Central Presbyterian Christmas Pageant

The girls had their annual Christmas Pageant at church last weekend.  If you remember, Ashlyn chose to be an Elephant last year and our music director is so nice to accommodate all animals whether you traditionally think of seeing them at the manger scene or not!  Well, this year, Hannah decided she wanted to be a giraffe!  Luckily we were able to borrow a costume, and she was the cutest little Christmas giraffe I have ever seen!  Ashlyn was an angel this year and was quite angelic if I do say so myself.  Enjoy the pictures and click on the link to watch the video that Stephen took!

Ashlyn standing with Sally Seawright walking behind her as the Holy Spirit

Singing sweetly

The sweet Angel Choir

The angels have arrived!

And the Christmas Giraffe has arrived :)

 Our little Giraffe and precious Angel

And here is the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioLL5xcVVfI&feature=email

Anderson Christmas Parade

Two weekends ago Ashlyn and Hannah got to participate in their first Christmas parade with their dance studio.  We've missed all of the previous Christmas parades in Anderson for one reason or another and I've got to say that it was much better than I was expecting.  Maybe not the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, but we had a good time!  Since Ashlyn is five she had to walk the whole parade and she was so proud of herself for doing it.  Hannah and I got to bring up the rear riding on a trailer. :)

All dressed up and ready for the parade!

Stephen's first shot of Ashlyn....she looks very serious!

Here comes Heenie Pops!

Ashlyn finally spots her Daddy.

For those of you who have seen the movie "Radio", it is a true story that happened in Anderson, SC.  This is a picture of Radio marching in our Christmas Parade, bringing in the TL Hannah band. :)

Ashlyn was the first to spot Santa....you can see the look of concern, yet excitement in her face.

And now they all get into waving to dear old Santa Clause!

Making Pasta with Papa

When we were up in Sanford for Thanksgiving, the girls got a lesson in making homemade pasta from their Papa.  They were amazed at the process....it's the simple things in life. :)  Thanks, Camp, for doing this with them!

Starting the process....

Look at Ashlyn's eyes staring in amazement.

Ashlyn was cranking the handle....her jaw was clenched in concentration.

Slitting it into spaghetti noodles!

 The final product!

Christmas Pictures

So this year I decided I wanted to have pictures taken of the family.  My neighbor told me about a local photographer (well, husband/wife duo!) called Raycroft Art.  I told Stephen that's all that I wanted for Christmas, so we scheduled a mini session with them in early November when the fall colors are so pretty.  I think the pictures turned out amazing and am very happy with my Christmas present!  If any of my local friends are reading this, I highly recommend Raycroft Art!

Love this one! :)

 

They really are best friends

She was all about this photo shoot!

 Hannah and her crooked smile.....love it!

 Our little family

Halloween!

We had a beautiful night for trick-or-treating and the girls had a great time walking around our neighborhood (which goes NUTS over Halloween!).  I took the girls around with the neighbors while Stephen stayed home and passed out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters (over 150 by our count and that is nothing compared to the number of kids they get at the top of the neighborhood!).  We are still on a sugar high from the festivities. :)

Our sweet 50's girls in their poodle skirts (made by Grandma Joyce!)

We dressed up for Halloween at work, so I went ahead and stayed in costume....the girls loved it!

The trick-or-treating gang

Ashlyn and Hannah with our neighbor, Natalie - she has been their trick-or-treating side kick for three years now!

First stop....the Price house!

The Paparazzi even showed up (aka our neighbor, Brian)

Hitting every house they could!

As I said, many of our neighbors really like to do it up for Halloween...

 This guy was pretty freaky

Bayla Kate trying out some candy

By this time the girls were getting tired....they didn't want to stop until those bags were full, though!

Washington, DC

A few weekends ago we headed up to Washington, DC to go to the wedding of Stephen's cousin, Benjamin.  We left on Thursday morning and drove up to Raleigh where we met Erin and Ronald and hitched a ride the rest of the way.  Friday was spent touring DC while my parents stayed in Anderson with Ashlyn and Hannah.  Ashlyn managed to get a terrible respiratory infection, so Mom had to work overtime and take her to the doctor where she once again got put on her nebulizer.  Luckily the medicine did the trick and Stephen and I could enjoy the rest of our trip, and a fabulous wedding!