Winter Highlights {Jan & Feb}

This winter has slipped right by us. It has been so incredibly mild that it's been quite exhausting Haha We have had a total of ONE snow day so far. This means sickness has been awful and honestly, the kids need a break from one another Haha Unlike schools that don't deal with snow, we have NO scheduled days off from MLK day until Easter (which is April 16th this year!). Anyways… all that to say, we've been laying low and taking it easy :) 

Here are a few highlights from January and February:

Snowshoe

Amy and Tyler came to visit in January and we spent the day at Snowshoe. We always enjoy time with them!!

Snowflakes

We haven't had many real snowflakes, but it was a sweet surprise when one of my kiddos ran up to me in the hallway saying she made this for me :-)

Sewing table

It took a LOT of work, but Andy finished my sewing table!! I can't wait to get back into sewing.

App State bound

I'd say the most exciting highlight so far this winter is that Anna made the decision to go to App next year!!! I'm so proud of her for working hard and getting into some great colleges. I'm also a little biased, but I think she picked an amazing school :-)

Valentine's Day

We had a low-key Valentine's Day which was exactly what we both wanted. I arrived home to some packages on our stoop! Andy brought home Panera for dinner. We love going out to eat so we celebrated that Saturday with dinner at The Livery Tavern. I just love him so much and I don't mind that we have a holiday to emphasize it :-)

Becky's "Sprinkle"

I was so excited to host a sprinkle for my friend Becky and her baby girl, Abby. She already has a little boy so our bible study decided to surprise her with a little sprinkle! It was so much fun. I love these friends.

Charlotte

We wrapped up February with a trip home to Charlotte! We hadn't seen my family since Christmas so it was great to see everyone :-) Of course, the only pictures I took were when we got Duck donuts on Saturday. They were so. delicious.!!

Whew! That was a long post. There were many weekends that we didn't do much at all, but two months crammed into a post seems like a lot :-) 

Cheers to March!

Friday Favorites {Saturday Edition}

We have fully embraced the cozy and lazy attitude that January brings. I'm back in the swing of work even though we've already had a few delays and early dismissals for snow! 

Last Thursday is the day that we had an early dismissal because the other side of our county was expecting snow right in the afternoon hours that buses would be driving around. I thought the little bit of snow on our steps looked so cute and wintery ;-) 

That Friday night, we had one of my FAVORITE types of date nights, staying in, eating chili, and watching TV.

On Saturday, Andy started putting together my sewing table. It still needs a lot of work though. Look at all those boards!! I have a feeling once it is put together, our "office" room is going to be one of my FAVORITE spaces.

How can a snowy sunset not be one of your FAVORITE things about winter!?

We ended last weekend by having dinner and playing games with our FAVORITE friends. It was such a fun night!

This past week has left me totally exhausted. We had a 3 hr delay on Monday morning, but other than that, it was a full week! I'm starting to think we may get through the whole month of January with no snow days!

Last up on my list of FAVORITES is the WVYEC (aka "WV youth evangelism conference") that we returned from today. Andy works with the youth in our church so he was planning on attending this conference and I was just going to stay home. However, at the last minute, they needed a girl chaperone, so I went along too. The speaker, Drew Worsham, was phenomenal. He really challenged the students, and adults, to share Jesus. It was a great message to hear at the beginning of the year. We all need to make it a goal to share Jesus in 2017.

Happy Fri… er Saturday!! :-)

The Great Christmas Post of 2016!

We've finished up our last bit of Christmas festivities, so I wanted to recap them here!!

Christmas in Charlotte

We arrived in Charlotte late Thursday night, on the 22nd. The first order of business on Friday was to make Christmas cookies!! Andy and I didn't get a chance to make them here so we (well I ;-) was excited to do it with Anna and Faith!

Then we got to go over to Uncle Charles and Aunt Kim's house for dinner on Christmas Eve Eve :-) We had SO much fun playing the game "Rollers" after dinner too.

Christmas Eve brought the Christmas Eve service at Carmel and hanging out at Dad's house!

We had a yummy dinner, played games, and opened up gifts once Will and Leah arrived! I didn't get a picture of my "stash" on this night but I got one big gift- a sewing table!

On Christmas Day, we woke up at Mom's house and had our traditional breakfast and opened presents in our PJs.

Andy got a Yeti cooler and I got a starter kit for essential oils! I can't wait to sew and diffuse some oils :-) Then, like always, it was time to hit the road again.

Christmas in Salemburg

We arrived in Salemburg with just enough time to grab a plate and eat our delicious Christmas dinner with all of my Mom's family. After dinner, we went back to spend the night at Grandaddy's house. It was so nice to get to see him because it had been too long!!

After spending some time in Clinton on Monday, we headed back home for the week so that Andy could work.

Our 2nd Christmas

Andy and I finally got a chance to exchange our gifts on Wednesday night (the 28th). We got Japanese take-out and then opened our stockings and presents. :-)

Christmas in Craigsville

We watched Virginia Tech win their bowl game on Thursday night and then we planned to head to Andy's parents house on Friday morning. We woke up to some snow on Friday! It made for a beautiful drive, over the mountain and through the woods.

Andy's family isn't very into pictures, like mine, so I don't have as many pictures to document our weekend Ha Ha

We had their traditional pepperoni night on Friday and then we played Phase 10. Just for the record- I won! :-)

We had our Christmas morning at the Isabell's on Saturday, the 31st. Everyone's "big gift" came with a poem this year. This is also something Andy's family does often. The poems are always fun to hear.

Our big gift was a new TV!

That night was New Years Eve. After our Christmas ham dinner, we brought in 2017 with another round of Phase 10 and watched the ball drop.

On Sunday, we went to Andy's parents' church and had one last meal with them to end all of our festivities!

Shew, that was A LOT of celebrating!! We are so blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas with all of our favorite people. It takes a lot of traveling, but it's worth it to see everyone. Our 2nd Christmas is in the books!

Finally, I wanted to document the few additions to our Christmas decorations this year.

Our 2016 cards!

I was SO excited to get a nativity advent calendar like my Mom had for us growing up.

Our dining room got a little Christmas love this year.

Now, it's time to put away all the decorations and move into 2017!