THANKSGIVING I'm sure you don't remember, but last Thanksgiving was one for the books. We were in the thick of Nova's ongoing ear infections and Duke went on a poop strike. We gave thanks for enemas and antibiotics. We could only go up from there. This year was great. We kicked everything off with our annual 3rd annual OBU Friendsgiving. Then, we spent Thanksgiving day with my side and the following two days with Colt's family in Stillwater. The weirdest thing was not having Nana around with the Westbrooks. She passed away in September and we all definitely felt her absence this year. visiting Brandon at the coffee shop We left Stillwater earlier than planned that Saturday evening because of all of the power outages. We weren't sure of what we'd come home to and we needed to have time to make a plan. Sure enough, we had no power. We grabbed a few things inside the house and headed to the Chambers' to spend the night. After we put all give kids down for bed, we got Poblano takeout and watched the bedlam game. It was such a fun impromptu little date night. PRE-CHRISTMAS my dad's company Christmas party Walrus Audio Holiday Party community group Christmas party I love the entire Christmas season and one main reason is because it means lots of musical activities. We did our 5th annual Cuppies Caroling night and it was so much fun. I came prepared this year (finally) with lyric sheets printed out for us. It's such a fun thing to sit around with these girls who I've known for most or all of my life. A few days later, Karlie and I (IG: @maryanntheband) did an evening of melancholy Christmas music. Because sometimes you don't want to have a holly jolly Christmas. Sometimes you wish you had a river you could skate away on. So, for all the folks who needed a little calm and understanding, we decided to stick with our theme. Our last musical event of the season was when we, The Night Nights, (IG: @thenightnights), did an hour of Christmas music and interactive stuff with the kids. I cannot tell you how much I loved it. There's nothing like doing music in front of a bunch of eager, smiling kiddos with Christmas anticipation filling their hearts. my Mama Lue and my mom after our piano recital One night, we had a special movie night with Duke. We put Nova to bed and then popped popcorn, ate candy, and watched Inside Out. Duke was in heaven and I think he felt extra special that he got to stay up late with us. He kept asking questions like, "Are we staying up til morning? Is it already time to wake up? Am I gonna sleep in here tonight?" The kid loves his sleep. Our Christmas Eve service was extra memorable this year since Colt and I were asked to lead a short kid's music time. I planned on plopping Nova in my lap while I played and sang. She's used to doing that at home, but I was crossing my fingers she'd stay put. And she did! A true Christmas miracle! CHRISTMAS We spent sweet time with our families, ate lots of good food, and laughed a lot. One of my favorite memories of this Christmas will be that we re-gifted the dollhouse that my dad made for me when I was 4. (The dollhouse I talked about in this old post.) I wasn't quite ready to indulge in Barbies with the kids, but I got some dolls, threw in some homemade furniture, and called it done! NEW YEAR'S EVE All night we said, "We've got to remember to take a picture before everyone leaves!" But we still forgot. Oh well. It was a fun night with a small group of OBU folks. Duke even got to stay up late with his buddies (Cooper and Camryn) that night. Cookies, pigs in a blanket, and movies on the iPad until 10:30? He hardly knew what to do with himself. It was a fun, relaxing holiday season and I'm looking forward to what 2016 brings!