Cousins

Spending time with family is what Christmas is about....

Happy Birthday Lily!

Hudson

Ryan making us cookies - a fighter pilot that can bake!

Stephanie - she so desperately wanted to get rid of those green beans

Lily and Hudson

...and it doesn't hurt to have a beautiful Lake View

Thank you to the Howlands for hosting us this year :)

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Happy New Year! and Bring on the Snow!

Although I haven't posted about Christmas yet, I felt I should wish everyone a Happy New Year.

The pictures below were taken the day after Christmas...yes, we HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS! Living in the South doesn't bring this treat very often (for you trivia buffs, the last white Christmas here was in 1882!). Although it was COLD we loved having snow on Christmas. It even lasted four days before it melted - another unusual treat.

Today is Jan 9 and we are expecting several inches of more snow/sleet/ice tonight into tomorrow. We even have a winter storm warning. The funny thing about the South is that everyone runs to the grocery store to buy milk and bread. The stores were crazy yesterday but I am happy to report I have plenty of food in case we are stranded for a few days :) We just hope we don't lose power - Auburn plays in the national championship game tomorrow!

Berry College

Right before Christmas, we visited Berry College where Brian attended for a couple of years before transferring to Auburn. It is located in N. Georgia outside of Rome and it is probably the most gorgeous campus I have ever visited (sorry UWYO). Although the campus itself is rather small, the land it sits on is vast. I hope to visit in the spring or fall when the leaves are blooming or changing next year - I will also come better prepared to take photos. The architecture of the buildings is also beautiful - full of stone and history. It is a gorgeous place and definitely worth visiting if you are in the area.

As part of the Thanksmas fun, we visited Lake Lanier Islands and their Magical Night of Lights. The big kids (AKA Jen, Brian, and Brea) went on a zip line tour. It was FREEZING out - but we warmed up roasting marshmallows and drinking hot chocolate!

Thanksmas

Every year my family celebrates Thanksgiving - which is Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled up in one fun filled week!

Matty and Santa

Morgan and Santa

Morgan and her new luggage - A girl with her own frequent flier card needs her own luggage right?

Morgan and Matty at Morgan's school party

Trimming the tree and watching the train

Playing with the train and Papa

Florida Part II (AKA DISNEY!)

After we wrapped up a great visit with Kara and Aunt Cindy, we headed to Disney World and met up with Brian's family.














After four jam packed days - we were EXHAUSTED! But we had a wonderful time!

Florida!

We spent Thanksgiving in Florida this year visiting friends and spending time at the Magic Kingdom with family.

On our first day, we met up with my Aunt Cindy and David for an afternoon at Downtown Disney. Because we haven't seen Aunt Cindy since Josh and Alyssa's wedding and Morgan's first birthday, we loved being able to spend a few hours with them.

Morgan, Aunt Cindy, Matty

Morgan, Aunt Cindy, and David

Downtown Disney

Our second stop was to visit 'McKara' (as Matty puts it!) at her wonderful home. Thankfully the weather was quite warm at times so we were able to enjoy the beach, manatee watching, and a rocket launch! It doesn't appear we will ever make a shuttle launch, but it was pretty cool watching the rocket launch. Thankfully the rain held so we didn't get soaking wet while we waited!

Day at the beach

Manatee Watching

Rocket Launch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_IV)

Brian, Kara, and I enjoyed a night out for my birthday

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