Hi everyone--
It's been a long time since I've had an opportunity to write a longer post. 2011 has been a tremendous year-- full of amazing blessings, opportunities, and adventures :) God has truly been gracious to us, and we're grateful. Amid the flurry of activity, though, we have struggled to keep up, especially in the past six months.
The past six months have been book-ended by fun adventures. In June, we traveled to Colorado and Nebraska to visit relatives and explore Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of Nebraska. In November, we enjoyed another trip to the most magical place on Earth-- DisneyWorld. In the days between our travels, we have, pretty literally, been going non-stop between all of the kids' activities and commitments. Now, as I pause on our Christmas break, it's a good time to reflect and to catch up.
The Disney trip was just amazing!! We enjoyed seven days at Disney, including Thanksgiving. Britti's boyfriend, Ramon, traveled with us, and it was fun to get to know him better as well. Ellie-Kate had her best time ever, and she actually asked to re-visit certain characters on our last day. It's been two weeks now, and she has asked every day about when we're going back. I LOVE the parks at the holidays, and, even though Thanksgiving at Disney cuts into our time to prepare for Christmas, I'll take that sacrifice every time for the joy that we receive by being at the parks for the wonderful Christmas lights and special celebrations!!
In just the week since our return, we have returned to what has become the swirl of our daily lives-- Emmy performed with fellow sixth graders as well as with the Kids Next Door performing group at the annual MusArt show at Morrison. Chelsea performed with the Athens High School Symphonic Choir at the high school and on tour at the elementary schools. Ellie-Kate performed with her fellow pre-schoolers at the First Friends Pre-School Program on Friday, December 9 as well as with Emmy and other Albany Baptist kids during the morning service last Sunday. Emmy was inducted as the Morrison-Gordon Elementary School Student Council President on December 9 as well. Coupled with holiday parties and decorating, it's been crazy around here-- all good, just hectic :)
Chelsea has had an exciting few weeks as well. She has been accepted to Baylor University and to the University of Oklahoma. Baylor has offered a very nice scholarship, and Oklahoma has invited her to participate as an OU Scholar. We're still waiting to hear from Butler. She's pleased that she has three good choices for schools. She likes all of her options, and it's going to be a tough decision. Chelsea's fall was dominated by college applications and fair queen "stuff" so it's going to be nice for her to have a quieter winter :)
Britti has also been in transition and anticipation. When our extension agent was unexpectedly reassigned, Britti landed the job as program assistant, and she will be applying for the extension agent job in the spring. She's had impressive feedback about her performance thus far, and we're hoping that this opportunity will work out for her. Fingers and toes crossed, Britti!
Emmy is playing with a traveling basketball team, and Roger is coaching. Emmy plays every Saturday and Sunday in the greater southeastern Ohio region. She played on a traveling soccer team in the fall so she's really working hard to prepare for middle school sports try-outs.
Ellie-Kate is doing great!! She LOVES her pre-school and all of her friends!! She is doing super with AWANA cubbies, and she is being such a trooper about the general state of chaos in our house. We are so blessed to have such a loving, fun, and happy baby girl :)
It's getting late so I'll close for now. Hope all is well with everyone who follows our blog :)
Fondly--
Christie
