And The Fun Continues
We have definitely been getting into the Christmas spirit! While Greg has been visiting with us, we’ve gone on several adventures which we’ve already told you about. Well, Saturday night Greg took us over to Charleston for a dinner cruise with The Plantation Singers. What a treat that was to be on board with the beautiful women and men singing a variety of songs from Christmas tunes to gospel music. My youngest daughter even requested a song, I’ll Fly Away, which they were so happy to perform for her. They also sang some of their toe tapping, hand clapping music which we all enjoyed. They kept us well entertained on the two hour cruise around the Charleston Harbor. AND … the food was delicious! They had a variety from shrimp and grits to a pork loin complete with brownies and chocolate chip cookies for dessert (notice how I am just mentioning my favorites although the entire meal was delicious!).
Sunday we went over to see The Royal Gala of Horses! If you’ve been following along for a while, you know how we love our horses! Before the event, we rode our royal horses around our house – at least we think they are royalty! 🙂 I will have to say that as much as I enjoyed the show with the beautiful horses and their dressage training, there’s nothing like our very own horses that we ride almost daily! While they put on a heck of a show, we remain devoted to our own horses. I have said a long time ago that my horse, Sugar, is a little princess. I even had a tiara for her at one point.
Stop laughing …
Okay … you can laugh!
BUT you have to admit that she is beautiful and deserving of being treated as royalty. My friend, Debbie, (God rest her soul) used to joke about how we thought owning horses would be so glamorous, yet there we were out there grooming the horses getting dirty while our horses soaked up all the attention and all of our time and money, too! While this is also true, they give us so much joy. There truly are no words to describe how we feel when we are with our horses. It sounds strange to those that have never caught the horse fever, but to those that have, they know exactly what we speak of as they feel it, too. There is just something about these majestic animals submitting to you willingly, and believe me, if one did not wish to submit, you would know it. However, these gentle giants willingly give themselves to you as they trust you completely to do no harm to them … and the greatest bond of all time forms between horse and rider.
Ah, but I’ve gone on and on now about my horses once again.
One of these days, I will get Greg on the back of one of our horses. He hasn’t ever ridden a horse before, so we must do something about that ASAP! Until I’m able to snap a picture of him on horseback, enjoy these pictures from the show (We apologize in advance for the poor picture quality, but we did not know we could take pictures so we did not take our camera. Instead, we were forced to use our phones.):
After the horse show, we ventured over to Michael’s Café & Catering. We showcased them on our site many months ago when they held their grand opening, so we thought we’d stop in to see how they’re doing. They were actually doing quite well as the café was full to the point that we were offered a table in their banquet room. It was really nice to have the entire room to ourselves. They went all out with the decorations, and my daughter danced around the room going from one tree in the corner to the other. I think it is safe to say that she enjoyed herself that evening. We did, too, as you can tell by the pictures below:
And the fun continues as tonight Greg is taking us to see Jim Brickman in concert with guests Anne Cochran and Tracy Silverman! This has been a holiday tradition for us as Greg started years ago sending us tickets to Jim’s show as our family Christmas present. At first we had no idea who Jim Brickman was, but it didn’t take us long to come to know and love his piano music. Now our ten year old can even recognize when Jim’s songs come on our iPod or on the radio. He IS a piano sensation, and we encourage you to look into his tour this holiday season. We highly recommend his music any time of year but there is something that makes it even more special around Christmas.
Whatever you do this holiday season, please remember the real reason for the season: Christ Our Lord!
Fun With Friends
We had a very special guest arrive in town this week. It is none other than the mastermind behind our site here at Light Love Hope, Gregory C. Johnson, aka The Quiet Computer Guy!
He arrived with a big bag of goodies, and when I say a big bag, trust me it had to be for this baby to fit inside!
After we recovered from our sugar high, we went over to a little town that we have been frequenting lately as it’s known as Horse Country! Aiken has a lot to offer with little shops down town. While we weren’t really shopping for deals on Black Friday, we just meandered down the street and made our way through little shops here and there just looking around. We ended up having the best time by taking random pictures, laughing and giggling at the silliest of things (okay, that would be me … I’m the silly one in the group, but I’m perfectly fine with that!)
Yes, I made them suffer through these pictures. There might have been a few groans that were heard, but they did it any way … because they love me! 🙂
After horsing around a bit, we went to dinner at The Willcox. This is actually a hotel that was featured in the top 100 list in Travel Leisure Magazine. We were surprised to learn that the little town of Aiken, South Carolina, was mentioned in there and actually this hotel has won many awards for their service and excellence! You can stay there, of course, or you can just join them for dinner. We have only been once before, but we liked the atmosphere so we decided to take Greg over to see what he thought.
We walked in to find a fire burning in the fireplace, and shortly after we were seated, beautiful piano music began to play. I looked around and directly behind Greg was a beautiful tree that they were putting the finishing touches on. As soon as they stepped away, I snapped a few pictures. They are dark since we were basically seated close enough to the fireplace to feel the warmth and hear the sound of crackling coming from it.
After dinner, we went over to The Aiken Community Playhouse to see It’s A Wonderful Life … because it is. It truly is.
We encourage you, especially during this holiday season, to take time to be silly with your friends and family. Take time to slow down a little and just enjoy the moment surrounded by people you love and who love you. Savor the moment, have fun with friends, laugh and play with your family, and make precious memories together. That’s what it’s all about!
Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Today is the day for Black Friday Shopping!! I’m sure you’ve checked the ads and some have already been shopping in the wee morning hours. Then there are others that were camped outside of the stores that had the biggest deals. They are the real die-hard Black Friday shoppers! Wow. I can tell you that certainly isn’t me, but to each their own! But never fear if you’re not a Black Friday Shopper like myself. Cyber Monday is on it’s way!
A few years ago, we purchased a Little People Nativity Set from Family Christian Stores for our youngest daughter. I used to play with the little people, although not this particular set, when I was growing up, so when I saw this set, I had to get it for my daughter. Not only did it allow her to play with the characters, but it also helped to teach her with a visual aid all about the real reason that we celebrate Christmas. I enjoyed sitting with her telling her of the Christmas story and seeing the delight in her eyes as she set the manger scene up just right.
Right now Family Christian Stores have a lot of deals for the holiday season. Be sure to take advantage of the sales for Black Friday & Cyber Monday!
Recently when we were in our local Family Christian Store, we came across an audio of the Jesus Calling devotional book by Sarah Young. While I enjoy reading out of a book that I can hold in my hand, or one that I can view on my Nook Color, my husband enjoys the audio books that he can listen to on his long commute to work and back. This audio book was just perfect for him, especially after he had expressed an interest in it just a few weeks prior to us finding it in the store. This would make a perfect Christmas gift for someone on your list!
If books aren’t high on your list of gift ideas for your friends or family, Family Christian also has a wide variety of prints to choose from. I love art, beautiful pictures with moving quotes, inspirational pieces, etc. Look at a few that we found at our local store:
Here’s to you and your Black Friday & Cyber Monday shopping! Enjoy!
