Holiday Recovery

Hello Friends. A very merry belated Christmas and a happy 2011 to all of you! I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been totally wiped out and I'm now suspended in a vast post holiday recovery - quite possibly because our little family is recovering from being sick also. We had a very nice Christmas day in town, and then left for Asheville North Carolina to see my cousin and her family a few days later. The night before we left town though, Anabelle started throwing up! Her pediatrician advised us that it was most likely a 12 hour bug and told us to go ahead and go on our trip, so we did. It turned out to be, just as the Doctor thought, a 12 hour bug, but then sweet Evie came down with it as well that first night in our hotel room. About that same time I was coming down with a massive cold too - oh well. It was however, beautiful in North Carolina! We stayed at the historic Grove Park Inn which was completely blanketed by a gorgeous layer of Christmas snow. It was a very lovely place to be sick ;)I didn't take many pictures because we were all feeling so yucky, but we left with some great memories of time spent with all the little cousins. We had all planned to take a day excursion to Biltmore Estate one day, but since Evie was still so sick, Anabelle and I went with the rest of the group while Ben stayed with Evie at the hotel. It was such a treat to see the Biltmore covered in snow and decorated for Christmas, but the whole experience was muddled when Anabelle decided to throw the fit of the century inside the mansion (note: Anabelle is not generally a fit throwing kid, so this was a shocker). It was a bit of a nightmare to say the least. Oh well, it will be a funny story one day when I take her back when she is older - right? On New Year's Eve, everyone was feeling better and we spent a great night with the cuz and family - just dancing the night away with all the kiddos to a live band in the grand hall of the hotel. It was a blast! By the time we made it back home on the first though, I was exhausted and still trying to recover. I have still not recovered, and now Ben has come down with something, plus I was also called to pick Evie up from school today - looks like another stomach bug. Yuck. So far the start of our 2011 is looking a lot like the start of our 2010 :(I have not really made any new year's resolutions, I never stick to them anyway, but I do hope to get back on the blog wagon and continue to learn to better manage my time. We will see! I want to leave you with a few pictures from our lovely Christmas since I neglected to post earlier... We had a lovey morning at home with our girls, and my parents came over for brunch. We enjoyed a very relaxing start to the day, and Evie and Annie had fun playing with all their new loot!We went to my parent's house in the afternoon and my grandparents came into town around 1:30. I had not seen my grandparents in over a year and it was such a treat to spend the holiday with them. My mom made her delicious lasagna as usual (so so yummy, but Anabelle can be seen here dinning on her beloved chicken nuggets - her constant insistence). I did not take many pictures on Christmas day either, but that was because I was just enjoying myself so much!

So once again, happy 2011 from me to you! Here's to hoping I get back on my feet soon! I am looking forward to another great year with all of you in blog land!