Christmas recap

     I know this post is long overdue, but this week we have been getting back into the swing of things, settling back into our routine as our little family of three after more than a week with family for Christmas. It's always an adjustment being back, especially for Owen, after having non-stop attention from all his grandparents and aunts and uncles. 

     Not much can be said about this Christmas other than it was one of my favorites of the past few years. Not that each Christmas isn't special in its own way, like our first married Christmas, the Christmas I was pregnant, and Owen's first Christmas, but this one seemed different in some way. I will always remember how Owen's precious toddler presence energized the room at my in-laws on Christmas Eve. How everyone remarked afterward that it was different somehow with Owen. And I will remember how much he loves everyone in our family despite the fact that we don't live nearby and see them on a weekly or even monthly basis sometimes. He knows all of them and loves each of them so much. He was particularly attentive to his Papa's presence this year and would notice immediately anytime he left the room, asking, "Where Papa?" 

      At my parents house, opening presents and spending time together on Christmas Day took over and we forgot about everything else. So much so that our afternoon Christmas dinner had to become an evening Christmas dinner. And how Owen spent more time climbing my dad's new mechanic's chair than playing with any of his toys. 

      I guess that maybe this year Owen reminded us all to appreciate the simple things in life.  The little moments and the little joys. How a room full of toys is nothing compared to being pushed back and forth in a cardboard box by a grandma. 

Painting sugar cookies with Aunt Leah, a Rumely family tradition. 

Owen's completed cookies. 

A small sampling of our decorated Christmas cookies.

Uncle Joseph can always be counted on to get Owen wound up before bed.

Checking out his new Mickey Mouse slippers with Aunt Jenny.

Little boy silliness.

Family photos before the candlelight service at church.

Books are always a hit with our little reader.

Helping other open their presents was even more fun than opening his own.

Mommy's proudest moment: a toy that held Owen's attention for more than 15 minutes. Batteries not included.

Vroom vroom. Honk honk!

Another winner this year.

As always, Owen has to check out the "cowboy" at Grams' house. 

In addition to a great jungle gym, Grandpa's new mechanic's chair also makes a good desk.

Who cares about presents? It's all about the boxes!

Outside adventures with Grandpa are always lots of fun.  

Running toddlers crack me up.  

An outside boy.

  

Mountain Vacation Part 2

     We were fortunate to have another weekend vacation this past weekend when we went to the mountains with my in-laws. They recently built a house in Young Harris, Georgia and we were so excited to be able to see it. I had seen it once before when I stopped by with Tim's parents when they brought me to Kentucky, but Tim had never seen it before in person. It is a  beautiful place and my favorite part is the front and back porches. I enjoyed reading outside in a rocking chair on the front porch and eating our meals on the back porch. We weren't there for long, but we did enjoy a rousing game of Apples to Apples and dinner out at Fatz on our first night. Then on the second day we went to the lake where we swam and enjoyed a picnic lunch. And Owen was so worn out from swimming and sunshine that he took an awesome afternoon nap. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and reading and playing games and left in the morning the next day. We drove back through the mountains, which were beautiful and had a great trip overall. Here are some pictures from our trip. 

The house. 

I love the sign above the doorway.

Here's the view off the back porch.

Hummingbirds were having a field day at their hummingbird feeder on the front porch. Owen loved going outside to see the birds.

A cute pic of a happy boy with his grandparents.

And Aunt Jenny.

The rocking chairs are super fun.

See?

The wind chimes were also a big hit. 

We stopped at Newfound Gap on our trip home. Excuse my car hair and pay more attention to the adorable baby. 

Mountain vacation recap

     We had a great time in Tennessee last weekend. It of course went by too fast, but we got to have a lot of fun spending time with family and Owen got to take his first trip to Cade's Cove, a nature preserve full of deer, bear, and other woodland critters. He even learned to say the word "bear" while we were there. We did some shopping. Owen got three pairs of new shoes and we were shocked when the saleslady told us he should be wearing a size 5.5 or 6. What?! He does have a pair of size 5 Nikes that fit perfectly though, so I guess it just depends on how wide the individual brands run. We also visited some of our Tennessee family and overall had a great time. Here are some photos of our trip to Cade's Cove. 

Cumberland Falls

    The weekend before last, my in-laws came into town to see our new house, spend time with us, and give us a hand with our projects around the house. They were lifesavers, I tell you. We wouldn't be anywhere near as close to finally finishing our cabinet makeover if they hadn't come here. And Tim would probably still be in the kitchen trying to figure out all the plumbing and wiring involved with putting in our new sink, faucet, and garbage disposal. While Tim and his dad worked on plumbing in the kitchen, I was able to finish sanding all the cabinet doors and drawers and wipe them down so they would be ready to be primed. Tim's mom kept an eye on Owen all day. The next day, we did some more sanding and playing and lawn mowing. In fact, because we don't have a riding lawn mower, Tim was using our tiny electric push mower on our new gigantic lawn. It was a pathetic sight. We hadn't met any of our neighbors yet, but as Tim was mowing, the neighbor across the street drove his mower over and handed him the keys and just asked that he return it in a couple hours. So yay, we have at least one set of nice neighbors! (And actually, another neighbor came over yesterday and brought cookies. She has three-year-old and a two-month-old girls and seemed really nice). And just in case you thought we worked too hard, we finished off the weekend with a trip to Cumberland Falls (the Niagara of the South), about an hour and a half south of us. It was really great to be able to explore around our new home and get to know the area a little better. Here are some photos from that trip.

Easter recap (finally!)

     Easter was interesting for us this year. It was probably the first time in my entire life that we didn't spend it in the normal way with all of our family and going to church. But being in a new area makes it hard to celebrate in the traditional way. Especially when we're still living in the hotel. We did make sure that Owen's second Easter was a blast for him, though. He was just a tiny baby last Easter so we didn't bother with the Easter bunny or egg hunts or anything like that. This year, we went to a local park for the Easter Eggstravaganza. Owen enjoyed all the animals in the petting zoo and dancing to music and picking up Easter eggs. He also met the Easter bunny, though he didn't seem that impressed. And he was most certainly not a fan of having his face painted. My parents came to town for Easter weekend so we enjoyed having them celebrate with us and I was able to get some really cute pictures of Owen hanging with his grandparents.

Owen tried to make friends with this alpaca.

Cutest Easter bunny ever!

Not interested in sitting on the Easter bunny's lap, but he did tolerate being near him (actually a her).

The 0-3 age group of the egg hunt was insane! You'd think it would be more low-key since they're little, but some parents are nuts. We only picked up about four eggs since Owen doesn't eat candy.

We had his face painted to look like a bunny.

Our baby bunny.

A quick pic with Grams and Grampa and then it was home for a nap.

On Easter morning, Owen got to check out his Easter basket.

Peeps, bubbles, and books!

We had lunch at Acres of Land winery and it was fantastic!

The view around the winery was beautiful.

Checking out local flora with Grampa.

Clover blossoms are apparently tasty.

Here, try one Grampa.

What a cutie.

A sweet picture of my parents.

A sweet pic of Owen with his grandparents. You don't want to know what I was doing to get Owen to smile like that.

Sooooo close to walking by himself.

Grape vines at the winery.

My handsome boys.