Merry Christmas one and all! Although this time of year can be stressful and crammed with festive activities and celebrations, I really love all the *extra* opportunities Christmas brings to get together with family and friends.....socially-distance-ly-safe, of course.
Brainstorming holiday shopping over margs & salsa. It's important to have a *clear* head when making important purchasing decisions
One situation that dominated much of this month was Dylan's knee diagnosis, plan preparation, surgery and recovery. He and I attended MANY appointments and were disappointed to learn that this would not be a quick-fix and that playing on the school basketball team would not be an option. This was a big blow to the both of us, but he reached out to the coach and worked out a plan to help with filming, stats, and managing the team in some way.
Here's a pic of Dylan at one of his appointments in his super sexy paper shorts.
Since I won't have access to Dylan's school file for much longer, I wanted to take a pic which shows ALL of the school photos taken over the years.
Another adorable pic of my sweet boys
Maddox drove me, Presley, Auntie Michele, Kaitlyn and Grandpa over to the Olson Christmas Party in Dallas. He got some good driving experience and I managed to snap some photos of family we don't get to see very often.
Uncle Ben and Uncle Jayme
Uncle Jayme, Bob & Uncle Jim
Kait & Regan
Brent, Kait & Riley
Auntie Michele & Kerrie in the upper right corner, Grandpa, Maddox and Regan facing the camera and Riley and Kaitlyn facing the opposite wall
The grandkids paying cards.
I did spend some time teaching the children how to play Blackjack and 5 card draw. I really believe that Grandpa Olson would be proud.
Kal and precious new baby in the background. Auntie Michele and Kerrie
Aunt Shirley, Kal and precious new baby
Maddox, Kaitlyn, Regan, Riley & Presley
Teague and I attended Presley's first Orchestra performance for a brief Holiday Concert. It was very well prepared and the students did well. She was so nervous!
Here's a pic of me and my counselors participating in "Best Dressed Day" for Spirit Week. We so fancy.
The last school day before Christmas Break was Holiday Sweater Day. Dylan didn't have anything specific to wear for himself, so he opted to wear one of my previous Christmas outfits.
Also on this day our school has my fave tradition of singing Christmas Carols to the students when they arrive at school from the buses. Here's Dylan sporting his Christmas best during the sing-along
Presley joined me in singing a few songs as well
Here are some fun staff pics of this fun day
Here's a pic of Maddox and one of his buddies as they filled food boxes for his Leadership class
2 days before Christmas, Dylan had his endoscopic surgery for a meniscus tear repair. He didn't go under until around 4:30pm and didn't get to eat all day. He was nervous, but the surgery worked just as it was supposed to and he's now on the mend.
Right before heading in
Waking up was a bit rough on him, but it was hilarious for me. He was pretty concerned about being groggy and not being able to see clearly right away, but I helped get some food and water in him to help the process.
We headed out about an hour later.
His pain wasn't too bad and he was a trooper.
The next day we had our annual Christmas Eve Snack Fest.
This year's craft competition was to decorate wood chip ornaments. Reigning Champs Briar and Uncle Jeff did not disappoint, but Auntie Rhacelle had a great submission and ended up tying with Briar for the win.
Auntie Rhacelle: Fauci Ouchie and Briar: Gnome
Was this planned???
Not pictured: all the mayhem of waking up on Christmas morning, including the following
*emptying our stockings
*opening our presents
*exclamations of gratitude for Christmas wishes come true
*Christmas Brunch with Grandpa & the Rivas's
Total mom fail for not remembering to take photos. I have chosen to maintain the position that I was having too much fun making memories to stop and capture the specific moments.
Later on we picked up Grandma and headed to the Andersons for Christmas Dinner
Adden and me
Uncle Jeff, Jake & Briar
The Faircloughs
Grandma provided Ice Cream Nacho Bar for dessert
Dylan, Grandma & Maddox
Later on we played a few games, such as the 12 Days of Christmas and Apples to Apples
On December 27th, Maddox Stephen turned 16 years old! The weather was icy and snowy, but we managed to procure all of his favorites for his special day.
Happy Birthday, Buddy! You are beloved!
The weather was still snowy all week and we saw very little of Teague as he did his part to provide tire chains to the masses. 'Twas a quiet New Year's Eve as we enjoyed extra screen time & brought in what we hope to be a much better 2022
I tasked the family with creating a Bucket List for things they'd like to do this year. I'm happy to report I got full participation. Let's see how many of these items we can check of in 2022
That is our December recap! Tune in next month as we check on Dylan's recovery, watch the world fall continue to drown into the pandemic, and I head into a busy Dance season.
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