Hotel Fields

Let's forget for a moment that I have only blogged once in 3 months, I've been sick for 5 days and have 3 kids, age 4 and under. I really should be sleeping since I have absolutely no free time these days, but here I sit about to blog about a random thing that has been floating around in my head the last 24 hours.

Last night, Levi set up an elaborate "hotel" for all of our stuffed animals. If there is one thing our kids are obsessed with, it is stuffed animals. I'm sure we have well over 100, but I've never counted. His sleeping bag is in the middle, because we let him sleep in the "hotel" as well last night.This is the "bunkhouse" portion of the hotel:
Dora and "Happy Turtles" were lucky enough to score the penthouse suite. When Levi & Kara passed out breakfast the next morning, they got a lot of the food."Flopsey" on the other hand was all alone and did not get any breakfast :(.

The reason he set up the "hotel" was because we had been talking about the hotel for our upcoming trip to Disney. I honestly believe he is just as excited about staying in the hotel as he is about going to Disney. For what it is worth, he comes by it honestly - I LOVE hotels. So much so, that I have been known to get a hotel in the very city I live in because everything is just better away from your house (at least in short spurts).

Side note: We recently stayed at a hotel for the first time with 3 kids. Did you know that not all hotels can accommodate 5 people (even when one is a baby?!?). We had to settle for our third choice after the first two didn't work out!

Anyway, I got to thinking...what are some of my favorite hotels and why. Here are a few I came up with:

1. The first hotel I thought of was Henderson's Wharf Hotel in the Fells Point area of Baltimore, MD. My brother had recently moved to College Park and after a visit with him, we drove up to Baltimore to celebrate our 5th Anniversary (and it was a babymoon as Levi was only 2 months from birth). I remember we paid around $200 for the room and I nearly fell over when we checked in. I like a nice place, but I'm also a cheapskate. :) But this place was beautiful - absolutely gorgeous. It was also the first time I had stayed somewhere that provided robes. It was a delightful experience.
2. The second one I thought of was not necessarily a hotel, but an overnight "experience". When G and I went to Europe in 2004, we decided we wanted to stay at every type of hotel possible from a nice place to a serious dump, to a B&B, a hostel to places in between and finally, on a train! We took an overnight train from Paris to Berlin in a four person sleeping car. We shared a room with a single guy (I think he was a college student) and I slept much better than expected.
3. The Opryland Hotel at Christmas. Since Garet's sister lives in Nashville, we have gone to the Opryland Hotel several times at Christmas - gorgeous! Well, in 2008, I was having a particularly stressful time (I believe Garet had been on travel several weeks) and I just wanted to get away. We decided I needed a hotel stay, so we packed the kids up and went to Opryland for the weekend. What a difference staying in the hotel made the experience!
4. The Summerhouse at Litchfield Beach, SC. This is actually where we stayed for part of our honeymoon, but a few years ago, they completely redid it and added a lazy river and crazy water area for kids. We took the kids in 2008 and it could not have been a more perfect place to stay. We loved it - the kids loved it - and Levi still talks about it. We can't wait to go back someday.
5. Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, HI. While I'm not a fan of Honolulu itself, we had a great time at this hotel. Thanks to Garet's Hilton Points (read: free), we stayed here a couple of nights before heading to Kauai. Just a couple of days ago, Levi was talking about the penguins there. Part of the reason I really liked this hotel was that it was low season and they upgraded us to a HUGE corner room, so that helped, but the area was so beautiful and relaxing...until you walked outside to Honolulu :).
6. The West Winds Lodge in Rudioso, NM. I had to include this place, because it was where I spent my absolute favorite vacation of all times. There was nothing amazing about this place - it didn't even have a TV I don't think. It was very simple and it was a great place to lay my head after a great day of skiing. Sometimes simple is the best.

I have a couple of Honorable Mentions: Chad's beach house in FL (great college memories!), Anywhere G and I have camped in our own tent, a house we rented in Asheville, NC in the mountains with my family, our hotel overlooking the St. Louis Arch, and all the houses we have stayed in with our Life Group at the beach.

I am sure there are more that I am forgetting, but those are the ones I can think of for today. On another side note, I also like to collect pens from every hotel I go to. Anyone who has ever been in one of our Life Groups can attest to the ridiculous amount of pens (memories) I own.

Christmas Letter 2009

Merry Christmas!! I just reread our Christmas Letter for 2008 and had to laugh a little at this line I wrote: "we are thankful to be out of the baby stage and looking forward to a (hopefully) less dramatic year in 2009". Wow, little did I know...

