Our blogging goal for 2025 was to end the year with at least 50 new posts. Unfortunately, we did not meet that goal but we did make a lot of new Disney content on Instagram and finally uploaded some content to YouTube! Yes, you read that right. We now have some very amateur videos of our cruise on the Disney Wish uploaded to YouTube. Our Channel is www.youtube.com/fairytalesandfitnessblog or just search Fairytales and Fitness in the search box. We've been posting sporadically with some shorts, but already have some more videos lined up to post about our week on the Disney Magic. Stay tuned!
Before I get into a recap of the year, I'd like to share some of the holiday fun we had. I was going to skip the recap this year but as I look back on the blog, I realized I really enjoy looking back and reading what had happened.
Okay, here we go.... A few memories from December!
The first week of December was a bit colder than what it usually is, so we skipped our community tree lighting event and just went downtown for late night shopping. This year it just didn't have the same vibe. This use to be such a big event where shops would set up photo ops, have complimentary food and beverage, vendors grilled and gave out hotdogs on the sidewalks, there was street music, and stores had lots of sales and giveaways. There was very little of that going on this year. Plus, I had already had most of my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving, so I really didn't need to shop for anything. I just go for the atmosphere. We left there early and spent the rest of the night at the Dollar Tree ( where I bought candy for the kids at school) and Walmart ( where we bought groceries to make a big breakfast for the following morning). Shopping at Walmart late at night is the way to go, there was like no one there ( probably because they were all downtown for the shopping event)! My sister and I decided that we are going to start a new tradition next year where we will just meet up at a coffee shop with festive snacks ( and then go to Walmart..lol).
We celebrated Willow's 6th birthday! We love our little Willow.
Later that weekend, my husband and I, our dogs, and our 92 year old Grand Pappy went to a drive through light display at a campground. None of us had ever been here before. They really did a great job with all the lights and decorations.
We usually have our big family Christmas party this month but we ended up having it on November 30th this year.
Our 95 year old Nana had been in a nursing facility for a few weeks, so I spent some time visiting with her. I was glad to see they put up a Christmas trees for the folks there.
The following weekend we went to the Christmas concert at our church. This is always an amazing concert and I look forward to it every year. Their version of "Little Drummer Boy" is amazing!
Since we did not go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party this year, I decided to bring a small part of MVMCP to us by ordering a box of Cheryl's cookies! These were the cookies that they passed out at the cookie stations in Magic Kingdom. The box I bought included a variety of Gingerbread, Candy Cane Chocolate Chip, Sugar cookies, Mint Chocolate Chip, and a few more.
In the third week of December, My husband and I ( no dogs this time), my aunt, uncle, and Grand Pappy, went to another drive through light display. This one was at a local amusement park and it was twice the size of the campground display we went to earlier.
Afterwards we went to a small Christmas village where we got to get photos with a reindeer! This was such a fun memory. A big thank you to my aunt for the offer.
That weekend my mom and I went to a Christmas farm and saw these cute Highlander cows.
They had some gifts available for purchase so I got my dad this air freshener for his truck.
This brings us to Christmas week!
After church on Sunday, I delivered some gifts to my aunts. I made them each some homemade Christmas pillows which I think turned out pretty well for my first time making them.
I then took the dogs to get pictures with Santa. Sybie got to see my uncle play Santa.
Willow got to see the Santa (and reindeer), from the Santa house in town. We met our friend Lilly there so she could meet Santa too!
My mom, my sister, and myself had been reading "The Handmaid" by Frieda McFaddon, so on Monday we all went to the movies to see the story play out on the big screen! I just love when a book I am reading comes to life!
We've continued our Christmas eve tradition with a visit to Starbucks! I visited Starbucks last month and wanted to get a Chestnut Praline beverage, but was told they would not have them till December. Well, it is December and I was so excited for this drink. Turns out they were all sold out of this flavoring. I got the Gingerbread drink, Lacey got a Peppermint mocha, and Sybie got a pup cup!
The rest of the day unfolded with preparing food, going to church, and then dinner and games with family.
Check out this "Bark-cuterie" board we made for the dogs. It looked so good that some people thought it was for the humans. I did see some humans eat some of the berries from this board!
That brings us to Christmas day! We had a fun Christmas morning here with the dogs, and then headed over to my parent's house to exchange gifts, and have lunch. We had a nice visit with our grandparents, and then I learned to play a new card game. My sister and I ended the night watching one of our favorite movies.
We got to visit with more family and do more Christmas-y things that weekend.
New Years Eve was pretty quiet. We stayed at home ( just what I like to do). We had some friends over for dinner and games. After our friends left, I was in bed to see the ball drop at midnight!
Our festivities will continue this weekend for our Grand Pappy's 93 birthday party. We will celebrate him at a bowling party and a nice dinner out. Yes, at 93 he still likes to bowl.
Now to our 2025 recap. In an effort to not make this post extremely long ( I know it should have been two posts), I'll just do a highlight reel with links to read more if you choose.
January-January was a really hard month, lots of ER visits for Sybie. I hope this never happens again.
