What the rest of December 2024 Looked Like

Temple date night!

We ran into our boss, Scott Tucker and his wife while we were there!

Scott is Andrew's executive secretary and the owner of my

dental practice, so we joke that he's the boss of both of us!

Love spending time here together.

There was a holiday Cirque show in Raleigh.

Of course we had to get tickets.

We did our usual routine--the two of us together

in good seats and Andrew all the way on the very

back row so he doesn't feel like he's blocking

anyone's view. So thoughtful.

It was a little cheesy, but still a good show.

Had the sister missionaries over for dinner, 

including Sister Kemp who we've known 

since she was born!

Carrie invited us over for dinner.

It was so fun!

We've also known Carrie forever, but she has

been in and out of ward, so our relationship has

been closer and less close over the years.

We loved spending the evening with her.

While we were there, Christmas carolers came over!

How sweet is that??

You never know what kind of pics you're

going to find of Brandon.

Carson is home from his mission and

apparently B went hunting with him. Huh.

A pic from Grandma Sweat when B was

getting ready to fly out here. :)

We did our holiday Christmas gift bags 

for the student in Teacher Brian's class

at New Arrivals Institute.

Always a fun activity and the students

are so grateful.

This was one of our Christmas gifts

to Whit that she opened early--

needle felting. That girl is good at

everything she tries!

Homecoming!

Caroline went with friends.

LOVE this dress she picked out.

I've always wanted to see a drone show,

so when I heard that one was coming to Winston,

I got us tickets.

NC winters are usually pretty mild, but it was FREEZING 

this night! Sooooo cold. Most of my memories are of 

trying to not be cold.

But the drones were pretty cool, too.

It was a re-telling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

It's always a happy day when Grandma Sweat's

big ol' box of Christmas goodness arrives!

I did a digital Christmas card this year.

Not sure how well I liked it.

I loved not having to buy 100+ stamps...

Winter birding!

Lots of gulls.

Board game night! Love it!

The Cougars played in the Alamo Bowl

against Colorado. Yippee!

They won big and it was fun to watch.

We had a fun little family bowl game party.

Go Cougs!

A Christmas Celebration (or Two!)

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!