Getting out of Dodge

We spent almost 2 months at my parent's new house in Utah this Fall. It was great! We were gone for 2 full weeks of that time, in Hawaii (thanks to my angel sister, Lea, who took our 2 girls in addition to her 3 active boys! And also, my parents watched the girls on the weekends), and when we were in town, we were generally glued to our computers, trying to get our Polish Pottery and Wood Watches website in working condition.

Remember how our Polish Pottery supplier went out of business with only 1/2 a day's notice this summer? Well, we got so many lovely emails from past customers, and we decided it was silly to not continue to look for a new pottery supplier. So...we debated...and finally settled on an incredibly diverse new collection of Polish Pottery for our website. Our Wooden Watch section has also tripled in size, and will continue to grow until I add the full collection of about 300 wooden watches.

Anyways...other than being stuck on our computers, and making a quick trips to to SLC, then Park City, and even St. George to find new accounts for the Wooden Watches...two months flew by fast! We didn't get a chance to see any friends when we were in Utah, which is somewhat astonishing to me (considering we had 1 1/2 months)...but I guess that is the life of a self-employed business owner. You just keep working...and working...and working...

The girls loved being with their Nana & Papa!

They also got to see their new cousin, Michael (my little brother's new arrival)! He is so cute, and I am always shocked at how little babies are, when they are born!

We re-packed our van/trailer, yet again (we're really really really experienced with packing and re-packing), and managed to empty out 17 boxes from our van/trailer. We left behind items that we didn't need for our short stay in Atlanta this winter...and we'll return to my parent's house in the Spring to be reunited with them. The girls insisted on helping, and Jared is such a good sport to let the girls think that they are actually helpful (ha)!

And just when we were about to leave in early December...this snow storm hit...

Needless to say, we did not leave. We waited until the snow settled a bit, and the roads on I-70 (crossing through Colorado and Kansas) cleared up. Then...we quickly crossed country in between 2 major snow storms...managing to miss them both! Whew!

In Colorado, we stayed with a family friend, Vanessa! Well, in many ways, we just consider her part of our family. Her family is so adorable, and she has done some beautiful work remodeling their cute house in Castle Rock. We enjoyed visiting with them, but wish we could have visited much longer!

We continued on to Kansas, to my home town of Topeka! There, we stayed with my old BFF from my high school days, Annie, and her wonderful hubby, Brett. Annie has red hair, and her and Ella looked like a great pair!

Thanks to the $4 and under section at Toys R Us (with a $4 off birthday card), Maiya got a few simple gifts for her 2nd birthday!

We went to the West Ridge Mall to get some walking in (KS was snow-covered!), and visited with another great friend (formerly known as Charlotte Carter) while there. Of course, half of our "walking" time was spent watching our kids play on the electronic toys that we never put coins into.

Next, we were off to Nashville, to see my brother Ben, and his wife, Jenny. They live in Franklin, which is a beautiful community.

Jenny was sweet, and made a cake for Maiya's birthday!

Ben & Jenny have a ridiculously cute boy named Tyler. Tyler is scrumptious...and you just want to eat his cheeks!

Of course, they found a hill to roll down...
They also took us to the Grand Old Opry Hotel, which I haven't been to since I stayed there when I was 11 years old. My sister was "Miss Kansas National Teenager" back in her beauty-queen days, and we accompanied her to the National Competition! It was fun to see it 16 years later, and compare it to my childhood memory. And of course, we had to take a bad photo in front of the giant Christmas tree (bad, because I had the photo setting set incorrectly)!

LAST, but not least, we finally drove to Atlanta, where we will be staying until April. My sister and her husband, Greg, live in Peachtree City, which is about 30 minutes south of Atlanta. It is a "golf cart" community, where residents actually drive golf carts to the grocery store (they get front row parking spots!), and down special paths connecting the communities, etc. It's a nice place, and we're happy to spend time here with them! Hopefully, they'll be able to stand us taking up their space! So far, they claim to not mind, because we're using all their un-used rooms in their beautiful, 4 bedroom home!