The first month of the new year is nearly half over and what do you know, life is happening faster than I can find the time to blog about it. Plus we are neck deep in remote schooling and I am not gonna lie, ITS STILL HARD. Evie is challenging and demands so much constant attention......but I digress......back to Christmas.
For the past few years we have been spending Christmas up at the Flying E Ranch and this year was no exception. It has been a very warm year with very little rain or snow, so the experience was a wee bit different this year.
We always like to take some time and help Papa with some of the harder ranch chores so day 1 we worked to get hay moved into the barn for the winter. Bob and I really have it down to a science and we can bang 80 bales or so in short order. I mean, honestly Bob does most of the heavy lifting, but me and Lily are great foremen!
Evie is much more of the "Ill go pet the horses" kind of help, but cute none the less.
Our days up in the mountains consisted of a lot of down time and reading time which was just what I wanted. Bob found himself in the same picture as a 1600 year old tree. A neighbor in the area found him on his run and told him about the ancient inhabitant and by golly he found it. This tree was around during the Roman Empire. Pretty darn cool.
The girls spent a lot of their time playing games, watching Ipads, watching movies, eating, and eating turtles. I say eating twice because, well, that is what you do around holidays right?
On Christmas Eve it has been our tradition to ski all day and then watch The Star in the evening. With such poor snow and water at Sunrise Ski Resort, the only thing open was the bunny hill and minimal sledding. We did what we could to make the best of it and managed to have a fun day sledding "on rocks" as Lily said. We even sacrificed a sled on the first ride of the day.
Again, if 2020 has taught us anything its that we can adapt and make the best out of any situation. The girls made friends and simply had a blast playing in the snow that was there while enjoying new friendships.
Evie's thing was eating all of the snow, while Lily liked trying out new sledding areas.
While not our normal skiing, the day was great. Memaw and Papa came too and we had lunch on the mountain followed by a visit to Brenda and Brian's. Now without getting into too much of my family tree for this blog's sake, Brenda is a cousin to my Momma and grew up really close with my Aunt. They have all remained close even though far apart on the map. Brenda and Brian live completely off of the grid and their place is AMAZING.
Brian built their home and it is almost entirely powered by solar and wind. They do have a generator but rarely use it. They grow much of their food in their garden or greenhouse and Brenda is a canning master. They have chickens, horses, dogs, and fish and Brian is an excellent hunter. Its really neat to see their place and spend time with them. I honestly cannot wait to get my girls out their this summer to help with planting, gardening, and canning. So much to learn.
We of course ended our evening with The Star. I love this movie and am so grateful for it. The girls look forward to it every year and it truly is such a fun way to experience the story of Jesus.
Christmas Day is always my favorite. Santa comes and there are always so many treasures under the tree. The girls got some lovely gifts and all of us shared a wonderful morning. I got a yoga wheel to add to my accessories. I am grateful for what my body can do and always am looking for ways to expand its capabilities.
Our day was spent enjoying the couch, our books, White Christmas, and playing with hair braiding. Its a gift to just sit and rest.
Christmas was a gift of respite to be sure and we are deeply grateful to have ended the year on a high note.
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