Our lovely (and excited) little girls dressed and ready for the Christmas Eve service.
Abby's Christmas card design that was on the local newspaper's website. We loved it so much that we printed it on a canvas for our whole family to enjoy.
Church on Christmas Eve morning felt a little different, but was such a good fit for our family this year. I loved being able to worship and set my heart on true Christmas without the distraction of dinner needing to go in the oven ASAP because hungry kids and family arriving ten minutes after we get home from an evening service. In this season, with these ages, it made the morning a sweet start to our celebrations. And...we still got to sing Silent Night by candlelight.
Taking a minute to set out hearts and minds on Jesus as we wait for our family to arrive.
I have a little helper who wants to cook Christmas Eve dinner.
Fire is ready!
Papa has arrived!
Everyone opened a special present from Nagymama on Christmas Eve.
Annual Christmas Eve matching jammies (for their babies too!)
Nina and Cooper 💓
Pre-bedtime snuggles...because we all know it takes a crazy long time to get them settled and to sleep on Christmas Eve.
The house was buzzing with excitement, even hours after the kids fell asleep and the rest of us were ready to sleep. I laid awake in bed for a while and I couldn't stop thinking about how sweet our life is, thankful for our full home and even fuller hearts. I may have only gotten a few hours of sleep, but it was definitely worth every minute of it.
What a sweet night and festive way to kick off the first of many Christmas moments of the season. I got to wear both hats as mom and dance teacher. And once again, I'm reminded how amazing it is that I've been given the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of these dancers and those they reach. I'm so proud of my girls and all of my dancers. (I'm not sure why I wore a name tag that said Ms. Sarah all night!)
Abby's ballet (Ella's dance didn't record.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKk_EMiwBE0
My Kids Pop class (with Abby and Ella)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSqPXKIsn8M
My Teen Pop girls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOruxb7w9NU
There's just something about having some extra time with this guy on a Monday morning (especially after he was away for the weekend) that makes for a good start to the week. So glad to have him back home!
Christmas cards and a Christmas movie with my big girl!
What it really looks like when you try to get the two year old in the picture...
Ella's self portrait
Abby teaching Juliet songs from the girls' Christmas musical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMx-nNg-M_Y Another great night celebrating Christmas. I love seeing how excited our girls are in the weeks leading up to the event and then to see it all come together in a fun performance with their friends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edsfv0dM1Nk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1I97jsRGbs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8v2fHyo_G4
Juliet wouldn't even sit in the chair for the first five minutes. She wanted to dance and run around the whole time. She keeps us on our toes and alternating between our seats and the door.
When I was younger, Cory and I had a "thing" before bed. We said the same thing to each other every night before falling asleep.
J: Goodnight .
C: Goodnight!
J: Love you
C: Love you
J: See you in the morning!
C: See you in the morning!
I've told the girls about it, so finding this on my pillow the other night before bed melted my heart.
We baked lots and lots of gluten free Christmas cookies for all the special holiday events.
What happened that my girl walked into her room a seven year old and came out looking like a teenager?
Juliet's class Christmas party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrI3wdcLoDc
8th Annual Christmas Swap made a successful transition from cookies to favorite things this year! So thankful for each of these ladies and the ones in my life (near and far) who couldn’t make it. My friends have some fun favorite things!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9oIcDDhQWU
Abby sang with her school at the mall.
Juliet wanted to hang with the big kids.
Ella hung out with Abby's teacher. We love her!
Our annual night of "Lights in the Park"
Sweet "I don't feel good" eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTP059enLPw
Homemade peppermint playdoh
The girls disappeared for a while and then Santa appeared! (I’m pretty impressed with how they improvised!)
Doing her Donald Duck impression like Casey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC4s4iNHLFQ She is so proud of herself for being able to start the TV show all by herself.
