Mountain Life

We joined Julie, RT, Tennant, & Ellie in Independence, Virginia for the New Year. We LOVE the mountain house! There are deer and stuffed animals (and I don't mean the little pink kind) everywhere, a cabin without electricity on the top of the mountain, and miles of trails to explore.

The view from the top of Buck Mountain.

There is a cemetary with a bunch of old "Ward" graves - Grandma Iris was a Ward. I wonder if we are related?

We love the cabin! Cora and I didn't sleep up there (Landon, Heather, & Tennant did), but I look forward to having kids that are old enough for a camping adventure. It will be really fun to all pile into the cabin.

Cora LOVED RT! RT was carrying Cora outside, and he had a chew in his mouth. He spit. As RT reports it, Cora watched, studied his face for a minute, then mimicked his spit. She was also into the deer heads all over the house. I think that we might have a little mountain woman on our hands!

Cora enjoying Aunt Heather and Ellie time before bed. The trend all week was the Aunt Heather got Cora dressed for bed, then Grandma M came to actually put her to bed. As you might be imagining, Heather and Ellie were not "slowing" Cora down. The whole time that they were getting her ready for bed, the room was erupting with giggles. Poor Grandma M!

The mountains required LOTS of hats...

 and boots...

 ...and mittens!

Happy New Year!

Firefly and Bunnies

We ventured over to John's Island for a little vodka tasting.

It was Vodka tasting for Sharon, Heather, & Landon...
 

And bunny petting for Cora & I!

 There was a plane flying over.

 She kept pointing and saying "up".

Oh Cora! Just wait until you get to Uncle RT's house... you'll see these everywhere!

Merry Christmas Day!

Growing-up, my parents always got a picture of us peeking over the balcony on Christmas morning. When Cora started fussing to get up, I grabbed Landon and pushed him out of bed, telling him that we couldn't come downstairs until he was set with the camera.

When Cora peeked over the balcony, it was clear that it wasn't Santa she was looking for, but instead, her Daddy. She squealed with excitement when she saw him.

Our little family, Lovey included, cuddled on the couch Christmas morning. I had all the Christmas presents I needed curled-up together right there! My day was complete even before we touched the first present :)

Cora opening her first present...

A new baby doll from Mia & Poops. Later in the week, when I handed her this baby, she clearly said, "My baby!"

We didn't get many pics of her opening presents (I'm not sure how we got distracted), but Cora got a little bored midway through. She perched herself by the tree to check out the lights...

Cora had a cold on Christmas Day, so her nose had to frequently be swiped. It wasn't long before she was swiping her own baby's nose.

And, giving her baby milk from her new bottle.

Cora is really into blocks. We often find her playing in the block bins when we pick her up from school, and she tends to stack things around the house. Coincidentally, I saw a great article today in BusinessWeek (it came out before Christmas, but I hadn't checked my mail at work in several weeks to see it). Lego is working to capture the other 50%... little girls! Landon has a HUGE tub of legos in our attic from when he was a kid, and I had my own favorite set of blocks (ringamajigs) and every kind of imaginable hand-me-down block from Matt (Lincoln Logs, Legos, and wooden blocks included). Bring on the pink Legos!!!

 She likes the blocks... but she LOVES her babies. Even though she got several new babies for Christmas, her favorite is still "Baby Mia", her first baby doll.

I guess that she was trying to fill the bottle?

Brushing her baby?

The entire Christmas break was so much fun. Cora is really starting to develop a little personality, and she is certainly on the go.

 Aunt Heather arrived on Christmas evening, and we settled in for a nice dinner (Grandma M, Heather, Landon, Cora, and I). Sharon & Heather stayed through the new year, so we got to have a few fun outings and a lot of good ole' downtime at home.We did the annual December 26 puzzle (not finished until December 29), and then we hit the mountains with Julie and her family.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve might be my very favorite day of the year. It is at least in close competition with Easter, the Summer Solstice, and the day that we switch to daylight savings time in the spring.

On Christmas Eve, our family went from house to house to house grazing off of tables and opening the occassional present. We always started at William & Beaulah Trimble's (where there was always Doug, Steve, Danny, their families, and banana pudding), then had an early dinner followed by presents at Grandma & Grandpa Blair's, then stopped by the Ratliff's (where the Gullett's and Meek's were always gathered), then dropped into Aunt Ella's house (where Jenny, Beanie, & Lynn were with their families), then ended at Mimaw Eb's for more snacks and presents (Summer would always be jumping up and down by the basement door). Christmas Eve is full of people, dip, and sausage balls, and I love it.

I made a table to be grazed from this year, and learned that we have a lot of friends whose childhood consisted of Christmas Eve grazing. I was sad to not be in Paintsville, was happy to get to Skype in on the party and Dad & Mom's house, and was happy to have a houseful of grazers! Most of all, I am happy that we have a healthy little elf, even if she isn't sure of the cause of the excitement.

Merry Christmas from the Messal Family!

I'm grazing, Landon's working to fix a broken candle. Wow! I still have nearly 3 more months to go?!?!?! My belly is grow-grow-growing...

 Landon worked to finish our back porch renovation.

Landon and Sharon, on their way to Christmas Eve Mass.

Merry Christmas!!!