I was really wanting some Santa pictures, as this is Lizzie's first Christmas, so like last year we showed up for Kneader's Breakfast with Santa night, pumped up and ready to meet the big guy! It was from 5-7, and Lucy's choir concert was also that night from 6-7, so I thought it'd be no big deal to squeeze it in especially if we got there at like 4:45 p.m. and were ready and waiting. Well, we got there-- and Santa was a no-show until 5:30!!! And by that time there was literally 25 kids waiting, ready to pounce, and I'd had it. How is Santa 30 minutes late?!? We left without meeting him at all. Long story short, I discovered Plan B called "Steaks with Santa" at Texas Roadhouse the very next week and it was way better anyway.
We got there about 4:45 p.m. to beat any rush and there was no line at all. The kids all got to tell him what they wanted, and I didn't have to cook dinner. Brilliant!
Leah is at THE perfect age for Christmas magic right now. She just adores Santa. I mean, look at that blissful little face and sweet cuddle she is giving him!
Lizzie was not so sure. I couldn't tear her attention away from him long enough to snap a picture with a smile, but she wasn't crying, so that's a win in my book!
I got to attend Lucy's classroom holiday party the next afternoon. They made crafts, sang carols, frosted sugar cookies, and each exchanged Secret Santa gifts with someone else. It was fun to check out what's been happening in 4th grade these days.
Last but not least, Leah had her preschool Christmas concert just this morning, and it was precious. They all walked out lined up and just thrilled as could be that they had an actual audience. I love their red Rudolph noses!
They sang "Rudolph" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"--and you can bet that our little Shortcut knew every single word to each song. In fact she is quite the performer! Thankfully she is just slightly more cute than she is naughty, so we keep her around! *wink, wink*
Cute preschool cousins with their Rudolph noses and little antlers! I love that they get to attend together and feel like they've become such good friends because of it. And as of 3:30 p.m. this afternoon, our 2 1/2 week Christmas Break has officially begun!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
