Our last few weeks have seen a lot of traveling, but a lot of fun. We spent the week before traveling working on the Christmas letter for the Bell family, and splitting up audio of Nate’s grandfather Colin Bell. We barely had time for anything else! Then when those were finished, we had about 12 hours to pack up and get on our way! After getting everything ready, we left one weeks worth of food for the cats and left from Nate’s work at 4 pm on the 23rd. We drove all evening, and arrived at Holly Hills at around 2 am.
Spending time in VA is always exciting. Our first day, we went out to get the Christmas tree and decorated the house for the holidays. We enjoyed many long walks with our dogs, especially Hannah, Rufus and Merlin, an Australian Shepherd that was found in Richmond and was in our care. On the topic of dogs, Joan and Alister came to the farm a few days later and bonded again with our rescue papillon, Cricket, and took him home just after Christmas. All reports are that he is doing incredibly well, and we’re so happy he’s in a wonderful, low-stress environment.
Christmas brought warm times with family.
We spent the morning and early afternoon with Molly, Laurel and Carlos in Charlottesville, then reconvened in Palmyra at the dog park for a nice walk to the Rivanna River. We got a great picture of Birdaloo, Carlos and Laurel’s dog. Later that day, we returned to Holly Hills and had a tasty dinner with Tom, Jennifer, Joan, Alister Graham, Laurel, Carlos and the two of us. We spent all day giving and receiving presents as well as laughing and smiling.
On Saturday, we went to The Flaming Wok with the entire family and Jesse Drummond and friend for a bridal shower of sorts. Conversations were animated and covered a variety of topics, from gardening, to triangles, to the next day’s hunt. The food was flavorful and the chef entertaining. The family gifted us with a very important work of art pertaining to Nate’s grandmother Elaine who passed this fall.
Sunday we got to go visit a neighboring farm of Holly Hills to see the beginning of a hunt that Tom was involved in. We learned all about the tradition of the fox hunt, and marveled at the hounds and horses. Tom leads the ‘third flight,’ which is the younger kids. Tom’s definitely the one that I would trust with the youngsters.
Monday we drove 9 hours to Indiana, spend an hour working out things at home and picked up a dog to take to Michigan, and then drove the 4 hours to Michigan. We arrived at about 9:30 in the evening and fell asleep very early! The next day a family came to pick up the extra dog that we brought (another adoption for HELP the Animals!), and we spent the day relaxing and shopping. We did Christmas on New Years both at home and at Grandma and Grandpa Giddings, and brought in the New Year together. At midnight, there were three kisses from three different generations: our grandparents, parents and us. In a time when we’ve been thinking so much about family ties, it was great to be able to share this time together.
We will be returning home on the 4th and are looking forward to a visit from some close friends (Mike and Becca from Philadelphia!). We wish everyone a safe and happy 2009!
(Here are some pictures from our journeys)
Christmas Lunch at Molly's House
Christmas Dinner with the Bell Family
Family Shot Outside The Flaming Wok
Laurel and Carlos' Birdaloo Being Cute
Tom Before the Big Hunt
Three Generations Enjoying the New Year
1 comment:
Birdaloo is so cute! I want one!
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