Living in the Moment

As of the Monday before Thanksgiving, we had plans of having a nice Thanksgiving dinner at home, putting the Christmas tree up, decorating the house, and relaxing. Within 24 hours, we had different plans! We packed up the car and headed to where our family was - Gulf Shores, Alabama. This was quite the challenge for me, Mrs. Planner. However, I can't thank Jason enough for talking me into it. It was probably better that I only had a couple of hours to plan and prepare - teaching me to live in the moment! We had such a fantastic trip! We packed the car and headed for the white sandy beaches but most importantly, to be with family during the holidays. Mom, Dad, Aunt Pat, Uncle Paul (or Uncle Pat and Aunt Paul as Brady likes to say), Aunt Rose, and Uncle Bill were all so surprised to see us! We were so proud of Brady - he did not complain once in the car during the 14 hour drive. He was perfectly content sleeping, watching movies, or reading. It was wonderful leaving 20 degree weather behind and enjoying 70 degree weather one last time this year! Their condo is amazing - it is located directly on the beach and every morning we sat on the balcony and watched the dolphins swim. Mom and Aunt Rose allowed me to join in their daily power walk up and down the beach - I think they took it easy on me. We enjoyed hanging out on the beach, picking up sea shells and playing in the sand. We also enjoyed playing cards and dominos with everybody. And the Thanksgiving meal was fantastic - Jason made the comment "well Stacy never makes Turkey so we had to drive 14 hours to get one!" Here are a few photos of our fantastic vacation...

Just to remind of us reality, we came home to our first snowfall of the season - about 4-5 inches of the white stuff! Thankfully it was the heavy packing snow - so we made the first snowman of the season!