Amelia had her 3rd voice recital this past Saturday night at Oconee Youth School of Performance. One of the songs she sang was "Notice Me Horton" from Seussical the Musical. She did a fabulous job and we were so proud of her!
This past weekend we had a Christmas celebration with my sister's family here in Watkinsville at my parent's house. We got to open presents, eat a wonderful dinner, and spend time with each other. We all love these family times during the Christmas season!!
December 16th was the annual Christmas banquet at First Baptist Athens. Once again the children of the church did a wonderful job of entertaining us with their special musical called "The Christmas Lamb". They did a great job singing and their costumes were adorable! Amelia was a brightly colored tucan. Mitchell helped the youth group with the serving of dinner after the show... they looked very festive in their Santa hats! It's a great way to celebrate during the hectic season!
Amelia's 5th grade class at OCES put on their annual musical for an auditorium full of proud parents. The musical was titled "Snowbiz!" and was so cute... we really have a bunch of talented kids... and one very hard working music teacher! Way to go 5th grade!
Several weeks ago Amelia and her friends Isabella and Merritt came to us with an idea.... they wanted to sell hot chocolate and cookies at Watkinsville's monthly First Friday celebration (which in December was also the Christmas tree lighting ceremony) and use it to purchase things like medical supplies and animals for World Vision and Samaritan's Purse. They had every detail planned out and followed through on everything.... after some sleepovers and lots of hard work! That Friday night we set up their table downtown and they did the rest.... they were even interviewed by our 2 local newspapers! They (and their parents) braved the very cold temperatures, and at the end of the night they had raised $100!! Needless to say we were so proud of them!!
Well, this year we enjoyed our very last Thanksgiving feast at school... sort of bittersweet! We will miss the fun time, but not so much the food! Thanksgiving week we spent in NC between Greensboro and Winston Salem. As we did 2 years ago, we used my sister's vacant home as our personal hotel for Dave's family. Dave's Dad doesn't have the space anymore to have us all, so that gives us a place where we can hang out and be together when we were not visiting with Ann. Ann continues to do well, although we can see her memory slipping a little more each time we see her. We had a wonderful time visiting with her and Russ over the break as well as some of Dave's siblings and their families!
The weekend before Thanksgiving I went to Greenville, SC to do some Christmas shopping with my best friend Angie. We had a very fun time together and got a lot done! Friday night we just went out to dinner and caught up with each other. Saturday we got busy and shopped ALL DAY!! We did take a dinner break at PF Chang's for some cosmos, great food, and to watch Clemson football on the TV there. After a good night's sleep we had breakfast at Starbuck's and shopped a little more until I had to leave. We had so much fun that we have decided to make this weekend a yearly tradition!
OCES 5th graders are involved in a program every year called CHAMPS (Choosing Health Activities and Methods Promoting Safety). It is a wonderful program and the kids learn a lot! They also have to write an essay about a subject of their choosing and they are entered into a contest judged by our local police dept. Amelia wrote about internet safety... and won 1st place in her class!! She received her prizes at the Champs graduation and we were so proud of her!
The Mission Kids groups participated again in the packing of shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child... a great lesson for all of our kids! Adults in the church "adopted" our children and helped them purchase items and pack their boxes... it was a wonderful way to have the different generations interact with each other!
Jake (our sweet chocolate moose) turned 2 years old on November 14th, and of course we celebrated! Jake and Bailey enjoyed some doggy ice cream and Jake got a new toy to play with... a moose!
Clemson's Homecoming game was on Halloween day this year... fun! We stayed in the same cabins this year with our good friends the Wilsons and the Kellys and had a wonderful time catching up. Despite the rainy weather we were able to tailgate and attend the game... it finally stopped raining at half time! We look forward to this weekend every year!
Our church once again had a very fun Fall Festival night with lots of great activities for the kids (and adults)! There was a cake walk, games, Bingo, a hot dog and chili supper, and trunk-or-treating at the end of the night. There was also a chili cook-off for the adults, and guess what? Dave's chili recipe won for best all around chili!! We went home happy with cakes, lots of candy, and a new ladle (the prize for the best chili)!
