WHEW!

Thank goodness Santa brought Paul a robber's mask ... unemployment is tough!







Ain't life grand!























Paul & Sabrina, Atlanta, GA
















Sabrina & Cheri, BFFs since the beginning of time!















Paul & Boys at Grandfather Mountain, NC













Christian, Austin & Cade, Grandfather Mtn












Cade, Christian, Mildred the Bear and Austin












Jennifer and Cheri, Dec. 27, 2008



After spending an incredibly quiet Christmas Day with just the two of us, we took off for our Christmas tour of the upper Southeast! We went to Atlanta to visit the kids and my BFF, Sabrina; picked up the grandkids, drove back through Anderson SC to visit Shay, and came home with much more energy than we left with!!! We've been entertaining these 3 boys, and they've been entertaining us. It has been absolutely delightful and exhausting! We have had an absolutely WONDERFULLY magic encounter with these guys. The older they get, the more delightful they become! We had a great birthday party last night. I'll post that tomorrow!
I can't say enough of how grateful we are for being afforded the visitation we have with these special little guys. I have giggled like a 6 year old girl for days now. And I don't mind saying, I really needed that! SO ... I hope you can all giggle in delight with your loved ones, both young and old! And Paul & I wish for you the best possible New Year .... happy times, prosperous days, perfect health, oodles of noodles, blessings galore and shared love. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
All the Best,
Cheers!
Paul & Cheri

Merry Christmas!

Random shots for a view of Christmas from our house! (except this picture of the boys ... left to right, Austin, Bobby (their cousin) and Cade sporting their new UGA sweatshirts.

Anyway

I love Christmas time! For us it means a BIG FAT MESS, among other things!!! We have been lucky enough to have friends dropping in to share the spirit of the season and some great laughs and cheer ... nothing better! There is nothing like Christmas to see the best in most.

We wish for you ALL to have a Merry Christmas and a belly full of happy day!

Also, we wish for you ALL priceless blessings for the New Year.

The Best to ALL,

Paul & Cheri

Yep ... Christmas time ... and WINTER!

Well, it finally happened. Winter Solstice brought with it the chilliest day of our year to date. It officially went negative 6 on the mountain top last night ... our house saw negative 1, but by the time I got the courage to go outside and take the picture of the thermometer, it had risen slightly, at least to positive numbers. I did pump gas in one degree temperature this morning. It was COLD. The wind was cutting, and I was none too warm for a good hour after I got to work and thawed in front of a very warm space heater. It was cold enough here in the High Country for the heaters to go into "emergency heat" mode. Brrrrrrr.................. I thought I'd post the mosaic sun next to the thermostat just for kicks! Still not warm or dry enough to grout anything around here, but there are some fun mosaics waiting for final touches!

Well, aside from frigid temps, we are just jamming for the big Christmas day. We have big and small trees (20 inches and 10 feet), Nutcrackers a plenty and have been diligently baking goodies for neighbors and friends, and preparing ourselves for yuletide pleasures. Seems like in this rather iffy economy, whatever we can do to perk ourselves up is where we are naturally gravitating! I'm finding that rather refreshing!! We even tried truffles this year --- YUM!

We got to teach the children on Saturday ... great gobs of fun! They are so inspiring and make Paul and I feel so blessed and special. The youngest group was there in FULL FORM, and were such a HUGE joy to play with. Paul made them a army of chocolate mice to munch on after class, and they all had a great time with that. We made little goody bags for everyone, and they all seemed to be so very happy. It's very hard not to ask to permission to bring them all home! But, really we don't have that much room, food, heat, electricity. We do, however, have that much love. It certainly has opened our eyes to abundance in all shapes and forms.

We don't really know what our agenda is for this week, and that seems to be great fun for us! I know we will be home for Christmas eve and Christmas day. We may try to nip down the mountain to visit a few folks the day after Christmas, depending on Mother Nature and our energy levels! I will say it is fun to have the freedom to not worry about it, but we really do miss everyone. Jennifer and her family will be home for Christmas morning, and then go to Vic's parent's for the afternoon. Since they came up here for Thanksgiving, that's the way the plan fell. Christian has begged for us to come down, and since Jon's boys will hopefully be with him the day after too, I'd love to hug the little guys at some point this weekend. We shall see! Coordinating all the schedules has become a jigsaw puzzle that sometimes is beyond my level of comprehension!

It is the time of year when most of us are running around in circles, and moving way too fast to stop and think about much beyond the busy work. But my astrologers keeps telling me to make my new year resolutions NOW because Saturn will make doing so later in the week an impossible task. SO ... I will pass along that piece of information to all you out there, in case you want to heed their advice! It is always a great idea to start off with a plan, I have found!! So I will be spending some time today trying to rise to the challenge of making my list. And I will wish you all the best in making yours!

Until later, happy Christmas week! We hope you accomplish all you want to, remember to be grateful and count your blessings, and have F U N !!!

Be well,

Paul & Cheri

Chocolate Mice

These darling little chocolate mice are Paul's claim to fame. He has made quiet a splash with these little guys during the holiday season this year! What do you expect from a Rat King?!?

We are unbelievably busy for being so calm and laid back up here! Guess it's the season for all of that ... but I'm tired! We shopped yesterday. Remember, we have to drive for an hour before we can even begin our shopping expedition ... then after we are completely worn out and exhausted, we drive an hour back to the house. Good grief! I am so glad the holidays only come once a year! We are trying to wrap it all up. (ha - what a pun, eh?) Anyway, just wanted to share the mice with you ... there will be more postings to follow soon ...

Be well,

Paul & Cheri

When Life Gets Too Messy

Just throw your head back and laugh ... it feels SO much better! Thanks for that lesson, Christian!

And another thing ...

These are bear tracks in the snow right before sunrise here at the Club yesterday morning. If you see these, go inside! It is time for the bears to be gorging so they can hibernate. Our winter has begun so early, it has caught them off guard, unlike last year when it never got cold enough for them to get the message to hibernate. SO, be aware, there are bear out here in these mountains ... and in the neighborhoods, as well as the woods. Hard core evidence, right here.

Be safe ... wear a bell! :-)

The safety officer

Grand Boys ... November 2008

I'm thinking no description necessary.








Cute though, aren't they?