In the midst of all the Christmas cheer we were able to schedule an evening with the wine club. We are now in our tenth year of wining, talking, and laughing, which means these kids have grown to know each other very well. They have a great time together, even if the older kids spend a little too much time on their phones these days.
The really older kids get along quite well too. We are a quirky group of folks, but by this point we are familiar with all of those quirks and still love getting together as often as possible. Every gathering leads to a whole lot of great conversations and good times.
The past couple of years we have made a gift exchange a part of our evening. The kids are part of the deal too, and they can get pretty cut throat in the stealing portion. Reese still doesn't forgive Zach for stealing the gift that she had her heart set on. There's always next year!
We always love going to the Christmas Eve service at First Presbyterian Church, and this year Callie got to be part of the service by lighting the candles while Vivie read the opening words. It seems like every day provides a new reminder that our kids are getting older. And it is always wonderful to see how comfortable they are in our church community.
After Sarah dried her eyes from crying during the singing of Silent Night that ends the service, we managed to get a good family picture among all the beautiful decorations. Nights like these reaffirm our decision to stay in Lexington for Christmas every year.
It just so happened that our annual tape ball evening with the Abrahams fell on Christmas Eve and John, Callie, and Reese spent some time making sure all of the numbers were in good shape. It's always important to have the numbers properly covered in tape so they don't fall victim to the aggressive ripping strategies of the assembled masses.
We ate dinner quickly so that we could get right to the business of tape ball. There are a couple of questions that arise each year. First, did John use too much tape and will that make the ripping part last far too long? Second, will some child cry during either the ripping or the stealing portion of the evening? Fortunately the second question has become less relevant as the years go by.
Once the fun begins, all bets are off and the shouting starts in earnest. As demonstrated here, Callie tries to roll a 6 so that she can start ripping. Meanwhile, Reese works as hard as possible to get some kind of hold that will allow her to rip off a portion of the ball. The facial expression says it all.
This year the evening of tape ball also provided the opportunity to get to know the new Associate Pastor for our church. Nothing like a good secular event like tape ball to show why we need to go to church more. Linda is a great sport, though, and she even stole the sweater pictured here. Reese was the initial owner of it, because of course the youngest could not resist the temptation of the biggest present. So when Linda stole it she made Reese's Christmas. And as more evidence of how cool Linda is, she sent us all a picture of her wearing the sweater while getting on her flight to Virginia on Christmas morning.
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