New York

To save myself time and energy I was just going to skip over the Christmas posts and move onto things currently happening, but there is just too much cuteness not to share! 

Jeremy schedule for Christmas break was awful this year. We were only going to get about a week of time and when you're splitting that between two families, it's just not enough time! Well, when we found out that the week before break started Jeremy had to go out of town for a conference, he suggested that instead of being home alone for 4 days I fly to NY with the boys to get some extra time with family! As nervous as it made me to do so, I jumped at the opportunity and did just that! 

The flights could have been better but also could have been worse. We made it safely into Syracuse with my parents awaiting our arrival! That extra time with my family (and a quick trip to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma Thomas) was so incredibly special and needed. What fun was had.....

 (disclaimer: I did not take but only a few of these pictures. When I am in NY I pretty much unplug from electronics, including my camera - which I love and hate all together)

This picture!!!!!

Lucas Jay grew up SO much while we were there. His hair grew like crazy (which I remember happening with Seth - not sure what that's about) and he began pulling up on EVERYTHING. 

We got to have fun with Graysen! 

 We made Jesus a birthday cake!

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

I read Seth some of my old time childhood books...

And we partied with Aunt Sami <3 

The annual bunk bed chat...

And had lots of goodies!

Thank you Mom & Dad, for the Christmas present of getting me there early, for coming to get me and for hosting us for an extra long time <3 

Snow of 2018

It's been so long and I have truly missed blogging. I had planned on "coming back" last week, but our plans didn't quite go as we had intended in many ways (plus I left my computer cord in NY so I haven't been able to access the internet very easily). 

Our trip to NY was amazing. The boys and I traveled safely the week before Jeremy had off and then he was able to drive up safely (alone through the night) and miss a storm that was headed in. We had a great time with family and I plan to share a little bit more on that soon. 

Our trip back to SC was where it got interesting. We left later than we had originally planned because the Buffalo Bills were playing their final game that would determine if they'd get into the playoffs or not - so naturally, we had to stay and watch that! It was a great time for Jeremy to have with his Dad and brother and the resulting win made it even better. So we took off New Years Eve around 8PM and started our trip. It was the first time we were ever doing the drive with both boys and we had always discussed how we wouldn't be able to do it in one swoop anymore. Lucas did great, he was fast asleep, but Seth just couldn't get comfortable. He would fall asleep and wake up a few minutes later crying hysterically. When we couldn't get him to calm down we made the call that it just wasn't worth it and got a hotel for the night. We all got a good night sleep and the drive the next day went much more smoothly than Jeremy and I had anticipated! We got in late Monday night and had a busy day Tuesday getting groceries, doing laundry and preparing for Jeremy to head back to work Wednesday and our routine to settle in.  

Well THAT didn't happen! South Carolina got SNOW. Like, REALLY got snow! Wednesday morning started we started getting ice and sleet and then it crossed over to snow. We learned that we always want to have some wood in the garage for these rare situations that can turn into an emergency when your power goes out. Plus, I super love having a fire! I still can't believe how much we ended up getting and how long it has stayed. It's still on the ground.

 

 

Jeremy was bummed because when he got to NY we had negative temperatures and he wasn't able to take Seth out...well, he got his wish! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 He got his first cup of hot cocoa!

School was cancelled for the 2 days it was supposed to be in session for the kids. Jeremy headed back in this morning for his work day (which he is so thankful they still gave them) and the kids should be back tomorrow. It's always wonderful to spend time with family, especially when it's the holidays, but it's always hard to come back home and have to get right back into the grind of every day life. Sometimes you just need a vacation from your vacation! We are so thankful that we were able to have some time together at home after our travels.