We Wish You a Merry Christmas

December was full of performances, visits from family, and the flu. At the beginning of the month Ainsley had her ballroom dance showcase. A couple days later Grandma and Grandpa Gadd flew out and spent a week with us. They watched Kaylee's and Landon's dance recitals, and they got to see the three kids sing at their choir Christmas concert. I did not get to see the Christmas concert because I was sick and had a fever. Landon was the first to get sick. I'm pretty sure I caught it from him, and Kaylee caught it from me. We all had the exact same symptoms, and Kaylee tested positive for flu. I was sad to miss their concert (Kaylee played her violin!) but got to see the recording at home. While Grandma and Grandpa were visiting it snowed one night! Not too much but it's such a rare sight here that we were all excited. December was a cold, cold month.

After Grandma and Grandpa left it was time for finals. It was Kaylee's turn to be sick, and she ended up missing two days of finals. Fortunately her teachers let her take them at home because as they put it, "she's very trustworthy." It made my heart happy to hear her teachers say that about her.

Christmas break began five days before Christmas. We were all very ready for a two week break. Kaylee was still sick, so we took it easy and enjoyed time at home baking, playing games, and just hanging out with each other. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home due to the plague we had been passing around to each other. It was actually very enjoyable being at home and staying in our cozy pajamas all day.

We had hoped to take a family photo and send out Christmas cards early in December but never got around to it. Mostly because of someone being sick almost the whole month. So, instead I set my camera up on a tripod on Christmas Eve, and we did a photoshoot in our pjs.

The day after Christmas Grandma Yarbrough flew out to see us. She stayed until New Year's Eve. We spent the week playing games, eating delicious food, and watching shows about dangerous animals in South America. We also went to the movies to see Coco, which was really cute. After Grandma left we went into party mode. Kaylee's friend Bri and Landon's friend Ethan were visiting from Georgia, so they came over that evening and spent the night. Ainsley had a bunch of friends come over that evening as well. It was chaos, but I think everyone had a good time. And, it snowed again! Crazy! At 2am everyone was finally down for the night.

Today the kids went back to school (Chris gets to stay home until Monday). No one wanted to go back. School breaks are never long enough. We always feel sad about having to get back to the grind, but fortunately the sadness doesn't last too long. We get going again and keep plugging along. And anyway, it won't be too long before Spring Break. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!