Christmas Night 2011

Christmas night we had a huge bonfire at our house. All of our family had come over in the afternoon and we ate, played  games, and then had the bonfire.

We shot fireworks,

played with sparklers

and just sat around and talked. It was SO much fun!

One of the other things we did was this.

I told Cara I wanted to try to take pics of her doing Lincoln's name with the sparklers. I think it turned out pretty cool, don't you?

Breakfast Room Tree

I went to the Rescue Mission a few days before Christmas and found this tree for my breakfast room.

It was a pre-lit tree and they were asking $20 for it. We tested to see if the lights worked and since they did not, they marked it down to $5. I snatched it up knowing I could just add my own lights. My sweet husband cut off all the strands for me! We re-strung the tree and added red and green ornaments. Pretty awesome for only $5, don't you think!

Foyer Tree

Can you believe I got this 9  ft pre-lit tree off the side of the road? It was in perfect condition except  for a strand of lights that had some blown bulbs. We replaced those without any problem.

It is perfect for the foyer, don't you think?

Night view from the front door.

Christmas Parade

Yesterday was a busy day for us. It was Scot's birthday and the wedding of one of my cousin's. We did however, manage to squeeze in our small town's Christmas Parade. It is something the kids look forward to every year!

Josh and Marah's Wedding

Yesterday was such a fun day! We first celebrated Scot's birthday and then later that night, we celebrated my cousin, Josh, getting married!

It was a beautiful wedding and we are so happy that Marah is now officially a part of our family!

Cherokee, NC

On our way through the mountains, we stopped in Cherokee to do a little Geo-caching. 

It had been raining earlier, but thankfully had stopped while we were driving down the mountain. It would have been a scary experience if the rain had not stopped! 

Cherokee was a neat little place. I only wish we had more time to see more of it.

Quick Stop in the Mountains

On our way home from OH, we spent the night in Gatlinburg. The next morning we stopped at a few places and even did a little geo-caching. There is so much to do there, but we didn't have a lot of time to explore the area like we all wanted to! We promised the kids we would come back again soon...maybe late summer??!!!?!

Here are a few pics to remember our quick trip.