Botanical Gardens Date

Roderick and I love to take a walk through our local botanical gardens. {So much so that we decided to splurge on a year long pass!} Thankfully there is lots of trees for shade on a hot day. There's nothing quite like taking a slow stroll through a gorgeous garden with your Honey. Life has been too busy and this was just the "date" we needed!
Here's a few pics of our most recent trip:

{Loving all the different varieties of  hydrangeas - my favorite flower and the Columbine's that remind us of "home" -Colorado's state flower}.

What I've been up to lately....

Enjoying the view and sounds of the ocean....

Watching the sunrise after falling a sleep to the sound of waves crashing onto the beach...

Crafting up a storm and getting lots of projects knocked off my to-do list!! (Any guesses on what this is? My Dad's guess was VERY wrong!)....

Enjoying rest and relaxation....

Doing a little sightseeing (We walked through an old church graveyard and I was amazed to see this tree growing around this headstone).....

*Cooking with my niece ....

 

Doing some more sewing....

*Watching the waves roll in for hours and hours....

And enjoying more sunrises over the water...

*Enjoying time with family...

*Finding seashells...

*Enjoying the light reflecting on the water from fullest moon in 18 years...

Not wanting to ever get back to reality!

My parents were in town for the past couple of weeks and decided to get a beach house. My brother and his family and my youngest sister were also able to join us for 5 days. It was wonderful to have family around. They live in Colorado so we don't get to seem them very often. This was my brother and his family's first visit to see us. My parents left yesterday so now its back to reality {and a MUCH smaller kitchen!}

*Pictures taken by my talented sister Tiffany. I'm sure you could tell as her pictures are much more artistic than mine!

Merry Christmas From Our Family To Yours

Hope you have a marvelous time celebrating the birth of our Savior with your family and friend! Merry Christmas!

Rod and Laura

P.S.

I'm taking Jonquils & Ladybugs up on her challenge to fast from technology from December 26th through January 1st. I think I've become a little addicted to facebook, blogs, etc so I'm sure this will be good! I'm actually going to start early, as in tomorrow. I've decided not to post to the blog, not to check facebook, not to check my google reader, and to limit my checking of gmail. We will see how this goes. When I come back I hope to have a list of goals for the coming year. I've done it for the past couple of years, but have never posted them. Therefore, they are rarely accomplished. Hopefully posting them will be the encouragement I need!

 

Thanksgiving weekend in photos

Our first thanksgiving in our home was a success. My legs gave out right before we ate and I was on the couch the rest of the night, but we still have a great day. The food was wonderful and the fellowship fabulous!

The turkey that was amazingly moist due to a frequent dosing of apple cider on a cheese cloth covering it. It was also the turkey that took 7 hours instead of 4 hours to cook! Let just say we ate the sides first.

Roderick's first time carving the turkey. He did a great job....

....but got a little TOO into it! He kind of scared me.

Table decorations

The whole crew: (Left to Right) Chris and Kristen {our downstairs neighbors and Roderick's carpool buddy}, Us, Becky and Bruce {Roderick's Mom and Step-dad}

The next day we enjoyed a trip to the beach and the Neptune statue. No trip to VA is complete without a trip to a beach. No black Friday shopping for me this year, but that's okay I'm sure I saved money in the long run!

The following day Saturday we went up to the Colonial Williamsburg area. Becky and I didn't make it past the shops, but the boys enjoyed a little tour of the town.

{Loved this wreath outside one of the shops!}

The visit to Colonial Williamsburg was followed by a stop at the Yankee Candle factory. Santa Claus was there and we enjoyed watching the kids reactions to him. Let's just say there were a lot of tears from most of the ones we watched. {Guess the jolly guy is a little frightening.}

{snow falling inside the Christmas shop}



:100th post: Jewlery: Giveaway:

This is my 100th post! It's hard to believe. Thanks to those of you who are my faithful readers. I love hearing comments from you! I believe my most faithful follower is my mom. I'm not sure if you notice or not, but she  comments on almost every single post. (And I happen to know she checks the blog almost every single day too!!)

In honor of her faithfulness, I've chosen to use this post to show off some of my Mom's amazing artistic skills. She has many different talents, painting, decorating, sewing, crafting. In this post, however, I'll focus on her newly acquired skill of jewelery making. She began by creating jewelry for friends and family, but is now attempting to sell a few, rather quite a few. She's calling her little business, Feathered Nest Creations. (No, she does not have an etsy shop or a blog...yet that is. My sisters and I are trying to encourage her to do so.) I'll be attempting to sell some of her creations along with my paintings in November at the ladies conference.

Feathered Nest Creations was started in January when my Dad broke his leg in a freak accident taking down the Christmas lights. It was meant to be a quite small hobby my Mom could do as he recovered. Three surgeries, maybe even four I can't remember, and 10 months later he is still in the recovery stage. He is now cast free and walking on it, but its still a long road to complete healing. Actually, he is currently waiting to hear from the doctor if there is ANOTHER infection. Prayers would be greatly appreciated! His Aunt, my Great-Aunt, and a very dear sweet Christian lady went to be with the Lord yesterday after struggling with a bout of pneumonia. So knowing the results of that test will, I'm sure, greatly affect their travel decisions in the coming days. Okay, I digress....not sure why I mentioned all that, but we would all be very grateful for the prayers!

My sister...a budding photographer and good one at that (not that I'm biased or anything).... took these photos of Mom's work. Here's a few of my personal favorites....

So why do I show you these beautiful photos? Well, in honor of my this landmark post, my Mom has graciously allowed me to giveaway this gorgeous pair of earrings!

So how can you win it? Well, I'm going to make it easy... simply comment on this post telling me your favorite post or topic or something you'd like me to post about in the next 100 posts. Only one entry per person, but I'm fine with multiple comments if you'd like. = )

This giveaway will last one week. Next Friday, October 15th, I will pick the winner the "old-fashioned way," by writing down the names of all the entries and randomly choosing a winner.

Thanks to all of you for being readers! I hope you have a great weekend.

*Disclosure: My mom did offer to give away one of her earrings, but she had no idea I was going to brag on her talents in this way. She is not paying me to do this giveaway and all opinions are mine. = ) I love you, Mom!