Christmas in Georgia

After Christmas, the whole family piled into the 15 passenger van and we drove to Georgia to spend time with Mike's brother Kit and his family. It was a wonderful, entirely too short visit. We left Saturday night and drove thru the night, arriving shortly after 1pm on Sunday. My brother, Andy, house-sat while we were gone. (Thanks Andy!) While in Georgia, we went to Wild Adventures (of course) and had a blast riding every ride several times over in just a few hours (that's the beauty of no long lines!). The weather was perfect and my kids enjoyed wearing short-sleeves and even shorts! Here's a few pics...

Liz, Austin, and Trevor on the swings...

Mike, Carolynn, and Liz driving safari.

Mike and Trevor on Pharoah's Fury.

Mike, Trev, and Carolynn watching the tiger.

Here's the whole crew crashed into each other... Maddie and Kate, Josh and Michael, Devon and Rhett, Jen abd Austin.

Devon is so excited to have the chance to drive... good thing he was allowed to run into stuff!

Jen and Austin having a blast crashing into everyone.
Maddie driving the bumper car, Katelynn at shotgun.

Josh at the wheel as Michael gives tips on the next victim...

This ride happened to be Carolynn's favorite. After it was over with Dad and Kate, she begged to go on "gin" so Mom and Trev took her. Later when Josh had her and was walking past the ride on the was to meet the rest of the group, she talked him into taking her on again!

Trev and Liz on the airplanes.

Aunt Leann, Kate, Devon, and Michael hanging on for Bugout.

Mike and Trev starting out on Aunt Farm roller coaster.
I just had to include this picture even though you really can't see anyone clearly. The reason I'm including this is because I hate this ride. My children love to torture me, though, so I have to ride it once for their pleasure as I scream the whole way. It is one of those roller coasters where you can't brace your feet against anything as you fly around, way up high, upside down, flying around curves, etc. All my children have ridden it, and in this picture Mike was riding on it with Trevor. It was going too fast to get a good picture, but I tried to get a shot here at the end, and still missed their faces. If you look closely, you can still see Trevor's little black sneakers next to Mike's tan leg. Mike is behind the 2nd white pole from the right -- the one that's at an angle. And, of course, when Trevor got off the ride, he was wearing this great big grin. I don't understand why he likes it!

Anyway, we had a wonderful vist. Thanks Kit and Leann for being willing to take on my large crew in your home. Thanks to Maddie and Liz for giving up their beds for my family, and thanks to Jen for sharing her room. You guys are fabulous!

Almost Done

So, we were hoping to have our addition done by Christmas, but it didn't quite happen. It's getting close, though. Merlin Miller has done a beautiful job and I am very well pleased. Our house now looks huge from the outside, too. The painter is almost done, the bamboo floor is in (I love it!!!!), but the carpets, bathroom fixtures, closet shelving, light fixtures, and other finishing touch things are pretty much all that's left. Merlin says maybe by the end of next week... Here are some pics so you guys can get an idea of what it looks like! Of course pictures don't do it justice. You'll have to come personally if you want to see what it really looks like...

So that's the outside while walking around from the front of the house. We're gonna have to work on the landscaping. And where you see the maroon van parked, there is an area large enough for the boys to play basketball... a large half court.

Now for the inside tour... We'll start from the kitchen going into the addition. You'll see the new dining room with the tiger-stripe bamboo floor. I love the look, the kids love to run and slide on it. It's not all pretty yet, there is still construction equipment laying about. Anyway, the doorway off to the right is my new pantry -- plenty of room for the extra fridge and the deep freezer and shelving for food storage. Straight ahead is the stairway to upstairs. On the left are windows and the french doors leading out to the patio.

Entering the dining room, you can see a doorway leading into the "office" A door off the "office" and the second doorway off the dining room is a full bath. The third doorway (right next to the chimney area) leads to the under-house area. We are putting a woodstove where the ladder is standing.

Looking from the corner of the dining room, you can see the french doors and back into the kitchen. We plan to extend the patio out several more feet to center the french doors. Next we head upstairs... Halfway up the stairs is a landing and the door leading out to the garage. At the top of the stairs on the left is a small doorway leading to the above garage storage.

At the top of the stairs to the right is the full bath with linen closet (first doorway on left). The other doorway leads to the room that will be Josh and Devon's. Just to the right off Josh and Devon's door, but not pictured is a laundry closet. The boys will be doing their own laundry!! (see the smile on my face!!)

The first pic here is the teal room which will be Josh and Dev's. It has 3 nice windows. Up the stairs and take a sharp right (180 degrees) you enter the large bedroom (blue) which is going to be Michael and Rhett's. It only has two windows. The closet pictured here is the same size as the one in Josh and Dev's room. Josh and Dev's windows open out to the front and driveway side of the house, while Michael and Rhett will have the pretty view facing the yard /patio.

And that's the tour! Family and friends are welcome to visit anytime and see for themselves.

Josh and Devon's calves

Josh and Devon decided to try to make a little extra money this coming year by raising a couple of calves to meat out. This past fall, the purchased a couple of newborn dairy bulls and then bottle fed them for several months. Now they are getting bigger and are eating hay for the winter, but I wanted to get their pictures posted while they were still small.Devon's calves are Spot and Spunk, and Josh's calf is Beef. As you can see, Sage likes to make sure the cow's faces are washed after they're done eating! Unfortunately, Spot passed away for an unknown reason this past Saturday. Devon was very upset. He really enjoyed the calves... not just because of their money making potential, either! Sometimes I wonder if the boys will get too attached to sell them for meat this next year!

Monkey see...

Last month, after returning from Scott's, I had noticed the air was low in one of our van tires. So I used the foot pump to put a little more air in so I could drive it to get it fixed (there was a nail in the tire. The next day, I was outside with Carolynn, taking care of the animals and what not. I turned around and she was gone. This is what I found her doing...
Monkey see, Monkey do!

Sunday at Scott's

Sunday dawned warm and sunny. Caelin went to church with Mom, me and mine. I think Caelin sat the best of all the kids. After church we went for a walk again. Chase and Carolynn shared the wagon. They loved being pulled by Granny all over! The weather was absolutely beautiful! We drove to the "beach" near the opening of the development and the kids waded into the cold water and played in the sand. Chase didn't really move from the spot he was placed for a good 15 minutes as the others played and wandered around the beach.

That afternoon, Trevor and Caelin carved some pumpkins for Halloween. The boys helped clean out the guts and Granny and I carved the faces they designed. Carolynn and Chase wandered around the yard, checking miscellaneous items throughout the experience. Then everyone posed for pictures.

The rest of the day, was spent relaxing and chatting with Lori (who fixed a fabulous dinner), watching the kids play, and trying to decide if we should stay and enjoy the company, or if we should go home in the morning so Trev only missed one day of school and I had a chance to catch up on the laundry before I had to go back to work. We decided to leave early in the morning and head back to PA, taking wonderful memories home with us to treasure.

It took us a bit longer to get home. We stopped to get breakfast, stopped to get gas, stopped for a potty break, and stopped for lunch. We left around 6:30 am, and got home in time to pick up Josh from his football game around 5:30 pm. I think I like driving at night better!

Thanks to Lori for a wonderful visit. I look forward to seeing everyone again, hopefully soon!