We started the year off in Highlands, North Carolina with our dear friends Alan & Sally Hearn and Tre, Emily and Caroline Sasser. We just couldn't think of a better way to ring in 2010 than celebrating with friends in the mountains. There was lots of cooking, relaxing, chatting and laughing. The guys fired up the Big Green Egg and blew us all away with some exceptional ribs, barbecue and chicken. Meanwhile, the girls were able to pull together some delicious side items -- even on a moment's notice (we had incorrectly assumed the guys had a plan in place). Meanwhile, Charlie and Caroline (who is about 7 months older than Charlie) had a fantastic time together. They danced and played until they were too tired to hold their little heads up any longer. Once the little ones were in bed, the grown-ups headed out onto the deck, where we gathered around the fireplace and enjoyed good music, good wine, and great conversation as 2009 rolled into 2010.
Charlie & Caroline splashed around in the big bath tub.
Emily, Tre and Stacey by the fire.
Ruby finds a comfy spot next to Sally & Alan.
Is there anything more cozy than this??
Alan shows off his Wii Bowling technique.
Atlanta doesn't get much snow. However, each Winter, nearby Stone Mountain is "magically" transformed into Snow Mountain with the help of a ton of man-made snow that they create. We drove over with several neighbors and their little ones for a fun-filled and snow-filled morning.
Charlie with his Daddy at Snow Mountain.
The Scott Family at Stone Mountain.
Charlie & Mommy pause for a photo.
Charlie sleds down the bunny slope!
Playgroup pals -- Laiton, Charlie, Maddie & Harper pose with Mr. Snowman.
We love spending time in the mountains. It's gorgeous at all times of the year. However, baseball season is so busy for us (particularly Hill), that we don't get to spend nearly as much time there in the Spring and Summer as we would like. So, we try to go as frequently as possible during the Braves' off-season. We went again this month with our friends Rob & Katie Catlin. We all enjoyed another weekend of relaxing in front of the fire, watching movies and treating ourselves to some delicious meals. It was a cold, rainy weekend, but that only added to the cozy ambiance for us.
Hill, Cowboy & Rob on kitchen duty.
Charlie & Katie Katie & I got to spend 2 weekends in a row together, as the following weekend, we went to Madison, Georgia for a scrapbooking retreat. We stayed at a super-cute bed & breakfast, and had a terrific time snacking, listening to music, watching movies and working on our scrapbooks. I was doing my best to get Charlie's baby book underway, and I did make some good progress. And, we had lots of laughs in the process.
The lodge where all of the scrapbooking took place looked like an old, red barn.
Long tables made it easy to spread our pictures and pages out.
It really is hard to believe how quickly January has flown by. As we look ahead to February, we have another busy month in store. We're looking forward to my birthday (okay . . . at least I am!), Hill & I are joining First United Methodist Church of Marietta (where Charlie goes to Mother's Morning Out each week), we're going on another trip to Highlands with friends, and much more. I'm sure I'll be continuing to chase after a lightning fast toddler as he figures out new ways to outsmart his parents' attempts to thwart his efforts to go where he wants to go and get what he wants to get. Most of all, I believe we will continue to be grateful for all of the blessings we have in our lives.
