Back before Christmas...

Well, here we go... finally ready to catch up on my blog a bit. Sorry for neglecting the blog during the month of December. With our trip to Illinois, Benjamin's Christmas programs, my girls weekend in Colorado, Christmas shopping and all the other events during the month of December, somehow the blog entries fell to the lower end of my priorities!

On that note, I am not quite ready to start posting the tons of photos from or awesome trip and visit with family and friends in Illinois. Instead, I am posting a few photos from the days that led up to our trip...

The night before we left we attended Don's Holiday Ball in Maryland. We had a pretty nice time although we didn't eat dinner there until 9 p.m. and the thought of leaving the ball early so we could get an early start on our voyage to Illinois the following morning quickly fled. I'm including a couple of photos of us from that evening.

The boys truly got into the holiday spirit this year... although Samuel did not take an immediate fondness to Santa. They enjoyed the decorations, holiday treats, Christmas songs and, of course, loved the gifts! Samuel really didn't care what was in a wrapped present or who the gift was intended for, he just truly enjoyed the unwrapping! Although, he has been enjoying the many gifts he did receive (especially the new Nerf football from the O'Neill family!).

A few years back my good friend, Lea Ann, had given me a set of wooden snowmen that nest within each other and Samuel has been completely fascinated by them this year. He has occupied much of his busy time stacking and re-stacking them. It's been a joy to watch him discover and rediscover them, almost daily.

Benjamin participated in two Christmas programs this year. As a four year old, it was his first chance to participate in our church's Christmas program. They sang "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" and he did a great job. He is the youngest one in the small group of kids that got up to sing it and I was so proud of how nicely he stood up there and belted out the words.

He also participated in his preschools Christmas program for the first time (he missed it last year due to the fact that we traveled to Illinois earlier than this year). They sang a few songs and his class was right in the front row (unfortunately, my camera battery was not charged so I didn't get any photos!). He did a great job and has been singing the songs a whole bunch since (and before the program as well). He loves to sing and we love to hear his singing. He has a knack for making up songs and I love to hear the stuff that he comes up with! But it has really been delightful to hear him sing his beloved Christmas carols.

Overall, we had a good month of December, albeit busy, somehow we made it to Illinois just in time for one of their lovely snowstorms and spells of below freezing temperatures. We were just thankful to arrive safely; however, it has made us appreciate living in Northern Virginia, enjoying our relatively mild winters. And, of course, we all loved spending the holidays together again as a family. There are so many little exciting things that can be taken for granted during the holidays but I'd like to think that this year we took the time to appreciate those things.

More on our wonderful trip to Illinois to come soon!

Happy New Year!