So the party is over.....

The Rummage's packed up and left Corolla at 0540 on Saturday morning. Josh, Chrislin, Cameron and baby Kimber headed back to Burlington on Friday to spend time with Chrislin's family. The Ballew's and Nana & Papa left Nana's Nest (the house's name) around 11'ish and did the tourist thing on the waterfront at Manteo. We all arrived home safely Saturday afternoon or evening. Julie is still traveling the coast of NC and spent the night in Havelock. We had an amazing time together as one big happy family and shared time together as our own seperate families. We all enjoyed the gift that Nana & Papa (aka Mom & Dad) gave us this year. This was a great present to share and we made some memories. Clay came all the way from Texas on his Christmas Exodus from the Army and made our Christmas extra special. (Mande-you're thinking "Barf-o-rama!" now, aren't you?)

Sadly enough, it was back to reality once we arrived in LexVegas. And of course you run into everyone you know while at home. We went to the grocery store Saturday evening to get milk, bread and eggs. Not for the second blizzard of 09, but because we hadn't been at home for a week and had nothing in our fridge. Anyway, leaving the store, we run into my brother Josh. It was weird, spent a whole week with him and he left a day early and I felt like I hadn't seen him in 4 years. Weird...huh?

Well, we're home (most of us) and will never forget Christmas 2009 at Nana's Nest.

The Last Night

Tonight is our last night here in Corolla. I am laid up on a sofa listening to the rain & wind outside as a storm passes though. Luckily, the house doesn't sway as the wind blows! The kids are playing video games and with toys or watching tv somewhere in this vast house.

When we arrived Saturday afternoon, I thought I would kill over from walking up and down 4 flights of stairs between my bedroom & the kitchen/living room areas. But now, I don't even blink as I climb the stairs - unless I have to make 3 back to back trips up & down. All the adults have learned to make sure you have what you need the first trip or you have to decide to live without it until your next trip down - or - see if you can con a kid to get what you need.

This week held many an adventure between the Strickland's, Ballew's & Rummage's since there were 18 of us. We walked on the beach together and seperate, did the tourist thing, washed at least 50 loads of dishes, 50 loads of laundry, kept 2 refrigerators full of food, had a fight here & there but all in all, I wouldn't trade this for anything.

We thank everyone for following along with us through our blogs and FaceBook pages and hope each of you enjoyed the posting and pictures.

Words can not express the thankfulness I have for my Mom & Dad who made this Christmas vacation possible. If I could change one thing about this vacation, it would be...nah, I wouldn't change a thing!!!!

It's Christmas Day.....

So, here we are on our last full day on our OBX Christmas Vacation. It's been great and we've even had a motto the entire week we've been here.

Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here.

It's been real and it's been crazy. We've had our ups and our downs, but this has been one memorable Christmas with my crazy family. We've laughed, we've cried, we've peed our pants. It's the most togetherness our family has seen since 1991, our last OBX vacation. There hasn't been any broken bones, stitches or a trip to the ER. We're doing great and having a blast. So, in the words of Clark W. Griswald, "If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am now."

The Ballew's Enjoy the Day...

A walk on the beach in the morning....

then a trip to the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hill after lunch.

Visiting the water...

Emma, Michael and I walked the 2 1/2 blocks to the beach yesterday a little after noonish. It was beautiful, but cold. The water was rough from the wind but the sight was breathtaking!

There were lots of broken shells along with some trash

:( in the 10 feet between the water and dunes.

It's Snowing!!!

At 8:48 pm, on Saturday, December 19 it began to snow!!! This is the top deck off the living room. It would technically be a dusting, but still IT SNOWED!!!!

To Farmville

It's not just on FaceBook!