The Journey Is Over...

Yesterday was a full and very happy day for me.  I left Thursday night once the kids were in bed and headed to Ang's house.  We were able to spend the whole day together on Friday!!  Took the Things to school, had coffee, went to lunch, went for a walk in the woods...a looooong walk...uphill...both ways... mmmm hmmm... , played "school" with Thing3 and Thing4 and read a story to Thing4.  Then TB&H grilled steaks!!!  YUMMY!!  After that it was time for me to hit the road.  It was not easy.  It is always so hard to say bye to all of them!  I love those Things sooo much.  They all have me wrapped!  I am so fortunate to have the kind of friendship with Ang that I do already! She is the best and I love her too!  I can't wait till we get together again...SOON!!!! 

I left and headed to the Atlanta airport to pick up Jay and Emily and little Ashley!  When I pulled up to the airport and stood there waiting for them, my heart was pounding a mile a minute!!  I was so excited to see them!  And when they got there, she was just as beautiful as her pictures!  She was smiling, even after the long day they all had.  Emily took her out of the stroller and Ashley gave me a big grin.  My heart just melted into a big old puddle.  Then, she took her chubby little hand and wrapped it around my finger to walk to the car.  That did it...right then and there I decided she could have and do whatever she wanted to on the way home!!

She did great on the ride home, especially considering the fact that she had never been in a carseat before.  I didn't know it, but Emily said they don't use them in China!  Finally, about 1:15am we made it to their house.  Avery was already with us, and Jay went and got the other girls up.  Ashley never missed a beat!  She just started running around the house like she had always been there!  She let Jay and Emily's mom hold her for a second and then she started handing out the kisses!  She laid one on me so big that I had drool dripping off my face too!  I loved every minute of it!

I feel so privileged that not only does she share my name, but that I was able to go and pick them up last night and see her!  The journey to Ashley Mei might be over, but a new journey for Jay and Emily and the girls has just begun!

first family photo!!

On The Road Again

After the kids go to bed tonight I will be getting back in the car again for another little trip.  I am picking up Jay and Emily, Avery and little Ashley from the airport tomorrow!!!  I can't wait to see them!!  And since I was gonna be soooo close to Ang...well, we decided to have a quick spend the night party again and spend some time together tomorrow before I pick up the crew from the airport!!  I wasn't supposed to leave until the morning, but my wonderful husband suggested that I go ahead tonight so that we could spend the whole day together tomorrow!!  What a Man!!!  So, tomorrow will be a very full and super exciting day for me!!  The only thing that would be the icing on the cake is if Abby decides to have the foal while I'm there....  Pictures will come soon!!!  Woo to the HOO!!

A Maine Recap

Well, we made it home!!  Though we had to get up at 330am...I am still glad to be here!  We had such a good time, better than I ever thought we would.  I thought I knew what it would be like...but I wasn't really even close!  We shopped, we ate, went sledding and tubing, we laughed, had snowball fights, and generally just acted like a bunch of kids!  

So, here are some things that I learned on my trip...

anything covered in snow looks gorgeous!!!!

if you want to try on anything in a store, you have to really want to try it on!  You must commit to it because you have to take off soooo many layers!

wearing a hat that much does NOT do good things to my hair.

don't wear jeans that are too long in the snow...they will be wet up to the calf before the day is over if you do.

when snow melts on your freshly done hair, it will make it wet thus you should just wear the hat anyway...

if you step on the gas too hard in your truck, you WILL spin out in the road...

and the most important thing I learned in Maine is...it is almost painful to sit on the toilet seats!  Talk about coooooollllldddd!!!!

little grocery store we used

THIS IS A MCDONALDS PEOPLE!!!!

someone forgot to kill the animal and take them off the boot in ColeHaans

just thought that last picture was fun nee!!!

Getting Ready To Head Home...

Sadly, we packed up our stuff today and left our cottage on the coast... I'm sure most of you could hear me weeping... We hated to do it, but we must get back to reality soon. We left the cottage and headed into Freeport to do some much needed shopping! Let's see...we hit Banana Republic (found a GREAT shirt there for $8), GAP, Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren (good deals there too!), Timberland, Yankee Candle Co., JCrew and of course LLBean! We also had lunch at a great restaurant called the Broad Arrow Tavern. It was the best ever...lobster stew, fried haddock sandwich..and milk chocolate/white chocolate cheesecake on an oreo cookie crust! OMG!!! DA BOMB!!!

Now, we are in our hotel in Portland waiting on our pizza and for 24 to come on!!! We have to be at the airport at 430am...YUCK!!! So, there wont be anything exciting for tomorrow :( We are all sad to leave the snow...I could totally do this, live here... But, it's back to real life I go...

I will add the pictures to this post later...my camera wont download to my computer!

