Thursday, November 19, 2015

Last Christmas.....

Last Christmas, I was so busy prepping for (and recovering from) taking Calvin to Utah that I completely forgot to post any Christmas pics.....we had a pretty great holiday, and I'm glad I remembered to take pics  :)

James, at a friends holiday party :)
Ocean City Festival of Lights...they have a train you can ride to see the lights :)
Its about a 20 minute ride of really cool light scenes set to music :)
Hot chocolate afterwards :)
The tree is up! And Nana is down lol!
This is our favorite place to visit at Christmastime...
James was really excited about it this year
The kids love the new touchscreen features...you can color all the temples of the world :)
This was my favorite nativity this year....James actually looked at all of the nativities, but he only needed 4 seconds per country so we were done really fast lol!
I love to see the temple :)
Outside at the live nativity...it was really cold...
Christmas eve presents! The blankets I made the kids were a big hit.....Rayzel's was cupcakes and tootsie rolls
Calvin got a hoodie
Savannah's blanket is matryoshka owls and mustaches
I got some Peanuts comics :)
Which James promptly confiscated...
Other than my book, this was his fav present :)
Dad got new Pj's.....Duck Dynasty and M&M's
Jack's blanket is Popeye and Garfield....I love that my kids appreciate vintage cartoons :)
The aftermath....watching Elf in Christmas PJ's gifted from the Kelley Grandparents :)
Christmas with the Kelley cousins the next morning :)

Follow-Up On Calvin

The last blog post was about moving Calvin out to Utah last Christmas/New Years....this post is about his move from Utah to West Virginia :) 
Due to a random miracle (or calamity, depending on your perspective) our friends who were hosting Calvin, lost their employment situation with the church kind of randomly (and for the record, illegally). The miracle is that within a month, they had a new better paying job in Clarksburg West Virginia, which is only a 4 hour drive from us :D Since Rob had to start his job immediately, Wendy was left behind to pack up and move everyone out, so of course I went out to help. I spent two weeks helping pack, and then driving back, just in time to be home for the kids going back to school. I got to spend lots of time with Calvin, so it was pretty great :)

He was pretty happy to see me too :)
He has a great smile that he never lets people see
Taken 2 seconds later lol!
Stopped at a rest area at 4am and saw my first skunk :)
Driving through southern Utah....gorgeous!
Hole in the rock?
Ohhhhh, HOLE in the rock lol!!
My bestie and her 3 kids, me and Calvin, 5 cats and a chihuahua in a minivan....
Beautiful!
Calvin and I got our own room...we got to have lots of mother son bonding time watching Jurasic Park, Ghostbusters, and Indiana Jones on cable :)
Never seen a bat up close before, although this one is a lil flat ;)
Stopped for the night in Montecello Utah....the temple was only a block away from the hotel :)
Beautiful sunset and deer running outside the temple...
I got to meet up with a dear friend while I was there...
This was our breakfast location....
This is honestly the best smoothie I've ever had...I don't remember what all was in it, but I know it had cocoa nibs and honey....
We stopped at Four Corners on our way home....never been here before :)
You learn something new every day!
Calvin and I at the Four Corners :) Which, by the way, isn't exactly at the four corners of the states cuz the four corners intersect in a ravine....
Lots of cool art on the buildings in southern colorado
Tile on this one...
This is the first medicinal marijuana shop I've ever seen....hours are from noon to 6pm...hmmm....
More great art
I really liked this one....the car was so real
A neat old train
Big Bugs in the Midwest lol
My favorite fast food!!!
I'm pretty sure I took this pic in Missouri....anyway its a beautiful bridge....
Calvin got to stay with us for about 3 weeks while our friends lived in a hotel and sorted out the purchase of the new house. I'm so glad that he lives so close now :)