Bunch of Paynes: 2025

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

December

Gretchen was part of the prelude music for our church's Christmas service. I got to direct the children's choir!

Being the tallest on her team, Bridgette is following in her brother's footsteps of starting the game center court for the tipoff

Gretchen and I had the privilege of seeing Handel's Messiah performed live at the Kennedy Center, thanks to tickets from VetTix

We had an early Merry Christmas celebration with Steve and Vallerie

Happy Sweet Sixteen to our beautiful Gretchen!! We had a big party with lots of her lovely friends

On Gretchen's actual birthday, we flew to Oklahoma! Kaye K and Big Daddy kindly met us at the airport to loan us one of their cars so we could drive on to Tulsa, but they didn't forget it was Gretchen's birthday and welcomed us with a balloon for our girl.

Merry Christmas (Part 1) from the Payne Family in Broken Arrow!

Happy cousins =)

Grammy Deb and G Daddy with all their grandkids!

Grammy Deb strikes again with cozy Christmas Eve pajamas.

There are a few Christmas traditions I have a hard time skipping. I packed our stockings. =)

Merry Christmas to our 16-year-old, who *finally* got her own phone.

Merry Christmas (Part 2) from the McMartayne Family in Norman

The dude grandkids

Nana brought over brownies in the shape of Christmas trees for the kids to decorate - she's so fun!

Adult night out is a fun tradition

Girl's shopping trip to use some of our Christmas money. I don't love shopping, but I'd go out any day with this group - they make it super fun and have great taste!

Bowling!!

Big Daddy thinks he's closer than he actually is - ha!

Grandkids plus grandparents in height order

Sunday, November 30, 2025

November

Happy November!

Rooke and I went for bubble tea to celebrate finishing his college applications by the November 1 deadline - whew!

Speaking of college . . . Gretchen joined two friends on a fun trip to check out Samford. A little ahead of ourselves? Maybe. But a fun trip invite we just couldn't pass up.

Bridgette loved her fall AAU basketball season. The team improved a ton and barely lost by one in overtime at their final game

More basketball! Thanks to VetTix, Bridgette and I got to cheer on the Maryland women in one of their early home games

Getting high fives from the players after the game =)

And . . . MORE basketball! Rooke's Senior season - Go #22!

He made it =)

I chaperoned our co-op's seventh and eighth grade trip to Philadelphia - it was a full, fun day of middle school shenanigans

Grammy Deb and G Daddy stopped for a short visit on their way home from a road trip. It was great to have them stay with us! They got one night with the kids while Ryan and I went overnight to enjoy a concert near Lancaster and some time away.

Bridgette worked diligently and was determined to pass her violin exam before the Christmas break. She leveled up!! I've learned so much from her progress in playing the violin; it's a very challenging instrument and her teacher has high standards, so we are super proud of Bridgette's efforts!

a celebration treat drink - for both of us =)

Rooke volunteers at a local garden one day a week. He helps weed, plant, harvest, build garden beds, and whatever other tasks they need extra hands for. The food grown is donated to local food banks and shelters. We've never actually been there with him, but this photo was on the school page, highlighting the work that he and other students do to help at the garden.

a few outtakes and extra photos from our attempts to get a family Christmas photo

Happy Thanksgiving! We spent the afternoon at Steve and Vallerie's house enjoying a delicious meal and lovely fellowship.

Day-After-Thanksgiving tradition: cinnamon roll waffles, watch Elf, put up Christmas decorations. We're ready for December!