a snow day and a beach day

We kicked off December and advent with fun advent calendars.

A friend told Bryce that he was in the newspaper following the state championship volleyball game.  I was excited to get my hands on it and proud of him for being recognized. 

Not a bad way to be described as an athlete.  

Bryce and his buddies made jerseys to cheer on their friend at basketball games this season.

Bryce and Avery at the National Honor Society induction ceremony this week. 

Bryce was inducted into the Beta Club and the National Honor Society. 

We had a snow day on Friday.  

Then we hopped on a plane on Friday night and headed to Florida for the weekend.  

We went to Cocoa Beach for the day on Saturday and the weather could not have been more perfect.  

Two of Emmy's teammates joined us at the beach.  Others from the team went to Disney World or did other things, but we're beach people!

Putt-Putt is a must at the beach.

We had the best time!

Bryce even had a good time!

It didn't feel like Christmas in Florida, but there were small glimpses of it.  

She's a nut!

Sunday was meet day. 

Emmy got 1st on bars and 3rd on beam. 

She placed 3rd all around.  

We missed the Mechanicsville Christmas Parade for the first time in fifteen years of living in this house.  It was bittersweet to have our friends here and not be here, but we made sure to catch Santa on the firetruck (on our doorbell camera) at the end of the parade.  To top off our weekend, another round of snow came in, and we get another snow day!

thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the Carolina Country Club again this year. 

We were only missing one person this year!

We went to the movies on Thanksgiving for the first time ever.  We saw Zootopia 2.

We had our annual day after Thanksgiving dinner at Nana's on Friday and decorated her tree.

 

Friendsgiving and volleyball

I finished decorating the house this week and I'm enjoying the light of the Christmas tree in most rooms!

Emmy made a poster to cheer on Bryce at the state championship send off on Saturday night.  

Once we saw Bryce off, we headed to Friendsgiving for a quick visit.  We had just enough time to eat dinner and snap a few pictures before heading to Bryce's game. 

Emmy skipped volleyball so she could hang out with the girls, and she didn't want to miss Santa.  

The girls asked for private planes and yachts to get to the life size Barbie dream house on a private island that they also asked for.  Silly girls.  

Our friends who host Friendsgiving also host the day after with a smaller crowd to finish leftovers and hang out.  Bryce was able to come and get his stocking!

I didn't get many pictures or videos because the game was too intense.  We didn't win the championship, but Bryce played his heart out.  He worked harder than anyone out there and he encouraged his teammates the whole time.  It was a bittersweet ending to a great season.  

We are so proud of his sportsmanship and his dedication to the team.  We have so enjoyed watching him and his team play this season.  

Avery and her family came out to support him too!

 

a BIG gym win

Tuesday night was the volleyball regional final.  We fell short to Hanover in three very close sets.  Looking back, we lost to them last year in the regional final but came back to beat them in the championship.  Hopefully this year will be a repeat. 

Emmy and I had the best time on Friday night.  She wanted to twin with me, and she bought my hot chocolate.  So sweet!

Jason took Bryce and his buddies striper fishing on Friday night. 

Bryce caught two.  From what I heard, this was not the biggest one he caught. 

The state quarterfinal was on Saturday.  We won, but we looked a little rough.  We'll have to get our act together for the semifinals on Tuesday. 

Saturday night was the annual Turkey Tumble meet that our gym hosts. 

Emmy placed 1st all around for the first time in her career!  She also placed 1st on bars and 2nd on beam.  It was a great night!

Her team placed 1st for level seven. 

Emmy wouldn't be where she is today without coach Katie.  Katie was her coach when she was younger and has been her coach for a few years now.  Emmy had to fill out a profile sheet for her California meet and she said Katie is her role model.

Friends and teammates back together now that Emmy came back down to level 7.

 

puppy love and volleyball

Emmy and Callie are two peas in a pod.  Emmy loves her puppy. 

Emmy didn't have school on Tuesday, so we went sweater shopping for Callie.  Isn't she so cute. 

Another day, another sweater. 

She's just too cute. 

Atlee played in their first regional game on Wednesday.  We were excited that Bryce got to start libero and they won in three sets to advance to the region quarterfinals.  

We were only missing Emmy and Paul on Thursday night for the big win over Patrick Henry.    Bryce started libero again!  Patrick Henry had won the state title for 8 years in a row until we dethroned them last year.  We beat them in 3 sets in this regional quarterfinal but may see them again in the state playoff.  

Bryce went to a Commanders game with Avery's family on Sunday.  They didn't win, but it was a fun time. 

Air Force One flew over and President Trump was in attendance at the game.  Bryce said they had to go through lots of extra security for this game.