January SNOW!!!

Over Martin Luther King weekend we traveled 8+ hours home to Cincinnati, OH.

We had originally intended to go for Christmas but weren't able to make it since the kids were sick. A delayed celebration was better than none.

It was fun to see cousin Mason & Aunt Ashley, wish I got a picture of her!

The kids were thrilled to play in a few inches of snow outside.

Jackson was right at home with all grandma Debbie's antique stuff. He even found a few treasures to bring home.

And we also got to spend some quality time with my brother, Uncle Chris.

The kids went back to school on Tuesday. Then look what happened on Wednesday!!!

We got some serious snow at our house. I measured the deck at 4 inches.

When the snow 1st started falling...HA! This child never gets cold.

The kids favorite part was sledding down our driveway.

Jackson speeding down on a beach boogie board which worked as well as sleds.

These two are so adorable. This was our only real sled. A Christmas gift this year!

We even talked these 2 favorites into coming over. Zachary ended up staying overnight. School was cancelled 2.5 days!

Classic Amanda Jessie pose.

The gang of sledders.

These sweet girls. Skylar ended up spending the night with Addy too!

We took a hike back in the woods with our neighbors & got some pretty pictures of the rare snow scenery.

The view from our porch at sunrise.

Frozen Waterfalls

The south got hit by a deep freeze last week which created some rare NC beauty. Here's Looking Glass Falls from the side of the road. Not much of a hike but rather a sidewalk down to the falls.

The frozen falls were more magnificent than I had imagined. The mist turned to snow as it fell. So it looked like snow had fallen in the area. And there were snowflakes in the air.

It was our 1st time seeing a frozen waterfall. I was surprised there were actually lots of other people there.

I love capturing sun beams in pictures.

Icicles formed all over the place. These was across the street from the falls.

Just up the road, the hike to Moore's Cove Falls was under a mile. Notice Jackson & Addy for perspective. We all just kept saying WOW!

We've been to these falls before & knew they were just a small trickle. I never imagined this small amount of water would freeze into a giant snow ball!

We left the little boys home with Mimi assuming they wouldn't like walking around in the cold. But after seeing my pics, they were both sad to miss. We're planning to bring them next time.

Here's another artsy picture. It was nice because the ground was normal, no snow or ice, so we could walk easily and our feet stayed dry.

We went off trail to explore this beauty.

The ice castle, as the kids called it, was a smaller unknown waterfall. I wish I would've got some pics of the inside.

Addy's eating an icicle. She seemed to have one in her mouth the entire time we were hiking.

I love this! It's a close up of the half frozen creek that ran along the trail. A perfect snowflake design.

Some colored icicles along the road on our way home. They say the minerals in the water cause the colors but I'm skeptical. We ate at a yummy BBQ place just outside the Pisgah Forest.

Can't wait to go back and see more falls the next time things freeze.

New Years at Myrtle Beach

As a Christmas gift, the Neville's got us a stay at a fancy Myrtle Beach hotel for 2 nights, including New Year's Eve.

We took a short walk on the beach while waiting for our room to be ready.

The resort had a fun tree house playground where the kids could have spent the entire time. There were tons of other fun things to do like yard games & sports of every kind.

The view from our villa. It was one of the nicest & most modern places we've ever stayed with 2 bedrooms and plenty of room for all of us.

The highlight of our trip was the Medieval Times Dinner Show, also as a gift from the Neville's. We met our good friends the Molskness family for some extra fun.

We took up an entire row. It was our 1st time seeing the show.

Food was eaten with your hands & it was delicious. The show was awesome, especially the jousting & sword fighting. Benny's eyes were huge & barely blinked at some parts.

The hotel was beautifully decorated for Xmas. Here's one of the pools from our window. It changed colors.

The next morning watching Teen Titans Go on Addy's fold out couch. Aaron threw up in the middle of the night probably because he ate too much. Thankfully he woke up feeling normal.

The temperatures were unseasonably cold but it was still sunny at least.

The resort pools were heated to 85 degrees so they felt like bath water even though the air felt like it could snow.

I couldn't bring myself to get in the pool but instead spend lots of time in the hot tub.

The Molskness crew eventually came over to swim & hang out. They stayed at a different hotel nearby.

As the day went on, it got cloudier & colder. Here's Kristie and I on the beach freezing.

We had lunch & dinner together. This was the best place we could've eaten on New Years Eve, at the resort, no driving, no wait, and no other people around.

THANK YOU SO MUCH Grandpa & Grandma Neville for our very favorite Christmas gift this year!

Christmas Festivities

The annual school Christmas concert. I always feel obligated to go since 3-5 graders sing but it runs late for a school night.

Benny's first bucket drum performance! He was so proud & excited. He did great and is the only person in our family happy to be on stage.

I finally made it to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens holiday lights display. Girls ONLY date night with Stephanie and her daughter Chloe.

This area of rainbow lights was my favorite. I'm so thankful for my friend Steph. She motivated me to go out on a school night.

Addy's REAL smile! It's a rarity in pictures as she doesn't do it on command.

I've been putting in extra effort to be close to this newly turned teen girl. After the gardens, we drove through the Xmas lights display in Mcadenville, better known here as Christmas town USA.

Our monthly dinner party with friends.

We played a game where you get jelly beans, not knowing if it's the bad tasting one or not. Funny!

The white elephant gift exchange was the best part.

The next morning Josh & our neighbor Eric meet up with Bob & Nathan to play air soft, shooting guns at each other, in our back woods. It's become one of Josh's favorite past times. He had his high school guys over recently to play. He's such a kid at heart.

Steph's ugly Christmas party. I actually got Josh to wear an ugly reindeer sweater too. But I'll spare him posting it on here.

The week before Christmas my poor children ALL got what seemed to be the flu. Benny was the worst.

There were fevers, coughing, puking, and lots of sleeping.

Christmas Eve was spent Mimi's house. By then, only Aaron was sick.

Unfortunately, once the kids were healthy, we didn't have enough time to drive to Cincinnati as planned. So we spend Christmas day at home hiking & playing a new game Joyce got called Ticket to Ride.

This treasure was worth the trip.

After Christmas, the kids went shopping to use their gift money. Here's Aaron at the Lego Store. They seemed to like picking out their own gifts more than being surprised.

It was such a strange Christmas. Next year we're planning to stick with our NC tradition of church on Christmas Eve & home on Christmas morning. Then sickness & weather won't mess up plans.