There are many events I never got around to blogging about toward the end of 2014. Part of that is/was due to my ongoing health issues, which tend to zap my energy. And part was just using the energy I had to keep up with the kids/family/holidays/etc.
So, all that being said, here is a glimpse of what we were up to during the last part of the year. Ten share-worthy items from the past 10 weeks.
In the beginning of November, we had some ladies and kids from our church's international group over to make apple pies. We had more girls get involved this year than in the past, but they did a great job.
Later in November, we headed to Chicago for Thanksgiving. Emma enjoyed her traditional Thanksgiving turkey leg. The kids all got Legos for early Christmas gifts, and they spent quite a bit of time putting their sets together.
In December, the International Youth Choir Dakota started had a couple performances. First, they led worship for our church service in the morning. Then in the evening they performed at the large international dinner held by our church. There were around 200 people from over thirty countries at the dinner! The kids sang and played instruments and did a great job! Josiah especially enjoyed the dinner, where he got to eat a second helping of dinner (we fed him before we left), and he got to sit next to one of his favorite people.
That same weekend Emma got to go to a sleep over birthday party at her best friend's house. These two have been friends since they were babies, and their friendship is still going strong.
The following weekend, the choir met up at a new-to-us nursing home. They went caroling up and down the halls outside the residents' rooms, and then set up their instruments and sang outside the dining area.
Later in the month, Dakota took Ashlyn out on a daddy-daughter date, which included a trip to see Santa at the mall. Ashlyn insisted on bringing her stuffed reindeer to show Santa, and she told him she wanted a nutcracker more than anything for Christmas.
In the late afternoon, we got out of our pj's and dressed up in our Christmas best for a visit to the nursing home. This has also become a family tradition--we started the first year when Emma was just a baby, and we've only missed one Christmas day with them, which was last year because we were all sick. The kids handed out jingle bell bracelets they had made while Dakota played Christmas carols on the piano. When he was finished, the girls each took a turn playing something they had practiced.
A few days after Christmas, we packed up the van and headed down to Missouri. Much of the attention centered around the newest member of the family, who was just a month old. The cousins had fun playing together, Uncle Spencer played a mean game of pick-up-sticks, and we all ate well thanks to Lindsey and Dakota's mom.
We spent a quiet New Year's evening at home. The kids stayed up a little later than usual, watching an Easter movie (doesn't everyone watch Easter movies on NYE?) and then went to bed before the midnight. Dakota and I put in another movie to keep ourselves awake a little longer. We made it to the ball drop (barely) and then it was lights out for us!
Well, I think that gets me all caught up for 2014! Now I can stop living in the past and start enjoying the present! ;) Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year!
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