Castle Wood Park

Last weekend we were at Grandmommie and Poppie's House and while there had a big adventure. We went to a park called "Castle Wood"... as you can see, it's a play ground castle, made of wood. It's amazing! It's huge, and the best thing about it is that it only has one door to get in and out!! We all were in climbing around seeing the ins and outs... cubby holes, bridges, slides... a true toddler place for adventure!! Thanks Grandmommie and Poppie for the fun!


Sadie Mac even got Daddy to slide!

Tic Tac Toe anyone?

They even have music!!!

Blue Grass & BBQ

A few weeks ago part of our family went to Sim's BBQ, a back in the woods, hole in the wall kinda place where my family has gone for years. They are only open Fridays and Saturdays with all you can eat BBQ that is the "slap your mama" kind of good! Sadie Mac brought her dancin' shoes, as did the rest of us. Hope you enjoy the pics. (Sorry, for the bad color)


Sadie Mac is saying, "Bring on the music!"

Noah's first dance with Aunt Brooke!

Swimming Lessons

In about a month or so, we'll be heading back to the land of sand, what we fondly refer to as "the Sandbox". Our time in America has been wonderful and we've loved being around family and friends, and having lots of American Adventures. One of our favorite things to do in the Sandbox is to go swimming, so we thought Sadie Mac would like to take some swimming lessons as she is a little fish who LOVES the water. The last day she had lessons, I got to go in the last few minutes and see what she had learned. I was so proud and was definitely "that obnoxious mom", the one who was taking lots of pics of her! I was thankful her teacher didn't mind! She is doing great and is ready to go swimming in the Sandbox!

This is her getting really excited when I said, "it's time!!"

GrOwing Little Guy...

He's just cute. That's all.

Playing Catch Up...

So, it's been a while and a bit of a whirl wind since we have posted due to lots going on. We've loved being in the States in this season of life but are ready to head back overseas and take a bit of a rest. I think you'll understand. Let's see if I can catch you up on what we've been up to...

First, Noah has continued to grow and play with his big sister. He is actually growing out of his new born clothes (now that he's 11 weeks old!) She LOVES playing with her brother and even replacing her baby dolls with him! (Remember "baby Molly" who came to live with us around the time Noah was born? He's getting much bigger than her!)



We're getting ready to watch the Super Bowl in a few weeks... dad and son together, bonding.


First, we drove up to Virginia to see some friends and spend some time with them...

While there, we also got to see Eli (and his parents!!) who shares a birthday with Sadie Mac... they are good friends and we are already planning their wedding!



We left Va and headed down to where some of Stephen's family lives. Sadie Mac's cousin celebrated her 3rd birthday and we were so thankful to be there to enjoy the party! Happy Birthday Parker!


While we were in Ellerbe, some dear friends and family gave Noah a baby shower where we celebrated his arrival and they blessed us with lots of gifts that we can enjoy and bring back to the sandbox!


And after all this traveling, Noah is our family spokes person saying, "NO MORE TRAVEL!!! We're sick of living out of/or in a suitcase!!"

And of course... it's still snowing here in the mountains...

2 Months old!

Noah is 2 months old today and over doubled his birth weight. Just a little 4 lbs and 1 oz. at birth, he is now a hefty 8 lbs. 7 oz!!! He's also grown from 17 inches to 21.5!! He is really starting to fill out too and measures the size of an average newborn! He is rockin' lots of newborn outfits he's been given and we're thankful for how well he's doing. He's really starting to like comics too, and Spider Man is his favorite!! YAY for being a "big boy" now Noah! ;-)

A White Christmas at the Huffman's

After having three years of desert Christmas'... I could not have been more tickled to have a white Christmas! The snow started that morning around 8:30 and didn't quit for another 12 hours or so. It was a beautiful white fluffy snow too!
We came home from Stephen's family's Christmas eve to find out we didn't have heat in our house and so we stayed with my mom! (Many thanks!) We were up until 1 am doing all the preparation stuff and thankfully Sadie and Noah didn't wake up until around 8 am! A few hours later the rest of the family came (Jeff and Keenen were missed due to sickness!!), but other than that... we had a great time. Good eatin', presents, laughter, and sweet time with family. This was a true gift.
Looking back at this year, we truly are so thankful for Noah's safe arrival and know that so many things could have gone wrong... but our gracious God and King has a special plan for this little guy. We celebrate Him, His birth, and the truth that He is Savior!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!


Noah's first Christmas morning

Heather and Caitlyn throwing snow balls at the window!

NanNan talking to all the grandkids around the tree

Avee reading the Christmas story of Jesus' birth

Our traditional making of the Egg Nog... delicious!


Auntie Avee holding her little nephew

More snow!

Christmas Week at the Rhyne's

The week before Christmas we surprised family by going down a few days early to celebrate Christmas with them. We had lots of people to see and lots of people wanted to see and hold Noah. We went to a church Christmas program, ate lots of good food, shopped, had coffee with friends, and most importantly... saw lots of family! This was for many of them the first time they met Noah. We are so thankful that after 3 Christmas' away from family, we could soak in this wonderful holiday together, especially with the blessing of having Noah this year. Here are some of the pics we took... hope you enjoy!

3 Generations of Rhyne Men

Noah, his great-grandmother and 2 great-aunts

Sadie Mac opening presents with family... it was a mad house!

Noah and his first stocking

Sadie having fun with cousins on top of the bunk bed

Cousin Kinnley holding Noah

Fun with cousins on the swing set

Aunt Nikki and Uncle Daniel holding and loving on Noah

Grandmommie loving on Noah

Aunt Jen and Sadie Mac at Pizza Inn

Noah, Sadie, and Great Grandma Wicker

Grandmommie and Sadie Mac making brownies

Winter Wonderland

It has been said that "Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing." And, surprisingly I would agree with this statement with the snow we've been enjoying. I've been wanting snow for three years, but c'mon... this has been a lot of snow and a lot of cold!!! Our blood runs a little thinner now after living in the desert. Stephen looked at the weather channel a few days ago and it showed 8 of the next 10 days having snow. We love it... but when it's too much and we can't leave, we get a little bit of cabin fever. My new favorite Christmas song is: I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just as long as we can drive on the roads...



Sadie Mac and mommy playing in the snow. She was pretty insistent on wanting to try and pull me on the sled.



Daddy and Sadie building Rusty the Snowman. Whenever she tries to say "Frosty" it sounds exactly like "Rusty", so we are now calling our snowman Rusty! They built the biggest and best snowman I've ever seen! He is very dear to her and when we leave, she says, "Bye Rusty, love you." Please also note that Rusty is a Tar Heel fan!