Christmas 2016

At least the first post of 2017 is the Christmas post, even if it doesn't show up until the end of February.  Christmas was alittle different than we had planned for this year.  Jacob was away for work the first three weeks of December, so it was just me and Brenna leading up to Christmas.  The original plan was that once Jacob returned we would enjoy a quiet Christmas here and then afterward we would fly back home to Mississippi to visit with his family.  Unfortunately, the plant has some significant issues and it impacted our plans.  Our two-week holiday turned into weeks of work with no down-time and a lot of stress, for Jacob of course.  Brenna and I, while disappointed about the sudden change of plans, still enjoyed the break and the time off school.

We did all of our usual Christmas activities here in Sarnia.  Brenna kicked off the season with her Girls Alive Christmas Tea.  She enjoyed getting all dressed up for a fun and fancy tea party with her church friends and favorite stuffy.  We made a shopping trip to Detroit to check out the Christmas decorations and finish up our Christmas lists.  This year we even marched in the Santa Parade and collected canned goods and donations for the Inn of the Good Shepherd, our local soup kitchen.  It was Brenna's first parade to actually be a part of.

As usual, she chose to participate in our churches Children's Christmas Choir.  It's a significant commitment with 10 weeks of before and sometime after church practices, especially during what's already a busy time of year.  She also decided to audition for one of the trio parts in the choir and got it!  I'm always so proud of her enthusiasm to join in and be a part of something like this.

Also, this year she started training on her very first musical instrument, the recorder.  She's been very dedicated to her practices, despite the cats objections, and has slowly made up way through different "belts".  She got to make her musical debut on the recorder when her class performed Jingle Bells as part of the school's Christmas Concert.

We enjoyed the school's Christmas Chapel and pancake breakfast on the last day of school before the holiday break.  One thing Brenna was very excited about this year was becoming a "Big" buddy.  The school matches big buddies with little buddies.  Big buddies help the little buddies throughout the year with things like reading time, class projects, and just general support.  Brenna's little buddy is the cutest red-headed JKer (junior kindergarten, so 4 years old) named Amy.  I can't always understand what Amy says, but she always says it with a smile.  She and Brenna seem to be a good match.  After chapel, the whole school headed over to the Progressive Center for the family skate.  The kids enjoyed with rest of the afternoon on the ice rink playing games and showing off tricks.

On Christmas eve night, after we had baked our traditional Santa cookies, we headed over to Centennial Park to walk through the snow and enjoy the Celebration of Lights by the river.  It was a great way to mark our very first white Christmas.

Jacob continued to work through the rest of the holiday break while Brenna and I hung out at home and enjoyed some of her crafty Christmas gifts.  It was a quiet ending to another year that has come gone way too quickly.