Part of it was that we *did* get to some things we don't usually get to. We made a flying trip to Conway...my hometown...on Dec. 5 to hear "A Keyboard Christmas" at my home church. It was totally beautiful...12 keyboardists on 5 grand pianos...wow! It was even more special because they performed 2 pieces arranged by our current minister of music...since starting our "Keyboards at Christmas" celebration several years ago, he has become quite the multi-piano arranger. His arrangements are amazing, and it was such a treat to hear them performed by "another" church. :) And then to top it off...I got to see long-time friends that I haven't seen in years...what a blessing that was!!! We got to spend about an hour before the performance visiting with my jr. high Sunday School teacher and her husband...they are two of my favorite people in the world, and I hadn't seen them in way too many years...it was so good to just sit and visit for a bit, although our time was short. We are already planning another visit soon!
We also did some fun things like riding the train at Creekmore...that used to be a tradition for us, but we've missed it the last year or two. We got there early, didn't have to wait too long, and it wasn't horribly cold...cold enough to feel Christmasy, but not bitter cold! It's always fun to see the lights from the "inside" vantage point of the train, rather than "just driving by" as we do numerous times during the season.
The highlight of our season is always the Christmas music at church. Both Keyboards at Christmas and the children's choir music the following week were wonderful, and it was a treat to get to be part of them! Then, of course, we had the churchwide Christmas fellowship, our annual Christmas caroling to the homebound, and a tremendously fun youth Christmas party.
Can't believe I almost forgot! Birthdays! Birthdays always keep us a *bit* occupied in December as well. We start the month with Peter's, end the month with mine, and celebrate Billy's not quite in the middle. This was a big one for Peter....13!!!! Can't believe I have a teenager now...seems like it was just yesterday I was rocking him to sleep in his Noah's Ark nursery. :) I didn't get to do a birthday post for him like I did for the girls in August...I still plan to do a belated one (although I'm sure he would prefer it if that was one I just didn't "get around to". :-D) Aunt Marlena happened to be here on Peter's birthday, so it was fun to get to celebrate with her and Mamoe. We won't talk about how old Billy and I are...although the good news is...I'm a year younger than I thought I was going to be!! Yeah...don't ask. For some weird reason I have thought for over half this year that I was a year older than I actually was. *Shaking head and rolling eyes* Anyway. My family (and a friend or two) spoiled me to death and I had an amazing birthday. We took a spur of the moment roadtrip to Fayetteville for lunch (and bread-buying) at Stone Mill Breads and then some shopping...and even a quick photo shoot at Devil's Den (which was a bit chilly, but still fun! :))
And speaking of birthdays, poor Bayley finally got her birthday present! She had been saving for a new camera since late spring, and when her birthday rolled around in August, she asked for money for her camera fund. She worked and saved and saved and worked and finally bought her camera the first week of December. I'm not sure who was more excited...Bayley or Mom!! I'm loving watching her excitement about a hobby I've always loved.
Add in another Christmas party or two, a mad rush of last-minute Christmas shopping (because that's just the way it worked this year...;-)), helping with a birthday slumber party for a friend, and the fact that I started working a few hours a week right in the smack dab middle of the holidays...:)....and *THAT* is where December went. (Oh...and two bouts with health issues that knocked me out of commission for a bit...almost forgot about those. :))
When I started this post, I planned for it to be a belated "Happy New Year" post, but it seems to have turned into a "What Happened to December?" post instead...so perhaps I'll close this post with an even-more-belated "Merry Christmas!", and save the already-late "Happy New Year" for the next post. :)
Loved your pictures and getting caught up! And you know you're getting old when you can't keep track of how old you are...and I'm older than YOU! Aaah! :)
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