Christmas 2019 is officially over and before 2020 takes off into high gear, I wanted to post our last pictures of 2019 and our first pictures of 2020. We had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here are some of the fun memories we made..........
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| A couple of nights before Christmas, we surprised the girls with our annual pajama ride to look at lights. They were pumped for an after bedtime excursion that included hot chocolate and popcorn in the car. |
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| The next morning we had reservations for cookies and stories with Santa and Mrs. Claus. |
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| We did this last year, so we knew all the fun that was in store! |
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| Mrs. Claus was proud to show off her new dress the elves made her. |
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| And Santa told us all about the reindeer. |
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| Santa told the kids it was too late to change their lists.....he just wanted to confirm he had the right items in the sleigh. |
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| Susannah was proud to hold Mrs. Claus's candy cane. |
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| Thanks Santa! |
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| After cookies with Santa we were ready for some exercise so we headed to the rink. Susannah looks so grown up in this picture. |
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| I don't have photographic evidence but mama even braved the ice this time! It was a great afternoon. |
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| Christmas eve was spent cooking our traditional favorites. Sausage balls and pigs in a blanket. We also made cider for our get together later that afternoon. |
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| After delicious tamales with friends, we headed to the Christmas Eve service at church. These girls were so excited to sit together. And I was so relieved that we didn't light anyone's hair on fire. |
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| When we got home from church we opened our new Christmas pjs and got ready for Santa. |
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| Carrots for the reindeer, cookies, goldfish cheese sandwiches and some milk. |
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| Susannah left a note too. ;) |
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| These girls were up at 7 and ready to go! |
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| Honey was very proud of the christmas sweater she had in her stocking. |
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| The girls loved opening their gifts, and it was so fun watching them open the homemade things they made for each other. |
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| Susannah had made things for every member of the family, including pets. |
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| After the wrapping paper was cleaned up and the breakfast dishes done, it was time for a movie with my new wool socks. Honey was still loving her sweater. |
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| We tried out our new pictionary game. |
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| And went for a bike ride to try out the new cameras that Grammy gave them. |
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| The next day we headed out to get a new year haircut. This was the before picture. |
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| Susannah has wanted a bob style for a while and of course, Sarah Avery wanted to be like big sis. |
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| After!! |
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| The Sunday after Christmas we flew to Georgia to visit family. Our first stop was cousin Hannah's farm, which never disappoints. The girls were so excited to see Lena the pig. |
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| And the horses of course. |
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| Sarah Avery rode Patsy Pancake. |
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| And Susannah rode Hollis. |
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| All the cousins in age order. |
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| The girls loved the "sleigh rides" behind the four wheeler. |
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| One more cousin picture. |
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| Susannah and Sarah Avery would happily move in here if we let them. ;) |
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| We spent the next couple of nights with Mimi and Poppy. The girls were excited to open more presents! |
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| They loved these outer space light projectors for their room. |
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| Another day, another ice skating rink for this pro. |
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| LaGrange has a great rink and we had so much fun skating with our cousins. |
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| Definitely will look forward to more skating in Kyiv! |
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| Sarah Avery and Emma did a great job on the ice! |
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| So did Sydney and Caleb. It was a great way to spend a morning. |
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| We had planned to spend the next few nights with Aunt Liz and Uncle Will, but they had the flu so we headed to Atlanta to stay with cousin Kerry and his sweet family. We had a great dinner out for New Year's Eve. |
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| And even stayed up until midnight for the first time in at least 5 years. |
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| Kerry and Brooke were great hosts. |
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| It was a fun crowd and we are so grateful to have rung in 2020 with them. |
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| Another day, another drive to see more friends and family. This day we headed to Auburn to visit some friends, but had to stop for a waffle first to regain some energy for the big Georgia game that evening. |
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| The next day our cousins were finally all fever free so we headed to Peachtree City to spend the rest of our time with them. |
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| Sarah Avery and Jack were happy to see each other. |
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| All the cousins except Presley, who we missed. |
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| We flew back to DC on Friday and Saturday was the day this one had been waiting for.......time to see the new Star Wars. SA and I opted for pedicures and ice cream instead so everybody was happy. |
And with that, we close the curtain on 2019. What a decade........ten years ago I wasn't even pregnant with Susannah and Peter and I still thought that our little jaunt to France was just a one time crazy blip in his pilot career. It can make my head spin a little if I think about all the change and laughter and tears and joy and heartache that have filled this past decade. It has been a ride, that is for sure. Through every high and low though, we have shared memories on this blog. To those of you who read it and pray for and support us faithfully, thank you. We are so blessed by friends and family who care about us even when we are hundreds or thousands of miles away. Happy New Year to each of you. We love you and miss you all.
