What a Hike!

Well the weather was beautiful this weekend so

we thought we would head out for a hike. We headed

out to Kings Mt. for what I thought would be about

a one hour hike. Three hours later and a few complaints

later we were headed home. We did close to a six mile

hike! The kids did pretty good all things considered, we

hadn't planned to go that far it just sort of happened!

We weren't really prepared for that length either so

it probably wasn't the smartest move on mine and

Davids part, but we had a good time all in all. A little

sore today and next one I think we won't go quite so

far so the return isn't as hard on us until we build up

a little more tolerance for that kind of terrain, but we

had fun and enjoyed a beautiful day!

These pics are all at the beginning of the hike as

no one was interested in stopping long enough for one

on the return part!

The 50's!

Well I haven't posted anything lately as it has

been cold and nasty here so we have really

been inside mostly and just doing the Wii and

hanging out. No photographic moments that

I would want to post doing that. Elizabeth had

a school play last weekend that was on Rock n Roll

history. Her grade was the 50's so she got to

dress really cute. She enjoyed being in it and they

all did a great job!

Mimi, Pappy, Katie and Emily joined us!

Locks of Love!

On Tuesday Elizabeth had all of her long blonde hair

cut off to give to locks of love. You have to have no

less than 10 inches banded in a ponytail or braid, so

it took her quite a while to grow that out. We went

up to the salon and Tamera put it in a ponytail and

chopped it off. I am putting it in the mail today!

She loves her new swingy bob and was happy she

did such a generous thing. David and I have so much

to be proud of and thankful for when it comes to

our kids, despite us I think their turning out pretty

good (so far so good).

What took more than a year, almost two, only took

seconds to chop off!

The new Look!

Ready to send it off so someone else can enjoy that

real blonde hair!

Snow Days!

We actually got enough snow for the kids to play

in this time, not a lotl, but they had fun. I think

David enjoyed it as much as they did. They mostly

played in the yard skating out at Davids garage and

looking around finding animal tracks. We braved a

walk thru the neighborhood when some of it melted

and enjoyed seeing everyones yards, but no snowmen!

There just wasn't enough snow for that. Hope all are

well and staying warm, we still have slush on the ground

that keeps freezing but maybe we are at the opening

of the tunnel and the light is about to shine thru to Spring.

Wishful thinking, huh?

Rosy cheeks!

David slidding around even with his cup of coffee!!!

Elizabeth found little animal tracks to photograph

so even the animals were enjoying a little white stuff!

American Girl and Aquarium

We made a quick visit down to the American Girl Store

in Atlanta, GA and the Aquarium this past Thursday.

We made our reservations and Elizabeth, Mimi, Myself,

Matthew and her dolls all had dinner at the Bistro in the

American Girl Store. She loved going thru the store

and getting to have a really good meal right there with her dolls.

We spent the night and then got up bright and early for a

four hour visit to what they say is the largest aquarium

in the world. They have four whale sharks that

Matthew was very excited to see, and I have to say

they were amazing! We really enjoyed our

quick visit, and made the most out of our time there!

Dining with her dolls!

Matthew wasn't that thrilled with the doll

store part, but he liked the eating part!

Elizabeth and Mimi, we were glad she joined us!

The Elizabeth doll had a giant mug of Hot Chocolate...

Yummmmmmmmmmmm! Sorry Matthew but you

have to share. Ha Ha

Yeah chocolate fondue for dessert!

The mall also had a carousel inside so the

kids went for a spin on that too!

Then Matthew was happy to find out that there was

a train that ran thru the mall, it had great train

noises too!

The aquarium was a lot to see, four hours later we

headed home!

Crabs

Jellyfish

They were able to touch small sharks and sting rays!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! We had

a nice quiet evening with snacks, movies and Wii

games. It was fun and everybody made it to midnight!

We had our toast with our sparkling apple cider

and off to bed we all went. Hope everyone else

had a nice evening as well! May we all continue

to be as blessed as we have been and thankful for

what we have.

Hoping that 2010 brings a better job for myself and

happiness for David in the job that he has, and of course

continued health for us and our children. We hope these

things for all of you as well, again HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Matthew had this mouth piece that lights up his

mouth. You can't really see it in the picture, but

it was funny!

Christmas Day!

Our Christmas Eve actually started with my Mom's

family, but for some reason we didn't take the

camera, when we got home the kids took the quickest

showers they have ever taken and put out the

reindeer food. Then Matthew put out some cookies

for Santa and they both said goodbye to our Elf friend

Elfis who had been with us since Thanksgiving night.

We have been so blessed this Christmas season with,

health, jobs(so far so good) and our love for each other

and our families. These pictures show that but what

they don't show is that we also celebrated Jesus's birth

and made a point of being thankful for all of these blessings.

We hope these same things for all of you, our Friends and

Family! Love to you all!

Putting out Reindeer food!

Cookies for Santa!

Until next year Goodbye to Elfis!

The kids actually didn't wake us up this year so we

had a chance to snap a pic before the mess was made.

Elizabeth broke her alarm clock this year so she was on

her own and they were both so tired from pre Christmas

activities with friends, church and family that they were just exhausted

and actually didn't get up until after 7am, and we woke

Matthew up at that point!

Elizabeth has continued to enjoy her american girl

Kirsten and since she retired this year Santa made

sure she got things that would no longer be

available. Thanks again Grandma Paula for the

Kirsten doll she has been much loved!

Matthew of course jumped right onto his new speed

stack cups and decided if 12 at a time was fun how

about 36. He is not quite as obsessed these days

but is still loving the cup stacking.

He got a timer with his new set!

We headed over to my parents house around 1pm

and the kids opened gifts were their cousins.

Matthew of course with yet another train!

Elizabeth with her Julie doll!