December was, as always, super busy and fun! It was extra busy for Bob, who spent the first week of it in Sydney for his regular work trip that happens twice per year. While he was gone, we ladies worked on Christmas decorations, book club, school, volunteering, a very cold tournament football game for Anna and Bella (they won!), and my seasonal job reading scholarship applications for Duke/UNC which kept me busy between everything else for about 6 weeks. In addition to all of that, it was Erin's fall dance show week! She had rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday for 3 hours, then a show on Wednesday evening and 2 shows on Thursday. The theme for this show was seasons, beginning with New Year's and ending with Christmas. Her class did a really awesome (possibly the most-talked-about; she said kids at school were talking about it the next day) Halloween/zombie-themed dance, and she was also in the Christmas finale! It was a really great show, and she enjoyed being on stage. She had special guests, the McGee girls, watching her on Thursday evening!
We had a busy day on the 7th, starting with Anna babysitting and Erin driving herself to her piano meetup while I helped at church.
Anna and Bella then went to see the Wicked movie that afternoon while Erin and I enjoyed seeing Luciano in The Crucible at his school. After all of that, Bob got back from Sydney at 11pm after a wild time navigating some flight delays and cancellations. Sunday, we did some shopping and Erin lectored at youth mass before youth group that evening.
The week of the 9th was a little less crazy, but still very busy. Anna had a cooking club meeting on Monday, then Erin and I went to Olivia's band concert on Tuesday evening (it was awesome, and Olivia was in a quartet!), and we went to the final football game on Friday night. The weather was better than it was the week before, but the outcome was not. We lost in the final 4, and the team that beat us ended up losing in the state championship. It was a good game, though.
Saturday, Erin drove herself to church for confession while Anna and Bella hit the books, studying for exams at the library and then Bob and I enjoyed a fun night out at the Angus Barn with Liz, David, Josh, and Kati. It was so great to catch up!
The week of the 16th was midterm exams. They had up to 2 exams per day from Tuesday-Friday between 8:30am-noon. Erin didn't have any the first day because of her flex period and dance class not having exams. Anna got to leave early on Tuesday because of PE, and got to go in late on Friday for her flex period. They all went well, and now Anna has her first round of high school exams under her belt. After finishing on Friday, Erin had her 16 year old checkup which went very well, and Anna had a blast at her friend Stella's house for Friendsmas!
Saturday, Anna babysat her friends the Koesters in the evening while Erin and I had a blast at her Friendsmas, hosted by Luciano and his parents.
Between all of that, Anna had a few pet-sitting jobs, and we got some baking done!
The girls went to Concord on the 23rd; Bob met Chris in Asheboro to hand them off. They helped Grandma get the lasagna ready, and Erin went to volunteer at the homeless shelter with Grandma that evening!
While they were gone, we took Finley on a nice hike and watched a movie. We went to Concord on the 24th for a super fun Christmas Eve!
After getting back that evening, we had a blast at the Tierneys' annual Elf Party, complete with yummy food and super fun games. Christmas was great, including going to church at 10am that morning. We also had a nice ham dinner that evening.
Highlight gifts include a new phone for Anna, and some money that Erin is required to spend on something fun (not put in her bank account!). Bob got a nifty tabletop fire pit, and Gina got some comfy stadium seats for our football games.
Anna got talked in to taking the 30-hour drivers ed class over break, which meant going to the place in Garner from 8am-2pm for 5 days straight (the 26th-30th). It was not fun, but she was a trooper and got it done! We presented our annual 2025 trip proposals on the 27th; the final decisions are being made now. We had a great visit from Grandma A. and Ansley from the 28th-30th, including watching a sad bowl game for the Wolfpack and going to a happier women's basketball game on the 29th!
For New Year's Eve, we are mostly hanging out here, and Anna is having Bella over to sleep over.
So, that was December! It was wild as always with a couple of extras (dance show and driver's ed), but we got it all done, everyone stayed healthy, and we really enjoyed the extra time with family and friends. We are looking forward to a great month and year ahead, and hopefully a little snow!
