Let It Snow!!!

Well . . . we finally got a massive snow that the kids will remember!  It snowed at least 10" at our house Saturday night, but the official Charlotte measurement was 11"!  It was so beautiful to see, and especially nice that we didn't have to worry so much about losing power this weekend.  Preston enjoyed some sledding, making snow angels, and even tried to make a 3D print of a snowball maker, but unfortunately, this wasn't the best snow for snowballs.  It was super light and fluffy so he tried to use the blower to clean the sidewalk off too.  Thankfully, our driveway gets direct sun and melted pretty quickly, but school was still out for three entire days!  Needless to say, we were all getting a bit antsy . . . I think now that we've seen good snow, we're ALL ready for Spring!

 

Ice Day!!

Well, it's been an interesting week weather-wise for sure!  The weather forecast has fluctuated from several inches of snow to a cripling ice storm with .75 inches of ice expected . . .  so we prepared for the worst!  We finally got the gas logs working, had our house extra warm, packed an inside cooler filled with daily food items we might need, had the flashlights and sleeping bags ready, and had an outside cooler stacked with ice just in case we didn't have power for an extended period of time.  Oh, and we left water dripping so we wouldn't end up with frozen pipes!  

We went to bed and woke up with power (hallelujah) and a layer of ice, but nothing as serious as they predicted.  Preston wasted no time heading out for sledding with his friends.  It was a nice, warm, cozy day spent inside for me.  We played some games as a family, I did LOTS of cleaning out, and worked on getting documents ready for tax season.  The forecast was still predicting another band of freezing rain and ice to come through around dinner, but thankfully, we avoided any drama with that too!  We were able to have our regular Sunday night pizza while watching football playoffs.  School was canceled for Monday so it was a joyful day!!  Now we just need this mess to melt and go away so we can get back to normal!!

Clemson Basketball

Savannah came home this weekend for Martin Luther King Day.  She doesn't have Friday classes, so it is nice to have her for a long weekend, even if she did have to go back early for work.  But it just happened to be the same time that Dave and Preston had tickets to a Clemson basketball game.  Saturday was a crazy morning because Preston had flight school in Rock Hill until lunch and then met Dave somewhere down 85 to head to the Clemson game.  Savannah and I opted for a low-key evening after getting pedicures!

The boys met up with the Weningers at the game!

Sadly, Savannah had to leave super early this morning to get to her internship by 12. When she went out to leave, we found her car completely frozen shut!!!  We couldn't even get the doors open.  It took quite a bit of work, manpower, and time to get her ready to hit the highway, but we finally had her on the road by 8:50am! 

Christmas Break Adventures ~ Closing out 2025

A few more holiday bucket list items . . . holiday light shows and Cookout milkshakes!  I had an awful headache today and went to bed early, but the kids and Dave loved getting Cookout milkshakes.  We did venture out to a new light display, which was super cool.  It just happened to be near the one wal-mart in Charlotte that had this crazy Santa Stitch animal, so Savannah was thrilled to use a gift card to bring him home with us.

Preston is still working on cleaning his car, like every day he has time!

We also made a trip to WinterFest at Carowinds.  It was quite disappointing for us girls, as most of our low-thrill rides were not operating. BUT, we did enjoy hot chocolate from Preston's drink pass a few times. :)  We are closing out a crazy year and ready for a new start in 2026!  Here's to a happy, healthy, memory-filled, year!!!

Christmas in Georgia

We traveled to Marietta for the day to spend Christmas with Grammy and Papa.  It was a LONG day of driving, but it was good to see family we haven't seen in quite some time!

 

Gingerbread Lane with Dad!

Savannah's favorite gingerbread creation was the UNC bell tower.

We started a tradition with the Marion family years ago of going to the Ballantyne Resort to see the gingerbread houses.  Unfortunately, they moved, and now we have to continue it on our own . . . but this year we had a special guest with Dave tagging along!  The display has decreased quite a bit, but it's still a fun adventure to do each year.  

 

Christmas Eve/Day Celebrations

After a crazy day of work, and grabbing our annual Chili's dinner (to reheat), we made it to the 6pm Christmas Eve service tonight.  We all sort of agreed Chili's is not our fav anymore, so we may have to switch restaurants next year, but we will still continue the tradition of take out after church.

Christmas morning was a festive flurry!  We started with Santa gifts and home made breakfast.

Savannah was in charge of breakfast and had two handy helpers.  I used this time to squeeze in a run before the onslaught of calories! 

After breakfast, we moved upstairs to open a few more gifts before we had to get ready for my family.

It was fun and chaotic as usual, but a fantastic day!  Dad, Mark, Denny and his family all came for lunch.  We had Italian including pizza, lasagna, salad, and bread.  It was fabulous to have everyone here.  This year, Madison won Pawpaw's coin jar with her original, well thought out guess of $123.45. 

It was such a fun day with family!

After our family headed back, we finished opening our gifts to and from each other.  Preston was thrilled with all of the stuff for his car . . . so it didn't take long for him to head outside and start working on the car.  It was clearly unseasonably warm this year as we were all dressed in short sleeves.

We took a walk as a family and called it a day.  Our hearts were so full after time spent with ones we love celebrating the birth of Christ!