Catching Up on December

Merry Christmas, everyone! I didn't send out Christmas cards this year (a first in probably 6 years) so this blog will have to catch you on our December. It's been a whirlwind! December 8 we were invited to a Cookie Exchange party at Ryan and Katherine Rawl's. I made my classic molasses ginger cookies and Ashley made a special treat, too. Don't they look tasty? They were...but probably only dogs would think so! This gorgeous Christmas cookie was made out of Max's dogfood and peanut butter, dusted with convection sugar.
December 14-16 we went to Rosewood, VA, to visit Ashley's mom's family. Here is Ashley's grandpa (John) and his lady friend (Burnley).
Ashley's cousin William and his wife have two little boys. Here is the oldest, Will. We had a great time playing with Will and holding his baby brother Nathan because we stayed with Karen and William while we were in Virginia.

December 20-24, my friend Taryn from Australia came to visit us in South Carolina. Taryn and I worked together at the Tyler Place Resort in Vermont in the summers of 2001 and 2002. We had a great visit, showing her Columbia and then going to Charleston for Saturday night. The trip there took forever because of Interstate 26 turned into a parking lot after a 5-car accident. Taryn was excited about that because we actually parked the car and got out and walked around on the interstate. Anyways, here is a picture of the three of us on Isle la Palms.

Charleston is beautiful at Christmastime. Here is King Street, decorated.

December 24-26 we went to visit my family for Christmas in Ferguson, NC. Ashley and I brought our Wii and all of us (Mama, Papa, Ashley, me, Joshua and Kelsey) had a big time playing. We even did a bowling tournament. Here are Ashley and Joshua getting ready for a game of tennis.

Mama makes Christmas special by cooking all sorts of things for us. This year she showed off her bowling skills with some Wii bowling :o)

Our nephews Ryan and Weston got fourwheelers for Christmas. Ryan (who is going to turn 4 in April) got a battery-powered one, while Weston (who will turn 6 in January) got a gas-powered one. Here they are showing off their "tricks."

And finally.....2007 would not be complete without another home project. Yesterday (Dec. 29) Ashley and I spent 2 hours at Home Depot picking out new appliances (range, dishwasher, and fridge) and countertops. Home Depot is running a 10% off sale on appliances through Jan. 2 so we were excited about that. We have been planning this final kitchen renovation since we bought the house but delayed it because it didn't really seem necessary. Now because the fridge mysteriously leaks water inside (even though there is no water source) and the oven is missing the numbers for the temp. marks, it seems more necessary.

We're going with GE products, all CleanSteel (which is like Stainless Steel but doesn't show fingerprints). For the counters we are going with Silestone's Diana Pearl. We'll see how it all turns out! The appliances come next Thursday and the counters should be installed by the end of January, we hope. Here are two pictures of the kitchen as it stands after our initial renovation.

Happy New Year to you all....stay tuned to this blog for more exciting announcements in 2008!

Thanksgiving in Saluda, NC with the McLeod clan!

This past weekened we went to Saluda, NC, to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with Ashley's family. It was a beautiful time to be up there--we caught the tail-end of the leaves changing colors. Ashley's mom and I talked about how it is amazing how God gives us this color before the drabness of winter settles in. This photo was taken at the top of Green River Cove Rd (a multi-switchback road that descends down to the valley where Ashley's parents' mountain house is). On Saturday afternoon Ashley and I took our nephews, Weston and Ryan, for a walk to help them burn off some energy and get outside. We hiked for a while--the boys had such fun--and Max came along, too! Here's Ryan climbing one of the deer stands we found. Carey, Ryan's sister and Ashley's mom, said that Ryan looks like one of the Seven Dwarfs with this tobogan on and ears smushed out.
Another display of the beautiful color.

Early on Saturday morning Weston and I built a leaf cave, which was similar to the one Uncle Pat built with Joshua when we were younger. Previously to the cave building, the boys were having a big time running and jumping into a pile of leaves. Remember when that was fun?

OktoberFest @ the McLeods!

Oct. 13 Ashley and I hosted an OktoberFest party at our house. This event was inspired by our Christmas in Germany...we went all out on the decorations, food, and drinks. It was a lot of fun! The backyard decorations...we even strung lights up like a beer garden.

We bought plastic hats for everyone--Ashley had an authentic hat thanks to Buffy and Leighton.

And even Lyndsey came (she's about ready to have baby Nats)

Max had a good time, too...this was taken a few days afterwards.

Oct. 18-21 I was in Baltimore for a conference. Lucky me, I got to see some of my Tyler Place girls-- Lesley, Kim, and Katy!

Ms. B. Haven's last voyage of 2007

Our 1978 pontoon spent her summer at Lake Murray. The lake dropped to very low levels in September and we had to go extra measures to pull Ms. B. Haven out of the water. First we hauled the equipment to the Taylor's, where we kept the boat. Then Ashley surveyed how stuck the boat was. Notice that she's about 3/4 out of water.

