Catchin' Up

We had an eventful last half of last week. Here's the run down:
Playing around at home. We've been learning about the story behind candy canes and making some, studied Handel and listened to the Messiah, made plenty of baked goods, done lots of puzzles, and, oh, Evie's been taking pictures (like the one above). The snow has been fun to play in as well. As Drew says, "It's cold but at least the snow is pretty to look at!"

Last Wednesday night we went to Mt. Vernon Church to hear the Christmas music from the choir and the featured singers, Karen and Molly Petrey. :) It was really beautiful music and we had a great time seeing our friends, the Rowans, who we haven't seen in a while since taking a break from "Fun Friday" in December. Yes, Ward is in his PJ's because it was after bedtime and there was a chance he would fall asleep in the car. Don't worry, I changed him into those after the music. :)
The next night we had the annual Mountaineer Heating and Cooling Christmas Party. It was at Sagebrush Steakhouse this year and we had a great time. It is so nice to be with all the employees and their families and I think Big Win has definitely fostered the "family feel" in the company which is not easy. Here are all the "MHC kids" with Big Win (he was one week out from knee surgery) after he handed out a gift for each one. Thanks so much, Winston, for everything you do for us and all the others at MHC!
Then on Friday we headed down to Columbia for a family Christmas get together on Sunday. We had a good weekend but to our disappointment had to end up missing the get together because the bad weather had moved in up here earlier than expected. By Sunday morning Fleetwood had 3" of snow already with it pouring down. Just in case you don't know, our area tends to get less snow than Boone on average (but more ice if icy conditions are called for). We knew weather was coming but thought we could just make sure we left about 2 and get home before sunset and be OK. Not so. We left about 11 from Cola town and, thankfully, got home during the lull in the snow that was called for, literally. As we were pulling into the basement, the snow started falling again.
This week, let's see...blizzard conditions in Boone on Monday (not as bad our way), continued high winds and snow flurries Tuesday along with highs in the teens and single digit lows. Wednesday we got a break and then the wintry mix hit last night into today. Thankfully, it will get above freezing today and hopefully melt a good bit of this before some more, but lighter, snow this weekend and early next week. Oh, and we got a new (to us) car!!! Our good friends, the Rowans, have a car business and Jordan helped us get a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The big thing is that it's all wheel drive so we can get around in the snow if we must. A lot safer and will last us a lot longer. Jordan and Candace have a great business and we would HIGHLY recommend them to any and all (even if they weren't our friends!). Check out Peach Tree Automotive here. I'll try to take a picture but I have much to do today during the children's rest time. :) Hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying this wonderful time of year!