Been thinking a lot lately...

This is a video a friend sent me this morning, and boy, was the timing amazing! Some of you may have seen it before, but I thought I'd share anyway : ) Enjoy, and please keep in your prayers all those who are struggling, be it financially, emotionally or in any other ways. Lately, the financial struggles so many are going through have hit a lot closer to home than I ever imagined, and I am hoping for peace and comfort for all of those dealing with that and so many other things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBDLAZFLfIM

(I don't know how to paste the actual video here, so this is just the link...it's a video to "Divine Romance" by Phil Wickham)

More snow photos...since it doesn't happen that often around here ; )

Some fun in the snow...

Now it's snowing again, so we're settling in for a cozy evening by the fire.

And to Meme and Pawpaw, B loves his new pajamas! They're perfect for a cold, snowy evening - thanks!!

We have snow!

It's snowing quite a bit here right now. We hung out at the coffee shop today for a while after it started, and then B enjoyed running around in it a little bit...Once we arrived home, the yard was almost covered and B just wandered in wonderment...no matter how often he sees it, it's always magical to see it again...I love that!

Stay warm this weekend! : )

All kinds of weekend fun

We did a little exploring this weekend. Saturday, we were looking to get out and find something good to eat. A little explanation for this - we're on our eighth day of eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables (whole and juiced). We're just trying to clean our bodies a little and get back to eating more fresh foods. So, we decided to try a little place in Gastonia called Sprouts Cafe that serves all kinds of fresh, organic food...what a great discovery!! (Sharon, the next time you're down this way, we have to go!) It's in the bottom level of the Organic Marketplace, and is painted and decorated in a really cool, funky way. Definitely my kind of place : ) And the food was so, so good...I can't wait to go back!

Yep, those are my boys... : )Front window decorations

Then we visited Belmont, and had a relaxing afternoon walking around town to look in a couple shops and find Byrum some ice cream. Then, we visited the downtown park, which was so exciting, Byrum was no longer interested in the ice cream : )
Sunday, we celebrated Brady's first birthday!!

He loves his new rocking chair!
Later on, we attended a rock concert - our nephew Will plays guitar, and the place where he takes lessons is called School of Rock. Several times a year, they put on concerts based around certain themes (last night was the music of Aerosmith), and the kids who are interested in playing can do so. So we were able to see Will rock out last night, and even sing lead for a song! He did a great job.

What a fun, FULL weekend!

Lily the graduate

Our resident queen, Lily, is now officially a graduate of PetSmart beginner training for dogs : ) We've taken her weekly for the past couple months, and she has nearly mastered sit (which she was pretty good at before), lay, stay (at least for a little while...treats help : )), come when called and touch. The touch command is actually really useful - for instance, if she's at the window barking at a car pulling into the driveway across the street, I can call, "Lily, touch", and she immediately comes running to touch her nose to my hand. We also worked a lot on walking on a leash, which she does much better now, and "leave it" for when she's distracted while walking. The addition of the stylish accessory, the "Gentle Leader" for her snout has helped quite a bit as well. Overall, she seems much calmer in general, and a little more socialized...the simple training was well worth it! Good job, Lily : )

Showing off her skills

It's official!

A quick trip to Asheville

We made a short trip (for Jason's work) to Asheville this weekend, which is now only about an hour and a half from our house - yea!! It's one of our favorite places to visit, and this time we got to stay on the grounds of Biltmore Estate. We got there late Friday afternoon, and as we walked out onto the patio of the hotel, the sun was getting low, the light was just beautiful and everything was so quiet and peaceful.

Peacocks just hang out around there...we spotted this one near our carOn the way home, we made a quick stop in Hendersonville. If you've never been there, I highly recommend going sometime...it's so charming, and the people we talked to while there were so friendly and welcoming. Isn't this store front gorgeous with those colors?? It was so pretty, I actually wanted my picture taken in front of it : )

Oh, how I've missed that area...it was good to be there again.

Taking care of the birds

My mom loves the birds that flock to her yard...and she encourages them to do so by having at least 5 or 6 bird-feeders scattered about : ) Whenever Byrum is over there, one of his favorite things to help with is "taking care of the birds". Yesterday, I watched them as they filled the bird-feeders, and it was really sweet to observe their interaction and listen to their conversation. I am so grateful for the time he gets to spend with all his grandparents.