Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Ella's Christmas Choir Performance 2023

On December 18th & 19th, Ella had her Christmas Choir Concert with Cantate Homeschool Choirs. 



Pa & Grandma Ruth were able to come on Monday, the 18th. This time around I figured out where Ella was standing so I could make sure that we had seats where we could see her face. 

The next night Michael, the boys and Ga-Ga & Pa went to see her. I was planning on going, but I truly wasn't feeling well. I think I was overwhelmed and stressed out so I just laid in bed. I did live stream it though so I got to hear the kids perform. 

Unfortunately Michael didn't get the best seats so they didn't see Ella singing at all. In a funny coincidence the person that was standing in front of Ella blocking their view of her....is named Ella Martinez!
 

 
Going from the front row on the right count over 4 girls and Ella is right behind that Ella standing to the right of Addison....you just can't see her! 



Ella and June are such cute friends! 



Had to get a picture with Ga-Ga & Pa!



These cute stairstep girls! 

Hopefully for the spring concert we'll all get to see our sweet Ella's face! :)

If you'd like to listen to the choir's performance you can click this link. 

Saturday, December 2, 2023

Women's Christmas Dinner 2023!

The Women's Christmas Dinner was on Friday, December 1st. Earlier in the day we had stopped by the Eye Dr. to pick up Ella's new RX glasses. She had been complaining about it being hard for her to see so we got her eyes checked and her RX had changed to the point where she should probably wear glasses all the time. She had glasses before, but they were only for reading. She barely remembered to wear them though. She liked her frames so much we brought those back in and they put her new RX lenses in them. 



I think she looks adorable with glasses! 

This time around Ga-Ga & I hosted tables separately since we wanted to invite so many people to sit with us. 



I really wanted to use my Royal Albert Old Country Rose china that Ellen gave me. It was a bit different from a traditional Christmas place setting, but I think it turned out beautiful. 



I already had the china, flatware, sparkling cider glasses and the chargers. I did have to use the church's water glasses, but I only had to buy 2 things to finish off the table setting...the doily and the napkins. 



I borrowed this huge Nativity Set from my parents to use as my centerpiece. All the gold accents went so well with the china. 



Since the theme of the table was a nativity I wanted to buy each lady a nativity ornament. Back in November, one of Michael's cousins posted on FB how they were starting business making things out of wood. I message her my idea and sent pictures of ornaments that I liked. She actually created these ornaments for me and they were exactly what I had in mind. She even gift wrapped each of them. So perfect! 



Look at these handsome guys all ready to serve! 




Ella wore one of my dresses that I wore to the Women's Christmas dinner in 2019....it's so crazy to see her wearing my clothes now! Just for the record she is not taller than me...yet...she was wearing heels in this picture! :) 



Love this picture of Ga-Ga & Pa. Pa got to be the one to pray over us ladies and our food! 



Ella decided to straighten her hair for this event. Curly or straight hair...doesn't matter...she's a beauty! 




Handsome dudes...even though they don't like dressing up they sure do look good! 





I love seeing the youth volunteer at church! 




Christina and her beautiful girls! They were so excited to get to dress up all fancy for the evening! 





This was the first time the girls attend the actually event. In the past they've just hung out in the Kid's Church room having fun. Love seeing their personalities coming out! 



Love this lady who's like a sister to me! 



Ga-Ga's table was full! 

L-R

MJ, Ga-Ga, Denise, Cathie, Sara, Addison, Ella and Anna. 



My table was almost full...unfortunately Miss Ruth wrote down the wrong day so she thought the event was on Saturday night not Friday night. I called her to see if she was on her way, but she had just stepped out of the shower. I felt so bad! 

L-R

Christina, Me, Michelle, Mary, Stefanie, Marci & Jan. 



Caleb even signed up to volunteer and help. I love that even though they don't go to church at our church he was fine with just jumping right in. 



It was a beautiful evening filled with yummy food, fun fellowship and singing Christmas Carols. We got to hear from Kent Hope and how they are impacting the community and helping Women get off the streets. It's so great to partner with programs like that in our area. 



Jan actually works at the water district with Michael and Marci is her daughter....look at that matching hair! It was so fun to get to spend time with them. 



The girls had a blast with all the seasoned ladies at Ga-Ga's table. It was truly such a fun and treasured time! 

Sunday, November 26, 2023

Thanksmas 2023!

One of my favorite days of the year!!! 


Look at this spread! We eat very well! 

The even better part is it's not all on me. I made the Turkey, Carrots, Potatoes and the Punch and then everyone else brings something to add to the meal. Honestly even though it seems like this day would stress me out it doesn't. There is a crunch time when everything in the kitchen is going on at once, but really that's only for a short time and then I just get to sit back and visit with everyone. I didn't even had to do dishes later since Christina and Miss Ruth took care of those. So nice! 



The kids were ready for food!!! 



I love having my house filled with people! 



Love Love Love! 



Time to eat! 



We had to arrange the tables a bit differently this year since we had more people over. We had 23 people total! 



The men's table.

L-R

Bill, Michael, Sisay, Michael, Ernie, Papa, Peppy, Yeaab & Pa. 



The ladies' table. 

L-R

Ruth, Ga-Ga, Katie, Sarah, Tori and Me....Christina is taking the picture. 



I can always count on Christina taking a picture of her plate....we were sure thankful! 



Ernie & Katie are so precious to our family, our church and everyone they encounter really. Sweet sweet generous people...love them! 



Peppy & Tori were here from California to see their family. Sisay is Peppy's Dad and we know them because Yeaab is the Youth Pastor at our church. It was so fun to have people over that we hadn't even met before. I hope they come back next year at Thanksmas so we can meet their baby that's due in February. 



Just sitting around visiting! 



These sweet girlies just love anytime they get to hang out together. 



Papa & Sisay had such a nice time visiting together! 



Bill & Pa were still hanging out in the garage. 



Owen and Caleb have gotten much closer this last year since they both like the same sort of games. They love to play Twilight Imperium together. It's been great to see their friendship develop! 



We had to take advantage of the Christmas tree and get pictures. 



Papa & Grandma Ruth...they ended up using this picture as their Christmas card! 



Me and my man! 



Pa & Ga-Ga




We had to do grandkid pics as well! 




After all the folks that weren't family headed out it was nice that everyone that was family didn't rush out....they stayed around we all just chatted in the living room. 



It made my heart so happy! 



God has richly blessed us with family and friends that are family! 



My sweet girl! 




We almost forgot, but thankfully we remembered at the last minute to take pictures of the Kuch's around the tree! 

Another awesome time fellowshipping with loved ones.