Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, etc...

Since I uploaded the pictures for this comprehensive post in the WRONG order I guess I'll be writing from most recent back. It's been awhile I know. Life has been busy, wonderfully busy, but busy none the less. We ended this whirlwind holiday season with a wonderful visit with our friends Robyn and Eric. They live in a beautiful area in the mountains of VA. It was great! Even though it didn't snow while we were there, there was a lot of snow still on the ground. Collin loved it. He kept touching it saying, "Ooh, cold!" We got to tour the grounds of SweetBriar College, where Robyn works. It is a gorgeous campus and holds such neat traditions and history. Then, it was off for lunch in a neat little downtown area. The next day we did something much more up Collin's ally. The children's museum in Lynchburg was great! It was four floors of hands-on, educational experiences. Uncle Big E showed Collin the display of the water cycle of the area, as their boat left the creeks coming out of the mountain, through the locks, into the river down to the Lynchburg waterfront. Once there they were even able to make it rain over the city :)


Then, our aspiring doctor used a stethoscope to listen to daddy's heart.


Before making it to downtown Lynchburg we made an attempt to drive there on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We went widing up the mountain only to find the Parkway iced over and closed. Our winding drive was well worth it anyway though. The view was gorgeous! You can't see it so much for the trees, but it was beautiful. We only got it out for a minute though because it was FREEZING!

Just before we went to Robyn and Eric's we celebrated Collin's 2nd birthday. Wow, how time flies! I'll save those sentiments for his actual birthday post :) We celebrated a little early this year with a sports party. There were soccer balls, footballs, baseballs...you name it, we had it. Collin got a slide for his birthday. It's pretty cool, if I do say so. There is a "rock wall" on one side to get to th slide and then netting on the other. He loves it! He couldn't have cared less that it was 25 degrees outside and windy. He had a blast!

The birthday party was a great way to end a wonderful holiday vacation. We spent Christmas morning and the days leading up with my family. We all met at my grandmother's house to celebrate Christmas. This year I think Robert and I had way more fun shopping and preparing for Christmas than Collin had Christmas morning.

He loved it though. We did end up caving in and waking him up - ha!ha!! Who is the real child here? He was a little groggy when he first came out, but good call on Robert's part not to wrap Collin's presents. He was so excited!! He saw the baseball set first, then the basketball goal, then the big Thomas the Train tent. He just went nuts! It was a blast! Then, we were off to the Wickers' to celebrate Christmas with them. We had a wonderful time with both families. Uncle Paul gave us quite the scare right before Christmas, so it was really nice to have some quality time with him and see him on the mend.

The Christmas holiday has always been special. It is, by far, my favorite time of year. Now, with Collin, it is taking on a whole new meaning. As we go from receiver (let's not pretend that we don't receive, we still have wonderful Santas, it's just not the focus anymore) to giver and our joy becomes the joy of our child, Christmas has gotten a renewed sense of wonder and excitement. Then again, every holiday, every season, (who am I kidding) everyDAY has gotten a renewed sense of wonder and excitement.