December

One of our most favorite traditions during the Christmas season: Peppermint Pretzels! 

Being a teenager is hard work.

Ryan and I enjoyed our church's Elder and Wives dinner in Annapolis - a few of us stood on the dock after the meal, enjoying the city lights

A special double-date night to see Handel's Messiah performed at the Kennedy Center.  Neither Ryan nor I had ever heard it performed in its entirety.  It was wonderful!

My piano students shared their Christmas songs with the residents of a local nursing home

Aubyn turned 40 this year and I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to celebrate with her!  I flew to Vancouver for a long weekend and soaked up all the McTaggart love, especially the time with my sister.  She's amazing.  Celebrating her is a piece of cake.  And spending a full day together, just the two of us, was more of a gift to me!

Tim Horton's hot chocolate with the best soccer player on the field after his game

Relaxing at the Scandanave Spa in Whistler - such a treat!

Goodbye hugs . . . wishing we lived closer

Santa got in on a photo!

I flew out of Seattle, so I was able to spend the evening catching up with Jessie before flying home!

Christmas bells at the Navy Yard

The girls have been taking a crochet class and their teacher gifted them these precious hats

We gratefully welcomed friends for lunch after church on Sunday, including a family who moved away and is still missed.  When we all first met there were eight adults and six kids (three were ours).  Now there are twice as many kids and Gretchen was an amazing playmate!

We have another teenager!!!

Beautiful Gretchen turned 13 and I surprised her with a night away for the two of us.  We used a hotel credit to stay at The Ritz!  We went shopping, watched a movie, had pizza, made good use of the hotel robes and lovely breakfast, then the rest of the family joined us for more birthday gifts and lunch.  Such a special way to celebrate this lovely girl's special birthday.

We had a little party for her with a group of friends: dinner and ice skating

Silly guys

More silly guys

Christmas Even pajamas from Grammy Deb!

'Twas the night before Christmas . . .

Opening stockings before church - Christmas falling on a Sunday reminded us of the years in England when we went to church on Christmas morning no matter what day of the week it was.  We liked that tradition!

Merry Christmas!  Off to church!

After church we enjoyed lunch together then opened gifts.  Rooke nailed it with his gifts for his sisters this year.  

Bridgette gifted Ryan and I with matching artwork =)

Merry Christmas from the Paynes!

Even year, Ryan listens to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens to kick off his Christmas season.  This year Bridgette and I both joined him in the tradition.  With plenty of talk among us about Scrooge and the Christmas ghosts, Ryan had the idea to make a "Christmas Carol Dinner."  In the book, Dickens describes what the Cractchet family is eating for Christmas dinner when the ghost of Christmas present takes Scrooge to see the family.  So we followed the menu and I roasted a GOOSE!  

The meal was simple, tasty, and all the better as we shared with Steve and Vallerie and their friend, Gordon.  Of course, Christmas poppers were on the plates, hence the obligatory "funny paper hat" photo

Merry Christmas!

November

 We started the month with a trip to the African American History and Culture Museum.  Such a beautiful museum that we were grateful to visit.

Aunt Vallerie is the best at crafting, and the girls love getting to create with her!  It's even better when Vallerie generously lets them include their friends =)

Gretchen participated in a "marshmallow catapult" competition with her class at our homeschool tutorial.  Of course, we turned to Uncle Steve for construction help =)  She didn't win, but she didn't come in last, so we called that a success!

Not sure what's happening here, but aren't they cute?!

Rooke and his buddy are on the same basketball team.  They cheer for different NBA teams, who happened to be playing each other on the friend's birthday, which made for a fun hangout night for these two!

Ryan scheduled seasonal shots for the whole family.  We had mixed feelings about the appointments, but had fun together nonetheless 

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Steve and Vallerie hosted this year.  We were grateful to share the table with family and our friend from church.  It was a very relaxing day, full of feasting and good fellowship.  

Day after Thanksgiving tradition: cinnamon roll waffles for breakfast, watch Elf, put up the Christmas tree and decorations!!

October

Our church set up a table at the Cheverly Day market and handed out bags of popcorn - it was a popular place for the kids to visit!

 

Gretchen reached a milestone this month: first trip flying solo.  She had the awesome privilege of spending a long weekend with Kaye K, Big Daddy, and Evelynn in Oklahoma!  Her days were packed with a tea party, art museum, special outings, preparing yummy food, playing games, music, and being super silly.  It was a gift not only to Gretchen, but also for us to know she was having such a wonderful weekend with family.

Meanwhile, we went for a hike and brought home bushels of apples to celebrate the onset of Fall

I was making soup and needed carrots, only to realize I didn't have any in the fridge.  Then I remembered that we still had carrots to harvest in the garden!!  The dwarf carrot seeds were Bridgette's idea, so she grabbed a handful for me to use in our soup - delicious!

Our favorite leader celebrated his birthday this month - Happy 43rd to Ryan!

Ryan's parents planned to visit and were able to be here to celebrate with us.  It was special to have them here, and we're thankful for how flexible they are to go-with-the-flow when our days are mostly full of school work and extra-curricular activities.  Bridgette was able to get out and enjoy part of the Smithsonian art museum, the guys played disc golf (of course!) and we took time to enjoy good food and walking around DC.

These four beauties put on their 3rd annual Fall Feast for our families.  Grammy Deb and G-Daddy were able to come, also!

They are in charge of the menu

And the older girls take care of the entertainment portion with a reading of their novel.

The kids saying goodbye as they head out for their day at our homeschool tutorial.

Bridgette participated in an outdoor ensemble performance.  She did great, and her group was objectively one of the best performances.

Her cheering squad:

Fun with a new friend

Saturday morning snuggles

Our beautiful 7th grader heading off to a Harvest Hoedown dance

Nothing to see here . . . just a bunch of teen and tween girls and guys gathering for football, pizza, and hanging out.

Halloween party tradition!  

Alice in Wonderland and Gretchen was the Queen of Hearts . . . Bridgette was "spring" from the four seasons with her friends, and we had lots of friends and families come through for soup, drinks, and candy!