December

The month of December was a full month for us - lots of holiday fun festivities!  Unfortunately, sickness slowly worked its way through our house, so for most of the month at least one of us was sick, but we pressed on.

I took my piano students to play their Christmas songs at a local nursing home, which happened to be the home where my Gramma lived.  Though Gretchen isn't technically my student, she joined the program and played beautifully.  Bridgette also played her violin.

Gretchen got a few Christmas gifts for these sweet sisters whom she has been a mother's helper for over the last few years.

I scored free tickets from VetTix to see Pentatonix!!  Gretchen and I took our friends and had a great night in Baltimore

Our church held a Christmas service on Friday evening at the local legion building (pray for us to find a permanent building!).  I helped coordinate music for the service.  Several teens played prelude music, the children sang together, a string ensemble accompanied Joy to the World, and an adult vocal ensemble sang as well.  It was a very musical service!

The next day, we hosted a going away open house for John and Leia.  John has been our pastor since CBC started and he left to go pastor another church in Tennessee.  It's been a hard loss on multiple levels, least of which is their friendship.

Gretchen was asked to share about how Pastor John has been an encouragement during his final service at CBC.

Leia led some of the youth girls in a Sunday School discussion group

We spent the morning with the Joseph family, enjoying breakfast and one last visit together.  Then a few hours later, we boarded a plane to spend the rest of the month with family in Oklahoma!

Headed to Tulsa . . . .

We had a belated celebratory dinner for Kevin and Deborah, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in October!!

We also celebrated a special birthday: Gretchen turned 14!!  Deborah treated her to a manicure, we went shopping, I made her dinner of choice, and Braum's provided the perfect birthday treat.

Three generations of Paynes!

Merry Christmas Eve!  Thank you, Grammy Deb, for carrying on the pajama tradition for so many years!

Merry Christmas from The Paynes

On Christmas Day, we drove down to Norman to spend the rest of our time with more family.

Rooke towers over most, especially Kaye K!

Dear Nana with 4 of her 5 grandchildren - what a blessing she is!

For the first time since we all started having kids, the family was all together and we left the cousins home alone for an adult night out!! =)

Mom and Dad planned some great family activities for our week together . . .

Top Golf, sports at the gym, bowling, an OU basketball game, family talent show, laser tag, and plenty of games and food - it was a memorable week for the 17 of us to be together!

 

Tana hosted a lovely tea with the nieces

November

Fun thrift store finds with friends!  I used to play Mall Madness when I was in middle school and had so much fun teaching the girls the game =) 

Matching thrift store skirts on Sunday

I'm still trying out sourdough loaves . . . this one was pecan cherry chocolate chip - yum!

We're always grateful for a fun visit from Kaye K!  The girls and I took her for a beautiful walk through the National Arboretum

Bridgette and I were happy to take Kaye K to hear the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra 

The ridiculous photos that show up on my phone - ha!

Rooke passed the test and earned his Driver's Permit!!!

A special visit from the Jordan family: Sam and Patricia were dear friends when we lived in Minot, and it was a pleasure to reconnect and meet their children as they spent time visiting family in the DC area.

We hosted a Thanksgiving Eve happy hour with friends - such a fun night!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!  Vallerie and I split the menu and had so much fun feasting together and playing games at their house.

Selections from the 2023 Grateful Tree

Day-after-Thanksgiving tradition: cinnamon roll waffles while watching the movie, Elf, and then setting up the Christmas decorations.

Ryan and I made plans to get away for a night, and the kids were happy to stay with Steve and Vallerie while we were gone.  The girls made cookies with Vallerie

October

Ryan's birthday weekend is always a good excuse to take one last fall camping trip.  This year, the girls and I were able to head out one night before the guys.  This is a horrible photo, but it captures a crazy memory:  We pulled in and set up the tent.  Just as we were finishing, it started to rain.  We'd brought a pasta salad for dinner, but by the time I realized our utensils and plates were still in the van, a massive storm had hit.  The girls were such troopers!  We ate pasta salad with our fingers by flashlight, checking the weather radar every now and then to see how long the storm was going to last, and playing a couple games.  It rained all night, we got a little wet, then the guys came the next day and the weather was beautiful the rest of the weekend.  I love that my girls are camping adventurers with me =)

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

We went to parent/teacher conferences at Rooke's school, then snuck in a happy hour day date

Big news for Big Red - he finally got his braces off!!

Bridgette and Ruth hosted their fourth annual Fall Feast - we like to make fun of them for how much planning they put into this event, but it's actually great that they create a fun way for our families to get together and enjoy an outdoor breakfast together.

Bridgette helped me harvest the last of the garden: a bunch of dwarf carrots!

I recently learned about VetTix - it's an incredible benefit from Ryan's military service.  We have enjoyed free tickets to some fantastic events, including a Lauren Daigle concert!!  The girls were THRILLED!!  I had such a fun night with these four enjoying a great show.

The next week, I got to take Rooke and friends to see a pre-season Wizards v. Hornets game where we sat as close to the floor as we could.

Gretchen joined friends at a dance our homeschool co-op hosted

I love these neighbor friends!

Happy Halloween!  These girls went trick-or-treating together as boba tea.  We hosted our traditional Halloween party, which feels different these days since the kids are older and not as many dress up, but the adults still have a great time getting together and hanging out on our porch to pass out candy