Christmas Break

Christmas break was eventful and we covered thousands of miles. We began our trip visiting Mike’s family in Garland, Texas. We left from Garland on Sunday, December 21st and drove to Nashville. We spent Sunday night in Nashville with my cousin Erin and her boyfriend Daniel. While in Nashville we ate dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory downtown; saw the Wildhorse Saloon; next we went to see the beautiful Christmas decorations at the Opryland hotel. Monday we traveled across Tennessee to Gatlinburg toward the cabin. We had many adventures our first night in Gatlinburg including the Hard Rock café and an interesting local establishment where Jenny and I sang karaoke. Late Tuesday afternoon we went snow-skiing at Ober Gatlinburg. I made it down the mountain without falling this time, and Stephen learned to snow board. Stephanie, Ryan, Tim, and Hannah all wore some interesting hats… We had a great time except for Mike, who got altitude sickness mid-way through our lessons. Christmas Eve the power went out in the cabin right before dinner. Luckily dinner was already made, so we ate dinner by candlelight and exchanged gifts with flashlights. As quoted by Nolen, “This was the best Christmas ever!” That night while cleaning the kitchen, Nana, Ryan, Stephen, Tim, and Noah all danced. The next day several of us hiked in the Greenbrier park while dad and Tim enjoyed fly fishing, and we just missed seeing bears on one of the trails. We left on the 26th and stopped for the night at Aunt Deborah’s. We arrived back home very late Saturday night after a long day on the road. Oh yeah, Hobbes got new blue soft paws for Christmas. We welcomed the New Year at home and watched fire crackers from our windows.

Now it’s back to work and school for all of us. We are counting the days till spring break. Australia and New Zealand here we come!

Happy New Year!
Laura, Mike, & Stephen