We headed out on December 17th for Banner Elk, NC to celebrate the holidays with family and to enjoy the beautiful mountains. Mother Nature had a surprise in store for us and before we reached out destination the ground was covered with a blanket of snow and it was still falling at record speed. The next morning we woke to record amounts of snow...2 feet in all! The kids could hardly contain their excitement and before we even had our first cup of coffee the big kids were dressed from head to toe in winter coats, hats, gloves and snow boots! The little ones weren't about to miss out on all the fun so they to bundled up and we all headed out to play in the snow. Brea and Bailey soon discovered just how deep two feet of snow is and how dificult it can be to walk in when you are only three feet tall! There was no shortage of places to sled and the competitive nature of our family came shining through with saucer races. Brea's wish to catch snowflakes on her tongue came true and Bailey made her first snowball! The roads were cleared constantly but driving conditions still were less than perfect so we settled for some good old fashioned family fun...Scrabble and holidays movies! We did eventually venture out to do some sightseeing in Boone and to hit the slopes of Sugar Mountain.
Mother Nature's surprise put a kink in our families travel plans so they joined us later in the trip than we had hoped but we are thankful that they were able to safely make the trip. We had wonderful meals (thanks Tammy), lots of snow fun, lots of creative play (Playdoh0 and we even made a gingerbread house (thanks Tina). Our time together was over far to soon but what a wonderful time we had!
Of course no vacation would be complete without a few mishaps. On our last evening in Banner Elk Brooke fell on some ice and hurt her arm AGAIN! We visited the local ER and they casted her arm for a sprain. We'll see the orthopedic next week when they open.
I've come to the conclusion that everyone should visit the mountains from time to time. It is amazing to stand and look at the vastness of God's creation. One suddenly feels quite insignificant in the grand scope of things yet strangely special in knowing that God cares for each and every one of us regardless of size.
We are safely home now. We arrived just in time to make it to the Christmas Eve Carols and Candlelight service at church last night. It just would not have felt like Christmas without celebrating the reason for the season...Christ.
