White Christmas!!

I know this post is REALLY late, but Phil and I have both been slammed at work since the new year started. So I apologize for just now getting around to Christmas!

We spent a week in NY with Phil's family for Christmas, and made a quick stop in the NC mountians on our way home to do a Christmas meal with Erin's family. To our excitement, there was snow in both locations! Below is a picture from West Jefferson, NC, and a picture of the sunset as we were getting there after our drive down from NY.


One of the most entertaining parts of the trip was watching Nash play with Lucy, Phil's parents' boxer. Lucy is a complete spaz, and unbelievably, I think she had more energy than Nash!! They wrestled and chased each other every single second they were together, so we had to seperate them quite often, just to let them rest. The only other time they would stop was if you offered food:

Can you tell how wet Nash's whole head is, from Lucy slobber:

We had a wonderful Christmas with Phil's parents, and are so glad we got to spend the holiday with them. We got to visit with lots of his extended family, too, which was really nice. It's hard living so far away!

Phil and I tried to spend as much time as we could outside in the snow. We went to the nearby park, and I laughed at the sign near the front entrance. You don't see this at NC parks:
We went to the sledding hill (yes a designated sledding hill... again, not in NC) and had a blast. The picture below doesn't do it justice- it was SO steep!! I got to the top and wondered what I had gotten myself into! Once I got up my nerve, it was fun going down :) Phil, of course, is a pro. But a bit crazy... I can see how he broke his back sledding in college!


Nash seemed to enjoy the snow, once he got used to it. It was pretty funny watching him try to figure out that he could pee on it... the first few times we took him out, he just wouldn't go because there wasn't any grass! But he eventually understood :) We tried to take him sledding on a small hill at the house, but he wanted none of that. He seemed to love playing and running in the snow, and sticking his nose way down into it and tossing it up in the air. See pics below, of all the white on his face :)

Cute little pupper, jumping at the camera (we're working on better manners...)

It was a great trip, and we were so excited to see Phil's family and see some snow at the same time :) And of course, we are continuously thankful for the real reason we celebrate Christmas- the birth of Jesus, our Savior! We hope that you all had a wonderful, blessed Christmas, too. And hopefully 2010 is going well :)

New Addition!

Well, it has taken me forever to get this updated, but on Halloween, we got a new dog! We actually drove up to the Boone Humane Society, because we'd seen some dogs on their website that we liked. So, meet Nash (pre-grooming):


He's 7 mos. old now- I'm not entirely sure why we got a puppy! Neither of us are terribly patient, and he's certainly testing us! But we're trying to remind ourselves that "it's just a phase" and he'll grow out of biting us 24/7. Hopefully soon!

He's a scottish terrier, mixed with who knows what. He's kind of long, with shorter legs, so we think maybe he has some Dachsund or Basset Hound in him. He's right at 35 lbs. now. The vet said that would be his max, but we wouldn't be surprised if he keeps growing.

Having him makes us realize that Tucker wasn't nearly as bad as we thought ;) But we are growing attached to Nash, despite the annoying puppy thing he's got going. I don't think either of us could take him back. He's definitely funny and entertaining, when he isn't chewing on us :) Hopefully I can catch some antics on camera to share. Here's his post-grooming glamour shot:

Nashville, TN

At the end of October, Phil had another work trip to Nashville. We decided that I should tag along and we made a long weekend out of it. I had been to Nashville once before, and loved it. After this trip, I remember why! It's such a fun place to visit, especially if you like country music like we do. We had a blast doing lots of touristy things, and we already want to go back :)

Our first non-working night there, we went to the Wildhorse Saloon for dinner and some line dancing. It's a very cool place, though the fried pickles were a disappointment! Here are some pictures from our night there:

The next day, we went to visit Bellemeade Plantation, which is exactly what it sounds like- an old planation house that you can tour. It was a neat house, and beautiful grounds. They used to breed racehorses, but no longer had any on site. The horse barn made me drool, though :) Here are some pictures:

Next we went to downtown Nashville and hit some tourist spots for some shopping. I even ran into someone famous!!

