Over the River and Through The Woods

"Dress warmly" were the instructions. And I'm so glad we followed them.

On Saturday, we drove to NH to visit my family. My mom had a special surprise for all of us. It involved these two beautiful creatures:



The drivers handed out warm blankets and we all climbed onto a wooden wagon to travel over beautiful dirt paths with views like this (look at Mount Chocorua in the distance!):



We were very happy to have the blankets, as it was late afternoon and FREEZING.


But oh, so beautiful.


And peaceful.


Then, we took a surprise turn into town, which was so quaint.


And fun.


And festive.


And intriguing.


Back at the farm, we said thank you.


And then contemplated bringing this sweet little miniature horse called Sadie home with us.


Then, it was off to my parents' house to open gifts and have a feast.


Oh, and act silly.


And share jokes.


And act more silly.


It was such a beautiful weekend and made me so grateful to have so much love in my life.

But then, it was time to come back home to our own little tree...


And a surprise visit from our neighbors, who brought a gift from their horses, who graze in our field all summer:

Yes, that is a SUITCASE full of Godiva treats. Generous horses!

It truly was one of the best weekends ever.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Monday Morning Warm-Up:

My niece, who I love dearly, was a little obsessed with talking about a certain gift she wanted for Christmas. She just. Couldn't. Stop. And it was funny to me, because I remember what that was like. Hoping hoping hoping for something special. And I thought how challenging it might be to convey in writing just what it is, why it is, you want this "thing" so badly. So, for today's challenge, write about a time when you were nuts for a gift. What was it? Why did you want it so badly? Did you get it? Write a story... :-)