Well, it's been way too long since I've posted. My excuse this time...the holidays and my lack of a laptop with working wireless connection and my crazy work life and.... The list could go on and on, but the fact remains that I simply haven't made the time. During the last few months, there have been at least two times if not more when God has giving me something to post during my quiet times. Two major holidays and two months have passed since I last posted. Yikes! Time really does fly, and if I don't stop on occasion and really think about it, many memories will be lost with it.
That night, after two weeks of gorgeous Colorado weather, the snow came. We thought about leaving before it hit, but I didn't want another drive through the night, and after all, we have lived in Wisconsin for two-and-a-half years; we could handle driving through some snow. The drive the next morning wasn't bad, just slow. We averaged 40 miles an hour the first five hours of our trip. After that, we made pretty good time, but we still didn't get to Wisconsin until nearly 1:00 in the morning. Since we got home much later than anticipated, so we let Hannah skip school the next day and get some much needed rest.
So here it is...
Thanksgiving:
My favorite holiday, ever! No commercialization, no pressure, just good food, fun and family. It doesn't get any better. Shayne's parents came up again this year and spent the week with us. It was so nice to have them. We hated that they had to leave a day or two earlier than planned, but our first really good snowstorm of the season was on its way, so it was best for them to head back to Colorado.
Christmas:
We spent Christmas morning at home, just the three of us. I know many people talk about how peaceful and nice it is to have a "low-key" Christmas, but I don't like it. Until last year, I don't think I have ever in my life had a low-key Christmas. When you're accustomed to lots of places to go and family to see and lots of noise, it's a little disconcerting to be honest with you. However, it was a wonderful day. We all had a great Christmas morning celebrating Jesus' birth, opening gifts, sledding on a beautiful, sunny winter day and eating a traditional Christmas dinner.
We left the around 4:30 pm the day after Christmas to fulfill all of those desires for family and arrived at my grandparents' in Texas around 10:00 am. We drove through some of the worst fog I have ever seen in my life (which is a longer story for another post), but with God's guidance arrived safely if not well rested. After spending the day with my aunt, uncle, cousin and grandparents, we went to my sister's house for the evening.
The next day, Sunday, brought what has essentially become a miracle. My entire family spent the day together at my parents' house: Daddy, Kathy, all six kids, spouses, fiancee, grandchildren...even Grandma Libby & Greg. With five children and fourteen adult schedules to coordinate, you can see why this is now a miracle.
Monday was a very busy day. We went to Granbury to visit my Grandma Neeper with Taylor in tow. We tried to maximize the amount of time that Hannah and Taylor had together since we were only in Texas for three days. From there, we headed back to Burleson to spend some time with Blaine, Kelly and Ethan. We were prepared for all of the traveling. Many people can't stand that much driving, but for us it was not a big deal in any way. It was critical for us to see each and every person we saw on this trip and a joy. I only wish we could have extended our stay with everyone. What we hadn't prepared for (I know...we should have known) was the weather. We watched the weather for a week leading up to our trip trying to pack for three different climates. All week, the weather folks had claimed that the highs would be in the 50s while we were in Texas. Well, Monday, it was 70 degrees on Blaine & Kelly's back porch. Note to self: always pack short sleeves and capris when going to Texas...ALWAYS!
After a much too short visit with the Fords, we headed over to Nana Gloria & Uncle Don's house for the night. Another very pleasurable, but too short visit. We finally met the two newest additions to that side of the family: Beryn & Beck. They are beautiful, and Hannah was the biggest girl trying to help babysit the twins. She enjoyed every minute with them.
Tuesday was transition day. We left Fort Worth around 7:30 am, and spent most of the day like this...
We got to Shayne's parents' house that evening with dinner prepared. After dinner, we went ahead and opened gifts since Micah's parents were leaving the next morning and got the great news that our newest baby will be a GIRL!! Micah and Jeremy were so sly about it, too. They had canceled their sono appointment in the States, so no one was expecting to find out while they were here. They conveniently left out that they had another sono in England just before coming home for Christmas. The first gift opened that night was by Mom:
We were able to spend the next two full days with Jeremy & Micah before they left. Shayne and Jeremy hiked off trail from their parent's house to Dome Rock (with Hannah worried the whole time that the mountain lions might decide they looked good). The girls spend most of that time hanging out playing games and chatting and exploring in the car. Unfortunately, Dad woke up with a cold Thursday morning and spent most of that two days trying to recover.
On Friday, we had breakfast at the Hungry Bear before taking Micah & Jeremy to the airport. After a stop at Lowe's and Chick-fil-A, we headed back up the hill. Friday night (my birthday), Shayne took me to Cripple Creek for a seafood buffet dinner at the new casino...very nice dinner and nice Chardonnay.
Saturday, we hiked the Dome Rock trail from Four Mile Road for a bit. We didn't get to go far since we had Hannah, but it was beautiful!
That night, after two weeks of gorgeous Colorado weather, the snow came. We thought about leaving before it hit, but I didn't want another drive through the night, and after all, we have lived in Wisconsin for two-and-a-half years; we could handle driving through some snow. The drive the next morning wasn't bad, just slow. We averaged 40 miles an hour the first five hours of our trip. After that, we made pretty good time, but we still didn't get to Wisconsin until nearly 1:00 in the morning. Since we got home much later than anticipated, so we let Hannah skip school the next day and get some much needed rest.
Well, it was a whirlwind ten days, but worth everything to spend time with all of our family.
I hope to be much better about posting more regularly. I need to stop more often and think about these days that are flying by. Hannah will be grown before I can blink, and if I don't stop and jot some of these things down, they'll be gone.
Love,
Courtney
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