Now that Brandon has a real job and doesn't have three weeks off for Christmas, we have to deal with real-world new-employee problems like having to work right around Christmas. Boo. Thankfully, he was still able to come out to visit, it just had to be an early visit. Whitney got to be here for a long while since she's still in long college-Christmas-break mode, which we LOVED. So we celebrated early and did some of our traditions with B while he was here and a had more low-key Christmas on the actual day.
He made it!
We visited Sister Medlin, one of our adopted
grandmas, after church.
The whole Sweat Fam together.
This makes my heart happy.
Puzzling with my favorite puzzler!
We puzzled while we had Elf on.
Such a good show.
Then we did our gingerbread houses.
Miss Whit made a dental chair with a patient in it.
All of the creations together.
Andrew made his Honda Element.
I made my usual little house,
kinda looks like a log cabin this year.
Another view of Whit's intricate dental chair.
So impressive!
B made a barn like the one he lives in.
Caroline made a guinea pig...
with droppings??? Ewww....
It's so fun having adults who are so helpful
in the kitchen!
The Christmas Eve feast!
Yummy!!!
Ready to chow down!
We had our sibling gift exchange upstairs.
The kids are SO cute with each other.
I love to watch them open each other's gifts.
I always request something homemade from
Whit because she's such a good maker.
Look what she made me!
A personalized dish towel!
Their laughter!
It's the best!
Also drove through Sunset Hills,
my favorite spot for all the Christmas balls.
ABBA vinyl! YES!!
Brandon got a watch from us.
He picked it out.
I took these two out for breakfast before B headed home.
It was a short visit, but I was so glad we could have him for a bit.
More puzzling!
Andrew even got in on it for a minute.
He's not usually a fan.
We always check to see how well they
stay together if we pick them up.
Pretty good!
Another fun one
Miss Whit and I went hiking up in Durham.
There's an awesome carved log along the path.
It's old and kinda falling apart, but was still cool to see.
Then I took her to Piper and Otis,
my favorite restaurant/gift store in Durham.
More puzzles
Very well constructed!
Andrew had us play a round of funny nanagrams
The saying always CRACK us up in the moment.
They're not as funny reading them now.
We spent some time serving at a non-profit.
BackPack Beginnings is a super well-organized
food pantry. We enjoyed our time there.
Baked goodies for a few friends.
Another puzzle.
I think we watched It's a Wonderful Life for the first time.
Or at least for the girls it was the first.
More yummy food.
These girls are ready for more presents
Cute heart
The anticipation!
Stockings
Pickle chips
Shaq candy
One of my favorite finds this year:
A diet-coke-scented candle!
So fun!
I think B-train got Drew a Puka card.
Cute dental-themed shirt
Coquette necklace
I was so excited to give Whit this little tooth
box. It's meant for little kids to leave their
tooth in for the tooth fairy, but I thought she would love it.
Fun garland from Barb
And she got Drew this awesome tabletop book
Hummingbird-shaped thumb tacks
A knitting bear!
A cool saxophone player made out of rocks
A record player!
Tooth tote bag
Annual Sonic gift cards from Aunt Irene
Lobster bag for Miss Whit...
she doesn't look as excited as I thought she'd be...
We went down to Carowinds Winterfest one night.
That's always fun.
I feel like when we first started going, it was a hidden gem.
It was cheap and hardly anyone was there.
As the years have gone on, the prices have gone up,
it seems that fewer rides are open, and it's more crowded.
We still had fun, but not like we used to.
At some point we split up for the girls and did our own thing.
And then reconnected eventually.
The fake snow that they have to use
when you live in NC. Ha!
Caroline and I had already seen Wicked in the theater as soon
as it came out, but Whitney had been holding out. She thought
she didn't want to see it. In December, they did a sing-a-long
version in the theater. Yes, please!
The three of us went together and it was FANTASTIC.
Lots of people belting from their seats.
And applause at the end.
So good!!
Can't wait for the second half to come out!
