Christmas 2011 & Snowshoeing 2012

Hello all & Happy New Year,

We spent our Christmas this year visiting family and friends on the East Coast. We were in Hawaii last year so it was nice to actually be "home" this year, see everyone for Christmas, and enjoy some fun holiday traditions like we did when we were kids.

The mountains on Christmas Eve, the day we flew out of Washington.

So beautiful!

We started our trip in West Virginia with the Rohrbough/Fowler/Hickman crew. Scott and Angie (CR's brother-in-law and sister) moved into their new house recently and they hosted Christmas this year. It was such a blessing to have everyone together to celebrate, especially after the health scares this year. Our time was great, even though it was FAST. I won't go into details but MANY people in this group at some point caught a 24 hour stomach bug and it was almost movie-like to see people drop off over those three days. I think at our last dinner together only half of the people felt up to eating - the table seemed so bare :(

Jonah is ready to get this show on the road!

Kora and Elly

Kora's theme this year was all things art and music

CR, Angie, Mark, and Lora

What can we say? CR has a gift!

Nanny, after opening her gift from the group - a 40' TV!

The boys (minus Mark)

Bubba even got a manicure while we were home :)

Many people have been asking about Angie, so we will share what we know at this point. Her last PET scan, which was a couple of months ago at this point, showed ZERO cancer activity in her leg! Praise Jesus! This is HUGE news considering her leg was the main point of concern. This does not mean that the cancer is completely gone, but this is an amazing step in the right direction and nothing short of a miracle from God. She is no longer receiving chemo via IV, but she does take it in oral form. Her leg still gives her a great deal of pain and problems with mobility but we continue to see and pray for strength daily.

After three days in WV, we then traveled to Kentucky to see the Philpot/Wolfe bunch and some friends. For some odd reason, and I really feel bad about this, I did not take ONE picture while I was in Kentucky! What was I thinking?! I really need to get better about documenting our lives! We had a great time in KY. We saw my Mom's whole family one night as we all gathered to celebrate my cousin's Joe's birthday. Mom made an amazing meal and we had such a good time seeing everyone and catching up! My little cousins are getting so big, my big cousins are so grown up, my Mom impressed us with her newly laid hard-wood floors (which looked great), my GranMary was just as beautiful and funny as ever, my sister and her boyfriend, Andrew, were so much fun as always, the list really goes on. I love my family. Again, I apologize for not having captured our time there. We also got to see several friends while we were in Kentucky. We caught up with my old college roommate, her husband, and their daughter Bella. Thanks again Lortons for driving all the way up from Knoxville to visit with us! We also got to spend some time with my dear friend Emily and her family, which is always fun!

On Friday, our last day in town, we drove up to Covington, KY with my sister and Andrew to visit our Dad and little brother Preston. We met up for some pizza and then headed to an outdoor basketball court afterwards so the guys could shoot some hoops. This was a very precious and memorable time for me and I loved seeing Preston play basketball. I get sad when I think about all I miss with him and he is SO funny and talented - an amazing young man. After some exchanging gifts at Dad's house we headed back to Lexington to catch some sleep before heading out early the next morning. My sweet friend, Jenny, met us halfway and drove us to the airport which was a huge blessing and a great time to catch up!

We came back to Washington on New Year's Eve. I passed out immediately, well before ringing in the New Year, because I was feeling pretty yucky. CR got called in to deliver a New Year's baby which was pretty cool.

This past weekend we were able to go snowshoeing with a group from post. There are so many great opportunities for military members and their families. Thanks again to Rae-Ann, a first year intern's wife, for inviting us to come along. The group went up to Mount Rainier for a three hour hike up to Panoramic Point, where on a clear day you can see Mount Hood, Mount St. Helen's and obviously Mount Rainier. This was our first time snowshoeing so we did not know what to expect.

View from the parking lot

Rae-Ann and the group as we paused to take it all in

Partial view from the top (pictures just cannot do it justice)More from the topFinal shot from the top
Rae-Ann and I taking it all in

Perfect DayWe snowshoed 1700 feet in elevation (approx. 3 miles), which put us at 6400 feet when we reached Panoramic Point. This was an amazing trip with some of the best views of Washington we have seen yet. I know the pictures don't even begin to capture how truly striking this place truly is. Google told us that we burned 2,360 calories in our 3 hours of snowshoeing, so we decided this meant we could partake in a not-so-healthy meal. Our choice? Grilled chicken salad AND pizza dip! This is without a doubt one of the best things I have ever eaten and of course it is courtesy of Pinterest :)

That's all we've got for now. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings about what we've been up to.

I'll leave you with a picture of our lazy Sunday that followed. So sweet!

Happy 2012 Everyone!

CR, Tara, and Ty