19

He woke up smiling.

19 today.

Oh dear, where has the time gone?

With a seemingly blink of an eye.

19 today.

My youngest.

My "little red headed boy"

Happiest of B-day's Son!

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A Snowy Day

After much teasing over the last several weeks(I'm not counting the inch or so we got after Christmas...didn't cover the ground completely) we finally got a significant snowfall!! I'm guessing somewhere in the 5-6" range. It was so peacefull and quiet as it fell. Amazing how still everything becomes during a snowfall. The birds did show up in force, feeding, flitting and flying in. The cardinals were beautiful against the white....so pretty!

So, here's our little piece of paradise on a snowy day....

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Heading to Minnesota

La headed out yesterday to drive up to Minnesota. A new job, a new life and a new apartment await her there.

In the meantime we have to adjust that she is no longer "just up the road" but now many miles away from us. I have to be honest. I don't like it one little bit. Yes, it was inevitable that this would come to pass, great jobs are hard to find and when one is offered the red carpet...one must sieze the opportunity.

We are excited for her, but sad nonetheless. We won't be there to help her arrange her furniture or have Monty hang her curtains and pictures. We're not there to share in her excitement of a new place, new town, new everything. And my heart hurts.

We said our goodbyes on Wednesday and with tears in my eyes it was hard. I came in, laid on the couch for the next 2 hrs and thought about when we dropped her at college and came home without her. Feels the same but different. This time there won't be any coming home for all the holiday's or a random drop in on weekend here and there. No, now they'll be work shedules, summer vacation and holiday schedules she'll have to work around.

I know somehow it will all work out. But, for now I feel my little family unit is changing. And, I don't like it one little bit.

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All's well or at least for now

Our holiday season was Crazzzy!

First starting with Thanksgiving. Aaron on his way home from Asheville hit a deer approx 50 miles from home. He was able to drive the car on in to our house and the following Monday we took it in to a repair shop. That's when we then found our insurance did not have a rider on it to pay for a rental car while his car was being repaired. At any rate he needed one to finish up his vacation and get back home so we sucked it up and rented him one.

Then 9 days before Christmas our Christmas tree fell over breaking lots of balls and sending water everywhere...what a mess! I didn't even bother putting the bulbs back on that fell off. Surprisingly the darn thing once righted still looked pretty good.

Next up was our trip to the Inlaws the weekend before Christmas. Driving down the interstate the steering wheel began to vibrate. We pull over only to discover the tread on the back left tire is coming off. We put the spare on make it on in to Raleigh. If anyone knows anything about Raleigh you don't want to go anywhere near Crabtree Valley mall during the busiest shopping weekend of the year, but that is exactly where the ole spouse ended up. Traffic was terrible and finding no other place open on Sunday to buy a tire he ended up at place called Just Tires. He bought a tire and preceded back to his parents house. After much revelry, food and fun we loaded up the car to come home only to find the brand new tire---was now almost FLAT! We went to the nearest Convenience store and put air in it. Then we rode back over to Just Tires to find they had closed early. We stopped only once on the way back to put air in it, finding out on Monday the tire stem was not seated correctly. Aggravating to say the least.

But wait..the craziness didn't stop there. Remember Aaron is in Asheville with no car. Well now he needs to get back home for Christmas and to pick up his car. The girlfriend says no problem I'll drive him down.. an hour out ...her car breaks down!! It's now Christmas Eve and if you've ever tried to rent car on a major holiday, well hold on to your hat! You are going to pay out the waazooo. We paid $166.00 for a one day rental to get them home.

After all of that I thoroughly enjoyed having all the kids home and the time we spent together. Bittersweet because next year they may not be able to get home at the same time. La and Aaron are taking jobs in Minnesota and Texas.

And if you are wondering about the car.. the place that repaired his car did a great job. Whew!

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