In case this is the first you have heard from us since last year, we got the surprise of a lifetime in January - we were pregnant! And let me tell you, we still have no idea how. I'll be honest, at the time, it was very difficult. When we announced it in February, I blogged about some of those feelings here.

Fast forward to 9/16, and we welcomed Garison John into our family and can I tell you that I just love him to pieces! He is exactly what our family needed. I probably baby him way too much and the sheer fact that I have so enjoyed this baby phase with him is a testament to God's grace. He is a BIG boy - he's the first of my three with rolls on the legs and it is so cute!! He couldn't be a better baby and at 3 months now is flashing the cutest smiles around. He takes his brother & sister's rough housing in stride and I can't wait to see the three of them together this next year. I wrote to him on his birth-day and also was able to document the details of that day.

Kara turned two in October and, I know I'm biased, is one beautiful little girl. She is the life of a party (which she refers to as "Happy Turtles"???) and will no doubt be a leader in some capacity. However, Garison's arrival has been a tough one on her and we've had to work through some issues. Garet has always said that she was "born a middle child", so please pray for us as we help her reach her full potential. She is also talking up a storm now and loves, loves, loves Dora and school. (related: Kara at two)

Levi turned four in October and I about had a mid-life crisis when I realized just how big he is getting. The toddler years are long gone and he is a full blown "kid". Sometimes it is hard to believe that though when we have discussions that could easily be between two adults. He is a very smart little guy and has been a huge help to us during this family transition time. His current passions are the Wii and Legos. (related: Levi at four)

We like to lump all major changes in our family into as short a time period as possible, and so in September (one week before Garison was born), Garet said good-bye to his job of 9 years at TSI and went over to work for his former boss at Troy7. Troy7 is a small company and Garet has really enjoyed his new work environment. The biggest perk? Little to no travel! This was the primary reason for the switch - with a third child on the way, Garet decided that he was just gone to much. His travel schedule for the first half of the year was brutal and since September, we have had him home every single night :). I thought I would miss the travel perks, but having Garet home has been just compensation. He still does much of the same things (I think) and it was a seamless transition. We have been very blessed. Garet still enjoys riding his bike(s) and his latest hobby has been model rocketry.
As if a baby and a job change for Garet wasn't enough, I stepped down from my job in September too! Realistically, I knew that working with 3 kids was going to be an extreme challenge for me and I just didn't need to go there. After 3 months as a stay at home mom, I can officially say that it has been one of the best decisions of my life. Working in ministry with two kids was much more difficult than just focusing on three kids at home. My mind is in one place now and I've been surprisingly relaxed. I honestly don't have time for much these days, but I have gotten really into couponing - who knew it could be so much fun! It feeds my desire to stay organized, work with budgets and money and shop! I am also now back at the gym and am hoping to hit some fitness goals next year since I am hopefully done being pregnant!

My pregnancy with Garison went really well (I was worried after my nightmare pregnancy with Kara) except for a little drama in the end. It was tiring with a 1 and 3 year old, but we have some wonderful friends and family that helped out. Because I felt good, we were able to go on a couple of trips this year. Kara and I flew up to Maryland to see my brother and his wife in February and we headed south to the beach in May with Garet's parents. Garet and I also got a weekend away to celebrate our friend Carmen's birthday at the lake. I've long said that vacations are my love language and I feel so full when I travel. Every year, we try to go one place that we have never been to as a family. This year, we headed to Santa Claus, IN and St. Louis, MO (arch, zoo & city museum) in August and had a fabulous time - there is so much to see in this amazing world!

If there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that God will provide - not always how we expect or the way we wish, but he is faithful. Through every surprising and major step we took this year, God provided. As we enter this Christmas season, we are reminded of the provision God gave so many years ago in the form of a baby.

"For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord"

Love,
Alison, Garet, Levi, Kara & Garison

Garison Update

An update on Garison is long overdue and I apologize. As much as I am trying to make sure everything is just as special for him as it was for a first born, I am failing miserably. He may not have anything written down about him, but at least he'll have two playmates for life, right? At least that is what I'm telling myself.

Here is Mr. Garison at 36 weeks. We had not planned to have a 4D picture taken, but we got one anyway. At my 36 week appointment, we learned that Garison was not exactly in the best position, so we moved into the ultrasound room where we spent 30 minutes getting the low down. The ultrasound tech was so excited to get these pictures because she said you can never get them this late due to the positioning - we were glad to oblige although Garison had a little frowny face the whole time.

