Christmas

I'm always excited when the kids are all home. It helps lessen the empty next syndrome. If you are a mother who has grown children, you may understand what I'm talking about.

We celebrated Christmas a few days after Christmas. Tam-e, Bobby & the kids came in on Friday night so they wouldn't have to get up early on Saturday to come home.

I had made arrangements to see our old house on Saturday morning. (Steve & I built a log cabin on a piece of the farm my parents owned.) It had been approximately 8 years since we moved from there. Wayne & Sarah were gracious enough to give us a tour of the old homestead. They made a few changes which were for the better. I don't know about the kids, but I loved seeing the place again. It is a nice house. Steve did a good job in building it. He should be proud of his accomplishments.

We then went to the cemetry. BJ wanted to go to my parents gravesite. Even though its been almost 22 years, I still miss them. I wonder if that part will ever subside.

Back to the house for lunch and open presents. The grandkids were patient and then Alexis couldn't stand it any longer. She wanted to know when we were opening gifts. Even though I get everything on my list, it's still exciting to open the presents.

Christmas @ the Biltmore

Stacy & I went to the Biltmore for Christmas. What fun!

We set out around midnight on Saturday for an eight hour drive. Approximately 7:30 a.m. and 477 miles later we arrived in Asheville, NC. The "fanciest" McDonalds I've ever seen was in Asheville. They had a player piano, live flowers on the tables, and a big Christmas tree in the center of the dining area.

Once we arrived at the entrance of the estate, we had to wait for 15 minutes before we could enter. Lots of people were waiting in line to drive to the mansion.

We arrived at the house where we took a self-guided tour of the house for two hours. It's 1 p.m., and off to the the winery for a tour and eating all the goodies they had out for the customers. (We were hungry.) We were able to watch a cooking demonstration, pumpkin cheesecake, very good. (Came home with the cookbook.) Finally it was time to go to the hotel. We rested for an hour, changed clothes and back to the Biltmore we went. This time we had dinner at one of the restuarants located on the estate. After dinner we then toured the Biltmore by candlelight. It was fun seeing it at night. (Lots of people!)

We had to be back to the house by 9 a.m. for our "premium tour". (Behind the scenes, roof top, and a guided tour of the house.) Because we had already seen the house twice before, our tour guide spent a little more time with the behind the scenes and roof top tour. Of course, photos were not permitted of the interior, so I have outside photos. (And not many of those.)

We were able to go horseback riding. That was fun. Stacy's horse was not cooperating (as well as a couple others) so our guide had to take control of the her horse. (The other horse wasn't quite as bad as Stacy's.) (It was amazing seeing the back of the house. How much different it looks from the front. Of course!) It was hard getting off that horse though. I felt so stiff and in pain. That saddle was HARD!

Monday night we had reservations for a restuarant nearby. Then we went to another hotel, actually to a huge resort. There we saw Gingerbread house competititon winners. (Some had wild imaginations.) Some were gone because they went to New York to be on the Morning Show. After looking at the houses, we didn't know what to do so we watched a Christmas movie the resort had available and then we went back to our hotel.

Christmas day we started out at around 11 a.m., returned home around 8:30 p.m.

It was a great experience being there at Christmas time. It was a good time with Stacy, I enjoyed every bit of it. Thanks Stacy! Love you.

If any of you ever get a chance to visit the Biltmore, do it. It's a great place to visit.