Betcha thought I was done...

I'm still here. It's just that I have been out roundin' up the cattle haven't been able to find a good grove lately. Time, what to blog about, etc. I really want to keep blogging so I guess I'll just have to make more of an effort and be intentional about it.

Here's a few pictures of what we've been doing...

 

 

We took Rachel and her dear friend, Amandarae ("Amanda-Ray") horseback riding in the Smoky Mountains last Sunday. It was a birthday present that we had been waiting until warmer weather to take advantage of. Boy-howdy did the weather cooperate. It was seventy degrees and beautiful. It was a fantastic day with two darling teenagers. Seriously, we had so much fun with these girls! I'm talkin' country music all day long, lookin' for cowboy boots at all the great stores (not buyin', jest lookin':). But really, my favorite part of the day was when our trail guide asked Rachel to ride her horse over next to her sister, and she was referring to me! You better believe she got a good tip!

 

Then we went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Yum!

 

Super fun day.

Super great memory!

 

(However, I will tell you that my hiney was quite sore on Monday.)

Cue the Tim McGraw music

I went skydiving (okay, indoor skydiving, but still...)

 

We have a video, but it's on a DVD and the computer won't recognize it.

I guess you'll just have to come and visit if you want to see it:)

 

I've already been Rocky (and Smoky) Mountain climbing.

Next I think I'll try to go 2.7 seconds on a bull (named Fu Manchu, possibly?)

 

We got a Groupon for Zachary for his birthday. Of course it was for a group to go.

Way, waaaaay more fun than I would have guessed.

Am I ready for the real thing? Not even close.

 



Catch-up

Did you wonder if my new year's resolution was to stop blogging?

We have been plagued by either non-existent or extremely slow internet this week, perhaps due the to cold (not sure, but it sounds like a good excuse).

 

I realized that I never posted pictures of our Christmas tree:

 

The choosing

 

The decorating

 

The tree on Christmas morning

 

How our poor tree ended up

It started raining needles the week after Christmas (yes, we were diligent about watering it).

By the time Epiphany arrived, I was thinking it was a fire hazard. After taking all the ornaments, popcorn and light off, this is what was left. The needles were an inch deep around the tree.

Thomas had a new mountain to climb.

 

 

We got part of the "polar vortex". It. was. cold.

The small print says, "No shoes, no shirt, no problem!"

Eight degrees outside

She looks like it was no problem, huh?

It's been a year...

you know what I mean.

Hallelujah!

Ok, I saw this on Creative Minority Report today...too good not to share. And I learned how to put a video in a post. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

"Is one of us is supposed to be a dog in this scenario?"

Name that movie!

Who knew?

Hey! They have Christmas tree farms in Tennessee. 

Real ones, where you can go pick out and cut your own tree have someone from the farm cut down one  for you. The trees were great. Not Frasier or Noble Firs, but nice. (that was not a sentence)
We got a nice fat, tall one.

Everyone was pretty excited.

I spent a great deal of time this week trying to find out how to put one of those cool Advent wreaths on my sidebar. You know, the one that lights a new candle each Sunday. Awesome. Except that I couldn't figure out how to do it. Un-awesome.

All this to say, I hope you are all having a blessed Advent.
Come, Lord Jesus!


UPDATE: I figured it out!

Happiness in the waiting (real life)

Danny has been anxiously counting down the days until...
Every morning when he see the snowman holding the countdown blocks, he says, "Mommy, look at what it says today!" Even though he only knows "0", "1", and "2". I respond (every day), "Yep, we are one day closer!"

The tree has been trimmed. The halls have been decked. The St. Nicholas cookies have been baked (but not frosted as the frosting has mysteriously disappeared: frowny-face).

And everyday Danny sings:

"Jingle bells,

 jingle bells,

 jingle all the way.

It's so much fun 

to ride in a one-horse 

o-o-open slave"

I was also informed last week that (poor me) Santa does not bring presents to grown-ups.
Scene: Driving to swim at 7:00am in the pouring down rain, worn out windshield wipers that drag across the glass like nails on a chalk board, said wipers turned on lowest setting to calm my sleepy nerves, running into the median that was invisible in the wee hour of the morning rain because wipers were not at max power.

Me: (spoken through clenched teeth) Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is a new set of windshield wipers!

Danny: (spoken softly from the back seat of the van) Ummmm, Mama, Santa doesn't bring presents to grown-ups. Sorry.

Just my luck.

This is real life in the Davis family. Not a perfect Advent by any means, but Christmas will come, regardless of our not-so-perfect waiting, bringing our Savior. The waiting this year is real, we wait in joyful hope of many things, but most especially for the hope of heaven.

Come, Lord Jesus.