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HoHo time already?

 Really?   Is it possible Santa has started making his pre- Christmas appearances already?

Where has the time gone?  Why, just yesterday I was complaining about the blasted heat of the summer and now we're having a visitor from the North Pole at all our local events!

Now we all know what this truly means....that I need to step up my game and start my Holiday shopping!  Hanukkah and Christmas will be here in no time and I've yet to prepare at all!

In fact, I got my first Holiday cards this week and realized I haven't even thought about ordering mine!  I have a feeling this year will again not be the year I finally send out some adorable cards with pictures of my kiddos on them!  Oh well, I'll shoot for 2012....

But back to HoHo.  Naturally we have had to see Santa wherever we can, on account of how much some little elf is obsessed with him (think back to the Halloween costume!).  It's not too hard, he keeps a busy schedule and makes appearances all over the County!  It was a warm day this weekend when a pal suggested we pop over to a local nursery and visit with him and get some pictures of him with the kids.

 Sammy was having a great time, but was a bit unhappy about actually waiting in line.

  But agreed to one "smile" for the camera.  Not sure what kind of smile this is, but it's all Sammy Wei for sure!

 And the lovely Miss M joined in for a photo!

 Love this photo - they are so cute!!  Miss M and Simone have been pals for a very long time and always have so much fun together. 

 .  All the excitement of the wait, visiting with his reindeer, and finally we get to see the Big Guy.  Simone and M looked pleased as punch but Sammy has another look on his face.  He is so silly!

  Santa asked what they wanted and Simone said "Your Santa, you should already know!...Don't you have it wrapped already?"

 

 Sammy said he really wanted "juice".  Big dreams there kid, big dreams.

I didn't get to sit on Santa's lap this year. So if you happen to see him while you're out and about please make sure you let him know that I too have been good this year!

I couldn't find my name anywhere on the "nice" list, but I'm not too concerned.  I'm sure it's just a typo.....
Hohoho!
J

A Gobbly Good Time!

 My favorite holiday (besides Christmas, cause then I get to see my family) is Thanksgiving.  I love the day because it's all about some of my favorite things....family, food and fun!


So this year Adam's family decided to all meet up at a specific location, with the three brothers and families renting a house and the extended family staying in "the lodge" of the resort.  It worked out perfectly!  The kiddo cousins got to hang out the entire time and play play play for three whole days!  We had tons of yummy food and lots and lots of fun times!  Great memories were made for sure, we all had a gobbly good time!

Maybe when they're adults we'll get a photo of them all looking the same way.  maybe even one with them all smiling!

Now I know I've talked about what we call "cousin bliss" before.  It's still there, all of the joys of being amongst cousins for a few days.  I just love that they all get along so well!

And the Uncles are perfect for climbing on!

The "big cousins" were awesome at helping with Sammy!  And Sammy LOVED all of the attention!

Adam & his Uncle!

Cuteness all around!

So we had a lot of time playing in the house, but we were close to all sorts of nature trails and we enjoyed a nice long wilderness walk full of exploration and fun!

We all got fancy for our Thanksgiving meal.  Some fancier than others!  Love this....there's actually rhinestones on the lapel!

Over the weekend there was all sorts of play and often the kids would all switch around and everyone played with everyone!  Sammy was in heaven....

Simone was having a blast as well.  I know, I know...there aren't too many photos of her.  Well she and her big cousin D were inseparable and almost impossible to catch on film.  They had their own games on the DSI and with legos to play!  But a grand time she certainly had!

SO there you have the recap of our Gobbly Good Thanksgiving weekend!  

Hope you all had wonderful times with lots of food, family and fun too!!
J

A day in Nature

Around here we have a custom for birthdays...if it's your birthday the day is yours.  The birthday gal or guy gets to choose where the day takes us.

Sooooo, on my big day I took us out to nature!
We hit the road and took a ride around the "Cades Cove Loop".   This area is just beautiful and chock full of wildlife.  It's actually a valley within the Smoky Mountains National Park and is a historic landmark for all of it's preserved homesteads and churches dating back to the early 1800's.  It's a great trip because its a loop around the valley with little pit stops at various landmarks along the way.  And again, the nature and wildlife is just amazing!

My family were great troopers too.  We stopped and explored and ate snacks (and yes, Sammy napped in my arms while we meandered through the woods)  But we truly had a fun family day and it goes in the books as one of my favorite birthdays ever.  All of the giggles, the oohs over each new discovery, the joy over every animal we spotted....it all warmed my heart over and over.

So on to all the fun photos.

Within the Cove there are a lot of historic buildings.  We got to walk through them and see what it was like (sort of) back then.

 Here's one of the churches.

 

Once inside the church it was so simple and so beautiful

And outside- reading all of the dates on the cemetery headstones was amazing.

We had some walks

And some air time

And plenty of playing in the leaves time!

More walks to cool destinations

And then there's the wildlife....

We ran into a gaggle(?) of wild turkeys

Some deer on the field.  Sammy decided to head on out to see them.  He told me he was going to pet them.

We saw so many deer- it was just awesome. 

Ohhhh...or maybe whoooooo.  We also saw an owl!  I thought that was just the coolest!

And there you have a day planned by me.  Well, sort of planned. 

Really a day in nature can never be planned, just enjoyed!
J