Sports and more

Once again the girls were eager to rejoin as many activities as I would let them. Alexa tried out and made competitive soccer. It was a fun surprise. Alexa works hard but it very new to the sport. Competitive soccer is quite the commitment. She has practice twice a week, indoor games on Sundays and tournaments about once a month. In the fall the will play regular season games on the weekends. Alexa is still continuing piano. She just had her third recital. She seems to enjoy it for the most part. After another few months she will know enough to switch to a new instrument if she choices. She is also in gymnastics as a strength sport. And of course she is still doing AWANA with the family.

Addison is showing a real talent for sports. She has become quite strong (mostly a good thing) and is getting fast. We decided to move her back to a competitive gym for gymnastics class. After just a few months she has made a lot of progress. She is also asking to go back to soccer. She is signed up to play for Alexa's soccer club on their recreational league in August. We are officially a soccer family. Addison loves AWANA the most. She has made friends and loves her teachers. She thrives in that sort of environment. Our church program goes through 4th grade. Justin and I both volunteer in SPARKS (1-2 grade) this year. Next year, Addison asked if I would be in her group. I cannot wait.

Christmas 2017

Several years ago we decided that Christmas would always be spent at home with our family of four. It's our children's home and its important to us that they get to be there for important holidays. This year, Pepere was given a terminal diagnosis. We decided that we would go to Atlanta and have one last holiday with him. To accommodate this we had to have our big Christmas morning at home a few days early. Two days before Christmas the girls went to be like they would on Christmas Eve. We did the usual leaving our cookies and milk for Santa. The next morning we had our Christmas morning. The nice thing about it being early is that we didn't have the usual phone calls from the well meaning Grandparents. The girls spent several hours opening new toys, clothes, stockings and the playing for the rest of the afternoon. That evening we went to church for the Christmas Eve-Eve service. Once we got home we had to get to bed early since our flight was early the next morning.

On Christmas eve we flew to Atlanta. The girls were very excited to see their Grandparents, Aunt and Uncles and cousins. Over the next few days we hung out at Nana's making memories. Addison and Pepere were even able to spend time cuddling with their bear-bears. One day we went to the Cabbage Patch Hospital. The girls were able to watch the babies bloom and visit the different hospital rooms. Another night the girls stayed with Nana and Pepere while Justin and I went to top golf with some of Justin's brothers. It was a fun week in Atlanta.