As happy as we were to see these pictures, the news wasn't so good. He was sitting in an unusual position and I had two options: 1) schedule the C-section or 2) let my doctor try to turn him. For me it was really a no brainer...after having two children without surgery, I wanted to go for it. My doctor spent a lot of time talking with me about the procedure (ie: that pain would be involved), but I really felt good about it. What I wasn't ready for was all the negative opinions I got about the procedure - that was a little frustrating.

Anyway, here we are on 9/1 at the hospital ready for the turning at 36.5 weeks. I had to check-in to the hospital and my doctor told me to pack my bags because there was a chance they would break my water or need to do a C-section. I was ready! They got me hooked up to the IV, started the medicine to reduce contractions and we waited for the doctor. I don't know what they gave me, but the meds made me shake and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest.
A few minutes later, my doctor came in, looked at the ultrasound and low and behold Garison had turned head down. I almost cried. So, so, so many of you were praying for me that this would be the outcome - thank you!! I had three really bad contractions the Sunday Night before and I'm guessing that is when he made his move. My doctor was happy too because she said she was going to have had to do a long lateral cut based on his position and she didn't want to do that. I'm just glad she told me that after the fact.

After going through that experience, I've found myself stressing out about what position he is in. At my 37 and 38 week check-up, he was head down (confirmed by ultrasound again), so hopefully we are still good.

One diversion was a lovely baby shower the girls at church had for me at PF Chang's. I failed to get a picture of everyone, but here I am in the "spotlight". I couldn't ask for better friends!
Well, we are down to hours now for Garison's arrival. I am being induced at 5 AM tomorrow morning and if history repeats itself, he should be here around lunch or a little later (although, I have learned that every pregnancy is very different - I'll have to blog on how different they really have been).

I would appreciate your prayers tomorrow that he is head down and regardless of how he gets here that he is a healthy little thing (or a big thing since I have big babies!). Fields Family Five, here we come!!

Job Updates

For some reason, we like to cram as many life changes into as short amount of time as possible. For example, Garet graduated from Auburn two days before we got married. At the rehearsal dinner, he was filling out paperwork for his new job that he started when we returned from our honeymoon. We were also moving all of our belongings from Auburn to storage and into an apartment. It was a crazy time, but we were young and in love :) (although Garet probably would have preferred to have had more sleep if you ask him).

Here we are 9 years later and making a lot of life changes within the span of two weeks because that is how we roll. A few months ago, Garet was offered a new job opportunity with one of his former bosses. After a lot of prayer and dialogue, we felt like it was time for a change. However, the contract took a little longer than anticipated and Garet wasn't able to start until this past week. Garet will be doing some of the same type work he has done in the past, but with less travel. It is a small business and we are looking forward to good times ahead.

His co-workers at TSI had a going away lunch for him last week and they all assured me that they would still be my Facebook friends - I have a harder time with break-ups than Garet :). In honor of the job change, Garet went out and bought a Wii - he had 3.5 weeks of vacation built up and he decided that if he didn't get to use it then he was going to put some of the money to good use! Levi is hooked on MarioKart - the kid is only 3 and already making a run for first place! He was even talking trash today (sigh) while on the "quarter pipe".

Now on to me... About a year ago, I began to feel like God was preparing me to do something else in regards to working and parenting. Since Levi was born almost 4 years ago, I have worked part time - most of that as the Life Group Minister at our church. Working has never been something I've had to do, but rather chosen to do - I had the best of both worlds - the work place and the home. I wasn't sure what was ahead for me at the time, so I just keep going - we were in an interim period at our church and didn't feel like I needed to make a big change. In January, we got the shock of our lives and found out we were pregnant. In case you are wondering, I still don't know how it happened. This was the start of some very hard months for me - my emotions were all over the place, I was really sick and I couldn't keep things together.

Once I got through that time, I began to really evaluate what the fall would look like for our family. Long story short, I decided to step down from being the Life Group Minister. There is an amazing story to go along with this as to how God worked out so many details in regards to this decision - I could cry just thinking about it. I've written it all down, but I feel like it is for me only right now. My last day was today and I can honestly say that I have an extreme peace about the future. Those who are around me often know that I am not exactly made for motherhood, but I can tell that God is pouring his grace on me right now.

