Nutcracker 2017

It's been a wonderful Nutcracker season!  We're so proud of our angel.  She's been cheerfully working and practicing so hard - 6 days/week since October.  After many late nights, hair products galore, two weekends, two theaters, and one orchestra, the shows went wonderfully and she shone as bright as her halo on stage. Total mom cry as she and her fellow angels floated around the Sugar Plum Fairy.  If you ask Audrey what she wants to be when she grows up she'll tell you, "the Sugar Plum Fairy."  Follow your dreams, angel.

2017 Visit to Santa

2017 Letters to Santa

May they stay this sweet and reasonable. ;)

Audrey’s 1st Tooth Fairy Visit Tonight!

It’s been mega wiggly for days. She finally let Dad twist it out tonight! She went to bed excitedly tucking it into the jeweled box. Now she’s waiting for morning!

Apple Picking 2017

Finally a fall weather weekend!  We found ourselves at Paulus Orchards yesterday to enjoy it.

They're big enough now that they don't need us to carry the bags!  Chris and I enjoyed a nice walk through the orchard trying to keep up with them.

First up back at home were apple pie and apple sauce.  Happy fall!

Our Gymnast and Our Ballerina

First day of 1st and 3rd

As always, they were very happy to go back!

So Many Minnies

Girls' First Swim Meet

Both girls wanted to join the swim team this summer.  They've been practicing hard and had their first meet as Indian Creek Warriors today, at our home pool. 

It's hard to see but here they're diving in.  They both swam the 25 meter freestyle and were in the same heat.

 Natalie also swam the 100 meter freestyle relay.  Audrey said she wanted to swim her race again after it was over and Natalie asked to add more events for the next meet (next Saturday).  We're very proud of them for practicing hard, trying something new, and having fun!

Guanaja Holley-Days 2017

We were blessed with the chance to reunite the entire Holley clan in Honduras a week ago - for the first time in 3 years!

 

We stopped off in Texas first where we were so happy to see Aunt Mimi and Cousin Amy.  We had a nice lunch and caught up.  So proud of Amy and Emily and the remarkable young women they are.

 The girls were very happy to see Spice and they discovered he likes cucumbers.

 We had a memorial for Sugar.  The girls decorated the stone and said heartfelt prayers.

Then on to the island!

The first-ever picture of these 5!  They were a pod of cousins all week.  So sweet to watch.

 As Natalie said when she was 3, "I can't believe we're doing this!"

 You simply cannot beat the view from the pool.

You can take the gymnast out of the gym but...

 

 These 2 were troopers for a hot hike up the mountain behind the house.

 We swam, snorkeled,

 Hammocked,

 Hiked some more,

 Learned how pineapples grow,

 Enjoyed Fanta around the world,

 And had fun spending time with some sweet Hondurans friends.

The time together was too short but we packed it full and were thankful for the chance for our 11 to finally be together again.  We left with full hearts and beautiful memories of a beautiful place.