Our gal Brenna is known for her countdowns. Her phone has an app with various events that she clocks to the minute how much time left until they arrive.
She didn't have a firm deadline on when her dance photos would come back, but we were very excited to see her sophomore year pictures.
They came four months after they were taken and we love them!
She loved the football games-dancing at halftime and pregame. The team has done a couple of assembly performances, which has also been great. They also had to participate in an eating challenge as part of the school's Christmas fundraiser. It was ELF themed- base of spaghetti with so many different toppings people paid them to eat. Brenna snarfed it like a hero. She busted through it like it ain't no thing and then told me the nastiest topping was 'horse cheddar sauce'. I wasn't sure if she meant horseradish but turns out it was worchestershire.
While Thanksgiving was not one of the countdowns on Brenna's phone, there was a show countdown that released the day before Thanksgiving- Stranger Things. These epic episodes hadn't had a new season for years and for nearly a year before the release the countdown was present for her. She threw a Stranger Things themed watch party with us for the first released episodes. It was pretty cool. There were streamers and music when you walked down into the basement (upside down). Pictures were all over the walls and the vibe was set. We had Caleb and Adri stay the night to watch with us, since we would be heading to our family Thanksgiving dinner the next day, it worked out perfectly.
We had a great Petrick family fun year- food, movies and pies...just how we like it. The next countdown was fast approaching- Christmas. But, before the holiday arrived, we had fun moments in between. Brenna went to Winter's Ball with our neighbor Cole. These two used to be bitter enemies growing up, so it gave us a chuckle seeing them head to a dance together. For the first time ever, a few people took a glance at this photo and thought it was the other McArthur sister. Brenna and Katelee have rarely, if ever been described as looking a like, so it was fun to see a brief similarity.
The lighting contributed since her hair by the tree doesn't look as red. She had a great time and looked fab!
We were counting down the days for Katelee to come home and spend time with us! (even though her plans mostly would include snowboarding when she was visiting). We didn't want to wait too long and needed to show her siblings her apartment, so we took an evening and did a drop in enjoying the Aggie life.
Brenna had a fun trip planned with Dave as a countdown item as well! NEW YORK!
Dave took Grant and Katelee when they turned 16 and with Brenna's upcoming birthday, they started chatting about potentially taking the trip a little early so she could experience the city during the holidays and see the Rockettes! Wahoo!
We thought she was able to miss a couple of days of dance a year...nope. She can have a couple of tardies for dance company, but no absences unless it's a wedding/funeral/pre-arranged reason. We discovered this when Brenna let her coach know about the trip and how she would miss the last morning before the winter break and Brenna was informed that she could miss, but she would be dropped a full letter grade or be removed from an upcoming dance performance. Brenna called me devastated. She could not, would not drop a grade and hated to think of missing one of the half times. I was kind of floored because the day she'd be missing was a party, but hey, I don't make the calls. Dave switched their flights and rearranged their whole trip so she didn't miss that morning for the party...which ended up being a kidnapping in the wee hours of the morning. I was texted before hand and gave the senior dance captain directions for how to get in to our house and where Brenna slept. Well, that girl ended up getting strep and wouldn't be there, so when the girls came at 4am they had to rely on other information....Dave had worked so late at the office to get his business in order before they left for the Big Apple. Upon coming home at 3 am, he unlocked our front door for the dance co girls, and he decided to sleep in our empty bedroom that Brenna used to sleep in. She moved to the basement when Katelee left for Utah State. So, the girls came into our dark home and one of them thinking Brenna's room was upstairs (because it used to be) led the entourage in to the room that held this man on his C-Pap machine.
The party was attended and then Dave and Brenna headed out to the east coast where they had a great time.
They quickly realized that was not their dance teammate and proceeded to open every door upstairs- the laundry room, Harrison's bedroom door (which he addressed to me in the morning over breakfast wondering why people were coming into his room in the middle of the night), as well as the master bedroom where I slept with an eye mask and no pajamas, just my holy garments. The girls were all I am sure traumatized...almost us much as us...before they found Brenna in the basement. Good thing we didn't let Brenna miss that for NY! oh boy.
Statue of Liberty, Rockettes, 9/11 Memorial, Empire State Building, Times Square all the fun during all the festivities.
Finally! Christmas Eve arrived and Harrison was sick. Boo... One thing Covid did give us was an awareness of keeping masks on hand. So, he donned a mask and we forced him to wear it most of the evening. It was hilarious when we were reading the nativity for the little cousins to act out, we passed it around to him take a verse. He started to read and everyone died because his voice was so Darth Vader the Chainsmoker-esque we ripped the holy words out of his hand and skipped him.
Sadly, he didn't get to participate in the play, which was unfortunate since cute Warren and Alan were in town from NY. But Brenna represented the family well and embraced the idea of all eyes on her when the angel appeared.
Harrison had felt a bit left out during our Stranger Things watching party at Thanksgiving. He kept creeping down the stairs to get a peep. When Stranger Things had originally aired he was a wee child and way too young to watch it. So, every following season I just told him it was too scary and he couldn't watch it. We decided to let him catch up to the new season after Thanksgiving so he would be ready Christmas Day to watch the next batch of episodes that would be released at 6pm. The kid accomplished it and quickly became obsessed.
I guess at some point I have to realize that my baby is no longer a baby. We had another year of our traditional Christmas morning...waking up the kids, reading a little scripture message and taking turns opening gifts
after the kids go through their stockings.
I feel so lucky we had another year with all four.
We had our special quiche breakfast with donuts and fruit, played a few new games and watched the next few episodes of Stranger Things that evening.
A Christmas all together- the very best kind.
The weekend after the holiday Dave and I decided to get away for the night and put our built-in babysitter, Katelee to use. We went to Park City and being the amazing sister she is, she took Harrison and Brenna sledding.
The snow thus far has been pretty abysmal this season, but Katelee couldn't be near her mountains and at least not try to get a feel for some powder. She is an outdoors woman through and through.
But we are so super fun. The countdown for that night wasn't overly loud, but it was still meaningful. As we went down from 10...9...8...7...6...5...we celebrated the arrival of a new year-2026! I never had it in my phone, I never really thought about it, but countdowns can happen without the anticipation Miss Brenna has. It is so fun to have something to look forward to and to have in sight, but it is also exciting to have things almost sneak up on you, like a little boy now almost a teenager. Whether we plan the events and look forward to them or just get surprised by their arrival, I hope in 2026 we can live in each moment and be present. It is a gift to be here and we will enjoy it!
No comments:
Post a Comment