The evening of Garet's going away lunch, we had my going away party - we joked that it was almost as if we were moving! Two of my other co-workers are moving on as well, so here are the three of us sharing what we will miss (and not miss) the most! I said that I would miss the daily interaction with my co-workers and being a part of their lives, but that I would NOT miss the meetings - especially those at night.
Below are some of my fellow co-workers and the management team from our church. I appreciate all the hard work they put into the evening and for the massage and pedicure gift cards - no better thing for a 38 week pregnant girl!

That's the low-down on Garet and I - Garison's update is another story in itself....

Vacation - Day 1 - Our Anniversary

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times - Vacations are my love language. A few months ago, I planned out a little family trip somewhere new. However, for various reasons I can't go into, the trip did not look like it was going to happen. This past weekend was the absolute last weekend we could go due to Garison's impending arrival and things did not look good.

Garet had been in Hawaii for a week and then home for a few days and then headed out at 4:45 AM last Monday and returned at 11:30 PM on Tuesday. Despite that, he let me start packing so that we could leave on Wednesday after he went in to work. I honestly don't know how he managed to stay awake (especially if you know Garet and his sleep).

Last Wednesday was our 9 year anniversary and I could ask for nothing more than a little vacation. Sure, the actual day was nothing to blog about...work for Garet, a flurry of activity at home packing last minute and getting in a car and driving four hours north. Our "anniversary dinner" was spent at a Burger King (in a gas station no less), but you know what - I wouldn't have changed a thing about it.

Here we were 9 years ago.... surrounded by friends and family...

and we are just as happy now as we were then. There has been a reason this blog has been silent much of this year - this has been a tough, tough, tough year for our family, but I am thankful to say that we are still best friends, still love each other very much and extremely blessed to watch our family expand once again in a few weeks.

So, where did we go? Stay tuned!

PS: I did a much better job last year of commemorating our 8th anniversary. Go here to see our first 8 years together!

Facebook Adventures

Warning: this post turned out way more nerdy than originally intended. Sigh.

About a year ago, I switched over to Facebook. Soon after joining, I asked Garet to join and he finally said, "When you get 500 friends, I will". Of course, he said that when I was around 150 friends thinking the day would never come. Well, this week I approached the 500 mark and suddenly my friend number began to drop. Turns out Garet made a deal with some of his buddies (Person 1, Person 2, and Person 3 (DC)) that they would drop me when I got close to 500 friends so that Garet wouldn't have to join. Can you feel the love???

Despite their efforts, Garet joined since I would have 500 friends had the conspiracy not taken place. He does have to live with me after all :).

Every time I mentioned his holdout to people, they would ask, "How in the world do you know 500 people?". Truth is, I didn't know myself! Granted I like to talk...to anyone really, I've moved around, I work at a church, I've had my share of jobs, I married into Garet's ginormous family, and there are not many people these days that are not on Facebook.

Since I'm a math major, I do what all good math majors do and analyze. What better than a pie chart - we do like our charts and March 14th (right, Allison M?).

So, here are all my Facebook friends in pie chart glory:

My commentary:

• Auburn - 107 (the largest group by 1. We were blessed to get to know so many great people through the Auburn BCM, our church (Lakeview), and my fellow math majors :)
• Hillwood - 106 (this is the church I grew up in. It has been so much fun reconnecting with all those people I grew up with - most of these are from the youth group, but it does include many parents of my friends as well!)
• The Brook - 86 (my current church. It pays in Facebook friends to be on staff :). Seriously, I love these people!)
• Grissom - 65 (these are people that I knew from High School that I didn't go to church with. Keep in mind that my high school had over 2000 people. Most of these people I was on the flag corp with or in the band with. Great memories)
• Along Life's Way - 45 (most of this number is from spouses and family members of some of my closest friends but also includes friends that have moved away)
• Family - 36 (did I mention Garet has about a million cousins?)
• Local - 36 (various people I've met here in town whether through the kids school or we used to go to church together)
• Old Jobs/Garet's co-workers - 17 (speaks for itself)

So, there you have it - how to get 500 friends on facebook without even trying :).

We have a name!

For those of you who have anxiously been awaiting a vote for the name of our next child, I hate to disappoint you, but we actually made a decision (with weeks to spare)!

Let me back up a little and explain that Garet and I are terrible when it comes to naming children. I don't know why it is so difficult for us, but it just is. We decided on the name Levi sometime around 36 weeks (which is cutting it close on a first pregnancy since you don't know how long you have - it turned out to be plenty of time for me).

