SnOwY

We weren't sure it was going to happen this year, but it did! The snow didn't disappoint, yay!

The snow stuck around long enough for my kids to get really wet, cold and dirty and then they had had enough (that all took about an hour).  After that Mac just wanted hot weather so he could go out and shoot hoops again.  I think their snow dreams have been completely met for another year.

The wonderful thing about NC snow is that even if the "S" word is mentioned, everything shuts down long enough for you to enjoy it, but before you know it, the sun is out and we're back to nice weather again.  Best of both worlds if you ask me.

And now I'm officially ready for Spring.

Where Dreams Come True

Day #1: Disneyworld bound!

We stayed in a lovely villa about 10 minutes from Disneyworld.  It had 6 bedrooms, a game room and a pool and hot tub in the backyard.  It was the perfect accommodation for our party of 15.

Day #2: Magic Kingdom

Day #3: Animal Kingdom

Looking back, this was probably my favorite day.  It was the least busy, the animals were fun to see and my favorite ride, Mt. Everest, was there.

While there were a good amount of rides that everyone could enjoy, there were some that Miss J wasn't quite big enough for.  We had to come up with things to keep us busy while we waited for everyone else, so we would do things like make identical funny faces and take pics (totally Jilli's idea and totally fun).

Day #4:  Epcot
This was supposed to be our rest/no Disneyworld day, but Nate scored us some $12 tickets at will-call that we couldn't pass up.  His good looks and charm definitely come in handy.

Day #5: Magic Kingdom and Princess Breakfast

Although the Princess Breakfast nearly cost us an arm and leg, it was definitely something I would do again.  Just look at Miss J's expression -- totally worth the $350 meal.

Day 6: Hollywood Studios
We were pretty much exhausted at this point, which is the reason why I only have 5 pictures to show for the entire day.  If a ride even resembled any kind of wait we passed it up and found something else to do, like a nice bench to sit on.  Nate did a lovely job auditioning and getting into the Indiana Jones Stunt Show.  It was lots of fun watching him dance, act and holler all over the stage.

Day 7: Homeward bound

Disneyworld is magical indeed, but also tiring and a lot of work.  My mother-in-law wore a pedometer and we walked at least 7 miles a day?  I'm not cut out to be a "Go to Disneyworld Multiple Times a Year Girl" -- once every couple years is plenty for me.

Visitors

They came.  We played.  We laughed.  And then they were gone.

I don't think I'll ever be good at goodbye's.  Especially with family.

But it sure was fun while it lasted.

(Kyler, Payton, Jilli and Beck watching Mac and Jaxton at their UNC Holiday Basketball Camp.)

(Beck and Grandpa playing a game while we wait for our food.)

(Family time is the best!)

(We toured the Cameron Indoor Stadium.)

(Kyler needed to visit a historical place for a merit badge, so we headed to Alamance Battleground.)

(These pics were taken just before our visitors headed into the airport and before Beckam stood at the doors pitifully yelling over and over "Don't leave us!  Don't leave us!")

Thanks for coming Mom, Dad, Kyler and Payton!  Feel free to come back soon!

all things CHRISTmas

We had a fabulous holiday season, despite getting the flu for 1 1/2 weeks. I always feel such a sense of accomplishment after I get our Christmas card made, printed and sent out.
Front of card:

Back of card:

Just like past years, we did our Christmas advent activity countdown.  The kids were always thrilled to find out what activity would be a part of that day.

We were happy to be a part of the Zylowski's annual Reindeer Party again this year.  Good times!

With slight reluctance, I brought Eddie back again this year.  He came a little late into the season, but after last years experience, I figured 5 days was plenty of time for him to stay.  The kids were actually happy to see him and we didn't have any reports of Eddie trying to "get" any of the kids.

We had a great personal visit with Santa, which actually had my unbeliever (Mac), a believer again.  

This was an especially fun Christmas with Beck.  Everything was so exciting to our 5 year old guy.  He helped out a lot with the decorating and by Christmas Eve, Beck had arranged all the ornaments on the tree to be next to a "buddy" so that no ornament was lonely on Christmas.

Beck and Jilli also spent hours arranging and rearranging all of the nativity scenes around the house.  On this particular day, upside down was the look they were going for.

This is Beck and Jilli just before their preschool Christmas program.  Jilli was cute as a button up on the stage, but never opened her mouth to sing a single song.  Beck on the other hand, was just as cute and sang his little heart out.

The same night as Beck and Jilli's program, Mac had his 3rd grade holiday program.  Nate and Jax attended his program, while I attended the preschool program.  Divide and conquer and thank heavens for video cameras.

The kids ready for church on Christmas Sunday.  Such lookers they are!

Christmas Eve brought some last minute shopping and running around and then we had our first annual "Mary and Joseph" dinner.  It was as wonderful as I had imagined and the clean-up was even better!

Gift exchange with brothers/sister.  I especially love the enthusiasm on Mac, Jilli and Beckam's faces.  Jaxton's was more of a plastered on "this isn't exactly what I was hoping for" smile.

On Christmas morning before heading downstairs to the gifts, we met in our room and each decided on a gift that we would give to Jesus this year.  Each of the kids were very thoughtful about their gifts and then we put them in a gift box and wrapped it up for Jesus.  We'll take a look at our gifts next year and see how we did.

And then it was game time.

Jilli made it til about 10:00am and then zonked out.  Christmas is hard on 3 year olds.

For Christmas dinner we headed out for our 5th annual Chinese dinner.  We had a great time and the food didn't disappoint.

Merry Christmas to all! We are so thankful for the Savior, His birth, His life, His death and to know that He lives.