We did most of the Christmas decorating right after Thanksgiving but I decided to change a few things, last minute. And of course, I had to put out the old fashioned candies that make me reflect on my childhood & time at my grandparents. Finally, one of my NEW favorite things that I started just a couple of years ago, is making the gift tags. I think it makes them all so special.
To start off our busy December, Delilah was chosen to participate in a district wide event called Comal Speaks. While she didn't take first place, the experience & opportunity was wonderful!
Delilah & I hosted the 2023 Silver Stars Dance Team Christmas Brunch at our home. Two other mom's, Misty & Carrie, joined me & helped in what seemed to be a super fun morning for the gals! We served lots of breakfast foods including donuts, fruit, hot cocoa & a s'mores bar. We played a few games & the girls giggled all morning long.
While I had a home filled with teenage girls, Rich took Jett to his first day of Tennis Sectionals.
With Rich on shift, I had the opportunity to take Jett to day 2 of Sectionals. It was so fun to see Jett giving it his all & hanging out with his buddies!
As soon as day 2 at Tennis was over, I raced home to change clothes & join some lovely ladies at Nicole Wagner's Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange. It's always a great time & we all go home with loads of delicious cookies!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HENLEY! This sweet girl turned 13 & a few friends helped her celebrate. Sylvia, Hen's Mom, booked them a hotel suite where they partied like literal rock stars. They swam in an indoor pool, made a midnight run to Walmart, ate Crumbl cookies & stayed up way too late. The perfect celebration for a young lady turning into a teenager.
Me & my favorite pup got matching shirts for the Christmas holidays!
The last few days of school the students were asked to dress up in various things. I know I'm biased but I just think they're super cute!
Aaaand, it wouldn't be a Holiday without one of the Twins getting sick. A quick visit to the clinic revealed a sinus infection that we started meds for ASAP!
Delilah wanted to give each of the girls on the dance team a little gift for Christmas. I bought them all socks & earrings & then printed these cute little cards to go with them.
The day after school let out for Christmas break, Jett had a friend over to hang out & spend the night so I thought it might be fun to take Delilah on a little girls-day. I surprised her with a trip to the newest, local Bookstore called Inklings. Needless to say, she was right at home. We followed that with a little shopping & then took home some McDonalds for lunch for her & the boys.
I met up with Terrah & Meg for a quick lunch in San Antonio. Always fun with these 2!
It wouldn't be Christmas without visiting the Johnson City Christmas lights. We started with some shopping & dinner & then some fun photos at the beautiful lights. One of our most favorite traditions.
Another favorite is Gingerbread House decorating with Brisa. Clarence, Milo & Brisa came over for dinner, hot cocoa & decorating. I love these evenings!
And the internet/social media spoke... Delilah was the WINNER of the decorating contest!!
Brisa spent the next couple of nights with us so that gave us the opportunity to decorate some cookies.
While Brisa was visiting with us for those few days, Rich took all 3 of the kids to go ice skating downtown San Antonio. It was the perfect weather & the kids had an absolute blast... with the exception of wiping out a few times! And of course, they followed the skating with some ice cream & a visit to the fire station!
Me & Delilah spent one afternoon crafting. We opened up the Cricut & knocked out some fun Holiday tees.
Rich has been working at Station 4's for quite some time now. This year, we all met up for a celebratory Christmas brunch. It was great catching up with the crew.
I always love whipping up some of my Mom's favorite recipes. Each year, I make sure to bake peanut butter kiss cookies & banana bread muffins.
We gave the Twins an early Christmas present, a ping pong table. We watched how much they loved playing while we were camping in Burleson, so we thought they'd love to play at home.
Christmas Eve morning & it's time to tell Mickey goodbye until next year. As per the usual, he left Christmas PJ's, a little note & he hides in a jar so that they can carry him around for his last day.
We had a sweet visitor during the day on Christmas Eve. Thomas Chick stopped by to bring Jett & Delilah some gifts. These kiddos have been growing up together since 1st grade & I just love their friendship.
Christmas Eve is always such a fun-filled evening with family, friends, food, games & laughter.
Time for these 2 to hit the sheets so Santa can come do his thing. One last goodbye to Mickey The Elf.
Another successful Christmas Eve gathering put on by Mr & Mrs A.
Stockings are filled & cookies left out for Santa. Morning will be here all too soon.
Christmas morning... Jett & Delilah woke us up around 6:30am ready to unwrap a few of their gifts before Rich had to leave for work. Some of their big gifts this year was a tennis net for Jett & a tumbling mat for Delilah.
After digging through their stockings, it was time to say goodbye to Dad. Me, Jett & Delilah spent the day together playing some of their new games, Jett did some Lego's & Delilah made good use of her new mat! We also had a wonderful visit from Johnnie & Sydney. Definitely helped pass the day, while waiting on Rich to be home the 26th, so we could have round 2 of Christmas.
December 26th, Rich is home, & we are ready, Irish coffee in hand, to continue our Anderson Christmas.
Clarence, Milo & Brisa joined us for our Christmas dinner. Afterwards, we unwrapped our family gifts & visited by the fire with a few more Irish coffees.
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Delilah is really enjoying the opportunities of using her new tumbling mat here, at home.
For New Year's Eve, we had the best of both worlds... We started with a quiet, family dinner of Chinese food & Sushi. Then, we spent the remainder of the evening & stayed to ring in the New Year, at the Harkins home. There were several neighbors & friends there, more food & some great laughs!
I make it a habit of going through the Twins phones, from time to time, just to make sure nothing is going awry. I found these in Delilah's photos & fell in love with them! She truly takes my breath away!
Some extras from the month!
More to come in 2024!
