December

 Gosh, December.  Always a whirlwind.  It flew by and had all the joys and trials of a busy month.  Here is just a glimpse.

 

Our little family of three celebrated the end of our respective semesters with dinner out at a sushi restaurant.  We rarely go out to eat so this was so special and we had a great time, all of us so excited for a bit of a break from school and work.

 I was able to meet up with these gorgeous gals for a holiday coffee date!  We don't get to see each other in person enough and we soaked up our time together.  

More holiday goodness!  I love this group of ladies!  We had so much fun at a hilarious 'white elephant' gift exchange.  Gosh, there were some terrible gifts but the laughter was endless! 

Many of these women are part of my running group and I absolutely cherish our time/miles together.

Sloooooww mornings are the best!  It is really nice that all three of us are on the academic calendar and during the break a random Thursday morning can look like this.

Can we just pause for a second to discuss the insane amount of food that our kid eats.  This is a SNACK.  This was consumed in between breakfast and lunch  - the grocery store is where I spend most of my time (and money).

Luke really wanted to show M one of his favorite places on earth so we scooted down to HH for just the day so we could spend some time with Ima and Shesh and so Luke and M could have a quintessential HH day.  Bocce with Ima was definitely on the list! We had a great time - bikes, the beach, bocce, cookie making, and a delicious meal.  We are so grateful!

 These two.  Together nearly every single day of the break.  The best of friends.  As Jed's dad was saying..I think we have a picture of this scene every year for that last 12 years.  Love.

 We went to our favorite baseball stadium which transformed into a fantastic holiday light display.  It was fantastic!

Christmas Eve prime rib...this guy nailed it! 

 And a Christmas morning sweet feast.

 Our Christmas mornings are always very quiet and peaceful and simple.  Just the way we like it!

My favorite guys

We headed north to Daney and James' house for some holiday highlights.  We loved spending time with everyone and we are very thankful to our hosts!  The cousins spent all day everyday together and it was just the greatest!  The little girls get to be big and the big kids get to be little. 

 The best table setting duo in all the land

Kid's table!  Chef James treated us to a wonderful Christmas/Daney's birthday meal!

Together

Rain or shine we get outside...Luke and Mit on shoulder ride duty

The men and their games - hilarious

Love

Jeffrey is warping young minds

Together

Great minds

Jeffrey - 16. Luke - 15.  Hallie - 14.  Evelyn - soon to be 6.  Amelia - soon to be 4. (both little girls have January birthdays)

Prepping for our trip to the basketball court! 

Teens versus middle-aged adults.  Adults won!

We all went to a Hornets game and had a blast!  It was a great game - Hornets vs. Bulls - it went into overtime and the Bulls won.  So fun!
 

Not pictured:

Luke rang in the New Year by hosting a NYE party.  Never have a wished for a two-story house more than that night! :-)  They had the best time and were SO loud! So much laughter and singing and just so much fun, it was a joy to be witness to a bunch of teenagers celebrating friendship and fun.  They were also awake until 4am.  Yikes!  

And just to round out the year, I walked in from the garage to this scene...our kid burning the strings on his shorts - you just never know.  I will say it again...kids are the best!
 

Happy New Year from our family to yours!  

As always we resolve to live life on and with purpose.