Christmas Countdown

Christmas is almost upon us and we have been soaking up as much holiday fun as possible.   Peter and I are extra aware that this year may be one of the most magical because the girls are at such perfect ages.    We have enjoyed Christmas programs, a train ride with Santa, cozy day at school, baking treats for neighbors, a winter community theater production, and even some snow.   Here are all of the pictures.....

Snow!   We had our first snow and the girls spent all day out in it.

Loved.  The.   Snow.

Our church choirs had their Family Christmas performance one Sunday night and both girls participated with the children's choirs.

Both girls were so excited.

The church was packed but SA was all smiles.   Didn't seem nervous at all walking with her choir class up to church stage.

After the show she said that the orchestra was too loud and hurt her ears, so I don't know if she will be so keen to participate next year. 

Susannah sang her little heart out too.

Now that Meadow is 13, we all know it may be her last Christmas so we are all soaking up extra snuggles with her.

Last week SA's preschool had their Christmas program.   

It was precious.   

 She was front and center.

SA was so proud that her Daddy could come.

Last Saturday we attended a birthday party that was held at the local community theater.   We saw a kid's production called Snow Day.

Susannah was so pumped to meet the actresses after the show.

On Monday afternoon Peter left work early so that we could surprise the girls with a trip on the Santa Train.   

We picked them up early from school and told them it was for a Christmas surprise.   They were so excited when we arrived at the train station.  And even more excited when Santa arrived on the platform.   Playing the bagpipes.  ;)

During the 40 minute ride to Manassas, Virginia, we ate candy canes, sang Christmas carols and watched for Santa.   

At the Manassas train station we had cookies and hot chocolate and a little story time.    Then we got to talk to Santa for a bit.

And on the way back, he hung out in our car for a while.   

His bagpipes were such an unexpected surprise.   It put all of us in the Christmas spirit for sure.

A couple of days ago, the girls and I made our traditional cinnamon rolls for friends and neighbors. 

Sarah Avery told me that I didn't roll out dough as well as Grandmama.  ;)

They love playing with all the ingredients.   

They seem to disappear when it is time to clean up though.  

Yesterday was Susannah's last day of school and they had cozy day which meant pjs and stuffed animals and lots of excitement.   Look at those eyes.   She was wired!!  

The Dad of one of her friends came to lunch that day so I got lots of fun pictures.   

These two are in Sunday school, choir, girl scouts, and school together.    And I'm in bible study and book club with her mom so they spend A LOT of time together.  

They also had their winter party this day so they made lots of crafts which is Susannah's favorite thing.   Her teacher sent me this picture.

And that has been our Christmas countdown.   I hope that all of you are experiencing lots of joy this season, but even if you are like us and this year has felt extra dark or challenging, may we all find a few quiet moments to remember the quiet night when love and goodness and mercy and redemption broke through the heavens and arrived in the form of a little newborn baby.   And may we choose to believe that the baby and the hope he brought still has the final word.

Happy 7th Birthday Susannah!

Susannah has been planning her 7th birthday since last Christmas when she watched the Will Ferrell Christmas movie, Elf and declared that she wanted to visit New York City next year and do everything that Buddy the Elf does in the movie.    So last weekend, after talking and planning for the last 365 days, we headed to the Big Apple.    It was beautiful, exciting, unforgettable and also really exhausting.   We had such a wonderful 48 hours there and the drive even turned out to be really easy which was a huge shocker.  Here are the pictures from our weekend.

We arrived around 11 am and, after parking the car and dropping our bags at the hotel, headed out for some pizza.

We stayed in midtown and every street had awesome holiday decorations.  

Susannah and I were pumped to see Radio City because we had tickets to see the Rockettes the next morning.  

New York Pizza!

Susannah really wanted to see the library and I was happy to oblige.   It was beautiful and we could have spent hours in there.  

Outside the kids section they have lego replicas of the lion statues that are outside the main doors of the library.   

After the library we headed towards the Empire State Building and stopped at Lord and Taylor to check out the window displays.

They were awesome.   

