F.a.m.i.l.y

Having a place to go - is a home. Having someone to love - is a family. Having both - is a blessing. ~Donna Hedges

I experienced the "blessing" this past weekend.  Our family, minus Kyle and Hunter, decided to turn our annual apple picking trip into a full weekend in the mountains.  What a great decision on our part.  Loitton and I even extended the weekend an extra day and went on Thursday.  We arrived in the mountains of North Carolina, picked up the keys to our house and headed up the moutain to find it.  When we arrived we just stood on the front porch and tried to take in the breath taking view.  Heather did a great job of finding a very special house to accomodate our family.  Loitton and I had dinner and then headed back to the house to enjoy an evening of just the two of us.  We always enjoy and value our time together however we both look forward to our children and grandchildren being with us.  They arrived on Friday evening and we all settled in for a night of family and catching up.  

Saturday we got up and had a great a breakfast.  One thing about our family is we love cooking together and everyone chips in.  Some of the family picks at Owens and won't allow him to cook grits any more however I would eat his grits if he fixed them :)  True Mother's love!  We then ventured out and took a nature walk and visited Chimney Rock and all the little shops there.  Loitton and I wanted to take Morgan Kate for an ice cream cone and just the basics of eating ice cream together as a family was so much fun.  Saturday evening we grilled some delicious steaks with the trimmings and then just hung out.  We even managed to get in a little "training session" on Instagram and Heytell.  We always laugh about feeling like "The Waltons" when it comes to bed time.  We all go around telling each other good night, we love you and lights out.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the Waltons, that was their nightly routine.    

Sunday was our apple picking day.  We go to Sky Top Orchard.  We love taking our picture each year with the measuring stick so we can see how much Morgan Kate has grown.  One thing that we have learned from our annual trips is do not go to the far end of the orchard, pick all your apples and then have to carry them back up the huge hill to pay for them.  This year, we let Morgan Kate pick a few and then we just waited until we got back to the main shed and bought our apples.  Smart move on our part!

As we parted ways to head home on Sunday afternoon, Loitton was just so sure I was going to cry...I normally do when I leave my children.  This time, my heart was just so full and content with love that all I could do was smile and talk about going back again next year.  I love that our children will take the time to spend a weekend with us....may I never take that for granted.  Until next year.