Our day was a little lower key than it’s been in the past, it seemed. We didn’t go to Addie’s house until 9 for breakfast, so Jeff & I had some quiet time at home & then exchanged presents here before heading over for that. The kids still had presents from their parents and each other to unwrap, but showed us what they’d gotten from Santa. And June has spent some of her down time on Christmas break from school doing some sewing. She modeled a couple of pairs of new pants she’d made for herself. We are so proud of her creativity and talent.

For years we have attended Christmas Eve Service at Woodland UMC in Rock Hill, where Charlie and Adam participated in the Children’s Christmas Pageant that was presented every year on Christmas Eve. This year we were there to be with their family as they lit the Advent Candle during the service of Lessons and Carols. Such a meaningful service. Here are a couple of pictures.

It worked out perfectly that Liz’s visit to York County overlapped with Lesley being in the county from San Diego, and we were able to get quite a few folks out here to our house to visit with them Tuesday afternoon. Addie & June had already left before we made this picture, and afterwards we headed to supper in Rock Hill where Andrew, Charlie & Adam met us at McAllister’s, and Sherri came over with her grandchildren Isaac, Zoee, & Kristin after they visited with Granny for a while. Such a special day. Front row are Lesley, Jeff, and me. Back row are Liz’s girlfriend McKenzie, Liz, Boo, Amy, Little Hope, & Meg.

Last Saturday I met Amy, Nathan, and Mia, and other members of her American Heritage Girls troop, at Forest Lawn West Cemetery in Charlotte, where we helped place wreaths on the graves on veterans who are buried there. I got this picture of Mia and her proud Mimi before the ceremony started.

During the ceremony, before we placed the wreaths, veterans from each branch of the service came and placed a wreath honoring their fellow service people. Of course I had to get this picture of the Navy wreath afterwards.

It was a week ago Tuesday when we actually got to see Adam wrestle for the first time. Beforehand, though, I got this picture of him in their new warmups. I love the Falcon blue. He looked so handsome – of course!

LAST Sunday (I’m just now getting pictures downloaded – it’s been a busy week!) June and I went with a group from our church to see The Velveteen Rabbit performed at the Children’s Theater in Charlotte. Back 30+ years ago when I took my children to the Children’s Theater, it was in a completely different location, but now it’s located in the Imaginon building, which is a location with a children’s activity center/museum as well as a children’s branch of the Mecklenburg County Library in it. This mobile is made of props from the different plays that the Children’s Theater has presented over the years, and there is an item that starts with every letter of the alphabet included in it. We didn’t have time to do that scavenger hunt, but it sounds like it would be fun when we go back when we have more time.

There was also a great photo op corner 🙂

Yesterday was our annual shopping spree at church. This has been going on for years, but this is the first time I’ve ever helped out with it. Underprivileged kids are brought in – I think the names are supplied by the school district – and we feed them breakfast, then volunteers take them shopping. one on one, to help the children buy gifts to give their families. They come back & other volunteers help them wrap the presents. Then it’s upstairs to the sanctuary for the Christmas story and a sing-along, and then we give them a bag of gifts for them before they leave. Each bag includes a pair of shoes – sizes are provided by their parents ahead of time – and we try them on, and there’s socks, a hoodie, a game, a Children’s Bible, and a huge bag of fruit and candy, among other things. One of the sweetest things was that so many of them put on the gloves we gave them and never took them off again. One little boy even wanted to peel one of his oranges with his gloves on. I didn’t have time to get a picture until we were all completely finished and were waiting for their parents to pick them up. That’s Brayden in the red pants, playing with one of the balls they received with his little brother. He was eleven, and even he seemed so excited about the gloves. He said, I never had gloves. Cue the tears.

Last night Meg & I, along with Mallory and her bestie Lacy Emma, were at the auditorium in town for the high school choir’s Christmas concert. It was fantastic, as it always is. I got this picture when all of the different choirs were together on stage. They are an impressive group, to say the least.

Wednesday was our children’s Christmas at church. Things are still pretty up in the air at church, so rather than have a typical Christmas pageant, we just made it a one-evening event. The nativity story was divided into three sections – Mary & Joseph coming to Bethlehem, the shepherds, and the wisemen. During each segment every child could dress as any of the characters – we had two Mary’s and two Josephs at one time – and the kids just read that portion of the scripture off of cards. The kids seemed to love it and it really was cute.

Next was craft time, followed by refreshments. Such a fun evening.