Light the Night Skating Exhibition

 Monday, December 30, 2024

We closed out the year with one last visit to Light the Night downtown at the ballpark.  The Club was asked to skate a short exhibition back before Christmas, but the zamboni broke so the show had to be rescheduled.  Today was the day.  Initially, Emily wasn't sure she wanted to skate, but we reminded her how important it is to keep your commitments.  So off we all went...and I'm so glad we did because it was really neat skating with all those lights everywhere!

   

   

After the show, we grabbed dinner at Pies-n-Pints before heading home for some post-Christmas desserts.  And that was pretty much it for us for the year.  We stayed in for New Year's Eve and watched Christmas movies and fell asleep before the ball dropped.  HA!  I would certainly say that 2024 was a great year!  Bring on 2025!

Visit to Martinsburg

Saturday, December 28, 2024

Just after Christmas we headed north to Martinsburg to visit the Millers.  Initially we thought everyone would be there, but as the time got closer, Laura, Andy and Jacob had to back out.  And then, just before Christmas, Charles, Alison, Everett and Griffin had to back out too because Everett's basketball team made it to their division championship game.  Grrr.  So, in the end, it was just us and Grandma and Granddad - which made for a pretty quiet visit.  We arrived Friday night to a dinner of my favorite potato soup and little party sandwiches.  Then on Saturday, we made a brief visit to the outlet mall, found a few bargains and then headed back to celebrate our Christmas there.

   

   

   

A much quieter visit than usual, but still great to see the grandparents and catch up a bit.

Christmas 2024

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

 We had a very quiet Christmas this year.  Just Emily, Daniel, Grandma and me...and then of course Sasha, Amelia and Milo.  We all slept in a bit and then when everyone got downstairs we let the kitties go first with some of their gifts.  They got a big stocking of gifts and a new scratching house too!

    

The kitties seemed satisfied with their gifts so we moved on to our stockings.  Everyone had one!

   

   

Then it was time for gifts.  Emily's wish list was almost all clothes this year.  Same for the rest of us.  At one point I thought I might run out of shirt boxes!  Emily got several sweaters, a "skate crate" filled with skating stuff, new jeans a Pusheen box and a TON of new stuff for skiing - new ski coat, ski pants, new goggles and more.  She is so excited to go in just a few weeks.

   

      

Daniel was excited to receive some fun new t-shirts, a weather station, a new coffee maker, a cupcake subscription, Patagonia vest, a heated mattress pad and more.

   

   

Grandma got some new pants and jeans, a new sweater, new underwear, white t-shirts, one of Emily's skating pictures and more.

   

I also received many new clothing items including several sweaters, new cords, new pajamas and more.  And by more, I mean the Hallmark Christmas Monopoly Game!  And yes, we played later in the evening and I actually won our inaugural game!

   

What a full Christmas we had!  We were wiped out - even the cats.

   

Christmas Eve 2024

 Tuesday, December 24, 2024

We had a pretty low key Christmas Eve.  Daniel was off so we made our big meal today so we could relax a bit more tomorrow.  We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli, sweet potatoes, corn casserole, cranberry sauce and croissants.  Emily was also able to invite Atley to join.

   

After dinner, Emily and Atley built gingerbread houses.  I think they really enjoyed it.

    

My goal for the evening was to get cute cat pics for Christmas.  I think I mostly succeeded.  Merry Christmas kitties!

   

   

We closed out the night with a bit of a dessert party and the annual reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas...18 years in a row.

CFSC Christmas Show

Sunday, December 15, 2024

Heidi's Group Number

We had to hurry home from Canaan to get ready for the Christmas show at the rink tonight.  A lot of times the show is on a different weekend, but this year all the fun fell into one weekend.  The show was pretty long this year (we have more new club members) but it moved along really well. Emily was in three numbers - Heidi's coach's number, the Learn to Skate number and of course, her solo.  She skated to Hallelujah by Carrie Underwood and John Legend.  It is a really beautiful song.  She was also excited to support her friend Kinzleigh as she received her first gold medal in skating skills.  After the show, the Club catered a nice banquet from Olive Garden and everyone had a chance to relax after the show.  Merry Christmas to all the skaters!