Tidings of Great Joy!

Well, last month was pretty wonderful, with Lindsey's wedding, ASU Football games, and Thanksgiving! Due to a change of plans, Patrick and I celebrated Thanksgiving alone together. I'm pretty sure this was the only year that will ever happen for us. We had originally planned to be in Florida for that holiday and spend Christmas up here, but then we found out that not everyone could get together. While we were going through the throws of that planning process, Cheryl and Rick made plans to go on a vacation over Thanksgiving, thinking we wouldn't be here anyway and Jason and Edyth were going to be with her family. Patrick and I took the opportunity to spend some quality time together in Boone. We ate Thanksgiving Dinner at the Daniel Boone Inn, after an hour and a half wait! It was really worth it though! No clean up or cooking made up for the wait we decided. Once our bellies were full we went back to Jason & Edyth's to slip into a turkey coma. The house was so quiet and we could hear the wind blowing through the trees. When we woke up we found a winter wonderland outside! Snow was coming down in a big flurry! O It was wonderful! The rest of the weekend was full of shopping, napping, movies, and an ASU football game. Good times! Even though we really missed all of our family, we thoroughly enjoyed being together.



So far this month has been even more joyous! The first weekend we headed to Asheville to spend the weekend at the Cove Camp (now known as Camp Cedar Cliff). We were invited to be part of a promo video for the camp, which was so fun! Justin & Samantha Brackett (also old camp staff now married) got to hang out with us Friday and Saturday night. We went to a Switchfoot concert on Friday night. I hadn't seen those guys since my Teen Mania days - still a great show!



Saturday we woke up and headed to the Grove Park Inn an awesome hotel in Asheville. The Spa (watch the video) there is rated #4 in the country and #13 in the WORLD! Patrick (ever so blessed) WON a free Spa treatment through a contest on Twitter. He purchased one more so that we could go together - half price isn't so bad for the greatest Spa treatment I could imagine! We spent most of the day there from 8:30 a.m. and on. After my 90 minutes of heaven, I took the tour of the facilities while I waited for Patrick to be done with his massage, and as we walked out to the outdoor hot tub I saw the snow! Grove Park Inn is such a beautiful place, but under a light dusting of snow it is Magical! We napped in our robes by the fireplace, swam in the many pools, enjoyed Sauna, Hot Tub, Steam room, etc. I didn't want to leave, especially to face the very cold temperatures.

This past weekend we went to a sweet wedding in Charlotte, spent the rest of the day shopping with the Berrys, and had a chance to check out a car that Patrick found on Ebay and was interested in buying. Today, he made the agreement to purchase a newer nicer vehicle for me to drive. It's a little bittersweet since I LOVE my car. She is getting along in age though, so it is probably the wise decision. I am REALLY excited though about driving the little SUV! We decided it was only fair if we trade off weekly. Haha! It's okay with me. I love driving the Z too!

Also, last week we got the good news of Patrick receiving a well-deserved promotion and raise in January. We thank God for blessing us when so many are being challenged financially! This year has been more than we ever could have dreamed!

We CAN'T WAIT to see all of our family in Florida in a couple weeks! It's been too long and we are ready for the wonderful chaos of having everyone together again. Patrick had the fun new experience of buying Christmas presents for children this year for the first time. Haha! He got 10 new nieces and nephews all in one year! God has been so great to us and blessed us tremendously! We thank all of you too for making this such an amazing year!