Christmas in the Mountains Part III

Christmas Eve has always been a big deal in my family. It's part of the Downey side family tradition.  

Now that Jordan & I don't believe in Santa anymore, we open all of our presents on Christmas Eve

and sleep in on Christmas Morning and have a late brunch. 

It's also a Downey tradition to have some kind of untraditional food for Christmas Eve Dinner.

Previous years have included; steak and crab legs, crawfish etouffee  and crab cakes, and an italian feast.

This year was no different and we had shrimp and chicken fajitas.  Jordan and Jim brought their

super fancy Vitamix (which Wes and I are totally going to get) and made delicious grapefruit margaritas.  It was the perfect evening!

(We got Scout a nice big bone for Christmas.

But he insisted on carrying around his stick instead.)

(Jordan & Jim getting ready to open Christmas presents.)

(Lots and lots of presents!)

(One of my favorite gifts from my parents, a Wisconsin shot glass.

They also got me one for Texas as well.  So I guess Wes and I will be collecting shot glasses 

from all the states we've lived in as well!)

(Another great gift!  Sock Monkey versions of Wes and I.)

(This year Jordan and I had a set of watercolor portraits done for my mom

by Lauren Willis Hudley whom we both went to high school with.

The prints turned out absolutely wonderful and nearly brought Becca to tears!)

Until next time...

Christmas in the Mountains Part II

The morning of Christmas Eve, my Mom, Dad, Jordan, Scout, and myself headed on a mini adventure to find Long Creek Falls.  

It's the tallest and most popular water fall in Fannin County and falls along part of the Appalachian Trail. 

(It was a very brisk morning and the ground was abound with "ice feathers" as 

my dad calls them.  As the ground warms up and the precipitation rises, it freezes as soon as it comes

out of the ground.  Pretty cool, huh?)

(The family on the trail to the falls.)

(Finally arrived at the falls!)

(We're lucky we even made it this far.  We almost walked the wrong direction on the trail

and probably wouldn't have noticed for about an hour or so.)

(And here they are!!)

(My parents and Scout at the Long Creek Falls.)

(At the falls.)

(Rushing falls flowing into the creek that stretched the length of the trail we took.)

(Scout was in absolute heave.  The trail was about a mile each way, and he must have run 5 miles

 running out ahead and then back, over and over and over again.  It released about 10% of his energy.)

(Scout and I.)

(Myself, Mom, and Jordan in front of the falls.)

Until next time...

Christmas in the Mountains Part I

This Christmas my family rented out a cabin in Northern Georgia, in the mountains of Blue Ridge.

So far we've had a great time; the only thing missing is Wes!

(My Mom and Dad out in downtown Blue Ridge.

We dropped my dad off at the fly shop to get some tips on fly fishing in the area 

while we continued meandering around.)

(We all stopped in Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company for a really cool experience.)

(The store had 60+ kinds of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for you to taste and create your own sampler packs, or buy by the bottle.  

They were all so delicious!  My favorites included the Cilantro and Onion Olive Oil as well as the Black Truffle Oil.  

I also picked up the Cayenne Pepper Olive Oil for Wes to try.)

(My sister and Jim were both able to come into town as well which was super exciting.

They picked up the big brother to my camera (Nikon D3200) with a Cyber Monday Deal.

We've spent a lot of our time trying to figure out how to work them:))

(Enjoying my samplings of olive oil.)

(We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the Canterbury Cafe.  

They had some of the best She Crab soup I've ever had!)

(After lunch we continued our visit through downtown Blue Ridge.

Here we are out back of one of the local restaurants with a very lovely Christmas moose.)

(And now what we've spent the majority of our time here doing. 

Inside the cabin, roaring fire, a good bottle of wine, and family.  

What more could a girls ask for?)

Until next time...

Bucket List Activities

This past weekend Wes and I spent our time scurrying around town doing this and doing that.

In between wrapping Christmas presents and toasting marshmallows Wes and I 

headed to the Atlanta Ballet for the The Nutcracker, and then went to see the lights

at Stone Mountain. 

(Sign on the path to the lights at Stone Mountain!)

(Isn't that a huge ball of mistletoe?!?)

(Cynthia and I in the glassblowers shop.)

(Lights everywhere!)

(More and more lights.)

(Massive fake Christmas tree.  I think Wes's hands are a little cold;))

(The crew by the fire pit.  

Stone Mountain will sell you 2 marshmallows, 2 pieces of chocolate, and 4 graham crackers

for a mere $10.95.  Nothing like a $5 s'more.)

(There's something about Christmas lights that just makes everything happier!)

(See ya later Stone Mountain!)

Until next time...

Roberts Wedding

(The weekend after Thanksgiving I headed back up to Arkansas for one of my best

friends, Chelsy Lewis' wedding.  Never mind the ice storm that hit Arkansas over this same weekend

we has a blast anyways!)

Thanksgiving Week

(Wes and I spent the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving traveling back and forth between 

Atlanta and Arkansas.  After towing Wes's bike up to Benton we spent Thanksgiving Day with my

parents and hit up the Gray Thursday and Black Friday deals.  Woohoo for a new iPhone 5s!

Wes then took his bike down to Mena to spend a week with his family and I headed back to 

work in Atlanta!)