A wonderfully long weekend

It's Saturday night. I shouldn't be surprised by how quickly my 4 days went, yet here I sit, lamenting the fact that tomorrow is, indeed, Sunday. It's been a great 4 days, despite a couple of set backs.

Thursday we ate two massive meals in a span of 2 hours. While I don't recommend this, seeing family, and allowing all the cousins to get together, was well worth it.

First we went to Roy's uncle Robert's, where there was plenty of food and I had my first Shucky Beans. I have heard this family talk about Granny's (Roy's great grandma's) Shucky Beans the entire time I've known this family. I was glad to finally have them, despite the fact that I think they're somewhat of an acquired taste.



Then we went to Roy's sister, Beth Ann's. It's always a treat to get the cousins together!

Friday, Riley went riding in Red River Gorge with Pa. When he called us to tell us he had a "surprise" for us, we had every number of ideas of creature he was going to bring home for us to tend to. Alas, the surprise was that Bo, Riley's horse, had stepped on his foot leaving quite the bruise. I wish this picture accurately showed the swollen, black and blueness of it all.



It nicely matched the bruise on Sophie's eye from when she fell at the park earlier in the day.



Today we set up the tree. This is the second Christmas I will spend in Kentucky. While I will truly and dearly miss spending this holiday with my family, part of me is looking forward to creating our own tradition here. It's difficult when we have a 10 year old who lives an hour away, but we're talking about it and finding ways to keep the holiday special and inclusive for all of us. For now, though, decorating took priority.

Not surprisingly, the bottom 1/4 of our tree is VERY well decorated.


And Riley always has the honor of placing the topper on the tree. (This is what I get when I ask for a smile)

I love the Holiday season - always have - and am looking so forward to the next few weeks of settling into it all.