Our latest and greatest family story is our recent vacation to North Carolina. What an awesome time we had. The trip was much needed and a big blessing to us all. We were suppose to go the week of Christmas, but we pushed it back to the week of Super Bowl due to budgeting. Praise the Lord, we did move it. It was well worth the wait.
Our main dilemma (like so many others) is money for the trip. With finances becoming our number one priority, preparing for FPU (Financial Peace University) that is coming to our church when we get home from vacation and we had just finished reading the Dave Ramsey book "Total Money Make Over". We realized that going away during Christmas week was not in our budget and we were not even close to having any money saved for this trip. So we set a goal for saving money for our trip in February. God blessed us with way more than enough to go. It pays to follow a budget and to stop spending foolishly. We were able to go on our trip without any fear of running out of money and not sacrificing any of our regular budgeted money for paying our monthly bills. That is our first blessing from God.
Our second blessing was that we have been going to Mike's parents house for many years in the winter trying to catch a snow day. With me being a Floridian and our three children too, we have never experienced snow. Now I have seen snow on the ground back in October when we drove to a high peak in Robbinsville, N.C. (Which was absolutely beautiful, amazing, and such a serene feeling)
, but our kids were not with us and we did not see it falling. It is too funny, every trip we make it always snows the day after we leave to come back to Florida. Go figure! Well we decided that our best chances would be in February this year and that was what we set our goal for. It was very discouraging when we received a call from Mike's parents the weekend prior to our vacation and said it was snowing and it was between 8 to 10 inches of the most beautiful snow ever. My husband was beside himself. He wanted to get in the car that day and start driving. The chances of more snow in their area was very low, since they don't get a whole bunch in their area and this weekend of snow put them over their limit. Obviously we couldn't just get in the car and head up, we both have jobs and the kids have school. So my husband had to cool his jets and wait a week and we continued to pray for more snow to come when we are there.
Our trip got started with us actually heading out a day early due to an rain/ice storm heading that way on the day we were suppose to be driving there. So for safety reasons we left on Thursday instead of on Friday. By Friday morning (we drove through the night) we reached the NC line and there was nothing but freezing rain. It rained all day Friday, but there was still snow on the ground from the prior weekend. When we arrived to Granny's house the kids couldn't get in those piles of snow fast enough. The rain had caused the snow to be more like packing snow cones instead of snowballs. Do you think the kids cared? No...they were slinging these hard uneven ice balls at each other like crazy. I got hit by one and it hurt. Yet, the kids had a blast. They only played outside for about 10 to 15 minutes because of the freezing rain and they were soaked from kneeling and rolling in wet snow.
That first day was joy enough and made our trip so special already. Once the kids got settled in warm clothing and some hot cocoa, Grandpa informed them that they were expecting snow the very next day. How cool is that? We are going to actually see snow falling from the sky. It came, it fell, it was beautiful. The most fluffiest white cotton ball looking snow you could ever see. It made everything so peaceful. Mike thought I was nuts because I couldn't stop laughing. It tickled as it landed on my face. It stuck in my hair and all over my clothing. It was wonderful and believe it or not I wasn't even freezing. What a glorious sight. I know too many people live constantly in it and it is a burden to them, but what a treasure for us to experience it as a family.
Our visit was terrific but of course had to come to an end. We left with an agenda of sightseeing a few historical War ships in South Carolina. Stopping for the night in Charleston, S.C. and spending the next day at Patriots Point was an experience we will not forget. Devin took over 400 photos of just the U.S.S. Yorktown Air Craft Carrier that was permanently docked there. It was a great day, but very windy and freezing cold.
After our tour, we were back on the road for the remaining 8 hour drive to reach home. Within 5 minutes of driving the rain started and it rained all the way home. All I can say is that it was great to be home again. We couldn't have asked for a more memorable trip to NC and SC. Our photos tell the tale of a terrific trip. Thank you God for blessing us, yet again.
