Christmastown

My family + Ted took advantage of the discount Christmastown tickets offered this year and went a few weekends before Christmas. Although Busch Gardens is right down the road from my parents', we do not necessarily go every year. It's a fun way to enjoy the spirit of the season and take in the beauty of so many Christmas lights. Even better is that Busch Gardens portrays Christmas as a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus rather than just a fun holiday. 

The weather was chilly, which seemed fitting for the time of year, but fortunately it was not unbearable. In past years it has been so cold that all I could focus on was getting back in the warm car.

The "dancing" tree set to music...

My one and ONLY ride on Mach Tower. During the normal season, this ride takes you up and drops you quickly 246 feet. However, it takes you up and down slowly during Christmastown so that you can enjoy the view of the lights from high above. Even though the drop was not a thriller, I was still way more nervous than I cared to be. The lights were indeed beautiful but I spent more time concentrating on my breathing until my feet were back on solid ground!

Thanksgiving

I do not have that many photos from Thanksgiving because I was too busy visiting with all of my family and enjoying the bountiful meals, but here's a few worth documenting. As usual we celebrated with my Mom's side of the family on Thanksgiving Eve and then with my Dad's side on Thanksgiving Day.

It often seems like an overstatement to say that there are always new babies on the Castonguay side of my family, but the truth is, there really is at least one new baby born in the family every year! The new baby this year is Bria, who is the daughter of my second cousin and granddaughter to my cousin. It's crazy that my cousin who is only a few years older than me is already a grandmother!

Grandma and her newest Great Great Granddaughter

All 5 generations

Mom with her mother and 5 brothers

Enjoying time with my cousins!

My sweet Grandma who is still getting along well for a 92 year old!

Unfortunately, no people pictures from Mawmaw's house the following day. All I captured was the food. We love the food but the family time is what I treasure the most. Even though most all of our family lives so close, it still seems that we do not get together very often. 

Mawmaw makes so much food that I can only take the tiniest portions so as not to get uncomfortably full before we even get to the desserts. I also have given up eating some of the dishes that aren't on the top of my list. Why waste space in my stomach that could be filled with my favorites?! So...the plate below is probably missing at least another 5 foods that I didn't even try. 

All of the ridiculously yummy desserts! It's a good thing that it's not optimal (for my stomach) to eat these because if I didn't have that restriction, it would be easy to overdo it!

Cold Beach Getaway

I was thankful to manage a long weekend getaway to Nags Head the weekend before Thanksgiving. It came at the perfect time. Resting was much needed and it was such a treat to get a break from my normal routines and constantly running around. I believe I slept for at least 50% (or more) of the time I was there! After at least 9 hours of sleep each night, I would wake up and eat breakfast and then immediately take a nap for another 2 hours. The remaining time was spent cooking/eating, watching movies, and playing around with my camera and photos.

While it's a little hard to be at the beach when it's cold, I also appreciated the fact that I was forced to stay inside (because of my aversion to the cold). Fortunately, the house was right on the beach so I could enjoy the water view while staying warm on the couch.

It did warm up one day so that warranted getting out for a little walk on the beach. Of course, my camera is always tagged along.

Plenty of foot and vehicle traffic on the beach. Surprising for this time of the year!

The combination of sleep, sun, sand, and sea just make me happy!

Winter Birthdays

With multiple important birthdays falling in the November-December time frame, it always feels like the holidays and celebrating get rolling as soon as the calendar flips to November. No matter how much I try to be on the ball and plan ahead, these two months just fly by with all the celebrations and fun.

Hayley kicked off the season by hitting the BIG 3-0. We had planned to have a party for her but she requested something much more simple...dinner at a hibachi grill with just our family. It was quite an entertaining dinner and show and ended up being a fun way to ring in the next decade!

Then we headed back to Hayley & Jerry's house for cupcakes and presents. 

Then Ted's turn was next about a week and a half later. His birthday wasn't so big so I'll just say that it was a 40-something celebration. He ended up coming up to Richmond on his actual birthday and we went to Maggiano's for dinner. I didn't like him having to make the trip up to me but he was gracious to do so because I was heading to Williamsburg the following day to celebrate with both of our families. The Maggiano's dinner was delicious and I think we each went home with more food than what we actually ate in the restaurant. Ted was also super excited about his special request being honored for a "birthday-sized" serving of ice cream with his apple dessert. Yes, he ate the whole thing all by himself!

For the dinner and party the following night with our families, I made a carrot cake at his request. Nothing fancy but it seems to always be a crowd pleaser.

We finished off the evening by playing Quadominoes, which I have heard about for quite some time but had never played (or seen). There were quite a few competitors in this crowd so it made for an interesting game. This is definitely a fun group game to play.

And Dad wrapped up the winter birthdays at the beginning of December when he hit the BIG 6-0! Mom and Dad ended up going to Nashville for about a week to celebrate this milestone so we had a small party the weekend before. We forego cake for Dad because of his love of apple pie.

AnnaLeah & Jeff's Wedding

AnnaLeah and Jeff's wedding fell on a beautiful, crisp, fall day in mid-November. The ceremony and reception were both held at a lovely venue in New Kent with character and charm. The actual ceremony was held outside and the cocktail hour and dinner were held in barns on the property. 

I was excited to grab a prime end-of-the-row seat for taking photos.

Brother and Mother of the Bride

Sister of the Bride.

I loved the wedding colors AND the cowboy boots!

Glowing AnnaLeah and her Dad

The ceremony was short but oh so very sweet. Their faith in God and love for each other was evident to all who gathered to share in this special day. They honored each other with vows that each had written for the other. Each of theirs brought tears to our eyes and made us laugh out loud.

Congratulations to the new Mr. & Mrs. Wiggins!

Now on to the after party and celebration. As you can see, they even had a fire pit out behind the barn!

While the bridal party was taking photos, we enjoyed taking some of our own with AnnaLeah's homemade props and around the property...

An unplanned matching family photo!

AnnaLeah is an art teacher and her creative touches were evident throughout the entire day.

The big barn doors opened for the bridal party's entrance. 

Here are the proud parents of the bride...

The wedding was extra fun sharing it with neighbors (both current and past). We had a blast celebrating with friends who we've known for 20+ years.

What would a bonfire outside be without s'mores? What a clever favor!

Group shot

Mom and DeeDee

All of the neighborhood "kids"...photobombed by DeeDee

Some line dancing with a nice peek at the inside of the barn.

Dancing crazies on the dance floor!

Plenty of competitive girls in the front for the bouquet toss. Notice who is not in the front!

Dad and some of his buds

Time to send off the newlyweds and wish them well for a wonderful life together...

An especially beautiful and fun wedding!