In The Middle

After the kids were feeling better and the house was all packed up, we have been spending the remaining of our time with our great friends, the Kemmeys, while we wait to leave for vacation tomorrow. We WERE going to leave early this morning but after an ALL DAY clean out party at the house yesterday to get things nice for our renters, we were just plain exhausted!! We really needed another day to recover and get things in order for the road.

Here are some pictures of our last days in our Virginia home. Oh, how we are going to miss it!

{kids lounging in mom and dad's room on the start of moving day!}

{i couldn't resist taking a picture of his little baby feet} :)

{our paint helpers and awesome friends! :)}

{cleaning house!}

{movers taking boxes to the truck}

{helping to get the furniture ready to be put into storage - minus the crib that's being shipped to the new house}

{crates for our household goods}

{moving almost complete!}

{packing!}

{Sad day for the kids - packing our suitcases to live out of for the next 2-3 months}

{At hotel while movers packed our things}

{guys working on home projects}

{painting the house}

{front yard}

{backyard}

{Sabine and Jocelyn - on our big cleaning day. SO thankful for her help!}

We spent a few months getting things prepped and ready to move by painting the home, getting projects finished, gutting the house and making numerous Goodwill trips, keeping kids out of the way of the movers and escaping the heat by trips to the mall, library and pool, and cleaning the home inside and out. It took a lot of work and a lot of helping hands! The hard part seemed to be over - until we had to say goodbye to our home! :( Our family made a lot of memories here. Tears were shed and we will miss it dearly!

Snowed In....Again

This year so far, our area has already been hit with a few snow storms. (As well as receiving a normal year's worth of snow in a little over a month's time!!} The most snow we've received at one time has been about 6-8 inches. Last weekend to be exact. Church was cancelled. We were snowed in all weekend and school was closed Mon-Wed. School reopened on Thursday but we were gearing up for our next huge storm - starting Friday and lasting well into Saturday late evening with snow accumulation expected between 20 and 30 inches! It wasn't a matter of "if" it was going to snow; it was a matter of "when!" With the expected severe storm, school was cancelled for Friday. John only worked half a day and then our family snuck out before the weather got too bad and took the kids to a quick trip to Borders to get a few books. (Library was closed!) Grocery shopping had been done on Wednesday and Thursday-preparing us with at least a week's worth of meals. We were prepared for what was to come. But weren't excited in the least to be stuck inside yet another weekend! Until the snow fall stops, we're hunkered down with many games and movies and books to entertain.

Here is a picture of our backyard as the snow storm started around 10 am Friday (with some snow from earlier in the week):

And here are some pictures that followed throughout the day yesterday:

{backyard}

{backyard}

{front bushes}

{front walkway}
{front tree branches}

{front yard}

{front walkway after a bit of snow fall}

{night picture of the backyard}

About 6 inches of snow fell through the night while we slept. It was so pretty to wake up with so much snow out our windows. And that's as far as my camera went. I wanted to go out but wasn't too motivated to take the camera out and get wet. So I just settled on taking window shots and will go outside tomorrow to take more when the snow fall has stopped. The snow will continue coming down until at least 9-10 pm tonight. Presently, at 4 pm, we have already had well over a foot of snow hit with more on the way. People are saying this has been the biggest snow storm in the area since the 90's...maybe even earlier.

Here are some pictures from today:

{picnic table}

{community playground}

{backyard fence}

{backyard}

{tree branches with snow & ice}

{looking out the window to the front yard}

{our street}

{neighbor's tree}

{snow built up outside our front door}

{front door}

Lately...

I've been in awe of God's beautiful creations. They're amazing! Here are some pictures I took of the lovely outdoors this January! Unless otherwise noted, these pictures are taken from the comfort of my own front/back yard.

{Chatham Manor}

{Chatham Manor}

{geese at a pond we spotted on our way to the movie theater}

{more geese...}

{ bird flying over a pond near the movie theater}

{barn off leavells road on the way to/from the library}