A Recap of the Holidays

Can you believe it's 2017?  What happened to 2016?  It went by so fast!

I didn't do a lot of blogging in 2016 (compared with previous years) and I'm hoping to be more consistent in 2017.

We were so busy over the holidays that I didn't get a chance to blog.  We had lots of Christmas parties and dinners with friends to attend leading up to Christmas.  Christmas eve we woke up to the most beautiful snowfall!  Mike was off from work so we headed to Heavenly, met up with some friends, and skied a few laps of fluffy, fresh powder.  We treated ourselves to an amazing steak dinner at home that evening, then headed to the Christmas Eve service at church.  It was a perfect day.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS...
FRESH SNOW...
HOT COFFEE...
JUST HOW CHRISTMAS MORNING SHOULD BE. 

SANTA?  YOU FORGOT TO LEAVE US PRESENTS!

LET IT SNOW.

 Christmas morning I woke up super early to drive to the airport... headed to Raleigh to spend time with my family.  I had 2 layovers - Salt Lake City and Atlanta.  I made it to Salt Lake without any issues... but that's where my luck ran out.  We sat on the plane for 3 hours before even leaving the gate!  I missed my connection in Atlanta, and had to wait 5 hours in the airport before my next flight.  Instead of getting to RDU at 7:35 pm as expected... I got in at 12:30 am!  My sweet parents were there to greet me at that ridiculous hour.  Thanks again Mom and Dad!  You're the best!

SALT LAKE CITY... PLEASE NOTICE THE
EMPLOYEE WEARING SHORTS!!!! 

NOTHING BUT SPINNING TIRES AND BROKEN
SHOVELS

SANTA!!!!!!!!!!  

ABOUT TO BE DE-ICED. 

The de-icing process involved a lot more fluid than I anticipated...

 All the travel issues were totally worth it to be able to spend some time with my two favorite kiddos!

ON OUR WAY TO THE MUSEUM OF LIFE AND SCIENCE!

WE SAW LEMURS!

AND PLAYED IN AWESOME TREEHOUSES!

SWEET LAINEY

FIN CLIMBED EVERYTHING HE POSSIBLY COULD

SO DID LAINEY

WE RODE THE TRAIN!!!! 

 I had SOOO much fun hanging out with those kids.  We spent days playing hide and seek in my parents yard.  They are at a SUPER fun age and I'm so glad I got to spend lots of time with them on this trip.

Tahoe is beautiful.  Ridiculously beautiful.  But THIS will always be home: 

On the 28th, I was able to make it to Greensboro to surprise my sweet friend Kendall on her 20th birthday!  Y'all... she's 20!!!!  I can not get over that.  She was 10 when I met her.  Crazy.  She was surrounded by all her friends and family and she was so excited!  She is so awesome.  And so loved.  It was SO great to see you Kendall (and family)!  Maybe I will make it to next year's birthday celebration as well... when you will be 21 years old!!! YIKES!

 I spent a full day hanging with my best friend... just like old times!  We reminisced and did all there is to do around Wendell.  We stopped in to visit with friends... we went to Aubrey's for lunch... drove around Wendell Falls neighborhood and walked through the model homes... went shopping downtown... checked out a new brewery in Knightdale.  It was perfect!

AUBREY'S... YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT AND I LOVE IT!

To ring in the new year... I drove down to Wilmington to spend some time with some friends from college.  We did dinner at Elijah's on the water, walked around downtown to see how much has changed, stopped in our high school friend's new beverage company, and watched the ball drop from a friend's sofa because we are too old to stay out late.  

GOOD TIMES. 

Ironically, my college roommate (who currently lives in San Diego) was home for the holidays as well.  So, even though we are both living on the west coast, we were able to meet up for a quick visit on the east coast.  We went ice skating with her 3 boys. 

SO GOOD TO CATCH UP!
I REALLY HOPE IT'S OK THAT I'M ABOUT TO POST PICTURES
OF YOUR CHILDREN ON THIS BLOG....

BECAUSE HERE THEY ARE:

THOMAS

NOAH

PATRICK

 Meanwhile, in Tahoe, they were getting dumped on by the storm of the century.  It brought 3.5 - 4 ft of snow at our house!  We have never seen snow like that since we moved here.  When I got home a couple days later, there was still plenty of snow around to enjoy (and shovel).

THIS IS AFTER MIKE SHOVELED THE DECK.

CAN YOU TELL THAT THE SNOW IS AS HIGH AS OUR
DECK RAILING? 

WHO WANTS TO GRILL? 

IT IS BEAUTIFUL THOUGH. 

As I sit here typing this, it is raining outside.  After all that beautiful snow we now have a heavy, wet mess!  And it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow.  There is serious concern about flooding in the valleys.  Not a good situation.  And following all the rain should be MORE SNOW.  I'll do my best to post some pictures or videos of the storm (as long as it's safe to be out in it).  

2016 was an amazing year for us.  It was full of ups and downs.  When I look back at previous blogs from 2016 I am overwhelmed with how blessed we are.  

2016 started out rough with the loss of our sweet dog.  But ultimately, the year ended up being full of blessings:

We saw more epic sunsets than ever before... more rainbows than we can count.  We took an awesome road trip to Oregon.  We hosted family here in Tahoe, and we visited family in NC.  We bought a house!  We hiked mountains with friends.  We camped with friends.  We got pulled over by cops while mountain biking with friends.  We spread Zater's ashes in places we knew he loved.  We dog sat for lots of amazing pups.  We went to Hawaii and got to visit with family while we were there.  

2016 was truly spectacular.  

Welcome 2017!  We are so excited to see what you have in store for us!

Sending SO much love to our friends and family in 2017!  We hope your year is AWESOME!