New Year's Eve

 On New Year's Eve, I was a very kind mother and took my teenagers to a dance in Oakton to meet up with Quinn and Macy. Danny and the younger two stayed home/ went to a party at the Genho's house. I would have preferred the party, but told V that she could see her best friend, so I made the most of my decision and wound up having a blast on my own too.

I went to a movie on my own and it was awesome!

I bought myself a kids popcorn meal and enjoyed it

as I watched Little Women, which I loved.

V and C had a fun night too. We had a long, late drive home which included a hilarious McDonalds drive through experience. Happy New Year! Maybe next year I will feel more comfortable with V driving to NoVa on her own? We will see!

Christmas-Afternoon

We had a great time with the Soderholms too. It is always wild and crazy there and people are happy to see each other. We had a nice meal that everyone contributed to and then read Luke 2 and acted out the nativity.

What a cute bunch!

Then, we opened presents! Geemaw and Papa gave our family wizards tickets, our favorite snacks, and a carving of a really cool wizard! We gave them presents and the cousins each gave and received a cousin gift. Lots of fun. They really love each other and are glad to be together. 

(As evidenced, by these older girl cousins pampering themselves and taking selfies in the massage room.)

Christmas Morning

Santa came!

It was a very exciting morning!

Required picture

So excited!

XBox gift cards

Roller skates and a baby alive doll

Jaclyn Hill Palette

Plasma ball, legos 

headphones

tootsie rolls

new sweater

Christmas morning is always so exciting! Everyone was very happy with all of the presents. We had a nice breakfast together and everyone had fun playing until we left for Williamsburg.

Christmas Eve- Home

Awkward family picture of sprinkling reindeer food.

Milk and Cookies for Santa

Christmas Eve with the Marshalls

We got there first while my mom was still at VCU with Grandpa. How did she have time to decorate the house, clean the house, prep for a meal, and prep for Christmas?

It was an appetizer and "pizza and shrimp"year. I like it!

 We still did the nativity.

and exchanged gifts.

 The big girls did another funny photo-shoot.

Glad to be a together as a family. We  loved being together, but really missed my dad/ Grandpa. 

He is recovering from a stem cell transplant and has no immunity to germs. He isn't able to have any visitors under 18 right now and there are a lot of other restrictions and will be for 40 and then 100 days. My brothers and I were able to visit. We washed our hands and wore masks, but were not able to touch or hug him or anything in the room. We brought presents, but dad wasn't able to touch them either. We knew that ahead of time. We opened them for him. It was strange, but we were so thankful that he has come so far in his healing journey. We would not want to do anything to put his health or life in jeopardy and are very cautious because we love him so much. We were thankful to see him in person and be able to say Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve- Seeing Santa

We met our kids in Fredericksburg bright and early on Christmas Eve morning and went to Richmond to go to the CMOR to see Santa Claus. Our friend Chad Tross, had camped out to get a spot at the front of the line and was super kind to let us join him! His wife, Kasey, and their kids joined us  just before it was time to go in. They are a great family and it was fun to catch up. Before they came though, my kids had fun in the holiday village. We take a few traditional pictures. Are there any you recognize?