Kersey Valley Christmas

The Christmas fun has continued as we countdown to December 25th. It has been a particularly cold month thus far, with many days hovering in the 30s and with very little sunshine. We've even had a few early dismissals and delays at school because of the chance of dangerous road conditions. Earlier in the week, WSFCS dismissed two hours early, and luckily Aunt Megan was able to watch the kiddos in her office and then at home until Boomer and I were able to get back to Kernersville. Judging from the pictures, between pizza and hot chocolate, they had quite a lot of fun. On Tuesday, it was back to school, but on a delay. The kids were twinning that day in their "I'm down with Santa" shirts, which were hand-me-downs from their cousins (thank you, Zander and Maddox!) After I dropped the kids off at school, I had an unexpected extra hour of time, so I treated myself to some coffee and a donut at Dough Joe's. It was a nice moment of peace in this somewhat chaotic season.  

On Wednesday night, the kids had their performance of "Jingle Bell Beach" at church. After months of preparing, it was finally time for them to take the stage. The storyline followed three "dueling" teams in a music competition at the beach. The children wore different colored shirts to represent their team: Eli as a Snowflake, Emmy as a Starfish, and Maddox as an Electron. All the kids did such a great job. It's always so precious to see young children singing about the real meaning of Christmas. 

On Friday evening, our Sunday School class had our annual Christmas get-together, and this year we went to Kernersville's newest restaurant Gaslight on Main. It was a dinner full of laughs and fun. Then Boomer surprised me afterwards by driving by a house with synchronized Christmas lights. He knows I love anything to do with Christmas :)

And now to Saturday! I didn't think it was possible to top the Christmas fun we had last Saturday with our Yuletide Yadkin County. But with cookies at Grammy's, followed by a family trip to Kersey Valley, it was Christmas magic from start to finish. Well, if we are really starting at the beginning of the day, Emmy went to a softball clinic first thing in the morning. After the clinic was over, we all gathered at Grammy and Grandpa's around 11AM, and we spent about four hours in the kitchen making our favorite sugar cookies. All of the kiddos rotated in-and-out, helping with the cookie-cutting, icing, and decorating. There was a fair amount of flour and sprinkles all about the kitchen, but the finished product was equally beautiful and delicious. Once again, Grammy proves that she is the Queen of Patience! God gave her a double dose more than all the rest of us. 

After cookies were complete, we headed off to Kersey Valley for our Bakewell-Houston-Kennedy 2025 Christmas activity. As in the past, this outing takes the place of presents between the Houstons and Kennedys, and we have found that we cherish the memories more than any sort of gift. In the past, our activities have included: Disney on Ice (2021), Polar Express at the NC Transportation Museum (2022), Winter Wonderlights at the Greensboro Science Center (2023), and Speedway Christmas at the Charlotte Motor Speedway (2024). Each year, it seems as if the activity has perfectly matched the ages of the four cousins, and this year was no exception. They had a blast on the large jumping pillows, the three-story slide, and the pedal karts. We tried to fit in all these activities before the sun went down. Once the sun set, we rode the train through the light display, visited the concession stand for dinner, and then finished out the evening with the walking trail of Christmas lights, the cow train, and the wagon ride. We were leaving the farm around 8PM and with lots of wonderful memories from another Christmas shared together.  

Yuletide in Yadkinville

The first Saturday in December is proving to be one of our favorite traditions of the holiday season. Last year I named the post "Yuletide in Yadkin County," since Boomer and I joked it would be a good title for a picture-perfect Hallmark movie, and it turns out that the town of Yadkinville actually uses that name - "Yuletide in Yadkinville!" Like last year, we began the morning around 8:30AM at the United Methodist Church for the Rotary Pancake Breakfast. The kids met Santa, along with the Grinch, Cindy Lou Who, and Max. When Santa asked what the kids wanted for Christmas, Emmy was still undecided, but the top item right now is a microphone for karaoke. Eli asked for a drone, to which Santa asked if a remote-controlled helicopter would suffice, and Eli was very enthusiastic about that idea. After the breakfast, we walked to our spot along the parade route, which just so happens to be outside of Milk & Honey, where Mommy got a latte to sip on during the parade. The kids got a haul of candy from all of the floats, tractors, and fire trucks. It was enough to fill an entire grocery bag! The parade ended around 11AM, and then we went to the Shiloh General Store for lunch and some baked goods. We left Yadkin County around 1PM to return to Winston, where the fun continued with another Santa visit. We have been going to this Santa for many years, and he has experienced all the range of emotions from the Kennedy kids and their cousins. This year was the most successful year yet; there were great smiles from all four of them. Emmy and Eli gave the same answers as they did earlier in the day, so perhaps it is safe to go shopping now that the gifts are locked in. We stopped in at home briefly, and the kids surveyed their candy. Then we were off again for our final event of the day: the Huffs' annual Christmas party. There was a third Santa there, and a photographer that took pictures of all the families at the party. What a day to kickoff the Christmas season! 

The days before and after our Hallmark Saturday were packed full of fun, too. On Thursday afternoon, the kids and I went over to the Bremers' house to make cookies. The kids made silly, colorful creations...and snuck a lot of toppings too. Then on Friday, we had a "un-snow" day. The meteorologists were pretty convincing in their prediction for snow, and so many of the districts cancelled school. Emmy made a list with her high hopes for the day. Unfortunately, when we woke up Friday morning, there was no white stuff in sight. Boomer still had a conference to attend (and present at!) in Greensboro, so the kids and I set off to spend a couple of hours at the Science Center. We enjoyed the indoor exhibits, where we were dry and warm. To finish off the weekend, after church today, we met Emmy's friend Natalie at the movies to see Zootopia 2. Eli tagged along and loved the reclining seats and popcorn. While we were at the movies, Boomer surprised the kids by putting lights on the front porch. They have been begging for lights, since practically all the other homes in our cul-de-sac have them, and so now it feels like we are really ready for the Christmas season. As I am writing this, they are calling for another snow system to hit our area in the morning - I suppose we will see if they are right this time!