home again, home again

We are home from our little trip, safe and sound.
So thankful for that!

We had a fun last night in our cabin.
We watched the movie, Elf (so funny!),
and got in a workout....

Nick insisted he could lift me just as easily.
So we gave it a try.
Ahem.
To his credit, he got me up higher than I predicted.
But...it was pretty much a flop.
Especially since I giggled excessively.
No pics, sorry.

On our way out this morning,
Kel worked on getting the camera set up to take a family pic.

A tad off-center.

Ok.
Now that's more like it.
Nice!

Now I'm gearing up for Christmas.
I can't wait!!
I love, love, love it so much!

last day of vacay

We are heading home in a little while.
Thank goodness.

We're having fun but I tell ya, there's something about being with
three teens and a five year old non-stop that just makes
a mom wanna hurl herself off
the cabin balcony.
Don't worry, it's a very short drop.

Anyway, we made it to Silver Dollar City yesterday.
We had such high hopes that it wouldn't be crowded at all
because 75% of Branson is closed right
now because of winter.
But no,
folks from who knows where all came out at the very same
time as us.
It was really disappointing because there were a lot of little shows we
wanted to go see but the lines were ridiculous.
So we just rode a few rides and enjoyed all the billions of lights
and then went back to the cabin.


Here is Lucy waiting in line for Fire in the Hole.

For those of you who have been here, you know what a classic ride this is.
It's an indoor "roller coaster" (very mild) that I've been riding
since I was probably Lucy's age.
She was so excited.

And nervous.
She had a very hard time trying to decide which of us she wanted
to ride with. She changed her mind about a dozen times
during our wait to get on.
She finally decided on Brenden.
Good choice.
No on makes a coaster ride more thrilling than B, as you can imagine.

Then we moved on to the The Teacups.
The three big kids rode together.
As you can see by the blur,
they had that thing spinning so fast it was terrifying.
And don't worry,
that alarming look on Macy's face was her laughing hysterically.

Lucy and I barely rotated our cup of Earl Grey.
It was smooth and easy, just like a giant mug of tea should be.

And the bigs continued until they practically threw up.

So then Kel and Lucy jumped on the Elephant ride.

And here are the teens as they waited.
Just look at 'em.
Pitiful poops.
Couldn't get a smile out of any of them.

Moving on...Nick's mood changed quickly when he rode
The Happy Frogs with Lucy.
Because it is stinkin' fun.
Seriously, this thing bounces you til you're giddy.

The lights here are incredible.
They go crazy wrapping all the trees, buildings, and fences.
There is Christmas music playing
and the entire thing is VERY Christ-centered.
I love this Christian owned theme park so much.

Oh, but I forgot to mention,
it was SOOOO COLD!!!

At this point, Lucy was the crankiest of all the crankies.
Don't you love how her ear muffs have turned
into cheek muffs?
Adorable.
But not me.
I'm Miss Perky all the time.
(If any of my family leaves a comment, ignore it)

We'll be home soon!

Can't wait for Christmas!

christmas vacation update

Our little cabin.

Just a real quick update on our Christmas vacation.

We are having an absolutely blast.
And by blast, I mean...we are tolerating each other's whining
and odds of opinions on where to eat, shop, and breathing habits quite nicely.

Wow, looky there...I am on this vacation!

What the heck?

A t-shirt we saw.
Oh, President George W...do we ever miss you!

Mid-shopping.

Shortly after shopping.

Amateurs.

a fun filled day {SO fun!}

What a day, ya'll.

What.A.Day.

First, I stormed through my house to get it clean and tidy
after my wrap-a-thon and other goings-on.
I had forgotten how great it
is to have freshly clean toilets.
It really is a mountain-top experience.
I'm still feeling the rush.

THEN,
the girls and I went to lunch with some new special friends.
Apparently, I've had a blog stalker for some time who is almost
in my back yard.
Her name is Robyn and she's way cool.
It's always a good day when your stalker turns out
not to be a crazy loon.
Yeah, that's always good.

Isn't she cute?!

And to boot, she is dear friends with, Mia, a gal from Macy's orphanage
who is in the US (Washington) going to college.
Mia is staying with Robyn's family for the holidays.

Anyway, Robyn's clan is such a fun family.
And we plan to get together hopefully on a regular basis
so our older girls (their new daughter Cate is 10) can
become friends and keep their Chinese fresh.

Oh and six year old Reed (who is also from Macy's orphanage)
is the male equivalent to Lucy.
They were both packed with energy...and personality.
Reed and Macy...two of the three Luoyang kids at our gathering.
Is it obvious that he was completely smitten with her?
From the moment he laid eyes on her,
the flirting began.
So cute!
And how 'bout that smile?! Have you ever?

Did you catch ALL the details of our connections?
Seriously,
only God alone could have brought us all together,
and boy, am I glad He did.

And Mia is the sweetest girl.
I'm so thankful that she is here visiting
and that we got to spend a little time with her.


Then,
once we got home, we loaded the car up and
headed for a quick trip to Branson, MO.
We wanted to use our season passes Silver Dollar City one last time
and to see the incredible CHRISTmas display that they
put on every year.

We are staying in the CUTEST little log cabin.

I feel like the Ingles.

It's the greatest.
As long as I have running water and my internet,
I could live like this forever.
Especially since there is a Wal Mart about five minutes away.

Yes, it's Little House on the Prairie in every way.

The K-man starting a fire in our rustic little cabin.
With the help of the children, of course.
They're so precious.


Now that was a day.