3 weeks have flown by....

Lauren and Lochlan

My nephew Aeden

The bro and I

Goofy Girl!

 

It was Thanksgiving just a few minutes ago and now Christmas is in 1 week!  Whoa!

 

We had a great visit to WV for Thanksgiving.  The drive to WV in the snow wtih no snow tires had us saying a lot of prayers, and we were very thankful we made it safely.  As usual the kids had a blast, it was great seeing my family, and we all ate too much.  My nephews have grown about 3 feet since I saw them last.  But then again, 3 weeks ago seems like a few minutes have gone by....

Cheerleaders!

Nick is in the middle

We have found ourselves having fun in the past 3 weeks:

• Lauren cheered at her very first basketball game.  That girl had an absolute good time.  She smiled.  She was confident.  She knew her cheers.  She initiated cheers by being the 'caller'.  She loved it!  And, she rocked that uniform like it was her job.  No fuss.  No problem! 
• Nick played in his first basketball game in the 9 - 11 year old league.  He played point guard during the few minutes he played.  He did well, even though his team lost by a 3 pointer.
• I participated in my very first Habitat for Humanity team build.  This was another perk of being on my work's Foundation Team.  My team volunteered our 8 hour work day and helped build a house for a family in need.  It was a fantastic experience and opportunity.  I encourage everyone to do this, and I hope to be fortunate enough to do it again.  I learned a lot about being humble and dressing electical sockets that day! 

Christy the builder

• Ryan and I have continued our Tuesday and Thursday spinning classes.  We began these in November.  Ryan actually initiated us participating, and now we both love it.  It is a 30 minute push you to the point of passing out during our lunch hour.  This may be my only means of physical activity in the month of December (I haven't put my feet on the pavement running since the day after Thanksgiving!), but it's at least keeping me up with something.  When I look back on my activity log in the past years, I see a similar trend for the month of December.  Then I pick it back up hard in January.  Let's hope the trend continues in January!
• Christmas shopping officially kicked off for me on Friday, 12/6.  Our work bonuses were received and my annual day off shopping with Samantha commenced.  This is by far one of my favorite days of the year.  The ONLY day I get the 100% go ahead to splurge and spend money!

See her?  Lauren's white glove is covering part of her face.  Jodaci is beside her.

• Lauren's cheer squad was in the Front Royal Christmas Parade!  It was colder than the North Pole, but fun.  And, this parade even had llamas!
• In the second week of December we happily received a total of about 10 inches of snow...not all at once, but in the same week.  Schools were closed for 3 1/4 days. 

Waiting for no-show Santa



This past Saturday all games were canceled do to MORE snow.  So we jumped on the oppotunity to meet up with that guy in the big red suit!  We were first in line with our Christmas List in hand, and wouldn't you know the big guy had an emergency and wasn't able to show up to see us!  I guess even the North Pole and the Elves have problems every now and again.  Let's hope they get it worked out in time for Christmas Eve!