Our plan had been to just check out the lobby of the Empire State building, but when we arrived, the lines weren't too long, so Susannah and I decided to go to the top. 

We had the best time exploring and checking out the views.   

Sharing this with her was just as much of a gift for me as it was for her.  

Meanwhile, SA and Daddy had a little coffee break with a chocolate croissant.   

After Susannah and I made our way down, we headed to Macy's to meet SA and Daddy for our reservations to Santa Land.

Santa Land was like a Christmas Disney World.   And it was free!   Totally worth a visit!

Santa Land had lots of cool train displays.

And Santa was there of course!

After Macy's it was time to check into our hotel.   We were so happy with our corner room  view.   

We had dinner at a burger place near Rockefeller Plaza.

Because we had to go and see the famous tree!

It didn't disappoint!

Just like in the movies.   Except waaayy more crowded.  ;)

The next morning we were up bright and early for breakfast so Susannah and I could make our 9am Christmas Spectacular show.  

We could see Radio City from our room.   

Peter snagged a photo of us walking.   

Radio City was beautiful.

And Susannah even got to meet a Rockette!   She was beside herself!

We had so much fun checking out the venue before finding our seats.  

And we were even more excited when the usher handed us 3D glasses!

Meanwhile, Peter and SA checked out central park.  

SA was so excited to tell Susannah and me about the horses she saw.

The Christmas spectacular lived up to its name.   The Rockettes were amazing and I was shocked that they even included a religious component to the show.   It was really beautiful.

After the show and a quick wardrobe change for Susannah, it was time for lunch.   Street hot dogs in the sunshine?   Yes, please. 

SA even like hers.

After lunch we headed downtown to Battery Park to a hidden slide.   The girls loved it.  

Then we headed across the street to another playground on the Hudson.  

That's the Statue of Liberty back there . 

We didn't feel like the girls were quite ready for the 9/11 explanation, so we just told them that Freedom Tower was one of the most famous buildings.   And tallest!

Georgia was playing in the SEC championship that afternoon so we headed to a pub to watch the first half and eat an early dinner.   Then we watched them WIN the second half in our hotel room.   Go Dawgs!  

The hotel lobby had this North Pole mailbox and letter writing supplies.   

The girls took full advantage.

Sunday morning we headed out to explore some more after breakfast.   We wanted to see the big Rockefeller tree in the daylight.

And we checked out the Saks 5th Avenue window displays.   

They were all Snow White themed and really cool.

And because Peter and I are suckers, we ended up at the American Girl doll store.   

We finished our last few hours in the city exploring Central Park.   

We took a carriage ride which was so fun and totally worth the price tag.  

It was definitely one of our favorite parts of the weekend.  

The girls loved feeding our horse, Cisco.   

We let them run out a little more energy on the playground 

while Peter and I soaked up the last few sights and sounds of the city.   And then it was time to drive back to Alexandria.

Because I'm crazy, I agreed to let Susannah invite 10 friends over after school on Monday, her actual birthday, for birthday cake a viewing of Elf.

It was fun but by Tuesday we were all ready for Friday.  ;)

You only turn 7 once though, right?

We feel so fortunate that Susannah has so many sweet friends who wanted to celebrate with her.

After everybody left, we opened gifts from grandparents.

Thanks everybody!

And just like that, my baby was 7. 

Susannah, I don't know how it happened.   I blinked my eyes and you went from being a tiny little baby in my arms on a park-bench in France to a sweet little toddler running in the California sunshine.   I blinked again and you were running out of preschool with a backpack flapping as your said good-bye to your friends and teachers in German.   And now I dared to blink again and you have blossomed into this beautiful, funny, perceptive, courageous girl that I don't just love, but I like and admire.   Your inquisitive mind, especially when it comes to all things outer space, is so inspiring to watch.   And your adaptability and determination are such good examples for not only your little sister, but for me and Daddy as well.   When I say I am proud of you, it isn't just a line.   I mean it from the deepest recesses of my heart.    I can not wait to watch as you learn and grow this coming year.   Thank you for being our little beauty.   Sarah Avery, Daddy and I love you to the moon and back one million trillion billion times.