With the school season in high gear and all of the busyness associated with the holidays, we are lumping the past two months into one post (Fair warning-It's a long one!). There is quite a lot of variation starting in November with a visit from Mike's dad, then Lisa's parents, school activities and culminating with Thanksgiving celebrated with Mike's mom, sister and brother-in-law (and their two dogs). We moved into December with winter and holiday decorations, baking, performances, visits from Lisa's parents, aunt Sybil and grandfather (sorry, no pics of that) and shopping. By the way- We are saving trees and not sending out paper cards this year. Not because we are THAT green, but because we just haven't found the time. Happy Holidays, everyone!
Mike's dad came to visit in early November. Then the two of them flew off to California for Tom's 50th high school reunion -a weekend full of memories...
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| Egan showing off for Grandpa |
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| Mike at one of his old haunts in Carmel, CA |
Lisa's Parents came the following weekend so that Mike and Lisa could have a weekend get-away in Asheville, NC. They were so kind as to travel over Sam's birthday and we got to celebrate with him.
What's in Asheville????
The Biltmore Mansion...
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| Lisa is trying to get Mike to pick up more shifts so we can buy this place. |
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| We are drooling over that fire escape staircase |
...And Ashville- It must be one of the coolest cities in the south! Not only does the town host amazing history and fabulous beauty (it's nestled in the mountains), there are tons of cool shops and some amazing food (including multiple choices for those of the vegetarian and vegan persuasion). We only captured a couple of unique food options on camera.
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| One of the many places to get dessert in town |
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| One can order these fresh cut and fried chips with a variety of toppings - anything from cheese to chocolate. Check out their menu below. |
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| Potato chips have taken on all things gourmet |
Back in Knoxville, Ella was gearing up for her school's annual fundraiser Fashion Show. She had to dress in a beach theme, as a celebrity, and in formal wear. She had 5 shows throughout the day which left her completely exhausted.
Dress Rehearsal
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On the runway...starting out the fashion show in T-Shirts |
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| Behind the scenes...Beach Wear |
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Ella(in the red hair) as one of Charlie's Angels
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For Formal Wear she wore one of Lisa's old prom dresses
Thanksgiving was up next... |
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| We set the table a week in advance because of how crazy our Thanksgiving week was. |
On Black Friday we gathered with Mike's family and friends once again at the Biltmore Mansion in Asheville.
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| Ella with Jillian Miller |
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| Mike with his mom, Jane, Shea, Ella, and Egan after touring the house |
Saturday after Thanksgiving we chose our tree (we weren't very romantic about it).
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| That's the one! |
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| The tree dressed with ornaments and tinsel. |
Holiday baking has taken up the last couple of weekends. We made maple candy, peppermint bark, cookies of several varieties, toffee, marshmallows and truffles. It truly was a joint effort as Ella and Victoria made much of it. Shea even helped out by making the maple candy.
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| Ella's lemon poppyseed cookies. |
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While Ella and Victoria helped out in the kitchen, Shea helped Mike chop wood for the fire.
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Christmas concerts took up the later part of the month-Shea, Ella and Victoria all had choir concerts and Ella had a dance recital.
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| Shea before his concert. |
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| Shea is in there somewhere. We think second row from the bottom next to the head of dark hair. |
We had to dash from Shea's concert to Ella's.
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| Find her? Look second row from bottom, left hand side. |
Later that week Ella had her dance recital and Victoria her choir concert.
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| Ella at her dance recital |
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| Victoria before her concert |
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Victoria with her friend Quincy after the concert
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This past week was a filled with holiday festivities at the schools.
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| Shea at his holiday party |
See you next year!
