Christmas in PA

We had a wonderful, quality visit with Mike's parents in Douglassville, PA. They live on a beautiful piece of property in a house that Mike's dad built . . . that backs to a creek . . . with a barn that Mike and his dad also built . . . with a sugar house for syrup making . . . with two horses (Tetly and Snickers)  . . . with access to many farm vehicles . . . complete with many cats to torture (some indoor & some barn).

Needless to say, we had a great time. Nate would wake in the morning, bundle up and go straight to the barn to tend to the horses with Mike's parents - Nan & Randy. They would then cruise around in the golf cart while Nate pointed and grunted, dictating the next destination. We spent most days hanging out, playing inside and out - enjoying the visit! Avery also got her nails done. She acted like such a little adult. She was trying to make conversation with Candy, the nail tech. She asked Candy if she had a house. So sweet!

We got to cut down our own Christmas tree which was pretty awesome. It was a cold and drizzly day, perfect wintery weather. We decorated the tree with a tenth of the ornaments that Nan has collected over the years. She has so many, most hand made!! We made cookies, built a gingerbread house that proceded to fall apart 5 minutes later and ate until our bellies could hold no more.

Mike's parents received an iMac for Christmas, so we helped them set it up, transfer files and gave them tutorials on each the essential Mac apps. It was pretty fun playing with a new computer and experiencing the Mac world through "virgin" eyes. Now we can FaceTime with them on a larger scale!

We attended the family service at their church. It was lovely and mostly child/family led. There were tons of families there, many who had never been to church before. It was such a neat experience. Avery was enamored by the girls dressed as angels and Nate had a giggle fit while reading a touch and feel book that contained sand paper. Christmas day was laid back and full of presents! Nan goes above and beyond, finding meaningful and fun gifts for all of us. Even our stockings are filled to the rim. We went to visit the neighbor's alpaca's, Avery swung on a tire swing and Nathan tortured a barn cat. All in all, it was lovely.

No trip would be complete with out a shopping trip . . . to the outlets . . . at an outdoor mall . . . the day after Christmas. Okay, we were crazy, but Nan and I had cabin fever so we loaded up the kids and off we went. Nate had a great time, but it was torturous for Avery as she has decided that she hates the cold. We waited for 15 minutes in line at Starbucks so that she could get a hot chocolate. I bribed her to behave. No shame there. She continues to come out of her shell. She chatted with the teenage girls behind us, asking about their drink of choice.

We had the chance to visit some of Mike's college friends, Nate and Zabrina, and their kids. We had a humorous, quality visit and their kids were amazing with Avery. It makes me sad when you spend time with people who are so compatible with you and your family, only to have to retreat to your far sides of life. Thank goodness for social networking :-)

The kids were good natured on our travel days. We got booted from our return flight and ended up spending 12 hrs in the PHL airport. The kids were amazing and Nate exceded his car seat tolerance when we were only 5 minutes from home. Can't ask for much more than that. Thank your for all your prayers!

Randy has all the good Christmas day pictures, but hopefully you'll enjoy the ones I have.

How was your Christmas? What was your favorite thing that happened over the holiday?