Christmas Tree OH Christmas Tree!

Will and I started our own Christmas tradition 2 years ago of setting out to find and chop down our Christmas tree. This year we of course did the same again. We loaded the snowmobile in the truck and drove to Linx Pass which is only about 15 minutes from our house. Then we rode the snowmobile back into the National Forest and kept our eyes peeled for the PERFECT tree. We spotted an area that looked pretty good and had a bunch of healthy looking Christmas tree candidates! I snowshoed in and Will went one way and I went another. We looped around and met up at the best of the best tree. It was tall and skinny but then again they all were so....Will chopped it down. He drug it down the mountain and tied it to the back of the snowmobile. I drove us out while Will sat on the back and watched to make sure that nothing happened to my precious tree :) It made it home safe and after spending the night in the garage to dry off, we cut about 3 feet off of it and Will and I heave hoed it into the house and up the stairs. It was much much bigger once we got it inside but we decided to just leave it alone and officially be the owners of the biggest tree in the neighborhood. It touched the ceiling AND we had to rearrange the living room to make it fit but you have to make sacrifices to be the biggest tree owners! It looked great in our first home on our first married Christmas!!

"Christmas" in Virginia - Dennis Visit

The Dennis Visit

We headed down to Lawrenceville after seeing the Meyers off on Thursday morning. Laura came down with Peter and Lily and we got to spend the day visiting and playing with the kiddos. Will spent some quality time hunting with John while I stayed inside by the warm fire (it was freeezing outside). I was a little under the weather Thursday night and Friday but really appreciated the time to rest and recover as well as the great care I received. This gave Will the chance to catch up on some much needed quality time with his family. Holly and Glenda came to visit and on Saturday the whole Dennis clan got together for their annual Christmas festivities. Once again we had great food and good company. Saturday night after everyone left we had our own little Dennis Christmas. We shared lots of love, laughs and even a few presents!

All in all it was a wonderful trip spent with some really wonderful people. Will and I are so blessed to have such gracious and loving families! Until next time....

"Christmas" in Virginia - Meyers Visit

The Meyers Visit

So as soon as we booked our tickets to come back to Virginia, Kelly and I started planning! For those of you who don't know, the Meyers are the family that I had the privilege of helping to take care of their kiddos while I was at school in Richmond and graciously let me live with them for a few months. They are great friends and family of ours and allow me to continue to watch their sweet children grow and be a part of their lives, for which I am forever grateful. I feel so blessed to have them as part of our family and knew that they had to be included in the trip as well. So, like I said, Kelly and I started planning. I really wanted to surprise the girls with our visit. We decided that Kelly could have them ride the bus home and Will and I would be waiting for them at the bus stop...SURPRISE! We got there a little bit early and anxiously waited the arrival of the bus and Riley and Morgan. I hung back and waited so I wouldn't get lost in the crowd and when they finally saw me it was well worth the wait. Will caught the whole thing on video and I am so glad that he did!!

While we were there we helped Morgan and Riley with their homework and waited for Kelly and the Grantser and Vicky to get home (we were really bummed that Greg was out of town). We had dinner, shared lots of laughs, stories, presents and dance moves...I have videos to prove it! Will and I stayed the night (thanks Ri for sharing your room!) and saw everyone off in the morning. It was a short but oh so sweet visit with some really special people!

The kids are growing so fast I can hardly believe it...needless to say we took tons of pictures while we were there!

"Christmas" in Virginia - Salyer Visit

Will and I decided to head back to Virginia and create our own holidays. We couldn't be there on the actual Christmas Day but we could be there to spend quality time with our family a few weeks early and even open a few presents. We were able to spend a few days with the Salyer family, a quick visit with the Meyers and then a few days with the Dennis family. We are really grateful for the time that we got to spend with each and every person and of course wish that the trip could have been just a little bit longer.

The Salyer Visit

Will and I flew into the Knoxville Airport and were graciously picked up by Drew and Katie. We headed straight for Chic-fil-a :) because they know me sooo well (I hate to admit this but we ate there 3 times in our week long trip...mmm). Once our bellies were full we could head to Bristol to see my mom and dad. They were anxiously waiting for us and had everything decorated and festive for our Christmas visit. We were also greeted by snow and cold weather (I just can't get away from it!). We spent several days visiting with family, snuggling by the fire, and eating delicious food. We were incredibly sad to leave but were so happy and thankful for the quality time that we had.

Snowy Pictures

Winter is officially here and here to stay for the next several months. We had a couple of snows early in November that fell and quickly melted away. However, about mid November it just kept on coming so there is always snow on the ground now and it just keeps piling up. The ski mountain had a record November with 98 inches of snow. And it think it isn't even officially winter yet...ugh! We tried to capture some pictures of Boone playing but he was too busy playing to stop and pose for a picture :) He LOVES the snow. He always wants to be outside and he runs, jumps, digs and eats the snow. He is really funny...Will even strapped on his skis one afternoon and let Boone pull him around the backyard. We have to get his energy out somehow :) I thought it was a great idea!


Here is a video of Boone running/jumping through the snow. The snow is much deeper now so it is even MORE entertaining now :)

Boone and Will checking out the view of the snow from inside....and can't you just seem Boone thinking "why aren't you taking me outside to play?"

Thanksgiving

Will and I were invited to attend Thankgiving Dinner with some of his coworkers and friends. The dinner was held at a lodge owned by the company he works for. Peabody uses this "lodge" to house some of its employees when they come out to visit the mine. Lets just say that it was far from any lodge I would have imagined. It was HUGE and a multimillon dollar house that had all the finest finishings. It sure was the fanciest lodge I have ever been to :) I took as many pictures as I could but they don't do it justice. It was a really nice place and a really nice dinner. We really missed our families and were sad that we couldn't be able to be at home for Thanksgiving but still had a good time with friends and neighbors.