Oh Christmas Tree!

We made our second annual trip to Little Grandfather Christmas Tree Farm up in Alleghany County yesterday to pick out our tree. We had beautiful weather, in the 60's, even up in the mountains! I decorated the tree last night, and it's so nice to smell a fresh pine tree again. We even bought a wreath made from fresh Fraser fir pine garland. It's hanging over the fireplace. I've never had a REAL wreath before! :)

We started out around 10am and drove up towards Boone, then headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we pulled off on the side of the road and had a picnic of yummy subs we packed to take with us. About an hour later we made it to the tree farm where we rode in a van, then on a wagon pulled by a tractor to where we picked our tree. Aiden saw Santa driving a truck with the cut trees, and he also met up with him at the barn where we picked up our tree. Santa gave Aiden a piece of candy. He wasn't that afraid of Santa thank goodness... :)

We then made our way back down the mountain, stopped at Sam's in Hickory and had a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesday (their mini burgers are SUPER yummy!). We got home about 7pm.

We had a nice Thanksgiving at home with my parents. Wednesday we drove to Hartwell, Georgia with my parents to visit with relatives on my mom's side of the family. There were a few that I had never met before and it was very special to visit with them. Thursday, we had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house. My brother was able to come too so that was nice to see him again. Daddy and Matt cut down a bunch of trees during the day too! It was a productive Turkey Day :)

I've had a cold since this past Tuesday and it's still keeping me up at night. I think I slept about 4 or 5 hours last night, broken up into 2-3 hour segments. I feel alright for the most part during the day, but when I lay down to go to sleep, my nose gets clogged and I start coughing a bunch. Hopefully it will clear up soon.

The long awaited update!

I'm finally sitting down to take a few minutes to update the throngs of people who flock to my blog daily to see if I have updated...

Life has been relatively good to us over the past several weeks. I have been uber busy with sessions, and Matt has been busy with work. He finally got a break last week from the long hours. He's at work today, but is off for the rest of the week! We will be travelling home to Brevard early Wednesday morning, then to Hartwell, GA for a family reunion. Thursday we plan to stay in the mountains with my parents and have Thanksgiving with them. That will be a change after hosting Turkey Day here at our house the past couple years.

I'm getting that Christmas spirit already. I must admit, I've been playing Christmas music for a while now. Right now Harry Connick Jr is serenading me with "The Christmas Waltz." Today is one of those cold dreary days that just makes you want to curl up in a cozy chair with a cup of hot cider and watch a good Christmas movie. This time of year is so special to me. I enjoy all the fond memories of past Christmases and I look forward to the many Christmases to come. It's the only time of year I can go crazy with baking and not feel guilty about eating all of the yummy goodies we make. I love decorating, I love the music. As the years go on, I want to Aiden to remember Christmas not only for the birth of Jesus, but that Christmas is a time of family, a time of being thankful for all of our blessings, a time to look back and reflect on how far we have come and to look forward to see what lies ahead in our future. I want to give Aiden special memories that he can share with his children and his grandchildren.

My yummy lollipop is no longer, so I must get back to the house straightening. We completed a furniture swap this weekend and now I'm trying to get everything reorganized.

Be thankful this week for all of the blessings in your life. In all of the hustle and bustle of the season, take the time to enjoy this special time of year.

"Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 106:1