Ashley used the machine to push her out into the water.

And then I drove her around to the loading ramp at Turner's Pointe. It was a beautiful day on the water!

When I got to Turner's Pointe, Ashley was waiting with his truck, the trailer ready in the water. I thought he would have me drive up close and then he would get on and then drive the boat onto the trailer. But we were rushed (because there was a Parade of Homes going on --and we weren't supposed to be using the boat landing)...and so I drove the boat onto the trailer. Luckily I did it right the first time!
Here's the boat on the trailer, heading back to Gilbert.

Max's latest favorite activity is waiting at the top of the stairs to see if there are any bats hanging out in the roof vents. He LOVES the attic!

Where did September go?

September has been one of those months that has flown by. We started off with a fun Labor Day weekend where we went tubing down the river in Columbia on Sunday with Buffy and Leighton and then went on the lake on Monday with Elizabeth and Nathan. Both nights we had friends over to grill out dinner. I've had a crazy month with having mysterious foot pain...hoping when Octobor rolls around it will mysteriously go away, seeing as the podiatrist doesn't know what's going on either :O).

Anyways, here are some pictures from September. We met Ashley's grandparents and McBee family at Olive Garden one Sunday evening for dinner. Here is Ashley with his grandpa.
The second weekend in September I went home to NC for the Edminston family reunion (Mama's mama's family). It was a perfect time at home, one of my favorite things being driving and riding in Mama and Papa's new convertible. Here's Mama showing off her new ride!

Saturday morning Papa and I took the car for a drive up to Blowing Rock and then across the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's such a fun car to drive in the mountains, especially because it's a stick/manual shift.
Sept. 14-16 we went to Clemson to see a football game with some of Ashley's college friends. It was way too hot so we only stayed in the stadium for the start of the first quarter. The game wasn't exciting at all because they were playing Furman. But we had a good time hanging out with his friends and being in Clemson.

Sunday a.m. Ashley and I stopped in Greenville and had brunch on Main Street. It was cool outside and we had our first taste of fall. Of course, since then we've had temps in the 90s!

Mini Vacation in Charleston, SC

On Friday Ashley and I drove down to Charleston, SC, for a mini vacation. We spent the night downtown and went out with his cousin Martin and Martin's girlfriend Kristin (and her college friends). Saturday morning, Ashley and I drove over to Mt. Pleasant to have lunch at Vickery's on Shem Creek. We got to cross the new bridge. It's quite the engineering feat--6 lanes of traffic across the water. There used to be two old rickety bridges where this one now stands. What a great improvement!Artistic editing of one of my photos. The clouds really were incredible today, though!At the marsh outside of Vickery's. We have long decided that should we ever have enough money for a second home it would either be on the beach or off the marsh/inner coastal waterway. The day was so beautiful. I'm hoping to try to paint a version of this shot.While waiting for our lunch to come, I played around with the camera. See the extra things in my sunglasses?? One of South Carolina's state trees...
After lunch we headed to Folly Beach to hang out with Martin, Kristin, etc. The water was perfect and it wasn't too hot (nice contrast to our two weeks of 100+ temps). Instead of spending another night in Charleston we decided to drive back to Columbia (approx. 1.5 hrs). Before leaving, though, we had dinner at Sermet's Corner off of King Street. This a MUST-GO restaurant. Read the NY Times review here: http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/south-carolina/charleston/restaurant-detail.html?vid=1154654626019

Ashley and I started off our meal with calamari (not fried...mixed with fresh fennel, tomatoes, capers, oregano, balsamic vinegar)= AMAZING. Ashley had pesto-encrusted talapia and I had honey/lavendar pork tenderloin. All of the food was great, but especially the calamari and bread with olive oil. Yum! Finding a great restaurant is one of the most satisfying things. :o)

A Trip to PA

August 9-12, 2007 Ashley and I took a trip to Pennsylvania to visit with his college friend Kevin and his wife, Christine. Buffy and Leighton (friends from Columbia and college friends) flew up. We drove and stopped at Mama and Papa's on the way up.

Here's the whole group of friends at El Rodeo, a Mexican restaurante in Hanover, PA.

One of the highlights of the trip for us was touring the Utz potato chip factory and pretzel factory. Here are FRESH potato chips!! It was an amazing production. If you ever have the chance to eat Utz, DO!

Ashley and I also went to Gettysburg. Part of the battlefields.On the trip back from Gettysburg to Dover, PA. Another picture from the Mexican restaurant.Saturday night, Kevin decided he wanted his flannel shirt to be sleeveless....so Ashley fixed it up! Ashley and Kevin

The girls! Buffy, me, and Christine

Saturday night had a beautiful sunset! It was a great trip....a long drive back on Saturday