Christmas Time

We attended the Christmas Eve service at The Church at Severn Run and were so happy to celebrate with Sue and Karli.

Judith and Grandpa getting in some snuggle time watching a movie.

We went to ICE at the Gaylord Resort and Conference Center. I was so beautiful--everything sculpted in ice!

They provide parkas so we can endure the 11 degree freezer.

The theme was Christmas Around the World. So these were Peanuts-esque ice children in traditional dress from various countries.

See how huge this was?! All ice.

More ice children. Jonas fit right in.

As if anyone doubted, here I am--my name right there on the nice list.

Judith and her friend the ice elf.

Everyone piled into this ice sleigh.

The boys sitting in the lap of a giant, pink, ice bear.

In the very last room that you could walk through there was a 12+ foot ice angel and a complete ice nativity scene dedicated to the real reason for the Christmas season.  I thought that was great.

Mike and Jonas left after the last room, but me and Ezra and Judith went back to slide down the slides a few times. This is us with the National Harbor ferris wheel in the background.

Jonas was upset that we would let him do Build-A-Bear after we came out of ICE, so he's hiding behind the sign (kind of at Mike's elbow).

Nana did what Nana's do best--baked Christmas goodies with the grandkids.

She and Jonas made some fudge to go with other Christmas goodies that the kids delivered to our neighbors (along with an invitation to the Christmas Eve services).

Here they are bagging goodies.

Candlelight Service at church.

Christmas Eve at home.

Our traditional birthday party for Jesus.

Some pictures from Christmas morning.

This is a video of the kids sliding down the ice slide at ICE.

Judith's Baptism

After Judith chose to give her life to Jesus she had been wanting to be baptized. December 18th, 2017 was the day. We were so happy that Nana and Grandpa could be here to see it.

Pastor Steve called at 7am to tell us the heater for the baptismal wasn't working at that the water would be freezing. Judith did not want to reschedule, bless her heart. She was shivering for a while after she came out, but it'll be a memory she'll never forget.

December

When we got back to Maryland we had the opportunity to see the The Nutcracker in Washington DC. The was the lobby of building where we parked near the theater. So pretty!

 

Judith and Ezra with two of the dancers before the performance.

The theater was beautiful and the kids really enjoyed how fancy it was.

Judith lost her other top tooth making it official. All she wanted for Christmas was her two front teeth. 

Jonas had his first Strings concert.

The kids presented what they had been working on in Power Plant at church on Wednesday nights. Judith was in a craft/art class. The boys were in a building class, but Jonas was too shy to present his car. Ezra did a good job racing Mr. Jeremiah.

Thanksgiving Part 2

 Grandma's Christmas gift to us this year was a trip to Space Center Houston for our family.

This is the historic Mission Control Center. The kids are standing where Queen Elizabeth once sat.

 This is the little train that took us around the complex. To help us all remember where we were sitting, Row Q and P in the Neptune car, we made up "Queen Patty of Neptune" and it became a funny joke every time we got on and off.

We got to see some of the astronaut training center.

 We explored these rockets outside.

 A *few* photos of the Historic Boeing 747 and a replica of the Space Shuttle Independence.

One last visit with Meme before we headed for home.

Thanksgiving in Texas Part 1

Even though the kids have made many trans-Atlantic flights, this was the first plane ride in a couple of years and they were excited!  On the first leg of our trip to Houston the kids got to go into the cockpit of our plane. They thought it was pretty great!

 The day after we arrived in Houston, Mike, Jonas and Dad when to the ranch for hunting with uncles and cousins.

 

Meanwhile, back in Houston I taught Judith how to play poker. During which she cleaned me out with a full house.

We went to the Lighting of the Doves Festival with Jennifer and Lily.

We girls, enjoyed a live performance of Fancy Nancy that was super fun!

At Meme's house, Judith lost one of her top teeth.

Nana and the kids made their traditional Oreo turkeys.

 We were able to get a visit in with Mike's Dad, Pat.

We attempted to serve with Operation Turkey in Houston on Thanksgiving morning, but because of an overwhelming amount of volunteers, it turned out that there wasn't a lot for us to do.

Our giant Thanksgiving turkey.

 Garrett with the kids.

One last visit with Grandma.

Getting in a visit with Grandma Allison.

The kids loved hanging out with so many relatives!