New Years

 For New Years we had a few neighborhood families for the 3 'F's: food, football and fireworks.  Thankfully we were treated to some excellent options for all of them!

Excited after the UGA win!

December

 December was a whirlwind of activity, thankfully it was lots of fun!

Mom's celebrating JZ's diaversary

Avery (8 years, 4 months) - Avery started off December with a big event... her Girls on the Run 5k!  She picked dad as her running buddy (better to push her than mom) and the rest of the family came to cheer her on.  The event was held at the Braves stadium and was a big loop so we were able to catch her in action several times.  Carter was even so excited he jumped in to help finish the last 1/2 mile with her.  She finished in just under 35 minutes which was way better than we expected given it is a hilly course and she called her practices "Girls on the Walk".   

Avery also had lots of holiday fun at school including Buddy Breakfast with Mimi, a celebration for her placement in the Reflections Art Contest and her class's holiday party.

Otherwise, December was busy (and tiring) with holiday fun!

Sometimes an afternoon nap is required

Parker (11 years, 1 month) - Parker has several fun events before the holiday chaos began.  At school Parker started playing the Trombone this year (perfect timing since Carter just stopped band and we had his trombone).  His first concert was in early December and we loved watching him and his buddies perform.   

Another fun tradition over the past several years has been a local Dodgeball tournament.  Parker joined a team with a bunch of his baseball teammates and they did so well!  They went 9-1 with their only loss coming in the Championship game.  

Otherwise Parker spent time doing his normal favorite things... playing baseball and hanging with friends!

Carter (12 years, 7 months) - We are sure Carter would say the highlight of his month may have been attending dad's Company Christmas Party at the Georgia Aquarium. With mom double booked, Carter made the age cut to attend and did a nice job of dressing up for the occasion.

Carter kept busy with Wrestling in December with several matches before the break.  He was also able to represent his weight class for the MS team in a dual's competition.  He went 4-0 with 3 pins and a forfeit and had a blast.  Being in the lowest weight class means he always goes first so he was excited to set the tone for the team who ended up coming home tournament champions.

Otherwise Carter also participated in the local dodgeball tournament with various baseball friends and made it to the semi-finals before bowing out to cheer on other buddies for the Championship.

After all that, Carter would probably say his favorite activity of the month was going to the Harry Potter Exhibit with dad.  Santa brought them tickets and they enjoyed exploring all their favorite parts of the books/movies.

Siblings - There was lots of holiday fun this month including a visit to Six Flags for the holidays.  With a nice break in the weather and dad with a day off of work to burn, the bookends enjoyed a few hours riding every roller coaster with no lines until they were sufficiently dizzy.  Avery made sure to wear her cowboy boots for the extra 1/2 height boost so she could make it on every ride - the more loops the better!