December

We have been keeping busy around here. Advent is definitely upon us. The house is decorated, we have church tonight, a cookie exchange tomorrow, another Choir performance for Alex, and several other music events in the next couple weeks. We are also still plugging away with school. Both kids are doing well. David is in a bit of a protest to start each day, but usually snaps out of it pretty quickly once we get going. Alex’s protest in Kindergarten lasted quite a while, so I’ll take it.

We had a good fall, with lots of different activities. My sister and her family came out to visit. Together we went to Dollywood, did a waterfall hike, and spent a lot of time visiting and playing. Emeline had gotten an pneumonia, but luckily they got her to the doctors out here and on some medication. She started perking up by the end of their visit.

After their visit, Zach had a church workers conference in Virginia Beach. We all went and spent some good time at the beach. Our hotel overlooked the ocean and when Zach was in meetings, we played on the beach. There was also an aquarium in Virginia Beach that we visited on the last day. There was a chance of some bad weather, but it didn’t roll in until the end of the trip.

Following our beach trip Zach’s parents came out for a visit. They brought their trailer and camped in our driveway as usual. We also went to Dollywood with them. We don’t plan on having season passes next year, so it is has been good to get several trips over there. It was a good visit with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids sang in church on the Sunday of their visit and I had a band concert.

The kids participated in Soccer this fall. They both seemed to enjoy it and did well for their first experiences with the sport. I ended up needing to coach David’s team since they were short volunteers. It was a learning experience for me too.

Alex has started crocheting. She’s got the basic chain and a single crochet stitch down but doesn’t like working in a straight line. With this new found skill, she has been making unique creations for people (and dogs).