Practically Perfect in Every Way

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope you had as wonderful of a holiday as we did! Christmas was perfectly laid back, but still very special. Chris' Mom, Dad, and sister, Megan, came to town to celebrate with us. It was so nice to cozy up to a fire, play lots of games, and talk about the exciting things to come in 2019. We also entertained our Great Aunt Ellen, who just turned 98, for a fun birthday party. Uncle Pete and Aunt Kathy Brockdorff came over with cousin Sam to celebrate too. (We are fellow Pokemon players with the Brockdorffs so the kids were thrilled to compare Pokemon and to trade Pokemon!) We also celebrated our first Christmas at our new church, and the choir definitely didn't disappoint. It was wonderful to be there, celebrating Jesus' birth with family.

Will, Aunt Kathy, and Claire are all smiles!

Now Claire takes a turn looking at Sam's Pokemon. 

Uncle Pete and Aunt Kathy made some excellent trades with me and the kids!

Claire and I took our turn snuggling up next to Aunt Ellen and wishing her a happy birthday. Aunt Ellen is beautiful, smart, funny, and she can still get around with only the help of a cane. 

While Mom was here, she taught us how to make Grandma Grace's molasses cookies - one of Chris' favorites. 

Snuggles with Mimi after a fun day of visiting!

A happy van load - on our way to Christmas Eve Mass! 

Ready for Christmas morning!

We had bubble bread for breakfast and the kids actually sat and ate food before tearing into the gifts. 

Christmas cuddles!

Roasting vegetables for dinner! Mom, Dad and Megan were so helpful in the kitchen - from cooking to cleaning - they were the PERFECT house guests!

Enjoying some delicious Biltmore Estate wine before dinner!

Chris carves the sirloin roast - YUM!

Christmas Dinner

 Mom and Dad followed Megan home the next day to do some wedding planning for Megan and Joe's Fall wedding. 

I decided to try to make some special memories for the remainder of the kid's winter break, so we joined friends at the rollerskating rink, went to the movies, and took a final trip to Six Flags. We had so much fun! You can probably guess what Claire and I went to see by the title of my post. Mary Poppins Returns was nicely done. Chris took Will to see Ralph Breaks the Internet, which I heard was also good. 

Claire, Madison, Liam, and Mason take a little break from the rink.

Mason and Will in action!

On the Carousel

Someone is having fun!

 Chris and I rode the rides with the kids and on one of them (the scrambler) the ride tickled my sides so much I laughed the whole time! I'm sure the people watching thought I was crazy! Claire got up the guts to ride a roller coaster before we left! It's been a long time since I rode one of those and we both loved it!

Getting buckled in! We are both excited!

Many, many, many screams later! 

On our way out of the park, I said, "Let's get a family picture here, with all the decorations behind us!" (LOL) I couldn't even get all of Chris' head in! 

That's right - one of my resolutions this year is to take more family pictures. Even if they don't turn out well. 

Speaking of New Year's, this year our friends Chris and Lily Scheve hosted a fun, family New Year's party complete with an early countdown at 6:30pm! It was perfect. We had lots of fun, but the kids were in bed by 8:30pm and Chris and I were only an hour behind them! I could say we are getting old, but that would go against my ultimate New Year's Resolution...

Chris, Todd, and Scheve

Kristen, Me and Lily

Happy, noisy, kids!

Me and my sweetheart!

My big New Year's Resolution is to take a page from Mary Poppins and enjoy being "Practically Perfect" in every way. It's so easy to look in the mirror, or at other people, or other places and think that what you are or what you have isn't perfect. But in reality, what we have is practically perfect. I want to stop focusing on the imperfections and start focusing on the perfections. Not try to figure out  what's wrong, but what's right! Find the good things and stare at them...turn them over and over in my mind as I go to sleep. Find beauty in all the little moments. 

Friends and Family - you are all amazing in my eyes and I am so grateful for all of you!  

I will close with some pictures of small moments that are just perfect - the view is incredible from here...practically perfect in every way.

Chris and Claire caught reading on New Year's Day

In an attempt to get a picture of my freshly washed kids...Will makes Claire laugh with his silliness.

Claire tries to calm herself down from laughing...

It doesn't work since Will is determined to clown around.

 

Happy New Year!

Love,

Bethie