{"id":9664,"date":"2016-01-10T20:05:35","date_gmt":"2016-01-11T01:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9664"},"modified":"2016-01-10T20:16:01","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T01:16:01","slug":"emma-and-eli-december-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9664","title":{"rendered":"Emma and Eli: December 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We were so grateful for the warmest December that we can remember in a while! \u00a0That definitely added a lot of fun as we were able to spend a lot of time outside. \u00a0Even all the normal Christmas running around was so much easier and stress free without several layers and coats for everyone. \u00a0Now that January cold weather is starting to set in\u2026I\u2019m even more thankful for the warm December than I was in December!<\/div>\n
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December is always an exciting time as we get ready for Christmas and enjoy a different pace of life. \u00a0This December was packed with family, friends, and lots of fun\u2026.and food! \u00a0We kicked off December with a joint birthday party for Emma (7) and Eli (3). \u00a0It was Emma\u2019s idea. \u00a0Since their birthdays are only 3 weeks apart, we decided to go for it. \u00a0We were so happy that my family could come from Memphis and we had so much fun with them for the weekend! \u00a0There were kids all over this house\u2026and we are so excited about all of these cousins growing up together. \u00a0Lots of fun memories to be made! \u00a0The part was at BounceU and we were so grateful to be able to share that fun with special friends. \u00a0Truth be told\u2026I think that the adults enjoyed the inflatables as much or more than the kids did!<\/div>\n
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Clint had to travel for work the first week of December. \u00a0We always miss him when he is gone, but Emma and Eli and I had a lot of fun hanging out! \u00a0We celebrated Eli\u2019s third birthday on December 8 with a breakfast celebration at Waffle House to kick off the day and three cookies after dinner to wrap things up. \u00a0Once Daddy came back in town, we celebrated over lunch at Huey Luey\u2019s complete with giant sombrero, singing, and free dessert. \u00a0Eli wasn\u2019t too sure about most of it\u2026but he was pumped about the dessert!<\/div>\n
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December was full of lots of movies and lots of snuggles on the couch. \u00a0We also discovered HGTV\u2019s hit show Fixer Upper<\/i> and we are completely hooked! \u00a0Emma is always talking about removing walls and adding French doors\u2026she might have found her calling! \u00a0Emma had her school Christmas program and party as well as her Christmas piano recital. \u00a0She is at such a cool age and we love hearing her talk about what she liked about her own performance and what she wants to get better at. \u00a0I love that her motivation is centered around growing, but also recognizing how she is growing. \u00a0Lots of cool conversations these days! \u00a0Emma especially loves math and writing these days\u2026.we will continue to nurture those interests! \u00a0Eli is really in to singing and sports. \u00a0He is also starting to get into some of the cute YouTube nursery rhyme videos.<\/div>\n
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Since I work at a school, our family life normally rotates on a school schedule and we always look forward to Christmas break! \u00a0Our family enjoyed Christmas in Summerville the first weekend of the break. \u00a0We got to see Granna, Poppy, and tons of cousins. \u00a0We opened gifts with them and ate lots of good food. \u00a0Our family decided to spend some time just the four of us over the break, so we headed to Nashville for Monday-Wednesday before Christmas. \u00a0We visited the Opryland Hotel, Opry Mills Mall, The Pancake Pantry, The Parthenon, The Old Spaghetti Factory, and a few other fun spots. \u00a0We had so much fun that we are already thinking of going there again next year!<\/div>\n
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We got to Memphis on December 23 just in time for some bad storms to come through, so we spent the first evening hanging out with the Graffams just relaxing and catching up\u2026it was perfect! \u00a0Our family got up early on Christmas Eve for a fun day out on the town. \u00a0We ate breakfast at Gibson\u2019s Donuts\u2026a family favorite when I was a kid. \u00a0We walked around on the roof of The Peabody and took silly pictures before watching the Peabody Ducks march in to the fountain. \u00a0We ran into some dear friends at the Peabody as an added bonus! \u00a0The weather was so beautiful that we walked to Gus\u2019s Fried Chicken for a great lunch before driving over to The Tiger Bookstore so I could update my collection of Tiger shirts. \u00a0We joined the Graffams for church late that afternoon and then went home for a great dinner. \u00a0Church was a total hoot as it was a service for kids complete with an interactive telling of the Christmas story. \u00a0When the \u201cangels\u201d Eli and Nora got tired of sitting quietly, the story took on some new twists and turns. \u00a0What a fun memory! \u00a0Katie and I went to the movies after dinner and the guys put the kids to bed\u2026this might be a new tradition!<\/div>\n
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We woke up Christmas morning and enjoyed seeing the kids enjoy all of their gifts. \u00a0My brother Skyped us from Germany and it was so fun to catch up with him! \u00a0Since the weather was so nice, Emma and Eli wanted to head right out to try their new gifts\u2026Emma\u2019s bike and Eli\u2019s scooter. \u00a0My sister\u2019s kids got some new riding toys also, so that made for a fun afternoon. \u00a0Mom and Dan came over later in the afternoon and we had dinner and more gifts with them to wrap up the evening.<\/div>\n
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We did a little running around the next day capped off by a nice walk with the Graffams to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner. \u00a0The next morning we headed towards home. \u00a0We always stop in Corinth, MS on the way home to see the Harbors. \u00a0Dyer Harbor was my high school youth pastor and God has been gracious to allow our families to stay close all these years. \u00a0It is always a highlight to go to church with them the Sunday after Christmas and then enjoy lunch and catching up at their house before we drive the rest of the way home.<\/div>\n
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Once we got home, we took some time to \u201cunChristmas\u201d our house and do some cleaning and cleaning out. \u00a0Fortunately Clint and I are on the same page with getting rid of stuff often\u2026just so that we don\u2019t get taken over by our stuff! \u00a0We like to keep it simple. \u00a0We spent the rest of that week doing fun things with the kids, eating out with friends, and enjoying time at home! \u00a0On New Year\u2019s Eve, our family had an early dinner at Henry\u2019s in Acworth followed by an evening with several precious friends in our home to ring in the New Year. \u00a02015 was a great year and we are excited to see what God has in store for 2016!<\/div>\n
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  We were so grateful for the warmest December that we can remember in a while! \u00a0That definitely added a lot of fun as we were able to spend a lot of time outside. \u00a0Even all the normal Christmas running around was so much easier and stress free without several layers and coats for everyone. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,12,16,32,18,33,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eli","category-emma","category-family","category-marriage","category-north-cobb-christian","category-restaurants","category-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}