Christmas in West Virginia

The family and I spent Christmas in West Virginia this year, and as much as we were hoping and praying for snow, the sunshine we got instead was just as lovely. We got up early on Friday morning and drove up to the cabin and got there around 11am. Those were the fastest three days of my life! There were 6 of us...well...6.5 of us if you include Penny. Me, Ian, my Sister Rebecca and her fiance Scott, and my parents. My mom had the place all decorated with white lights. The pictures below show my favorite decoration:

 That shelf holds tons of antique medicine bottles that were found underground on our property! The former owners back in the 60s used to use the backyard as a dump! There trash is certainly our treasure and my mom strung lights all around those bottles on that shelf and it was pure magic in the dark.

I think my favorite part of Christmas weekend was the time that Penny and I spent alone together taking long walks through the woods along ours and our neighbors' properties. I got all bundled up and got a chance to wear my new wellington boots that Ian gave me for Christmas...the muddier the better, bring it on! Even though we didn't have a white Christmas, the morning of was so frosty that it almost seemed like our prayers were answered. The sun glittered off that frost like magic fairy dust:

Penny and I walked all through the fields and through the woods down by the creek that was high and running rapidly! It felt good to get muddy and explore...even on Christmas morning. Here is a picture of penny exploring and a shot of the back of the house from the field:



The weekend can best be wrapped up with a good nap....I'm pretty sure I had one each day. Penny took her share of naps too - preferably in any portion of sunlight that she can get her wee little face into: