The weeks leading up to Christmas are always a blur. You are busy with school, finals and concerts and we try to cram in some Christmas and holiday fun. It always goes so fast. I get a little sad about that, especially as you get older. I enjoy our traditions that we try to do every year. It is a special time. I do just want to bottle all of this up. I hope you feel the love and spirit of the holiday.
Juliette perfoms "Frosty the Snowman" for Dash, Mrs. Dant and I. How I love your piano teacher. I always say, she just doesn't teach music. She is an inspiration, a cheerleader and a believer in you girls.
When I was in Iowa, Juliette, Allie and Jamie got to go to Winterlights. We had a rare night free when the girls were at a church over-nighter and got tickets to Newfields and had a great dinner out together.
The origami was amazing. The museum of art is so special to us. It was one of the first places we went and fell in love with it. Before kids we would pack a picnic, wine and go to the grounds and walk and explore. We didn't always visit the museum but the flowers and gardens were our focus. It is a place we know well and continue to have taken you girls. I think it is all of ours, "happy place". It is hard to have a bad day when you're surrounded by such beauty. I always imagine what it would have been like to live in the mansion and have this as your backyard. 100 acres is just so fun too. You used to play on all the outdoor sculptures and I certainly want to go back more this next year together.
Yuletide Celebration!
We loved the show this year. It was a 2:00 performance and so we walked around a bit before our reservation at The Eagle's Nest. We have never been there together as a family. It is a rooftop eatery at the Hyatt and revolves giving you a 360 degree view of the downtown skyline. It was unbelievably foggy this night and so our view was a bit obscured. It was still a fun experience!
Phoebe has been a best friend of Allie's since 2nd grade. She came with us for her first Yuletide experience. We love her so.
The Hyatt had this gigantic tree made out of poinsettias. So pretty!
Christmas Eve
Dad was on call on Christmas. When we got home from church luckily Santa came early! The girls were overjoyed at their gifts! A lot of surprises too. We had so much fun, we didn't have many pictures unfortunately! The greatest gift is being together as a family. It doesn't matter to me when we celebrate the holiday because being with each other is what is important. We are so lucky to have wonderful, loving, caring daughters who have Jesus in their heart. Our pastor reminded us tonight that Jesus was born in a dirty stable in a disheveled and hurried way. This messy birth is much like God's plan for living a messy life and living in our messy world. What an interesting perspective to remember that nothing is ever perfect.
Christmas Day was beautiful and mild. Eve dons a Santa hat for a quick pic before taking it off.
The girls and I took a nice long walk before the rain came. Walking is so therapeutic to me and I am always so happy to share this with you girls and my sweet pup.
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