Winter Fun in Nashville

My children had never experienced snow before moving to Nashville. How sweet it was to see their excitement the first time it snowed! By Christmas time they had seen a number of snow showers, but no accumulation to really enjoy. Even though we had a very, very cold winter there was hardly any snow. After polling the locals I’ve learned that this was an odd winter. Colder and with much less snow than normal.

Then came Christmas. We ended our Thanksgiving vacation with Josh’s family down at Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta, GA. In one of the homes on the plantation property they had yarn strung up all around the children’s room. It was tradition that parents would hide a present in their bedroom, tie a yarn to it, and then criss-cross the yarn around the room. In the morning each child would follow his or her yarn until the gift was found. We thought this would be a fun tradition to begin in our house, so we did. And true to his nature, Josh gave it his all. The poor kids never had a chance…

The yarn spanned two rooms of our apartment. Lydia’s was very short and simple, but she probably had the hardest time of all because she had to climb over and under James and JoyAnna’s yarn tangles. I’m not sure who had more fun…the kids, or us!

Lydia and I sat on the couch and patiently waited while the older two kept wrapping yarn. (Notice my ugly Christmas sweater?) James loved his new slippers and K’NEX. JoyAnna just had a blast ripping wrapping paper. Daddy got a wonderfully fuzzy wool hat. And Gideon only had 4 months to go!

 

Georgia On My Mind

Nathan, Yesenia & Natalie with JoyAnna, James and Lydia

Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas we spent a few days with our dear friends, The Menas. They graciously invited us to spend some of their vacation with them in the mountains of Georgia, and we very gladly accepted!

Jesus & Issel with Josh & Heather

They were renting an adorable cabin on Black Rock Mountain, very nearby The Foxfire Museum & Heritage Center. If you are ever in Northern Georgia, you should stop there and spent a few hours. You could easily spend a few hours simply talking to the people inside the museum shop, so you might as well just plan to spend the whole day. You'll be glad that you did! I've always been interested in the people of Appalachia, and this was such an amazing place to learn some of their history.




We also visited Tallulah Gorge. Josh brought me there on our honeymoon 8 years ago. It used to be a popular honeymoon location. Funny though, back in the day when newlyweds were flocking to the area, I don't believe bushwhacking was on their to-do list. Near death experiences probably weren't either. Granted, that was before there was life insurance policies.

Now, after I survived the hike down into the gorge, as well as the hike back out 8 years ago, I swore I would never do it again. That is a brutal feat. Especially for someone who is terrified of heights! By the time you are halfway down, your legs are jelly just from the physical exertion, not to mention the height, the shaking suspension bridge, and slippery steps. 

Miraculously, we all survived our hike. Even the children!

After all of that, can you believe they make you PAY for these???

8 Years and Counting

Last year, inspired by a conversation that took place on our 7th wedding anniversary, I wrote a blog post called 7 Years to Eternity that included lyrics from a song that Andrew Peterson, a fellow Nashville resident, wrote.

For my 30th birthday, my dear husband brought me to Chattanooga to see him in concert and we were fortunate enough to hear him perform that song.

Since we recently celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary, and I was re-reading that blog post from last year and reflecting, I thought I would post the video I took from the concert.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving in Gatlinburg

We spent last Thanksgiving in an amazing cabin in Gatlinburg with Josh’s parents, his siblings and their spouses and our nieces. All in all there were 10 adults plus 5 children, every one of them under the age of 5! It was chaotic, but so much fun!

 

It snowed!! I think it was the first snow that our kids really got to experience since our move. We were very excited! Everyone bundled up and ran outside to have snowball fights and build snowmen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Josh worked so hard to roll up enough snow for a snowman. Once he had rolled up two balls for the bottom two portions of the snowman and stacked them, he put it on the trunk of our car. While he went to roll a head, the other parts slid off of the car and smashed on the driveway. Oops. He was devastated. He spent the next 30 minutes pouting on the pavement and contemplating the meaning of his existence. Poor thing.

Tennessee is such a beautiful state! The mountains there in Gatlinburg are just incredible. We drove up into them one day and the snow and ice were beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We visited Cade’s Cove. It is a driving tour. Lydia got to drive.There were deer grazing in a field. Josh was thinking out loud that if he only had his bow and arrow he could make the shot from where we were parked. He said, “That, my children, is food.” And Lydia promptly pointed and said, “Food!” Quite comical. It was only appropriate then for us to head downtown to the Jerky Store and pick up some venison jerky. Mmm good! (In case you were wondering, it was a very cold day!)

 

 

 

 

 

We visited The Christmas Place, The Apple Barn (you must go there and have some apple cider donuts and hot cider!) and enjoyed some snuggle time with Erma and Erpa too!

Leaf Raking and Bonding Time in New Jersey

In November we made a trip to New Jersey. It was a bittersweet time for us. My grandmother was in the hospital living her final days.

When we weren’t at the hospital, we tried to keep things light. We raked leaves for Grandpa Beaver. It was Josh’s first time raking leaves. And our children’s first time really seeing a huge accumulation of fallen leaves on the ground. So it was also their first time jumping in leaves.

Lydia hated it. She opted to supervise. James and JoyAnna had a great time. Josh got blisters. We learned an important lesson that day – gloves are a necessity when raking. Uncle Timmy owns his own landscaping business. Maybe James will grow up to be apprenticed to him? JoyAnna can take care of marketing and Lydia can keep the books, or something.

James and JoyAnna rode ponies at the Padilla’s house.

And Lydia developed a special bond with her Uncle Timmy.

As we drove past the “You are now leaving New Jersey” sign on the interstate, JoyAnna burst into tears. She wanted to stay and live there. Sweet girl! When you are old enough to learn about taxes and politics, my dear, you will change your mind.