With all of the celebrations for Reese's birthday complete, we were ready to turn our full attention to the holidays ahead. For the first time in a long time, we had no plans to travel anywhere and were going to spend the whole Christmas break in Kentucky. Fortunately we managed to find a lot of different ways to fill our days. In second grade, one of the traditions is a Flat Stanley writing project, which is required to be completed during the two-week school break. We had to keep Stanley occupied. But first we had to dress him, so Reese made sure he was properly attired.
Among the many stops that Stanley made during his time with us was the birthday party of Lizze, one of Reese's friends from school. At this place called Adrenaline, Reese and her friends got to do all sorts of fun things while Stanley looked on in admiration. Here he watches Reese joust Lizzie.
We decided that if we were going to be home that we would try and make plans to get together with as many people as possible. One night we put together a drinks and dessert gathering. The dessert preparation was an all hands on deck affair, the end results were both pretty and tasty.
We are not sure how we let the night escape us without getting a picture of the Prestons, but we did manage to capture a good family photo of the Sheehans. Amelia is one of Callie's friends from school, and Dan and Liz are great folks who we don't see often enough.
It was a close call in that we almost didn't get to decorate gingerbread houses this year. However, we managed to pull something together with the Johnsons at the last minute. The kids had a lot of fun working as sibling teams and the adults had a lot of fun just hanging out.
We also had to work in a tape ball night with the Abrahams before they left for Florida. As usual, tape ball was a blast and we barely had time to snap even this photo. Best of all, it was the second straight year that we were able to complete the night without tears over stolen gifts and hurt feelings.
Much to the girls' excitement and joy, we finally made it to Christmas Eve. We went to the Christmas Eve service at church and then went back to the Chrisman's for dinner. This year the tradition was made that much sweeter because the Gipes joined in on the fun.
The girls even got to hang out, eat sweets, coordinate treats for Santa, and count down the hours until morning. We hope to keep capturing pictures just like this one for years to come.
Christmas morning arrived in all of its splendor and we were ready to welcome it with open arms. For some of us our eyes were barely open, but our arms were ready. The girls were patient and allowed their parents to make cups of coffee before the tearing of paper began.
Santa was once again very interested in how the girls were developing as soccer players, and underneath the wrapping paper were different training tools they could use throughout the year. Not pictured is another big present, which was Charlie, the Robo Dwarf hamster. Although this was on the girls' Christmas list, they weren't totally sure how to embrace Charlie.
Callie and Reese were very happy to display their Big Blue Nation t-shirts, however. They kept talking about how they don't have enough Kentucky gear, so hopefully this will get them started on the right path. Once again they were both very lucky to receive great gifts from all sorts of folks and it helped make for a great Christmas.
The day was made that much better when we got to head over to the Leatherman's for Christmas dinner. It was our second year in a row, but the first year that included the Gipe family. With that being said, this was the first year that the girls decided to put together their own Christmas pageant and perform it for the whole crew. It was impressive to say the least, especially Lucy's role as the Virgin Mary. She takes her acting seriously.
One of the great things about being in Lexington over the break is that we were able to take advantage of many activities we often miss. This time around we made a point of going to see the UK Women's basketball team play. The seats are great, Memorial Coliseum is a little more than a mile from our house, and the basketball is fun to watch.
These girls are definitely Kentucky born and bred. They have spent a lot of time in California and Connecticut, but this is their home. It's easy for them to cheer on the Wildcats and wear the blue.
Speaking of the Cats, we kicked off 2019 with another big UK celebration. We had our New Years' gear ready to go after a night at home, and sat down to watch the Citrus Bowl where the UK football team prepared to cap off a great season. It only made it more interesting that they were playing Penn State, the alma mater of Uncle Chris, Michael Balestracci, and Mike Skonieczny.
The fact that we were facing the Nittany Lions made it a lot of fun. We had some good old fashioned trash talking leading up to the game and then had some great exchanges of videos and pictures during the game. The Johnsons were happy to help us out whenever we needed to let the Penn Staters know that Kentucky had scored. And it turned out to be a great day for the Kentucky version of Blue and White as they pulled out a victory. Not a bad way to kick off 2019.
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