December was filled with holiday music and celebrations. Luke's band marched in the Stokesdale Christmas parade and it was a festive way to start the month:
Leah had her friend here for a sleepover and the girls decorated Christmas cookies, built gummy Lego houses, and stayed up waayyy too late!
Leah played in her first band concert in December, and it was adorable. There is a special place in heaven for 6th grade band teachers, as they create musical magic with all of these first time horn/wind players!
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| First Chair Trumpet: Left side with red bag below her chair. |
After the Christmas concert, the 6th graders were allowed to audition for more advanced instruments. The band director asked Leah if she'd like to try out for French horn, and she made it! She's the only French horn player in the band, and we are proud of our musical girl:
We attended the Lovefeast at WFU in person for the first time since 2019. This beautiful holiday tradition is one of our very favorites:
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| Wait Chapel by candlelight. |
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| Lights on campus. |
December = the reveal of our special annual ornaments:
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| Rowing ornament for Luke this year. |
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| Ski ornament for Leah. |
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| Leah's 5th grade teacher made this for me. |
We were serenaded with Christmas carols all month at home:
Every year for Christmas, I ask the kids to play a duet for me. In past years, they've both played piano, but this year, I found a tuba/piano Christmas duet book. This is a screenshot of them performing. These videos are the best gifts and they are so precious to me:
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| Some of us enjoy the kids' music more than others! |
We brought home our Christmas tree and put ornaments on it. This year's tree was "festively plump":
Luke made first chair tuba for All County Band, and attended a two day clinic with other high school students from our county. We went to their concert (not pictured) and were impressed with the level of performance of these kids after just two days of rehearsal together. He also had high school band holiday concert, where the musicians were required to wear tuxedos/formal dresses. They marched in to the auditorium playing Carol of the Bells and it was a magnificent evening:
Leah still willingly posed with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Thank you, sweet girl, for making your mama happy with these pictures!
One of our family presents was tickets to the Hip Hop Nutcracker. This show reimagines Tchaikovsky's classic with explosive hip hop choreography, and it was a fun holiday event:
We also went to see an illusionist/magic show, and this was so neat!
Our annual church Christmas party is legendary, and this is the first time we've gone since before the pandemic. It's such a great evening of food, dancing, and friends:
December was a wonderful month of Christmas festivities and memories!
