Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. What a busy time of year (hence the lack of blogs posted in Dec...sorry about that!). We had a great visit in Cleveland, then some time at home around New Year's Day.

It was a LONG drive up to Ohio (approx. 18 hrs), but we split it up into two days. The weather was cooperative for the drive...some rain in the Carolinas and W. Virginia, but no snow storms to contend with. We stopped on the first night in Columbia, SC and highly recommend the hotel chain we stayed in...Jameson Inn. They are all over the country and look like white southern plantation homes. Very comfortable, well-lit, and the big bonus is an awesome buffet breakfast in the morning (included in your room rate) that had belgium waffles. Very good! A perfect hotel for a stop-over and they take dogs! Our next stop was Columbus, Ohio to stay with friends Sam and Yvonne and meet up with Bryan's college friends for dinner and bowling...an annual tradition that keeps growing. This year we had over 20 people meeting us. Good to see everyone, meet the new babies born this year, and just catch up. Then it was off to Cleveland for the rest of the week. Bryan's family is always a lot of fun and the food is plentiful!! We were able to see everyone while we were there and Katelyn got to hang out with her cousins who are her age. She has great fun with them!

On our drive up to Cleveland, we passed many farms and Katelyn was fascinated (not something you see in Orlando!). We talked about the farms and animals you would see and she became fascinated with seeing pigs. We shared this with Bryan's mom and she took us to a local working farm that is part of the park district. You pay a few bucks and then you can walk around, touch the animals, and even milk a cow! Katelyn absolutely loved it and is still bragging that she milked a cow all by herself! What an experience for her.

We're home now, ready to get back to a normal school and MOPS schedule tomorrow. It's been fun having this time together, but we're ready for our normal routine. Our Christmas decorations are packed away, ready for next year. It will be here before we know it :-)