Our winter schedule was packed with Christmas concerts, parties, special school events, and buying and wrapping gifts for teachers, coworkers, and family. We also managed to squeeze in way too much sickness and many sleepless nights.
Don't let their sweet, innocent faces fool you.
To the left, we have Emma "The Walking Infection." She had two cases of strep throat and three UTIs. This kid has been living on antibiotics and Tylenol all winter.
To the right, we have Hallie "The Mystery Fever." She picks up a virus every few weeks and has suffered through several bouts of a low (or high) grade fever, congestion, and nausea. Unfortunately, when she can't sleep well, the rest of us don't sleep well, either.
Dan also caught the worst cold with a wracking cough this winter, and he felt horrible for over a week before he finally went to the doctor to get an antibiotic. He quarantined himself in the guest bedroom at night, because he woke up coughing so many times. Now that he's teaching, he could be on his deathbed, and it still wouldn't be worth all the work it takes to create a substitute plan.
So, he medicated himself and went to work each day. He even decorated his classroom door for Christmas. One of the teachers found this fun design and helped create the letters for the door. Emma helped Dan put it all together, and it turned out great!
I felt like I spent the winter examining nasty-looking throats and cloudy, infected pee.
Moving on to the fun winter events, we celebrated Dan's birthday on December 1st! It's the best way to kick off the Christmas season!
We decorated for Christmas during his birthday weekend, too.
The girls were so happy to see the ornaments and Christmas stuffed animals again!
I joined some work friends for lunch to celebrate our friend, Mona's, birthday.
The ladies at work have an annual Holiday Brunch and Secret Santa gift exchange.
The theme was "Snow Queens," and we were supposed to wear crowns, so I borrowed one of Hallie's for the day. My Secret Santa gave me Diet Dr. Pepper and a booklet with several gift cards!
Hallie's 3rd grade class read "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe," and celebrated Narnia Day!
The kids dressed up as characters from the story and spent the day at craft and activity stations.
I loved spending the day with the cutest Aslan in the class!
That same day, Emma's 6th grade class went to see "A Merry Little Christmas Carol" at the Wells Theater in Norfolk.
Dan went to the play with her. They both loved it!
Each year, Dan and I sign up for the Busch Gardens Christmas Town 8k race, which is on a Sunday morning early in December. Dan and I spent the night at his parents' house on Saturday, so we'd only have a short drive to the race on Sunday morning.
Emma and Hallie got to have a sleepover that night with their cousins, Miriam and Naomi!
The girls weren't the only ones who were so happy. Naomi and Miriam's dog, Bridger, got tons of love and attention from Emma and Hallie.
So happy together!
It was a really good thing that we were already in Williamsburg, because I accidentally set my phone alarm to "PM" instead of "AM," and Dan and I woke up really late! We ran out the door in 10 minutes and rushed to Busch Gardens, praying that they'd still let us into the parking lot. Officially, they were supposed to close the gates at 8:00, but we arrived at 8:10, and they still let us inside to park. (Whew! Thank you, Lord!)
The weather had warmed up that day so that it was pleasant to be outside, and we enjoyed walking and seeing the Busch Gardens Christmas decorations.
I was dressed as Rudolph, so of course I made Dan take this picture.
After we showered, we met Dan's parents, sister, and the four girls for brunch at Cracker Barrel. Then we hung out at Tim and Dawn's house for the afternoon before going to the Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center's Christmas event.
They served hot chocolate, tea, and coffee, and we sang Christmas carols together.
Then we walked outside under the beautiful stars to sing more Christmas carols.
They had a bonfire to keep us warm.
The kids got to go on a wagon ride around the campground, and they saw some deer!
Emma is in the middle school choir and they put on a Christmas performance.
Emma had a speaking part during the show and did a wonderful job!
Emma and her friends after the performance.
The choir also sang Christmas carols at a nursing home. She said that the people there were so sweet, and they seemed to really enjoy the music.
Hallie also had an elementary school Christmas concert. All the students were supposed to be "stars," and needed to wear white, gold, or silver dress clothes. We went shopping and she picked out her beautiful dress.
She also picked out a gorgeous bow and helped to style her own hair for the concert.
It was a little hard to see her among all the stars onstage, but she's in the center of the back row with pink sunglasses on. Their concert was really fun!
Nana and Papa got stuck in traffic, but made it just in time for the concert to begin. Afterwards, the girls gave them a grand tour of StoneBridge's new high school building.
Hallie also had a recorder performance during chapel the week before Christmas break. She didn't feel like she knew her songs well, so Dan helped her practice the night before.
The extra practice helped, and Hallie and her class played wonderfully!
My company had a Roaring 20s-themed Christmas party in mid-December. It was held at the fancy Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, and we enjoyed a buffet dinner, gambling tables, dancing, and prizes.
Dan and I sat with my friends, Amy and Karen.
I got to see my friend, Denise, who retired a couple of years ago. When she announced her retirement plans, I applied and was hired for her former position as a Contracts Administrator.
I got a big surprise that night at the party, when I received the WOW Employee of the Year award!! A friend took this photo, which perfectly captured my shock!
Receiving my award with some of the leaders of Epsilon Systems
(Left to right: Nate Sharadin, John Murdock, me, Larry Ingels, and Bryan Min)
Bryan (the founder of the company) and I have known each other since 2005 when I was hired at the corporate office in San Diego. He said that this particular award is one that he doesn't vote on, or even know who will receive it until he opens the envelope and announces the name inside. So, we were both surprised when he called my name.
Dan gave me some shelves to hang on my cubicle wall so I could display my 2024 Employee of the Year award ... right next to the one I received in 2007. I truly love my company and have been blessed by the people there over the years.
The excitement and glamour continued at home when Dan replaced a couple of our toilet seats.
Hallie assisted him.
We had an unusually warm day in the 60s one Saturday and I thought it would be a nice evening to visit the beach and look at Christmas decorations nearby. I was wrong. It was so windy at the beach that it felt 20 degrees colder there!
But the beach and sunset were so beautiful, we still stayed for an hour and had a great time.
After the beach, we drove to the neighborhood on 43rd Street, which has gorgeous houses with extravagant Christmas decorations.
From that neighborhood, you can walk along a path straight to the Cavalier Hotel.
They created a Christmas meadow filled with deer.
The girls were absolutely enchanted!
We enjoyed the Christmas carols and preaching at our church the Sunday before Christmas. We love this season and celebrating our Savior Jesus!
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