2023

2023 was a really great year!  We worked hard and played hard.  We were fortunate to have good health and made some wonderful memories with friends and family.  You really can’t ask for more than that!  Here are the highlights by month:

January - Erin was in the piano ensemble festival at Meredith College, where she performed along with 7 other students at the same time!

February - Chris and Logan visited and toured NCSU, Anna’s school soccer season began, and we went to a Hurricanes game.

March - Erin was accepted into Cardinal Gibbons, Anna’s soccer games started, and Erin performed in the Dance Theater production with HSSOD.

April - Family spring break trip to Puerto Rico, got new car and roof!

May - Erin’s piano recital, 8th grade graduation (plus festivities), Anna’s birthday, and Erin’s friend mother/daughter trip to Virginia!

June - Anna’s last day of school, Anna’s birthday party at the lake, Erin’s dance recitals, family trip to Hilton Head with cousins, Grandma, and Finley, Erin did a dance camp at Gibbons, Anna participated in basketball camp at StMM and volleyball camp at Gibbons, and Erin had freshman orientation.

July - Gina and girls went to Indian Beach, Erin did a choreography dance camp, Anna and Gina went to visit cousins in California, and Erin took driver’s ed.

August - First days of school for everyone (including Freshman Welcome Day for Erin!), Anna’s volleyball season began, and Anna went to western NC for her 8th grade field trip.

September - Erin hosted friend hangout day (rained out lake day) and Bob went to an Eric Church concert in Charlotte.

October - Anna’s volleyball season ended, Erin’s birthday and party, Gina began job at Duke, and Erin got her learner’s permit!

November - Erin’s first dance performances at Gibbons, Anna and Gina went to Great Wolf Lodge with the cousins and Thanksgiving.

December - Erin took midterm exams, Erin went to the Snow Ball dance, and we all had lots of Christmas fun (complete with many family and friend gatherings)!

In addition, Bob had many trips for work (including 2 to Europe, 1 to Australia, and 1 to Brazil), Erin practiced driving, Anna did a lot of pet sitting and babysitting, both girls had very active social lives, and we all enjoyed lots of fun on the boats at Jordan Lake!  It was truly a great year, and we are looking forward to another wonderful one ahead!

December!

December was as wild as always!  We had a fun, busy, and festive month, beginning with Bob returning from his trip to Sao Paulo, his first time in Brazil!  He had a good trip, and said it was very nice (and crowded) there.  The travel there and back was not the smoothest, with each of his 4 flights having some kind of issue, but he got there and back without too much of a delay.  He jumped back into business the next day, setting up the nativity at StMM.  Anna took the placement test at Gibbons on the morning of the 2nd, and then had a fun afternoon/evening participating in the Apex Christmas parade with her friend Bella and some others!  

We had never been to this parade before, and it was lots of fun!  Erin also had her first piano musician's meet up of the school year earlier on Saturday.  

That was a busy day!  We had a shopping trip to Fenton on Sunday, and then Erin read the second reading at the youth mass that evening, and attended youth group after that.  

Bob spent 4 days in New York the next week, and the rest of us were busy with school, piano, volunteering at sleigh rides, haircut, a work meeting, and attending Olivia's winter band concert!  Erin was off of school on Friday the 8th for a remote reading day prior to exams, so we went to the holy day mass together and then she did some studying.  Anna had a fun dinner out and sleepover at Gracie's with a few other friends for Gracie’s birthday on Friday.  Erin and I hit up confession at St. Andrew on Saturday the 9th, and Anna had a marathon babysitting job that evening for about 8 hours.  She made some good money that night!  

We had a fun lunch in Greensboro with the cousins and grandparents for Ben's birthday on Sunday the 10th!  Erin had her midterm exams from the 11th-14th, so it was a wild week with her schedule varying a lot.  She had 1 or 2 exams each morning; two of the days, she didn't have to go in until 10:30am because she didn't have exams for her dance class or for her flex period (study hall).  The nice thing was that she was out by noon each day, so Anna and Rory didn't have to ride up to get her at 3pm like we have been doing most regular days.  It was also nice for her to have the afternoons at home to recover from the exams that morning and also to study for the next day.  

I enjoyed helping review English papers in 8th grade on Monday, and Anna had her last physical therapy appointment for her ankle that afternoon.  It is now considered healed!  Happy 5th birthday to Finley on the 12th.  

The evening of the 14th, Erin and her friend Jeff had dinner here and then went to the Gibbons Snow Ball dance and had a lot of fun!  

Friday morning was the 8th grade Christmas bash at school, which was a wild time for sure!  By 3pm that day, everyone was officially finished with school and we could fully move into Christmas celebration mode!  Erin nervously awaited her exam and semester grades, which all came in quickly, and she was happy with the outcome her first semester of high school.  She worked very hard, and we are proud of her! 

Saturday, I had a fun neighbor lady Christmas party at my friend Stephanie's house.  We were busy the next few days finishing shopping, wrapping, baking, and other Christmas fun!  

Anna had a couple of babysitting jobs this week, and Erin had her 15-year old checkup on Wednesday, which went well.  We had a great Christmas lunch with Grandma and Grandpa F. on the 20th at Red Robin; yum!  Anna also slept over at Lyla's that evening.  On the 23rd, Bob and the girls met Grandma A. and Ansley in Asheboro and the girls had a really fun lunch/shopping/church/games sleepover in Concord!  While they were there, Bob and I went to a Wolfpack men’s basketball game, church, and dinner.  

We then met them back in Concord the next morning for Christmas Eve fun!  Everyone enjoyed their presents and the yummy lasagna lunch!

We were back on the road around 3pm or so and ended back up at 7pm Christmas Eve mass, which was really nice.  We even made a stop at the Tierney Elf Party after mass for an hour or so!  That was a busy day!

In between all of that, I have been enjoying my new “temporary” job reviewing scholarship applications for Duke.  It has been great to earn a little money and use my brain for a change!  I spent about 10-15 hours per week on this for about 6 weeks.  Finley was happy when I put his dog bed next to my desk.

We enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing Christmas the next day, complete with presents and food!  

The 26th, Anna had a friend shopping outing at Fenton and we enjoyed a nice visit from Yannis, Sofia, Andreas, and Vasiliki that evening.  We did some winter cleaning and hit Barnes and Noble on the 27th and had two car repairs on the 28th.  Grandma A. came up to visit that day, and we had lots of fun making bowl game food (but less fun watching the actual Pop Tarts bowl game, which did not turn out our way). 

We had a fun dinner at the McGees on the 29th, and Erin had a blast at her Friendsmas on the 30th!  Anna is having Gracie and Bella sleep over on New Year’s Eve, and that will end the month!  

 

Whew!  We are looking forward to a great year to come in 2024!