"Snow" Day

We're home for a "Snow" day today. I use the quotation marks because there isn't a lick of snow to be seen. We got out of school at 11a yesterday as the fat, fluffy flakes swirled through the frigid air. The kids were so excited to get home to "make snow angels, snowmen, and have a snowball fight" they said. I wanted to get home, pull on some fleece pants and socks and campout on the couch. Well, we all got our wishes, sort of. The snow didn't stick but it did accumulate (slightly) on some things like the steps, the picnic table and the trampoline. This allowed for enough of a thin layer of dust for snow angels and snowballs about the size of a gumball. =)





Overall, I dislike the cold, dreary weather and I'm thankful that I live in a place where it is a rare occurance. School was cancelled for today, too. Now we're snuggled in for the weekend and enjoying our snowless "Snow" day.

Much Love
the Country Vaughns

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010 is here - can you believe it? This holiday season was a whirlwind of fun, food, and family. We loved every minute of it! In addition to Christmas and New Year's K and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on 12/30. We enjoyed a quick get-away to Gatlinburg, TN and spent New Year's Eve and Day in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. The kids got to stay with the grandparents and were treated to a roadtrip to Chatanooga with Aunt Lacy and Uncle David. BIG thanks to those two brave souls! ;)

As we headed back to Bama from TN we were able to stop by and visit with K's brother and his family - the Knoxville Vaughns. We don't get to spend enough time with the Vaughn families and we miss them dearly!

Everyone had a great time on their respective trips and we're glad to be back home on "the farm" getting ready to head back to school and work next week.

I'll start my "Clinical Field Experience" aka student-teaching on Monday and the kids head back to school on Wednesday. Thankfully, I will be spending my semester at Ragland High so we can all go to school together until late April. I'm so grateful that things worked out that way!!

We hope that 2010 is full of blessings and happiness for all of our friends and family!

Much Love,
the Country Vaughns

Beach Trip

We headed down to Gulf Shores, AL this past weekend and spent a few days just relaxing together and having a great time. As the kids get older it is so much more fun to go places and watch them have new experiences! Trust me, if you haven't done it, vacationing with three babies/toddlers/diaper-wearers is NOT a vacation.

(In the past I have been known to have a nervous breakdown a day or so into a trip with babies and spend the rest of the time crying and begging K to take me home.)

On this trip we spent most of the time on the beach or by the pool. We ate breakfast and lunch in and dinner out. Here are some random photos from the trip:


Ham!!!


A nice lady on the beach offered to take a family shot! Wasn't that sweet?!


There were lots of jellyfish out and about on Friday afternoon. Everyone ended up getting stung/itchy.


Dinner at Lambert's Cafe - "Home of throwed rolls". This is a must each time we head to the beach! If you haven't been - go, now, stop reading this and go (j/k!) This place serves "country food" think: Grandma or really, really good Cracker Barrel. And LOTS of it, plus when you want a roll you raise your hand a the "roll guy" throws one to you from across the restaurant! Good manners, no, but the kids love it!!!


Speaking of a "throwed" roll, they are tasty (and huge)!


Kallie agrees!


Butter, anyone?

All in all, we had a great time. Oh yeah, one more thing we did that was really fun. This was new for the kids - we went to a Japanese Steakhouse. You know, where the chef comes out and cooks on the hibachi right infront of you?! It was super-fun to see the kids interact and react with him and his mad knife skills! Yes, it was expensive but a true treat!

Seattle - Harbor Tour

While we were in Seattle we took a harbor tour. Both K and I love the water so it was a fun, relaxing way to see the city. (We walked our butts off that week!) Here are some of the photos (of the harbor tour, not our butts)...

Sleep-ing in Seattle

Sorry to be out of touch for awhile. K and I are in Seattle, WA for the week. It's our first trip sans kids EVER and we are having a great time. However, we do miss the monkeys terribly! This trip is part vacay, part work as K is here for the National Convention for Sleep Medicine Professionals and I was lucky enough to tag along.

Sidenote: Am I the only one to see the irony of a sleep conference in Seattle (Sleepless in Seattle)? Corny, I know, but I've been laughing about it for a week! Obviously, it doesn't take much to amuse me, eh?

Anyway, we've been here since Friday and love the city! It's just our pace, not to fast and we love the environmental friendliness and outdoorsy lifestyle here. We've spent our time exploring the downtown so far and even got to hook-up with some of K's family as it just so happens it was his uncle Rex's 75th birthday party this weekend and the cousins invited us to the party. We were both able to meet family members for the first time and that was great! A big thanks to the Candland clan for letting some "Country Cousins" join in the celebration for Uncle Rex! Since it was here big brother's party K's mom was up from Utah and we were able to spend some time with her as well.

Alright, enough blogging, I'm on vacation. I'll post some pics later! Love to all, J

My family and I caught crabs at the beach...

This is what Holdyn told EVERY person that we saw, talked to, or walked past during our beach trip. Thankfully, most people at the beach are in a good mood so mostly they all laughed. There were a few odd looks but not many.

The hunt begins. The crab hunter, armed with his trusty net, scans the waters for his elusive prey.

There! The hunter spots his crafty nemisis and the chase begins...

Once trapped the crab is a worthy opponent an epic battle of man vs. beast ensued...

Oh, the battle was hard-fought but the bounty was superb!

Note: No crabs were injured in the making of this episode....Weelll, that isn't exactly true...One surly female crab did lose a claw...But on the bright side a hungry seagull got a free meal!