And the Christmas Countdown tradition continues!
Day 1: We had four tickets to see the ASO play Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This is such a cool experience. They are playing the movie on the big screen, but the orchestra is playing the score. It's really amazing to watch and hear! Lily's best friend, Emory, asked Lily if she could join her at this a few weeks ago. We knew she'd love to do this, so we said yes, and then invited Mia's friend, Patrick, to join us because we know he loves HP as well. Patrick and Mia wore their wizard robes while Emory and Lily took a dressier route. Lily also entertained a little crowd outside the hall beforehand by playing Hedwig's Theme that she has memorized. This was such a fun experience and a great way to kick off our countdown!
Day 2: Lily spent the night with Emory and joined their family at the CHOA Christmas parade the next morning. Just after lunch, Mia and I met a bunch of Stonehaven families at the movie theater to watch "The Star" which was an adorable movie of the nativity told from the perspective of the animals. After the movie, we all went to the Miley's house for cookie decorating. The McKeeby's brought Lily there too. A little bit later, Ryan picked Lily up while Mia and I stayed awhile longer.
Lily had to be picked up a little early because she was going with her friends Danae and Brielle to Medieval Times for their dinner show. She had a blast! When she got home that evening, she was telling me all about it along with all the other details from the weekend. She had been quite the social butterfly! She ended her retelling by saying "this was just about the best weekend of my life." Give this girl some good friends to be with, and she is one happy girl.
Day 3: Lily was asked to light the John the Baptist advent candle in the sanctuary at church. We all stood up there with her. There was a small mishap where her candle blew out twice, but luckily we were able to exchange candles and she gracefully lit them. We were very proud of her.
While that was certainly a honor to be asked to light the candle at church, our activity of the day was actually going to the Falcons game at the new Mercedes-Benz dome. David and Jan had given Ryan amazing club seats for his birthday present a few months ago. We loved having the club-level access and eating at the Iberian Pig for lunch, meeting Freddie the Falcon before the game, and having fantastic seats to watch from. The only thing that could have made the experience better is if the Falcons had actually won the game, but unfortunately, the Viking triumphed.
Day 4: We did Mad Libs around the dinner table. These always provide some good laughs.
Day 5: The girls enjoyed decorating some snowmen cookies after school.
Day 6: The girls and I stuffed, sealed, and stamped all the Christmas cards we were mailing out.
Loved the look of our card this year!
Day 7: The girls had a ton of winter jokes to share with one another!
Day 8: Dart tournament down in the unfinished part of the basement.
Day 9: Change of plans...snow day!
Day 10: Heads-up game night, and we really glad to have Grandpops come in town.
Day 11: Grandma Jan flew into town today, so we all enjoyed a delicious dinner together at Chops.
Day 12: The girls took some time looking through the Samaritans Purse gift catalog to pick who they wanted to donate to.
It was also the school Christmas program this evening. The girls were glad to have Grandpops, Grandma Jan, Granna, and Papa in attendance with us. Their classes did a great job with their songs. We are so super proud of the girls too. They have been doing voice lessons this semester with Mr. Scheidt. He asked them to each do a solo. Mia did a great job of singing "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent." Lily was very nervous, so she asked if she could do a duet instead. Mrs. Johnson agreed to sing with her while Mr. Scheidt played the guitar. They sounded great as they sang "What Child Is This."
Day 13: We read The Crippled Lamb together; such a sweet story.
Day 14: Ryan and the girls had fun with glow-sticks while I was at a board meeting. Even Decker got in on the fun!
Day 15: Bama had bought the girls these little pipe cleaner crafts to make. Mia's snowman turned out really cute. Lily's reindeer didn't turn out exactly as the picture so she was pretty frustrated and had no problem letting us all know for the rest of the evening.
Day 16: We were happy to serve with Feed My Starving Children at Johnson Ferry on this Saturday morning. We helped make "Manna Packs" filled with rice, soy, dried veggies, and vitamins. These packs go around the world to help meet the needs of starving children. There were hundreds of people involved, and three shifts in which to participate. By the end, they were proud to announce enough packs had been made to make over 100,000 meals. How incredible!
Day 17: Meme's Christmas party at Wayne's house. Always a fun and delicious time!
Day 18: Ice skating at the new rink at the Battery with the Smith family.
Day 19: The girls made cards to take to Bama.
The girls spent the night at the Smith's house which gave Ryan and me the opportunity to go on a date and get lots of Christmas wrapping finished up.
Day 20: We drove over to Birmingham, and we were so glad to meet some friends for lunch. Ryan has known Robyn and Bridges for years, and he and Bridges were fraternity brothers at Samford. We met up for lunch at Milos and had a great time visiting with one another.
After leaving lunch, we headed over to Samford for an afternoon of nostalgia. It was great to drive and walk around campus. We stopped back by the mail room where Ryan and I met 20 years ago. We toured through several of the buildings, and of course, took the girls to see Mr. Beeson. Even though it rained a little bit, we had a lot of fun.
The best part of the day was getting to have a Christmas dinner with Bama and family. We were very excited to find out the Josh and Amy are expecting a baby girl next summer! We ate a delicious dinner together and then had fun exchanging gifts. We always enjoy our time together.
Day 21: We drove from Birmingham over to Jefferson City to visit with Mom's family. It was a nice evening, and it's always good to see this extended family.
Day 22: When we got home from Tennessee, the girls headed over to our neighbor's house to decorate gingerbread houses. Mrs. Cornish always puts out a great spread of icing and candies for decorating; the girls had a ton of fun and made great houses.
Day 23: The girls made cookies. Mia made a delicious lemon glazed cookie while Lily baked a yummy confetti cookie. I had fun assisting both, and they all turned out delicious!
Day 24: Christmas Eve! We were glad to have Mom, Dad, Wayne and his kids over for brunch that morning. It was delicious as always! Everyone had fun exchanging gifts afterwords, and then playing together for a bit.
After brunch ended, the Smith family came over to watch the Falcons play the Saints which was just an ugly game that we'd love to all forget. After the game, the four of us headed over to the temporary fire station #2 (new one is being build so they are in a trailer right now) and delivered the girls' cookies. I'm sure the firemen will enjoy them.
After dinner we enjoyed our annual viewing of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. We love this movie. The girls then got to open one present each. This year's present bag included new pajamas, new bath robes, and adorable animals adopted by Grandpops and Grandma Jan from the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a sloth for Lily and a black bear for Mia. Super cute!
The girls headed downstairs to watch a movie and sleep in the guest room for the night. This allowed Ryan and me to finish getting everything ready for Christmas morning and watch a new episode of The Crown. This has been another fun countdown to Christmas!
