On the Road

We are traveling. This is going to be our new after Christmas tradition. We are going to try and stay home for Christmas and then travel between Christmas and New Years. We are still figuring out this blended family tradition stuff. I really think this was our most relaxed holiday yet.

Saturday we got up, loaded the RV and the kids and drove to Granny's house in GA. After dinner we opened gifts. Mom had already bought me and Greg and combo gift, but she surprised me with some "mad money" just for me to spend. The mind is working but I haven't spent any yet. Then my sister and hubbie and my niece and nephews came over on Sunday to have Christmas again. We let "Little Ceasars" cook lunch and all ate our fill of pizza. More gifts and lots of fun.

Monday morning we pulled out of Mom's driveway...not an easy feat on a hill in an RV, and started on our trek to VA to Greg's parents house. Greg (being the super homeschool dad that he is) found us a battlefield to visit (Cowpens in SC), so that we could get another stamp in our National Park Passport. Several years ago we got an annual pass for National Parks and its something we have thoroughly enjoyed having. After our picnic lunch we started heading north again. Keep in mind that it snowed up here a week and a half ago---14 inches. In Winston-Salem, NC we started noticing patches of snow, but here in VA is small patches of grass and lots of snow....2 or 3 inches still of snow and its COLD! (Us Miss. Magnolia's may freeze) Its really pretty and I hope tomorrow to get some pictures. And more Christmas frivolities tonight. So we've had 4 days of Christmas. My sister in law just came through and told me it was getting colder tonight and the wind was supposed to really blow, great colder weather!

The RV has some generator issues, so we may have to go home and not camp. We'll have to see what tomorrow holds. We have camped in the winter with no heat and its not fun. Camping in a tin can is not cozy, in fact its downright cold.

I was blessed with 4 new cookbooks for Christmas this year...Once A Month Cooking, An Amish Cookbook by Wanda Brunstetter, A Church Potluck Cookbook & Feed your Family for $75 a week...there will be new recipes on our Menu's. Then I've gotten new books to read and gardening magazines to ponder. Greg & I bought the "Entrepenuer Boot Camp" set from Vision Forum, so we are listening to the CD's during all of our driving time...and getting some good ideas about starting a business sometime in the future. We are also diving into financial books to strengthen our knowledge of the Lord's way to best use our resources. We've got all the Dave Ramsey books, which we follow, and we ordered some Larry Burkett books last week.

We are going to be making some changes with our tv viewing habits, our Bible reading times, coming together as a family to accomplish goals, and habits/character traits/attributes we want our children to develop and build upon. We have got lots of plans for projects at home. I've already got some Christmas gifts in mind for next year, that I need to start working on...51 weeks to go! We have 2 Mission Trips we are taking, Honduras the end of Jan. and Ohio the end of June.

2009 was a great year. We were blessed with Katie's miraculous, speedy recovery from shattering her ankle (jumping in a moonwalk inflatable, long story, freak accident). We visited with family in GA, VA & TN. Greg is in his 3rd year of graduate school, completing his Masters and making awesome grades. The older boys are all employed or doing well in college! Amen! The younger 3 are enthusiastic homeschoolers who are learning more and more every day. And I am blessed and so thankful to be a homemaker, a wife, and a stay at home mom!