Christmas Day 2022
We had a nice quiet Christmas at home this year. We planned to go to church since it was on Sunday but couldn't go due to me being sick (more changed plans). I definitely did not feel great Christmas day but we made the most of it and the girls had a great day. We opened gifts, watched church on YouTube, ate our big Christmas brunch and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. It was a really sweet day together. Of course, I couldn’t let the day start without taking pictures of the girls in their Christmas pjs. Zoe was not happy about that idea but finally agreed to smile when she had her blankie with her. The girls loved giving each other the gifts they picked out for each other. Zoe especially loved the HUGE bag that I used to wrap her gift from Ava...she could even fit inside it. We also continued our tradition of having the girls pick out gifts to give away. They both packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child and they also selected a gift for someone their age for Toys for Tots. We always want to make sure they know Christmas is more than just getting gifts. We also did our traditional 3 gifts for the girls. Ava got an Alexa speaker to be able to listen to music in her room (something she needed), the rest of the Star Friends books (her favorite series for something to read), and 2 Harper Iman dolls (thanks to Target for the huge sale for her something she wants). Zoe got a new water bottle to be able to take her favorite almond milk to lunch at school (something she needed), several books mostly related to ballerinas like Misty Copeland (something to read), and she also got 2 Harper Iman dolls (thanks to Target for the huge sale for her something she wants). We fell in love with the Harper Iman dolls and the mission that the mom and daughter who started the company created of making dolls of all skin tones and hair textures for girls like ours who can't always find a doll on the shelf that looks like them. We were so happy to be able to support their company this year! This Christmas definitely looked different than we expected but it was a special day to celebrate Jesus’ birth together as a family.
Christmas Eve
Our changing plans continued Christmas Eve when I started running a fever. It turns out I had strep throat (as did DJ but we didn’t realize it at the time). That meant, I couldn’t go to the Christmas Eve service at church. We were supposed to go with DJ’s parents and my mom. DJ and the girls went on with his parents and my mom came over and watched it on YouTube with me. It was not the Christmas Eve we expected but the girls were so excited to go to the service and they had a great time. Zoe even wore the outfit my mom and I made for Ava the first Christmas after my dad passed away. It is made from his Lindsay tartan shirt. It was so special to be able to see Zoe wear something of his this year. I of course had to take pictures…and Zoe of course was super silly for the pictures.
The best we could get with 2 girls and 2 dogs. But we had to document Sookie’s first Christmas!
Christmas with Grammie
The theme for this year’s Christmas is ever changing plans. We are thankful we were able to spend a day with my mom, Jenn and Piper for Christmas. However, we missed my brother being able to come since he got tied up with work in Florida. We hate Eric couldn’t come but we are so thankful we were able to still get together with the rest of the family (especially since due to sicknesses we weren’t able to do Christmas with DJ’s side of the family).
We enjoyed a really nice relaxing day with mom, Jenn and Piper. We opened gifts, enjoyed food and the girls had fun with the gingerbread crafts that Jenn brought. And we all especially enjoyed playing with Beamer, their new black lab puppy. He was so cute and we loved being able to meet him this young.
Beamer was especially cute when he was trying to help with the unwrapping of the presents. The girls (plus DJ) decided to have a decorating contest for the gingerbread men ornaments. Jenn sent pics of the finished pieces to Eric and he was the judge. Ava’s ornaments won the competition (I think her’s was the 2nd one). They all worked together on the house creation. We had such a great time celebrating the holiday with my family!
Dance Christmas Tree
Zoe’s dance studio sponsored a tree for the Festival of Trees at the Hyatt again this year. We took the girls to see the trees and find Zoe’s ornament on the Dance Without Limits tree. It took a while but we finally found her ornament.
Christmas at Biltmore
A few days before Christmas, DJ and I were able to get away to Biltmore to see the beautiful decorations. We wanted to see the gingerbread houses at the Grove Park Inn but by the time we got over there, it was closed because of too many people. We enjoyed our little time away and loved seeing the Christmas decorations at Biltmore for the first time.
Zoe’s Christmas Recital
Zoe did such an amazing job at her Christmas recital. You can tell in the pictures that she’s watching her teacher off in the wings but she nailed the whole routine. The finale number featured a fun surprise of “snow”. Well, Zoe happened to be right under the snow machines and came out covered in foam pieces. It took a while to get all of that out of her hair but she loved it. We are super proud of our little ballerina!
Zoe’s Dance Portraits
Zoe had portraits taken at the dance studio in her costume but of course, I had to take some of my own. She was happy to take them one day and did all the posing herself, I just snapped away while she modeled for me. The cutest toy soldier ever!
I didn’t buy the pictures from the studio but I want to remember how cute they were so here are the proofs from her portrait session.
Zoe’s Christmas Recital
The first week of December was a crazy one for us with Ava’s art market and chorus concert plus Zoe’s dance recital. It was a busy week with late nights but it was so fun to watch both girls shine doing things they loved. Zoe’s ballet class danced to “The March of the Toy Soldiers” from The Nutcracker. She and her little dance friends were such cute toy soldiers. Zoe did an amazing job and nailed her choreography. She was nervous to go on stage this time but once she was with her dance buddies she was happy and it was such a cute performance. During the finale number, they had fake snow falling…well, Zoe was right under the snow machine and ended the night covered in “snow” foam, which we were still picking out of her hair 2 days later. We are so proud of our tiny dancer!
Ava’s Performances
Ava has been doing chorus again this year. She is really enjoying it this year. They had a small performance during the 4th grade Veteran’s Day program where the 5th grade chorus sang one song. Then they had a Christmas program with the 4th grade chorus. Unfortunately, due to a much longer than expected dance rehearsal and a much shorter than expected chorus concert, Zoe and I did not make it in time but DJ and my mom were there to support Ava (Papa was sick so they could not make it either). Thankfully, Ava didn’t seem to mind that we weren’t there, she was too happy to be with her friends. We’re very proud of her for getting up on the stage and singing. She has a beautiful voice and we love seeing her do something she enjoys so much.
This semester, Ava has also been doing an after school art program at TR Makers Co. They’ve learned different art/craft techniques over the semester. Then they each chose the technique they liked the best to create products to sell to each other and parents during their market. Ava decided she liked sewing the best and made purses and pillows to sell. Her business name was Paris Mtn Pillows and Purses and she did a great job.
