Remember December?

December came in a flurry of performances and Christmas preparations...and before we knew it, it was gone again.  Here is a glimpse of our December fun...

Of course, December was filled with more NTA performances.  Descendants will have its own post, but it filled many of our December evenings as the girls performed and worked backstage.

We have graduated as a family from the Davenport Christmas Concert (hooray!!), but there were still a few school and church Christmas performances to attend.  This was Briggs' last year in the church Christmas program.  He was one of the narrators and did a great job!

Staley and Adelie both performed in the Christmas chorus concert while Briggs displayed his percussion skills at the 5th grade band Christmas showcase.

The girls both performed at the NTA Christmas cabaret.

They performed with Rising Stars while Staley also performed with Singapella and Kickline.

Both girls had the chance to perform their Christmas solos with Staley singing "That's What Christmas Means to Me" and Adelie singing "My Favorite Things."  Most of the December NTA community performances were cancelled by a few big snowstorms, so the girls didn't have any other December NTA performances, which was a nice subtraction from the busy December schedule.

There were dress up days at school and fun school activities.

We had a house project completed the week before the kids got off for Christmas break.

We had the windows removed, an archway cut into the wall,...

and a cabinet installed.  Still waiting on the countertop to complete the project, but I love how it opens up the dining room...and now we have more storage and will have some additional seating once we have the counter in.

We LOVED our relaxing Christmas break.  Apart from Penguin rehearsals for Adelie, our calendar was pretty open.  We enjoyed time with friends and family...

played with our new Christmas gifts,...

watched Christmas movies and TV shows,...

enjoyed a girls' day out with Uma for Staley's birthday shopping,...

met baby Marley (and played with Kaysen),...

enjoyed the Christmas miracle of the Bears winning their division and making it to the playoffs,...

and slept in, read, played games, drove through the Festival of Lights, decorated Christmas cookies, went for runs, drank peppermint milkshakes, and took full advantage of a restful break with a mostly empty calendar.

We ended December with a fun evening with the Hostetlers on New Year's Eve!  It was a great month and a great year.  We're ready for you, 2026!!