Saturday night was our big night- we had gotten tickets to the Grand Ole Opry, which neither of us had ever seen. Even better, we got to see an INCREDIBLE line-up of artists! First was a new girl named Mallory Hope, who as absolutely amazing! She could be a really big star, based on the performance we saw- Phil compared her to Martina McBride. Little Jimmy Dickens was a host for one segment of the show, and he was HILARIOUS! Pretty spry for an 83-year old man! :) Then we had performances by Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins (who I love!) and the Oak Ridge Boys (we didn't know they would be there- a very pleasant surprise!). It was so much fun, and I'm keeping my eye on the Opry calendar to find another good show to go see in the future! Here are pictures from the show:

Family Time (ie: More pics of Emma)

We went to Greensboro this past weekend to visit my side of the family. Jason came down with his family, so y'all are subjected to tons of pictures of Miss Emma :)

She LOVES playing in water, so Brenda will just fill up the sink and let her splash around. Becky has learned to pack extra clothes because it's inevitable that she's going to get soaked :)

Eating a snack with Nana:

Jason takes parenting VERY seriously, so he knew how important it was for Emma to be introduced to Yum-Yum's... a Greensboro staple. Bright red hot dogs and homemade ice cream that can't be beat. Emma's a lucky girl to have the experience :)

Next stop was Granddaddy's house to see Great-Granddad and Aunt Sandy. Aunt Erin also used a cool necklace as a bribe to make sure Emma liked me this trip ;) It worked :)

Phil and I left super-early on Sunday because we needed to get home and do some work around the house (home ownership has some pitfalls...). I wouldn't normally allow the camera at such an early hour, when I don't have make-up on, but Phil thought Emma's tights were too cute to pass up. Smart man ;)

We'll get to see them again at Thanksgiving- already looking forward to it!! Hopefully Christmas will bring some updated pics of the Henry children, which we can't wait for, either! :) So nice to have so many cute children in our lives... no need for us to mess with providing any! ;)

Another Sad Weekend

Well, exactly a month after my Grandmother passed away, Phil and I had to say good-bye to our sweet, sweet Tucker. It was quite possibly the hardest decision either of us has ever had make. He'd been sick almost the whole time we had him, but no one could figure out why. The last month got really bad, and he quit eating completely. The vet was pretty convinced he had a tumor that was keeping him from eating, but we couldn't afford the tests to tell for sure. We wouldn't have done chemo if we'd known, though, so we just did our best to keep him happy and comfortable.

We knew what was coming, so we took a few family pictures a couple weeks beforehand:

The Saturday morning that we took him in, we spent the morning loving on him and letting him sleep with us. Even though he'd lost a ton of weight and had no energy left, he could still get excited about a car ride. Here's the last pic of our pup, ears flapping :)

We miss him terribly, and writing this blog made me cry all over again. It feel like I've been crying for weeks. I know he was a handful, and many people said they would have taken him back to the Humane Society, but I'm SO glad we decided to stick by him. We have no doubt he loved us, and we're thankful for the year we had with him, and the ability to provide him a good, loving home for his last year. I'm so glad he wasn't at the shelter. Whenever we're ready for the next one, I'm certain we'll adopt/rescue again, and I encourage everyone to do that when they're looking for a pet!

Family Farm

Sorry it took me so long to get these posted. But here are the pictures we took of my family's old farm in Eden, NC. We took Granddaddy over there the day after Grandma's funeral, and I think it helped him to be where they grew up, and tell us stories. My cousin Carolyn still lives on the land, so she showed us the two old farmhouses, one of the old tobacco barns (I had NO idea my family raised tobacco) and a tobacco field they now lease to another farmer. It was fun to catch up on family history.

Sad Weekend

My beautiful, amazing grandmother, Sarah King, passed away on September 3rd. Phil and I spent Labor Day weekend with my family in Greensboro remembering her and celebrating her life. She's been a constant as long as I can remember- they lived about 2 miles from us growing up, and was the only babysitter we ever had. I'd say she had quite an influence on me and Jason :)

Grandma and Granddaddy met in the first grade, when he gave her a nickel to sit with him at their lunch table :) Grandma saved the nickel and it was with her when she was buried. I told Granddaddy that it was her turn to save him a seat in Heaven :)

My aunt had seen doves released at a funeral before, and thought it was a nice way to finish the ceremony, so we did that for Grandma. One dove was released first, as a symbol of Grandma's spirit. Then three more were released and joined with the first, symbolizing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was truly touching and a sweet way to honor Grandma's memory.

I have a few pictures from the weekend- not of sad things, though. There are some Emma pictures (of course) and Phil and I also took Granddaddy to visit the old farm where Grandma grew up in Eden. I'll post those soon.

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for Grandma and my family during this time- it means the world to all of us. Praise God she knew Jesus and is happy and well in Heaven now :)