Polar Express in Bryson City, NC

Last Christmas I made reservations for my family and my parents to go to Bryson City to ride the Polar Express. I kept it a secret from my children for a whole YEAR!!! My parents rented a van from Toyota and then we surprised the children at Daycare on Friday afternoon early. We stopped in Winston Salem to see my grandmother and spent the night. Saturday morning we kept driving to the mountains. It was such a wonderful time. My children had never seen the mountains or stayed in a hotel! James was very excited about the Sleep Inn! We had bought First Class tickets. We got special treats, and Hot chocolate (like in the movie) in ceramic mugs. The waiters danced around, the Polar Express book was read out loud, and Santa came and gave every child a bell. The best part was that all 6 of us wore our pajamas and bath robes!!

Giving Grandma Betty Her presents

We went to Winston Salem the other night to see my grandmother. The children enjoyed giving her their gifts!

NC State Basketball Game

I had the best opportunity the other night to take James to his first basketball game! It was between NC State and Wake Forest! We got the tickets from someone at church and they were great! James was mesmerized at the game. He loved watching them warm up. It was so special to get to spend this time with him!

December Fun

Our Family was chosen to light the first Advent Candle at church this year! James loved doing that! One afternoon, the children and I decorated cookies (well, Emma Lou ate a bunch of icing). The children look so cute in their new Christmas pj's!

Popcorn came back!

The last weekend in November is very special, because our Elf on the Shelf, Popcorn returns! This year he brought them white donuts (a must!) and new Christmas Pajamas!

Mrs. Hanes' Moravian Cookies

A tradition for my family is to give people Mrs. Hanes' Moravian cookies for Christmas. I began visiting her shop when I was a young child. After Thanksgiving this year, my folks, my grandmother, my children, and myself went to show James and Emma Lou her shop!

The Big Break!

So on Veterans Day, I was home with the children because Day Care was closed. Fairley and I decided that we would let the children play at her house and then we would go to the mall (with all the other crazy moms and children) to eat lunch. Everything had been great...until! We were in this play area and the children were having a great time. The lady beside me said, "your child is on the floor over there". Sure enough, Emma Lou was on the ground crying. I go over to her and say "you're ok! Go play". Well when I stand her up, she falls right back down. (start to kinda worry). I bring her over to fairley and we tell her to "walk it off". I stand her back up and she falls down again. (really starting to freak out). She says her foot hurts and she can't walk. The lady beside me said Emma Lou started sliding down the 5' high slide and then decided to jump. She landed on her foot. It is already swollen. Fast forward about 1 1/2 hours. She has broken 2 bones in her foot and has a cast on! The first picture is what she was sliding down (slide is on other side) when she decided to jump!

God loves the Police!

Our Mission Friends lesson the other day was talking about a Police Department Chaplain. We colored pictures of policemen and talked about how much God loves them. James and I went the other day and dropped off our package of colored pictures!

Happy Birthday Bert and Annabel

Fairley had a joint party for Bert and Annabel the other weekend. It was at a local free range farm. I had never been around so many animals! The children loved it. Kids were chasing the turkeys. One of the peacocks flew onto the roof and then the chimney! Emma Lou and Bert had a great time playing together. We all got to feed the animals with food we had brought from home.