Final Hike 2019


Such a beautiful day New Years Eve 2019 was we decided to get out of the house for a local hike.

We headed off to Pony Pasture, a location which is very special to us, and hiked for about 4 miles. It was a fantastic way to close out a year that tested me in ways I never imagined. It was cleansing in a sense. Nature does that to you and I encourage you to get outside as much as possible.

Happy New Year. May 2020 bring you every happiness possible!!

***********
Along with the beautiful views along the trails we came upon this adorable Christmas tree in the middle of our hike. Clearly it was left for someone’s puppy.

Winterfest II


Guy and I decided to put our King’s Dominions annual passes to good use and went back to Winterfest for another evening to see all the sights we missed the first time.

It was a great date night and wonderful way to wrap up the holidays.

Winterfest 2019

We have a ongoing tradition to attend one of the local theme parks with Chris, Mallory and the kids each holiday season. This year we chose to attend Winterfest at Kings Dominion as none of us had gone before and it is literally just down the road from our house.

Wow what a job they have done transforming the park . As this is only the second year hosting I must say they have a winner on their hands. Lights, music, shows, atmosphere, it was all perfect and we had so much fun. So much so we will probably return year after year.

**********************

Note- Benjamin was with us, just bundled up right in the stroller so not always visible 😀

Avery’s Last Preschool Concert

How are we here? Why is she growing so fast? This little one who was so afraid to get on a stage now was loving it and sang her little heart out. We need her to slow down, It is all flying by!

Allure of the Seas :Cruising with Friends 2019 Cruise

IMG_7790.jpeg

THIS POST IS IMAGE HEAVY!!

There are simply not enough words to express how wonderful this week with our friends, old and new, was. What started out as a simple conversation with my best friend and her husband about taking another cruise together (we cruised MSC Seaside in 2018 together) evolved into 4 other couples joining us, making us a party of 12. Of these 12, 7 of us went to at least High School together, some middle school and a few of us elementary school thus there was over 45 years plus to some of the friendships, yet except for a here and there, many of us had not seen each other in years, some of us not since graduation day. Would we all get along, would this be difficult with 12 different personalities and thoughts about the cruise, how would we plan? These were the questions I think we all had going into the week, the answer though was, yes, we would get along, no issues at all. Everyone followed the one rule which was “do what you want” and we will see you when we see it. This worked perfectly.

From the kick off dinner Debbie and Tim held at their home (they live right near the port) to the final breakfast together we laughed, we told stories of days past, we made new friendships with those we did not know, we made new memories, so so many memories.

We laughed, some climbed walls, some hung in the casino, pickle ball was discovered, bingo, shopping, relaxing in the solarium, hanging in the Bow and Stern pub, movies, shows, snorkeling, PainKillers and KrakanColadas, Mr. “Miller” and Right Left Center all we part of the memories but there are even more, so many more. These photos only show some of the best times we had.

It was so hard to say goodbye, the week went way to fast, several of us already plan to cruise together again in 2020 and there was talk of all of getting together in 2021 for another week. I hope so because friendships like these are cherished, moments like these priceless,