Tessa's (my sister) wedding was coming up, and David and I immediately went into bachelorette party preparations, as well as preparations for the bachelor party, and a bridal shower also hosted at our home... all happening the weekend following our return from Idaho. Following that weekend was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner (on Friday), and the next day was the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding! Tessa made such a beautiful bride! I was honored to be a bride's maid (well, "bride's matron" I guess), and David looked so hansom in his tux (he was one of Steve's groomsmen). Sydney was also in the wedding as --yep! you guessed it!-- a flower girl! She really thought that she was a princess for the day, and cried when we had to go home, saying, "Noooo, Mommy.... I don't want to go home. I'm a bootiful pwintheth."
After Tessa's wedding, we went into preparations for our family photos (I'll add them later). We were thrilled with Peter Mahar, and we hope to make it an anual thing to have him take our family portraits! (If anyone's interested, you can see some of his work, as well as pictures from my sister's wedding at: www.petermahar.com) We had a piano recital for our students later the next week, and the day after the recital we hosted (at our home) a concert for about 50 people. It went great!
We had about a week break between the choir performance and Christmas, so we decided to take it easy. At the last minute, however, we decided to host a little gathering at our house for Christmas Eve. Friends, family, games, appetizers, soup, and dessert. It was just perfect. On Christmas morning, we made a big breakfast including eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, and orange juice! Our kids opened their stockings, ate breakfast, and then opened their presents from under the tree. I have to say... it was a very magical morning.
Needless to say, by the time New Years Eve rolled around, we were kind of ready for a quiet night by ourselves. So that's just what we did. We put the kids to bed, and watch a TV series to bring in the New Year.
Now we're planning a Valentine's Day fundraising banquet for the choir, and it's going to be a blast! We're planning a five-course meal, live musical entertainment, a silent auction, and beautiful ambiance. We hope to raise enough money to record a CD... maybe a few!
Well, that's how our season has gone so far -- busy busy busy! But we like it that way... as long as there's a bit of a break every-so-often.