Kara almost didn't have a name! After polling our friends on my Myspace account (does anyone check theirs anymore?), we cut it very close. I had a scheduled induction and the day before our friend, Melodie, told us we had to make a decision! She made us each write our top two choices on a napkin (we were at Applebees) and then Levi drew the name. Kara it was!

That experience really stressed us out and so we were determined not to let it happen again. Plus, with a 3.5 year old and a 20 month old, we were getting tired of saying "baby brother".

Before we knew if Kara was a boy or a girl, we had a boy named picked out. She obviously wasn't a boy, so we put it in the archives. When we found out we were having a boy this go around, we decided to pull it back out, but for whatever reason, I still hesitated. Well, I finally decided I just needed to make a decision.

So, without further adieu, "Baby Brother" will be:

Garison John

Garison is a combination of Garet + Alison (get it?) :), thus the reason for the one "r". I think that will bother a few people, but Garet and I both dealt with the single consonant issue and we turned out OK. It was more important for us that he shared our names.

And, for my Aunt Ruth Ann (only because I love you :), John is from my dad & brother.

We feel that this will be the fitting addition to our family. All the children have one of our names in their name and I think that this will probably/hopefully?? be the conclusion to our family expansion.

In closing, I have to share Levi's question regarding Garison if you missed it on Twitter/Facebook:

"when baby Garison comes out of your tummy are you going to be all out of babies?"

My response? "I sure hope so!"

Auburn Reunions!

I've said it many times, but my four years at Auburn were some of the best of my life. I have so many good memories from that time period and I know that they are due in a large part to the wonderful friends we made from our time on the plains.

We have been spoiled the last couple of weeks to be able to spend some time with a few of these friends. I'm always amazed at how easily it is to talk and hang out despite all the changes we've incurred over the last 10+ years! If you are ever in the area, please let us know - we would love to see you!!

Our buddy Jason is a pilot and so his schedule is always last minute. Thankfully, we were able to pull a dinner outing together when him, his wife Lindsey and kids were in town for the night.

Here's the crew! Dan & Ellen, Bull (minus Ashley), Jason & Lindsey and us! The restaurant was so kind to give us our own room in which we let all the kiddos run around while we talked. War Eagle!Then, a couple of weeks later, a few of us got together for a big surprise!! In Auburn, Carmen, Joy and I were the best of friends and did everything together. Carr married a guy named Scott and in January or so he started planning a surprise birthday party for Carr's 31st birthday. Of course, I was in! Joy and I ended up bringing our men and it turned out to be a perfect (although too short) weekend in Chattanooga (could it be anywhere else?) on the lake. The surprise was a huge success and you can read my friends takes here: Joy and Carr.

Apparently we still thought we were in college, because we stayed up until 3:30 AM talking! That was a little taxing on this preggo mother of a toddler and preschooler, but it was so worth it. I think we all agreed that our early 30s are not exactly what we had envisioned. Life is a little harder, things aren't perfect, there have been some surprises in life, but I thank God that we still have each other and our friendships despite the very different paths our lives have taken. For instance, as Joy mentioned, we all married completely different men, but they hung with us this weekend and we had a great time together. Here we are with the additions to our trio:

I couldn't end this post with out a huge thank you to Carmen's parents - they took care of all the cooking and cleaning and I felt like I was in college all over again. I can't remember the last time someone has taken care of everything for me and I just get to enjoy!

I hope the reunions don't stop here!!

Eggstravaganza

We had a busy, busy Easter weekend, but lots of fun. Forget the fact that I took NO pictures on the actual day of Easter - the kids baskets and outfits will just have to be a memory in my head. Maybe next year will be the year for photo greatness since it wasn't this year or last year.

We started the festivities off with coloring Easter eggs. I was lucky enough to catch Levi with a "natural" smile AND looking at the camera: Kara wasn't so sure about this dye stuff:

She did like throwing the "balls" into the dye, however:

Amazingly, no dye was spilled during this process:

Putting the final decorations on:

I had to include this picture, because Kara likes to prop her foot up on the table and it cracks me up:

The next day, our church had an Eggstravaganza for all the kids. Levi invited his best buddy in the whole world, Aaron, to come along. They have the best time together - I just love to watch them interact! Here they are working on their crafts:

Kara chowing down on a cookie. The girl has a serious sweet tooth:

What Easter party wouldn't be complete without tattoos? I think Kara was trying to decide whether or not it was permanent. Thankfully, hers was not:

Levi's on the other hand, will not come off! We are on day 9 and have tried numerous methods to remove it and it is still there. At least it is on his arm and since we seem to have the temperatures of Alaska this April, the long sleeves have hidden it:

Also joining in the festivities were cousins Caleb & Kaitlyn. Levi could barely contain himself with cousins & Aaron all in one place!!