Snow Day

Today was a snow day!!!  It started snowing some time in the wee hours of the morning!  So when we got up everything was covered in fresh snow!!  We lazed around for a while and Ryan led a Sunday morning devotional for us.  Then, since we had no food in the house, we ventured out into the snow storm for lunch!  We ate at the Damariscotta River Grille and it was the best meal we had by far!  The waitress there told us that most all of the local restaurants were closing early because of the storm!  Right then and there we decided to do a repeat performance of our lobster dinner!  After lunch we tried to go sledding again...but the snow was too fresh and too deep.  Instead, Ry and Frank decided that it would be a good idea to have a wrestling match with me and Steph in the snow!  Needless to say we were all soaked to the bone by the time they were done with us!!  The snow had turned to rain by then since it had warmed up to about 34 degrees so no snowman either.... :(  Hung out at the house and read books, played on the computer and napped.... A good day was had by all...

More Snow Day Pics

The Snow Bowl

We left this morning and headed out for Pemaquid Lighthouse. Let me just say that this morning the wind had really picked up and it was BEYOND cold!! I had to wrap my scarf around my face and pull the hood of my jacket over my hat and zip ALL the way up!! Freezing! The lighthouse itself was small, but the scenery around it was big...and beautiful!



Once we were done there we went over to Fort William Henry. Not really sure of all the history there..some locals told us that the pilgrims actually landed there before they headed to Plymouth Rock, but I haven't verified that! Again, nothing really impressive about the fort itself, but its surroundings were gorgeous!



Back in the truck to head to Camden's Snow Bowl! On the way we made a quick stop in Rockland at the Park Street Grille. YUMMO!!! It was very good! But the Snow Bowl...WOW! It was a huge hill (calling it a hill doesn't adequately describe it though!!) that you had to drag your tube up. And it was quite a haul, let me tell ya! We were all breathing like we had just done a marathon! But the trip down made it all worth it!! It was sooo much fun!



Enjoy the pics from today in this post and the next! (Supposed to snow tomorrow about 4 to 6 inches!!!)

More Snow Bowl Pics

Anniversary Dinner in Maine

Last night was our anniversary dinner.  Ten years!!  I can't believe it!  Ryan and Steph decided that they were going to cook dinner for us.  We decided to go get some lobsters and fixin's!  While I felt mildly sorry for the little suckers...we ate them anyway!  Steamed lobster, new potatoes and corn on the cob...MMMMMMHMMMM!!  And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Steph made the brownie/reese cup trifle!  That's right!  My girls know JUST what I am talking about!!  DE LISH!!  Then it was onto some games.  We played Battle of the Sexes, which of course, Steph and I won...and then we played Phase Ten.  I got spanked...big time!!  Which does NOT make the competitive side of me very happy!  But we still had a great time and ended with a movie.

Frank went to The Cupboard this morning and we ate the most ginormous sticky buns and cinnamon rolls ever!!  And we are getting ready to go to a state park and the Snow Bowl!!  More on that later...

More Anniversary Pics

A Playday in Maine

So late this morning we headed in to Damariscotta for some shopping and some lunch.  They have quaint little shops and some fine places to eat.  We ate lunch at a place called King Eider's Pub.  It was really good and of course we all had seafood...  After a little more shopping we decided to go sledding.  We headed to Wawanock Country Club (which is not open right now) and used their golf course for our sledding pleasure.  We had sooo much fun!!!  We all FROZE, but still had a great time anyway!  Steph did a few flips on her sled and Frank caught some air when he hit a small hill.  We laughed until we cried, which immediately froze to our face.  Then Ry and Steph had a snow fight.  I think he sufficiently filled her pants with snow...

So, here are some more pictures in this post and the one that follows for you to see of our afternoon...

More Playday Pictures

Maine: Friday

So, its our first morning here in Maine.  We had a great time last night going out to eat and then coming back to the cottage and watching a movie.  Let me just say It is beautiful here!!!  I love getting out of the car and hearing the snow crunch under my boots!!

This morning has been lazy, just like I had hoped it would be.  Since today is my anniversary, my lovely husband brought me coffee in bed!  What a great way to start the day!  However, I still got up and made my man some anniversary pancakes!  Frank tried to go outside and shovel some snow...why I'm not really sure, and Ryan got our fire started in the wood burning stove.  Ryan is now the only one allowed to do this...the rest of us stink at it!

I think we are getting ready to head into one of the little adjoining towns nearby for some shopping and lunch.  We are planning on some sledding today...don't worry I will have some pictures of that...and Steph and I have almost gotten our strategy mapped out for the snowball fight...

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy...

this is the view from the sunporch this morning

view from my balcony this morning

this is our backyard...

right off our "yard"