Asheville Girl's Week-end

My sister generously offered to take us on a girl's week-end and we were all elated!  There were 5 of us - my Mom, my sister, her daughter, Rebecca and I.  Eliana will have to be a bit older before joining us.  One day though it will be fun to have her along too!

We went to Asheville for the week-end staying in a suite-style hotel close to the downtown area.  Our only firm plans upon arrival were to visit the Biltmore house on Friday night.  After settling in our room, we made our way to the Biltmore Village for dinner.  We chose to go to Neo Cantina for a yummy Mexican dinner.

After eating, we bundled up and headed to the Biltmore House.  We went on a Christmas tour held in the evening.  It was self-guided.  We had brochures to tell us about the rooms, though I wish we had known to get an audio guide.  Something new to do the next time!  I don't have any photos of inside the house as they weren't allowed.  It was stunningly beautiful!  So many decorations and so many trees!  We made guesses over dinner as to how trees there would be and Rebecca guessed the number correctly!    52

After touring the house, we visited the adjacent gift shops.  Lots of fun things to see. 

We talked over our plans for the next day and decided to go on a trolley tour.  We did this about 4 or 5 years ago when we toured Asheville with our History Group and it was great fun.  It was great again!  So many fun stories about the city and the people. 

What I had not anticipated though were the fun and interesting stories from my Mom!  She grew up in Asheville.  We saw the hospital where she was born, where she went to high school (its on the historic register), saw friend's homes, saw a place where she worked and also her mom and much more!  I'm so thankful to have been able to visit Asheville with her!

The trolley has a variety of stops.  You can get on or off at any of them and pick up the next trolley coming by.  Since it is winter, there was only 1 trolley running.  So if you got off, you had two hours until the next trolley came by.  We decided to make just one stop in the downtown area near the Grove Arcade.

We looked around at some of the shops.  There was a lovely knitting and yarn shop.

We saw some gingerbread houses on display.

I even found a statue that made my chuckle.  (Note the name on the label!)  We also visited a chocolate shop and various arts/crafts exhibits.

By now, we were getting hungry and began looking for a lunch spot.  We chose one Mom had been to before (and that Christopher had recommended to our group when we were here last too!).  What an excellent choice!  Southern cooking using organic and local foods.  YUM!  The Early Girl Eatery. 

I'm not sure this picture will do it justice, but oh my was this good!!!    It was fried green tomatoes layered with fresh basil and herbed goat cheese, topped with salsa and balsamic dressing, served over grits.  Some of the best food ever!

We then finished up the trolley tour learning more about historic Asheville.  I highly recommend this if you are ever in the area!  We decided to go back to the Biltmore House to see the grounds in the day time.  It was bitterly cold, but we ventured around for awhile and took some pictures. 

The views are amazing.  He owned all of the land for as far as he could see.  Such beautiful country!

And the house.  What an incredible work of architecture.  The details both inside and our are astounding.  I can't imagine all the planning it took to design and build this mansion.  What a treat to be able to tour it!

This is a view of the terrace just outside of the library.  This was one of my favorite rooms in the house.  I bet this is just lovely in the spring and summer.

We did not walk all around the gardens - too cold and not too much to see.  The ponds were obviously cold.  Did I mention how very cold it was there this afternoon?!

I'm so glad we were able to visit.  I'm hoping that one day I can go with our whole family during their homeschool days.  I'd love to the know the dates if anyone sees them.  (I've looked and can't find any for 2011.)

After a quick dinner at Subway, we headed to the theater to see Tangled.  Fun movie!

The next morning, the girls were delighted to wake up to SNOW!  They ran out to play in it.  Making a snowman too.

Then went swimming in the heated pool, ate breakfast and headed out.  We visited a mall nearby for awhile and then got on the road.  The snow wasn't bad, but none of us wanted to get stuck either.  (Not that it would have been a bad place to be stuck.)

Thanks Laura for planning such a fun week-end!  We are already looking forward to our next girls' week-end!

Blessings
Leslie

Happy New Year

Wanted to share a couple of sweet praises with y'all!

First - ANYA has a family commited to adopt her!  Isn't that exciting?!  (And no it is not us in case you were wondering.)  Its been almost a year since we first advocated for Anya with a giveaway last January.  Praying for a family to go get this precious little girl.  God has answered this prayer!  Her Mom is a sweet gal who is so excited about her!  I'm excited that I get to walk with this family as they go to get her.  I am honored to continue praying for Anya and to add her new family to my prayer list.  When they are able to go public with this news - and if they have a blog - I will surely share it!

Second - The Angel Tree ended yesterday.  This is a huge fundraiser for the children on Reece's Rainbow.  The goal this year was to raise at least $1000 for each child.  Each child had someone working to raise funds - but it isn't an easy thing to do!  As of the morning of December 31st, there were still many that were not close to their goal.

People continued to pray and to donate as volunteers added in the monies up until midnight.  Want to know the final result?

EVERY child is has met the goal!  Is that a sweet answer to prayer or what?!  Here is the Angel Tree if you want to peek for yourself.  (I'm not sure how much longer it will be up though!)

There is still more work to be done, but as always, it is God working through us.  To Him be the glory!  Praying that this new year sees the grants rising so that more of these sweet children will be home by next Christmas!  Will you join me in praying that more children will find families?

I'll post more later on our New Year's Eve activities.  I hope the start to your year is a fun one!

Blessings
Leslie

Baking and a Count-down Calendar

Rebecca loves to bake and she often includes Eliana in the fun.  (Isn't she a great big sister?!)

This year, Rebecca decided to try something new.  She made an edible countdown calendar for Eliana.  She made a variety of cookies and placed a number on each one.  She make a large board with many brads on them and hung a cookie from each brad.

One cookie each day until Christmas.  Isn't that cute and creative and clever?!  The picture below if for your FIAR moms so you can see what I'm doing.  LOL  (On the FIAR website)

Wondering if this is going to be a yearly tradition now too.  (And for those who are wondering, Eliana shared the cookies with her brothers.)

Blessings
Leslie

New Year's Eve

Looking for something fun to do?  Several years ago someone on the FIAR board posted a great idea for activity bags used to count down to the New Year.  I won't be posting my activities for this year until after the event.  (Don't want any of my kids to see it in advance - plus I love posting it with pictures.)

In case you want to see more of what I'm talking about, here are posts from the last 3 years of what we did.

2009 - The theme was monsters. 

2008 - The theme was spies

2007 - Our first year doing this with no theme.  Still lots of fun.  Look how tiny Eliana is in these pictures!

This is so much fun and my children are already looking forward to it!

If you do this, I'd love to hear more about your night - please share info and/or a link!

Blessings
Leslie

Handmade Photo Ornament

One of our favorite family traditions has been a new ornament each year.  Sometimes there is one for the family from a place we have visited, but always one for each child.  I try to choose something that is either special to that child or about that child.  It may be a favorite activity or pastime.  I've always purchased these from various places.  I've been fortunate to find some really neat ones over the years.  I'm often amazed by the "perfect" one for someone.

Well, this year I just couldn't find ANY that I liked.  Some would be ... alright.  But not just right.  Not special.  I didn't want to pick something just to have an ornament.

So at the last moment, I decided I would make ornaments.  I wanted them to be special and I began pondering ideas.  I thought about photos and I really wanted to be able to add a note.  (I often write notes on the boxes that the ornaments come in.)  I asked friends for suggestions and then wandered around the craft store.

Then, I found it.  Just the right item that would fill all my desires.  I found little star-shaped paper mache' boxes.  Perfect for adding something to - and putting a little note inside.

I found a photo of each child and mod-podged it to the star.  Then I hot glued ribbon around the box, tying it at the top.  I used a red sharpie to add dots to the sides and the year on the back.  I love how they turned out!

I love giving ornaments to our children each year.  It's fun to surprise them and to bless them as well.  This year was no different. 

I always take a picture of each child with their ornament.  Wouldn't it be a neat thing to have a scrapbook of each year with each ornament?  Hmmm ... maybe sometime in the future.  LOL  Here are the rest of the pictures.

I wanted to share this idea in case anyone else is looking for a neat ornament to make.  I know it's too late for this year, but perhaps next!

Blessings
Leslie

Choosing a Tree

This tradition has wavered over the years some.  We typically spend Thanksgiving in the mountains with my family.  (Some years though due to sickness or pregnancy, we have been home.)  Since there are SO many great tree farms in the mountains of NC, this seems a natural thing to pick a tree from there.  We have loved going to tree farms, often with my family, to choose a tree.

This year, we again chose from home.  Why?  No luggage rack on our large van and Roger wasn't sure we could secure it.  So, we chose a place near to home - that brings them from the NC mountains.  It didn't take long to select a great tree!  And to have our annual family photo in front of the tree!  (That has not changed!)

There is a cute little sled near the trees - perfect for a photo.

I didn't get many photos of us decorating the tree this year though.  We were in a hurry and had a short time frame to get it done so here is just one.  Eliana LOVED putting up the ornaments. 

She finds such joy in so many things.  Have I mentioned today that she is a delight?  All of my children are a delight, but her wonder and enjoyment of each small detail of life makes the rest of us stop and appreciate life even more!

Blessings

Leslie

Making blankets

I'm going to use this week to recap some of our activities this month.  With our FIAR group, we made fleece blankets to donate to a couple of local charities.  We chose 2 that also share the gospel and it is my prayer that these blankets will truly make a difference in someone's life for eternity.

We have done this project for several years now.  We like it because it is easy to involve people of all ages.  In addition to making the blankets, we make cards to go along with them. 

We ask each family to bring fleece.  Many choose patterns (girl or boy) to go along with their family members.  We also suggest various sizes for blankets from baby to teen.  Its so much fun to sit around working on the blankets. 

It's just a sweet time of fellowship and fun for all of us.  The Moms all thought it was like being at a quilting bee.  Quite fun!

Of course, there is time for goofing off and having fun too!

We enjoyed a potluck lunch together.

Gathering most of the group for a photo with the blankets.

The kids were proud of their work and I love them having as many opportunities as possible to give and serve others.

I am thankful for friends who are willing to take time during a hectic time of year to do something to bless others.  It's always a sweet time together with friends.  Praying that God would use this to bring glory to His name!

Blessings
Leslie

Merry Christmas from the Nelsen Family!

This is a little late (computer problems), but heartfelt nonetheless.

 

Merry Christmas!

Hands ... a sweet tradition

I love traditions as do my children.  Its a way of knowing that this is our family and this is what we do.  It can be something that ties generations together too.  It gives stability in times when things around us are rocky.  It can also just be fun.

Some years ago I read about a fun tradition and decided to start it for my family.  Its our Christmas tree skirt.  Each year we add to the skirt - handprints of the children in the family. 

Some years I haven't yet added on the names or the years (not sure why?).  I even have one small handprint that needs to be added to it.  (I traced the tiny hand so it could go on later.)  I love seeing the number of hands grow along with the size of the hands.

Check out Christopher's hand this year!  So big.

Now look at the first year we did this.  My sweet children were 3 months, 2, 6 and 8.  It was 9 years ago.  Seems so long ago in some ways.  I love the years when they are little and I love the years when they are big too. 

God is good.

Just wanted to share a fun and sweet keepsake tradition.  I'd love to hear about some of your favorite traditions too!

Blessings
Leslie