The egg hunt for the 3 and under crowd. Planning the attack:

And they are off!

Kara will never be outdone:

Levi & Aaron scored big time. As the "older" kids on the hunt, they helped themselves to lots of eggs....42 to be exact. Let's just say that I was not anticipating having so much candy at the house. Baby #3 is enjoying lots of sugar. Sigh.

We are so thankful to be close to friends and family and to be able to celebrate that the "big rock was rolled away" (Levi) and Jesus is alive!

The Christmas Sweater

In case you missed it in the previous post, Levi spelled his name "Evil"...several people told me that they hadn't noticed, but that is why we found it so comical.

Anyway, back to this post. When I was working full time, a staple in my day was listening to the Glenn Beck Program - I loved it. Unfortunately, my life now does now allow me to listen to a 3 hour radio show, but I still have some time to read. Glenn wrote a book called the Christmas Sweater and I picked it up thinking it would be a nice little feel-good holiday book full of Glenn's humor.

**Minor Spoiler Alert**

Not long into the book, I quickly figured out that this book was not exactly a happy one. The story is about a little boy who loses his father to cancer and then his mother to a car wreck. I know that children are supposed to bury their parents, but the boy in the book buries them at 10 and 12. The whole premise of the book is how this boy deals with his new life without parents. I think I started crying on page 10 and never stopped.

What got to me so much was thinking about Levi and Kara growing up without Garet or I. They are so young right now and I know at this point in their lives that they would have very few memories of us. That thought just tore me up!

While I was contemplating all these things, we received word that a close family friend was near death. He has 3 boys with the youngest being twelve (the same age as the kid in the book). Our friend passed away shortly after Christmas and the hardest part of the funeral for me was seeing the boys. All the words from the book just kept flooding back into my mind and I just wanted to scoop them up, hug them, and tell them it would be OK. (I consider them my "babies" anyway - I babysat them for close to 10 years and our families did countless things together over the years. The middle child was our ring bearer and Garet said he officially felt old when he could talk to him at eye level!)

Despite the tears over the holidays, the events did cause me to give a few more hugs, say a few more "I love you's" and spend some more time with the kids. I know that I can't control the future (thankfully God has that one covered so I don't have to worry about it!), but I can choose to be more purposeful in how I spend my time.

"Wrapping" at Christmas

We had two kinds of "wrapping" coming out of our house this season. First, the kids helped me wrap Garet's gift - a wonderful masterpiece: Second, Garet "wrapping" with his Shepard's Crew:

The second picture is a bit blurry, but they were hilarious! The kids in children's church thought they were great (and I did too!).

A Merry Little Christmas Vacation

Last Thursday, we took a very spur of the moment mini-vacation up to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. I consider my love language to be "vacations", so it was huge that Garet wanted to travel after he had been gone so much. It was an absolutely perfect two days.

We started the day off with ICE. Having been warned that it was cold, we came prepared. This place was amazing and so creative!

The theme of the ice sculptures was "The Grinch that Stole Christmas":Levi loved this little archway made just for him. We had to walk through it several times:Kara is my warm-bodied child...she loves the cold, so this place was perfect for her. She walked around with this goofy-grin the entire time:The highlight of the exhibit are two ice slides (thus the reason for the blue jackets). Here I am coming down the slide. Wheeeee:

We took Kara up to the top so we could slide down with her, however, it was only one at a time. Against my better judgement, I let her slide down it alone. She, of course, loved it - I only wish we had a picture of it!

After ICE, we went back to the hotel to meet our friends Joshua & Kimberly for dinner. Kimberly blogged about it here (I love the picture she has of the boys walking together!). We discovered that our Sit-N-Stand is good for 3 children:

Noah & Levi picked up where they had left off when Noah moved and we had a good time seeing them again.

We spent the rest of the evening and the next morning walking around the hotel. If you have never been to the Opryland Hotel at Christmas, I highly recommend you add it to your list. We had been several times before, but this was my first overnight stay - LOVED IT!

Finally, no trip to Nashville is complete without a visit to OpryMills! It was especially great, because Garet's sister and kids were able to come by and have lunch. Cousins!!!
This was just the perfect get-away our family needed before the Christmas rush. Merry Christmas, everyone!