It's the Holiday Season!

We kicked off the holidays with a birthday dinner for this handsome guy, which we somehow managed to fit in before the absolute and utter madness of all the rehearsals kicked in

While he was running all manner of rehearsals of his own, Addy, Emerson, and I were rehearsing up for Annie 

Love these poor homeless kids

 

Emerson and the dog catchers

This bunch was all from our church, and had a great time between scenes together

Emerson was pretty boss with this awesome, huge, and ultra-gentle dog when he wasn't tormenting her on stage--that's acting, folks!

 



And Sera couldn't get enough of Sandy either

Addy loved the chance to perform with her friend Madison

Besides our own (nine!) performances, we squeezed in a bunch of others--I took Addy and Sera to a beautiful rendition of The Nutcracker

And Father Christmas stopped in for a visit before the Holiday Pops concert for which Aaron prepared the Children's Choir, and in which Addy performed

 

We weren't spectacular on the treat-making front this year, but these two managed to keep our sugar supply up with some awesome Rudolph cookies

Not entirely sure how we managed it, but we squeezed in some visits to some fun places around town as well, starting with Knott's Berry Farm

 

 

It was all decked out in its holiday glory, and we got to see some awesome shows, including a stunning Snoopy on Ice in addition to amusement park rides

 

Sea World opened a section called "Snow World," and the kids got at least a little snowy fun this season, sledding and throwing snowballs

 

One day I took just Emerson and Sera and we had a lovely visit with St. Nicholas--not sure if he's going to follow through on the pets the kids asked for, though!

 

Honestly, Sea World has been my absolute favorite thing this year

 

We went back all together and got some fun pictures

Matching even!

Not to mention the awesome holiday shows

Seymour and Clyde



Pets Live

And Shamu Christmas

Love seeing these amazing animals up close!

And then we drummed up a few photos for our Christmas card

Looking back, what an adventurous year we've had--so much fun!

We squeezed in this visit to the "Jungle Bells" exhibit at the zoo

It was beautifully decked out, but the coolest was hearing the music piped through the park that Aaron had helped with recording last year!

Christmas Sunday

On Christmas Eve we went to Calvary Lutheran Church, where Aaron plays for church services, for A Night in Bethlehem, where there were several craft booths set up as well as some Bethlehem-style food, all held before a beautiful Christmas Eve service, for which Aaron played and sang.

Then back home with this crew (Aaron had to stay to play a midnight service at the church)

They're a pretty awesome bunch!

Didn't Emerson do a spectacular job decking us out for the season?

 

Merry Christmas!