Four Days....

We had a four day weekend and honestly got a lot done but in some ways, it feels as if it flew by!

Thanksgiving Day was very nice. We slept in, watched this - making our plans to be there next year!

then headed over the creek and through the bridge to grandma's house....

We changed it up a bit this year since my grandma "ma" was unable to come. This is the first in many years Mom hasn't picked her up and let her share in our meal so we were able to have dinner at Mom and Dad's. Ma was remembered during our blessing as she struggles with her newest transition.

There were 17 of us this year - just missing Brandon :(
While watching the Today show, Lester Holt was in Afghanistan sharing in their Thanksgiving meal. We watched closely just in case we saw Brandon =)

After dinner the men watched TV while us women gathered around the table, checking out all the sale papers and planning for those "Black Friday" sales. Ronnie and I don't typically go out early but this year Chase and Cierra went with a friend....starting at 9:30 p.m. Wow. I woke up around 2 and checked in with them. Doing fine - out and about. Again at 4:30 they assured me they were fine. They finally made it home around 6 a.m. and we knew they would be in bed ALL day. Amazing.

We had planned to head out for specific things after lunch but got delayed so...by the time we were ready, those two were up. It was great hearing all about their 2 mile line around Toys R Us, the many people in their pj's and the bargains they found. At one point I asked Chase if he was 'ready to hurt somebody' and he immediately said "YES, I WAS"! It was so funny to hear him talk about the 9 hour excursion =)

Santa's workshop is open! Cierra loves this time of year as my sewing machine is typically going non-stop and Christmas music is playing. She is a HUGE help this year. It makes it a lot easier when the two of us can be working on different things. Progress was definitely made and 8 special people will benefit from our little weekend work, ha!

Ronnie and I did find some time to enjoy some quiet time (I love this bottle - nothing special from a wine perspective, a simple German Reisling but beautiful bottle!

Today was the first Sunday in Advent. I LOVE this time of year! Practice for the program is underway, the church will be decorated Thursday night and the holiday spirit will be in the air.

Now it's back to work today as we work through another action packed week. The annual Christmas parade is next Saturday so lots to do there.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving ya'all! I hope everyone has a blessed, thankful day!

(artwork compliments of Chase - 2004 1st Grade)

Blogging......

It's seems like forever but it's been a little less than two years since I started blogging. Honestly, this was an attempt to help keep my scrapbooking organized and up to date but it turned into so much more. I've made lots of friends (that I will probably never meet face-to-face), learned how to make my own backgrounds and banners. Can now use Photoshop and Photoshop elements. And take more pictures....pictures with meaning....pictures that can tell a story now.

But - I'm sure there are posts that you might wonder....why????? Why does she write about that? Or you may even say ....really???? I know this. And I understand. But I keep writing. I keep learning and love the fact that I can look back and put together a page or two whenever I want. Bottom line.

Tonight I was searching through some blogs that I hadn't visited in a while and found this statement...."logic has no place in the blogosphere"! Yay! I'm not alone. The whole post was great - it talked about why she blogs and how her husband will never understand. You may want to check it out....here

And now, I'm going to share this -

A full moon last night....I love looking at the moon through our upstairs window - nothing special, just another one of those things I like. And probably another post that you will wonder "why?????"

Just a hike -

An overnight camp out had been planned for the Boy Scouts for a few months. The plan was to hike during the day, find our 'spot' then hike a little more/further, returning in time for dinner. Because of schedules it ended up just a hike (probably best for me, haha).

So, we headed into Virginia in search of the Appalachian Trail, specifically Bears Den. Hmmm...wonder why it's called Bears Den? Oh well....we found a trail and started, soon finding this...

Yep - I think we're on the right trail.

The boys went ahead of us (probably thinking we're too slow)


The climb wasn't too tough, the biggest challenge was walking on all the rocks -


But soon we were at the top - it was beautiful. There was some haze so I can only imagine how it would look on a clear day and not to mention during the Fall foliage peak.


We had lunch while we simply enjoyed the view -

This is definitely a spot we will be sure to check out in the Spring next year. Who knows, maybe we'll hike the entire trail from Georgia to Maine (yeah right=)! I read that it takes over 5 million steps, wow!

Dora, Dora, DORA!

With just 34 days 'til Christmas, I've been working hard to find just the right gift for everyone=) Kayden is at such a cute age and loves to look at this; page by page by page..

when she comes here. So...I thought it very fitting to take her to Toys'R'Us and see what she really liked!

We did stop by the 'pet store' 1st.
She loved looking at all all the animals






and even pretended she was a cat for a minute, lol!


And then...what we were waiting for! And how fitting to find this right inside the door?!


We heards lots of "Wow"s - she was pretty excited.



Just so much to see!

And just as we were ready to find other toys she found a guitar -



Even the educational toys were 'all about Dora', ha!


But she still loves Elmo!

Now with her 'list' complete, we headed to eat -

and of course, color -

Then the transition to pj's just in case she falls asleep on the way home -


Now we're off for another day of "Kayden Adventures"!

Glass or Plastic?

I have always preferred glass over plastic. There's just something about having iced tea, orange juice and even wine for that much in a glass. It tastes funny in plastic, right?

Well Ronnie most definitely prefers plastic....let that be known. So whenever Cierra or I are unloading the dishwasher and drop a glass you can only imagine the look we get. Heck, many times we have even hidden the evidence; cleaned up the mess really quick and not even told, haha!

But - for the past month I have been complaining about my foot hurting. It would come and go. With my travel schedule it never worked out to go to the dr. This morning though, it was TIME to go to the dr. because I could hardly walk. It certainly didn't help that I have walked miles in the airport lately.

