Rachel participated in the children's choir at our church. She sang up on stage, with the worship team, three Sundays. There's nothing sweeter than seeing kids doing their best and belting out Christmas worship songs. They were adorable! And my sister in law did a great job at directing them.
Every year, our school puts on a big production. Last year, it was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Rachel really wanted to try out, but the auditions were to begin two weeks after her bone graft surgery. Our Speech Therapist thought it was really best that she not do it, due to the fact that she'll have just had major, major surgery, and we weren't really sure what the recovery would be like for her. So she did not try out last year. So this year, once the posters started being posted about auditions for Beauty and the Beast, there was no doubt in Rachel's mind she was going to try out this year! And thus, that's how the afternoons of the last week of school were spent, auditioning for Beauty and the Beast. By the end of the week, students were sent home with a letter informing them whether or not they'd gotten a part. And indeed, Rachel had gotten a part!!! We will learn exactly what part at a parent meeting when we return to school!
We celebrated the beginning of our three week Christmas break and the girls each getting a part by visiting the newly opened Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour in a neighboring city. Rachel not only enjoyed her ice cream, but she enjoyed watching the balloon man make her this silly hat!
The first week of our Christmas break found the girls spending two separate nights at Gramma and Papa's house as Mommy and Daddy had functions to attend. It also found us spending and afternoon and into the night at Disneyland with good friends. We knew the parks would be busy seeing it was four days before Christmas, but it was a must to enjoy the sights, sounds, and festivities one more time before Christmas! We dressed our kids in festive shirts and went about the Disneyland Resort snapping pictures with the festive backgrounds and decor. It's hard to believe we've been coming to Disneyland since the two oldest were just months old!! 
Christmas this year was different, as it fell on a Sunday. Our church had a Christmas Eve Service as well as our normal Sunday morning service. We attended both. Here is Rachel dressed up for singing on Christmas morning at church. 
The girls all got new robes and fun hats from Gramma and Papa for Christmas, together they make a great fashion statement, yeah?? 
One of the things Rachel has wanted for months and months has been a Chewbacca backpack. They can be purchased at Disneyland. Steven had told her on several occasions that he'd buy her one if she just would give Pirates of the Caribbean another try. She's not one to make deals real easily. Therefore we got it for her for Christmas. She absolutely loves it!
On New Years Eve day, we ended at The Long Beach Aquarium. We had free admission tickets and they were expiring that day. Rachel loved seeing all the fish and beautiful sea creatures. She was picked to help participate in the sea otter show and loved it. It was a nice way to end the year, and end the busy month!
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