Winter Fun

December is a busy season, and we have had a lot of fun. Brooke had a Christmas music program at school.

She also got to showcase some of her gymnastics moves. She really is loving her class.

We did some Christmas baking together. School didn't get out until the 20th, so we had to split our baking into two days.  I don't think the girls minded that much. :)

We prepared for our annual Christmas Eve brunch.  Because Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday we opted to shift our brunch to the 23rd.

We had a great big crowd this year, and I love having a home full of those we love. Another last here in this home, but the tradition will remain.

Ummm... I don't know.

We enjoyed a Christmas Eve candlelight service at church.

The girls are excited for Christmas tomorrow morning! I love making memories with my tribe!

The First Snowfall of the Winter

The girls were so excited to hear that we were going to get some snow even if only 2 inches max were predicted.  The snow came in a little earlier than I expected and we were on the other side of town.  The traffic to get home was terrible and the roads were beginning to ice. A journey of 30 minutes turned into 2 unpleasant and stressful hours. Thankfully once we made it to the interstate things were looking better on the roads and we were able to zip home for the last stretch. 

The snow kept falling all night, and when it was all done we ended up with 9 inches! That is crazy for us in the south. It ended up taking a week to finally melt.

Snowman #1

I spent most of that night and the next day right here. 

Nine inches of powdery snow was something new to all of us. The girls had the best time playing.

That snow was deep!

We all had some fun sledding down the front hill.

This one had a little trouble walking at some points in the backyard. 

Snow tower, I mean snow man #2. This guy was about 7' tall!

Fall Happenings #2

Right after we returned from Dollywood it was time to prepare for Thanksgiving. This was the first of many lasts here in this home, but more on that another time.

Kayla helped me make an apple pie from scratch. 

We filled our home with family and yummy food.

The girls now request to go Black Friday shopping with us. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the surprise purchases and trip to Starbucks.

They are troopers, but they can only hang so long. ha! 

We made another visit to our horse lady down the street.  This time Marc was able to go with us.  The horses weren't out, but she was just getting home as we were walking by.  She stopped and asked if we wanted to visit the barn. Of course we did!

A couple of the horses she boards are worth half a million dollars.  She has some prized jumping horses here and some that come from strong blood lines. 

Brooke prefers to be on the outside of the stalls. I can't blame her either.

The older two girls both participated in the Woodstock Christmas Parade. There was quite a representation from PowerTaps.

This cutie had mom and dad all to herself as we watched the parade.

It's a little blurry, but there they go!

Just like that another year is coming to an end.  Christmas is right around the corner, and the girls are super excited for it to arrive.

Fall Happenings

So much has been happening this fall in the midst of school, and I wanted to make sure and document these things for our family.

We took a walk on a beautiful afternoon. We happened to meet a neighbor down the street that owns a horse boarding facility.  She called her personal horses over to the fence and allowed the girls to jump the fence and feed them some apples she brought out. This was the highlight of their day (well probably their whole month), and Ms. Phyllis told us we could come back anytime.

More soccer games were played. 16 to be exact. I love watching my girls play, but I will be glad when we can have our Saturdays back.

Brooke had Market Day at school.  She made makeup containers to barter with, and she was thrilled to dress up in this costume.

This little one also represented her class in the Spelling Bee. I was so proud of her for making it! She was pretty nervous on the day of the bee, and she said she didn't want to do it ever again. 

We went to the Fall Festival at some friends' church like we do most years.  The girls have fun running around with their friends and of course getting candy and their face painted.

Some of them like getting their face painted over and over.  It looks like she made it back four different times until she ran out of face to be painted.

Kayla went on her first overnight trip with school.  The 7th graders went to the Creation Museum and the Ark in Kentucky. She was only gone a couple of nights, but she had an awesome time.  She talked about it non-stop until we forced her to get in bed and go to sleep.

We finally took the girls back to Dollywood. This is probably their favorite place to visit, and they were so excited we were going again.

Somehow my baby is big enough (barely) to ride the Wild Eagle. I wasn't ready for her to ride that, and neither was she. Once we got close to it being our turn she was getting really worried. Her eyes started misting with tears and I almost jumped out of line with her.  Marc kept saying she would be fine.  As we started she was not happy and scared. I kept telling her how brave she was and how she was finally riding the Wild Eagle.  About halfway through she said, "I'm doing it! Sissies, I'm doing it!" She loved it! I'm so proud of her for overcoming her fears! Now she may have a permanent indentation where I was gripping onto her leg...

We've bought the picture for each of their first times riding the Wild Eagle. Too funny.

This picture make me laugh every. single. time. It is hilarious.  Kayla and I have the same exact look on our faces, and Brooke and Macy have the same look.  That's the one that cracks me up.

It was a chilly day, but we had such a great time.  The girls thought we were driving back home after we left the park, but we surprised them with a night at a hotel. Marc has high hopes of pulling off a Dollywood day trip one day soon. We shall see...