February-Fairytales and Fitness goes to Disneyland, Tokyo!
You can read more about that HERE.
March- Sybie is still really struggling with her health. It's really been an awful time.
April- Things are looking up. We get good news at the vet. The weather has been fabulous for walking on the trail and having our first ice cream cone of the season!
We had a family viewing of the new "Mufasa" movie on Disney Plus, which I have been waiting for! Lacey and I went to see a performance of "Wizard of Oz". We all went to the movies to see "King of Kings" on Easter weekend.
We celebrated Easter at home and had a Easter Bone hunt for all the family dogs!
May- Celebrated the birthdays of my mom and nana.
We had our annual Mother's day tea party. This year we had to bring some of the tea party to my nana at her house, but that was okay. She was in good spirits and appreciated it. We also went to a Christian concert at a local amusement park.
June - June was a very busy month. My husband and I took our trip to Haven of the Wild, where we stayed in a lion bungalow.
This was my favorite experience in 2025. You can read more about that HERE! We celebrated Father's day with a nice lunch and some games. I had a day out shopping with my Grand Pap and a nice lunch at his favorite spot. Lacey and I went to a Murder Mystery production at my church and Scott and I went to a wedding weekend in Pittsburg, PA. I was not able to be at the Veterans parade this year to drive our Grand Pap in the parade, so my sister did it this year. I took my husband to get his first ever pedicure!
July- Freedom Fest at church, lots of swimming and picnics, and preparing for vacation next month.
We took our Grand Pappy on a fireworks cruise, my sister and I went fishing with our dad, and I met my husband a few times at our local farmer's market at our favorite little lunch spot. I reconnected with an old friend and had many morning walks with her. In July we also had a family reunion where we met some new family members and re-connected with some old ones. My aunt, cousin, and I went for a hike and quickly became concerned when we saw some bear paw prints! We celebrated a friend's birthday and I finally bought a new laptop!
August- I played pickle ball for the first time, my dad was my partner! We took the dogs on the boat and I went to a local amusement park with my Grand Pap.
Lacey and I visited Disney World and stayed at a few Disney resorts. In August, we also went on a Disney Cruise, the Disney Magic. You can read more about that HERE. Lacey and I, and one of our aunts went to Sight and Sound to see the production of Noah, which was amazing! Lacey and I also visited Disney's Blizzard Beach, which we hadn't been to in many years years! I feel like I was away from home way too long in August.
September-School is back in session and during the first week, our building was already on "Lockdown". Imagine being locked in a closet with 14 students, not knowing what was going on. We ended up dismissing the students early that day, but everything ended well. The next week was full of tragedy for our country.
We found joy in watching our Grand Pap be the honorary veteran in a local harvest parade, watching Lacey run in a race and win first place in her age group, and hosting a barbecue dinner for friends. We celebrated my dad's birthday this month. We also played ball on my dad's "field of dreams", and did a family bike ride. We would often have Sunday lunches with my Grand Pap as we watch his favorite football team play! We celebrated my uncle at a retirement party this month and Lacey got to experience the 70th celebration at Disneyland.
You can read about that HERE. This trip was also followed up by a trip to EPCOT later that month for the Food and Wine festival.
You can read about that HERE.
October- Things started to slow down a bit this month. Our Golden Retriever, Willow, had surgery, and we celebrated Sybie's 6th birthday!
Our main event this month is our church Trunk or Treat.
Our theme was "Little Mermaid" and Sybie made a great Sebastian!
November- The month started out with my dad and I going to see a production of Anastasia at our church. Shortly after intermission, the power went out and the entire church went dark. The power never returned that night and so we don't know how the story ended!
My mom and Lacey got to go on a cruise to celebrate Lacey's birthday and while they were gone, I spent a lot of time with my Nana. When Lacey returned from her cruise, we met up at Starbucks for some birthday drinks!
Scott and I took our Pappy on a veterans benefit train ride which was a lot of fun. I visited my great aunt in the hospital. I was very thankful for that visit with her, because we lost her a few days later. I was invited to a veterans dinner with my Pap, which was a nice way to lighten the mood after the loss in our family. That weekend my other aunt and I participated in operation Christmas child at our church, where we packed Christmas gifts in shoe boxes that would be sent to under developed countries. Later that evening we met a lot of our family for dinner. The next week our Nana went into a nursing facility, so I spent a lot of time after work visiting there with her.
I realize that a lot of things I put in my yearly recap are just small moments. The big vacations and events we celebrate are great, but it's those small moments that really build lasting memories with our family and friends. Here is to many more small moments!
Last year my sister and I started a Gratitude jar. Each week we would write down something we were thankful for on a strip of paper and put it in the jar ( most of these are those small moments). Our plan was to read these papers to each other on New Years. Unfortunately, Lacey had to work on New Years, so we will get together and share our gratitude next week when she returns!
We are wishing you much happiness and many small moments in 2026!
Till next time, M & L
We have lots of new Disney content coming in 2026! Please stay tuned!
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Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.