Off I go only to have my foot x-rayed, numbed and cut to remove a famous piece of glass, ha! And now it would be wrapped up and I'm off work til Monday. Perfect timing. Not only have I been out of town and not 'at work' for a while but now it gets extended a few more days (sigh).

A few lessons have been learned: be more careful when putting away glasses, be sure to clean up every little piece and have everyone else use glass so what I have to handle is limited. Regardless, I will still drink from a glass....just sayin'!

Thursday's Thoughts -

It's hard to believe a week from today is THANKSGIVING, where has the time gone? There's a lot to do to get ready but it's always nice to have our family together.

We did have what could be considered a 'trial run' on Sunday. Since I missed Britt and J's birthday's I fixed dinner for everyone. Unfortunately J was enroute to Canada but everyone else was here plus some....Chase's girlfriend Lexi and friend Sierra came over in the afternoon and stayed for dinner.

I was pleasantly surprised with a dozen peach roses...so sweet

And this is what I came home to - they are beautiful!


On the 'to do' list for today is to start planning the menu for next week - 6 days =)

Wordless Wednesday -

Home Sweet Home -

This has become my new best friend. Pathetic. But.....I'm still very thankful.

The past 3 weeks I have traveled to a southern state. Nascar Country. Warmer temps. Made lots of new friends. Love my job. Those are all the things I'm thankful for.

But...I have missed two birthdays. 4H Achievement night. Day to day life with my family and simply chillin' out at home.

Tomorrow I head home and am completely thinking I'm good until after the first of the year. Fingers crossed.

Gettin' Away -

Being away for the past two weeks has been tough but Ronnie and I were able to sneak away to Lancaster this weekend. We left early with our first stop being our favorite coffee bean store. We typically make it there every 3 - 4 months and were overdue - picking up 9 lbs of flavored beans, ha! The funny thing though is we wanted a cup of coffee but that wasn't an option so we went a few blocks and landed here. This was a really quaint house that recently was turned into a coffee shop. After taking a tour and listening to the story, we finally got our latte's and headed north. One would think we were hungry with all these 'food' stops but we promised Cierra some cinnamon buns ----I love this little school -check out where they wash their hands. There are aways a group of bikes leaned up against the fence, too. So sweet. We always find the neatest things here -I just love the Amish country!

We hadn't been to this winery in many years and were able to get some Christmas presents while shopping. I didn't realize how many wines they really had and ya know, it's cheaper by the dozen =)

These are EVERYWHERE -

I bet we are so annoying to them!

Oak is our preferred wood and have bought tons of stuff here - we always like to stop by and see what's new....

Our bar is all hickory furniture and we were in need of two foot stools and a magazine rack -

It must be time for school to be out - check out these little men walking home with their lunch boxes..too cute!


One of my favorite things is to see all their clothes hanging out to dry. I swear they must wash every day because no matter when or what day it is, their lines are full. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how they got them up so high and then got them down, lol!



We had a yummy lunch at Bird in Hand Restaurant then started to head home. It was a little later than we planned which meant traffic was heavy. We detoured to a winery I found on my Blackberry and for a little bit I wondered if the Garmin was going to take us to one of those famous 'dead end' destinations. The winery ended up being in an industrial park and was nothing more than a metal building. Pretty interesting once inside - they had Margarita Wine (never heard of this before) and several other whites and reds. We didn't end up buying the Margarita one but did buy Queen Anne. Not one of our favorite wineries but definitely glad we stopped.


We didn't make it to our friend's Silpada party unfortunately but did get quite a bit of Christmas shopping done and it was a nice 'escape' from reality for a while.

I hate it -

when I miss special things like this!

Last week while I was out of town working Ronnie, Cierra and Chase attended the annual 4H Achievement night. This is a night that all the children are recognized for their efforts throughout the previous year. This includes but is not limited to Fair projects.

This is also a night where the award for the Family of the Year is presented. I couldn't agree more with the choice this year. I have known the Tabb's for as long as I can remember. They are always around to help out in time of need and are just plain, simple, great people. This picture is a condensed version of their family (thanks Kiya - I stole it) as they have four children, all of which are married and 4 or 5 grand children with another on the way. A very special family, in deed.

So Congratulations Cam and Jane - I'm sorry I missed the presentation but feel honored to know you!

PS - you don't typically seem them dressed like this but....this just happens to be their oldest son and his wife's wedding picture from this past June.

Believe -

Yes, you know that I truly believe everything happens for a reason, right? Monday was a perfect example....

I got up extra early, headed to the airport for an early flight to South Carolina for another week of work. Traffic was heavy not only on Route 9 but also on the Toll Road. Parking was minimal which meant I had to park pretty far from the walk-way and check-in was backed up. All this equals....yep, you got it - missing my flight. Urgh!

But...while I'm waiting for the next flight I get to witness flags being hung, decorations being placed by a specific gate and a banner being hung....what was all the fuss over? Well, you know me - I had to ask. Here's what I learned....during the week of Veteran's Day flights come into gate Z9 bringing Veterans in to go into DC and tour the area - specifically the World War II Memorial. Wow - that's just the best.

So I watched all the activity and learned that my 'later' flight was yet delayed...so what did this mean? I got to see a plane come in with Veterans on-board. I learned that it's tradition for them to shoot water over the plane in honor of those that served our country. As I watched, it honestly gave me chills.

I was so happy to witness this -

But, even better than that, last night when I came back in, the gate was still decorated with some activity underway. Several were boarding after a long day of touring to head back home. This gentleman was anxious to have his picture taken =) LOVE that!

So - here's to all those that SERVE our country! Thank you - HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!