A review of the last month and a half

I think the last time that we updated this blog we were still residents of Kentucky, so we haven’t been doing a very good job of keeping up. After you see what we have been up to though, you might understand. At the beginning of December, we finished up our life in Louisville. We tried to do as much as we could in Louisville during our last days there. We ate at some of our favorite restaurants, got together with good friends, took in a U of L Men’s Basketball Game, played at the dog park, and finished up at work and school (for a few weeks). The movers came and packed up all of our belongings and the trip to South Carolina began. We made a pit stop in Gatlinburg, TN which is a cool little town right at the base of the Smoky Mountains. We enjoyed a nice steak dinner by a mountain stream, took a Christmas trolley ride to see the city’s holiday decorations, and rode a ski lift up to a high point so that we could see the entire city (through the fog). The main interstate between TN and North Carolina was affected by a rockslide, so we had to take a detour through the Smokies. If only all detours could be that beautiful (insert pic)! Once we arrived in Greenville, we had just enough time to close on the new house and get it ready before the movers came with all our stuff. We spent three days unpacking boxes, trying to get oriented to the city, and trying to become “official residents” of South Carolina.

Christmas time in Gatlinburg, TN

Mountain stream in the beautiful Smoky Mountains

Then began the LONG trip back to South Dakota for Christmas. By long, we mean that we were in the car for about 29 hours straight (25 driving, 4 sleeping)!! We spent the first few days of our break and Christmas Eve in Philip with the Burnett & Martinez families. The plan was for us to drive up to Rapid City on Christmas morning, but the Good Lord had other plans. Some parts of the Black Hills got over 40” of snow, paired with extremely high winds and below zero temperatures. These blizzard conditions closed the entire Interstate through SD for almost 3 days. Although we were disappointed not to be able to make it to RC as we had intended, we were very thankful to be able to spend so much time with David’s parents, siblings, and grandparents. We (David, Cori, & Cara) played lots of games (Wii & real bowling, cribbage, board games), watched a few movies, and enjoyed a riveting night of polka dancing with David’s grandparents!! And, of course, we didn’t stop eating! When the weather finally let up and we were able to get to Rapid, we enjoyed “Christmas” (actually Dec. 27) at Cori’s Grandma’s house. It was really good to see family and share some time together. We continued our Christmas celebration at the Leis’ house, the cabin in the hills, and Prairie Berry Winery. We felt like kids again – getting to play in the snow and go sledding. Even Murphy & Oakley joined in on the fun!

Some beautiful snowy scenery

More beautiful snowy scenery

Cori playing in the snow drifts in Philip

Enjoying Marcus' Christmas Band & Chorus concert

Game time at Steve's house

Ethan celebrating his Wii Bowling Tournament championship with his Usain Bolt impersonation

Visibility (or lack thereof) on the SD highways during the blizzard

The snowdrifts outside Cori's Grandma's house

Sledding!!

Family hiking and sledding trip at the cabin

Enjoying the Christmas lights at Story Book Island

Sadly, the trip did have to end and (depressingly) we had to get back on the highway and head for our new home. We got to spend the first half of the trip with Cara as we gave her a ride back to Columbia, MO so that she could back to basketball practice. Needless to say, it was a pretty cramped ride (3 people, 2 dogs, luggage, food, and Christmas gifts)! A great surprise on the trip back was getting to see our good friend Miaken, who happened to be in Kansas City for New Years. We hadn’t seen her in over a year, so it was great to spend some time with her and catch up.

Cara and her traveling buddies

We finally rolled back in to Greenville on Saturday night (after spending 60+ hours in the car in less than 2 weeks). Cori started her new job with Michelin on Monday, January 4 and everything is going really good for her so far. I am busy getting back into the swing of things with school. Greenville has been hit by a “cold” spell, with temperature dropping all the way into the teens!! Don’t laugh all your Northerners – it is supposedly the coldest winter here in over 20 years so people here are really freaking out. However, for us, it is a comfortable cold, requiring a light jacket and (maybe) gloves. We hope that you have a great 2010 and let us know if you want a new place to come visit!!

P.S. We are the proud Uncle and Aunt (again) of a beautiful little niece – Tessa Marie Holland. Congratulations to Eric, Melissa, & Savannah!