The end of 2010...

Hard to believe another year has come and gone. These last couple of months have flown...literally! I can't remember ever having been this busy. Hence the reason for very little blogging.

December was a great month! We've attended parties, had our Christmas concerts at church (which included lots of rehearsals), shopped, wrapped gifts, celebrated the birth of Christ, while still balancing job and home. I'm sure my schedule has been no busier than any of your's!

This year we were blessed, as most of you, of having a white Christmas. I can't remember ever having one here in the South. I've had the privilege of experiencing several of them when Scott and I used to travel to New York for Christmas when our children were small. Back then, there would be tons of snow and we would ice skate at his parent's house (they lived on a lake) and snow mobile through the woods. It was glorious!

We had a great time this past Sunday with snowball fights, sledding and even playing croquet. It was a very relaxing weekend and we are doing more of the same this week.
All that will come to an end soon when we head back to work and kids back to school/college...yuck!

I hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas celebrating our Savior's birth!

Our 2010 Christmas picture

Christmas Eve Candlelight service @ church where over 10,000 attended. So hard to describe the beauty!
Heather still loves to put out cookies for "Santa"
Christmas morning!
Lindsay's gift to Max...his own hoodie!

A day at the Biltmore...

This past Tuesday, I was able to take my first trip ever to the Biltmore Estates in Asheville. Heather surprised Scott and I with tickets about a month ago and also let us know that she would be going with us :)

We had such a great time! I could not believe my eyes when we drove up. We enjoyed touring the house...especially at Christmas-time. Who in the world needs 101 bedrooms and 65 bathrooms? And Mr. Vanderbilt himself was only 27 when he moved in...and single!
We went in to all the shops and really enjoyed every sampling of food they had out...some of them we enjoyed 2 and 3 times :)

That evening, we went back into the house where all the fireplaces were lit and candles everywhere. They had choirs singing and dancing groups dancing. It was wonderful!

Thank you, Heather, for allowing us to be a part of your "bucket list"! We love you.

A VERY busy November....

It's been very busy around the Vail household. In fact, there were 2 weeks this month that we were only home in time to get in bed...and then start the day over again. We've traveled to a wedding; Scott's parents visited one weekend; my Dad and step-mother visited another weekend; my youngest sister, her husband, and youngest of their 10 children visited a weekend -had an amazing time with all of them; we completed our house renovations...for now (until spring '11 when we hope to put hardwood flooring in the kitchen).

This past weekend was heaven. We celebrated Thanksgiving and were able to enjoy 3 days of fun and relaxation.

I will close out with pictures:

Mr. and Mrs. Randy Prosser (my sister, Karen) 11/13/10

With my sisters, Karen and Kristi

Caleb with my niece, Nataleigh

Thanksgiving with friends

with my sweet friend, Debbie Our "raking leaves" party ;) Me and my girls!!!
the "real" workers (minus Lindsay :) Caleb was NOT excited!
My hard working man!

playing croquet!
Brad being hilarious with the leaf blower

Our kitchen with new granite countertops and backsplash

Charleston...

It's becoming one of my favorite places...and especially in the fall! Scott and I were able to get away this past weekend for one overnight. Some of our sweet friends invited us a couple of months ago and we have been counting down....

Friday night, we ate at a restaurant overlooking the harbor. The meal was fabulous and the scenery, beautiful. Saturday morning we ate a glorious breakfast (yes, I know, it's always about the food) and then walked the streets and shopped at the market. Saturday afternoon, we took the house and garden tour. That was awesome. We were able to tour 12 homes on Church St. The "over $1,000,000.00 homes"...WOW, is all I have to say! It was so much fun.

The weather was perfect and more memories made....

Our scenery at dinner!

Final review...

I finally finished the book Calm My Anxious Heart (see post dated Aug 31st).
It will forever be one of my favorites. If you are looking for an excellent Bible study, you need to go no further. As far as heart changing, this ranks right up there with Seeking Him.
C.S. Lewis' mentor, George MacDonald, said "I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking". This is a true prayer of contentment.
I think it was the final two chapters that touched me the most: Trusting God with the If Onlys and Trusting God with the Whys. The following (in green) are excerpts from the book:

• How much time do we spend in self-pity, thinking: If only my situation were different?
• There's an if only in every life - something God could have done differently if He had chosen to do so. He has all power, yet He often allows that if to be there.
• We cripple ourselves spiritually by going over and over the If Onlys. We "catch" the If Only disease when we dwell on what we don't have instead of on what we do have. We become discontented with what God has given us. When we contract this disease, we lose perspective.
• God gives peace and contentment; worry gives illness and misery.
• Are my eyes on Jesus or on a particular problem? Are my thoughts centered on the fact of God's Word or on my circumstances?
• God is in control of all the uncontrollables in our lives: What we can't see, what doesn't make sense to us, and what we don't understand.

If ever you want to read a book in the Bible on someone who had all the reasons to ask "why"...it's Habakkuk. And God didn't explain Why; instead He told Habakkuk to trust Him with all his Whys. Habakkuk was to trust God for what he didn't understand, what he couldn't see. He was to walk in the dark with God! Wow!

How many times I've complained about things not going my way, or not getting what I want, or not getting it in my time....complain, complain, complain.
This book has truly shown me what true peace/contentment is:

• Trusting God even though I never understand Why
• Trusting God even when it doesn't make sense
• Trusting God even when there is one more house repair :)
• Trusting God ALWAYS and REGARDLESS!

God wants us to trust Him, no matter what our situation is, no matter what our portion. God wants us to have a faith that perseveres through the times when we can't see what God is doing but we can see Him, and so we say, "Yet will I trust You because You are my strength".