Hinze Family Christmas Card 2010

Joy Sky Story Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0CYtWrZw5aMXIA

Our great Christmas Adventure

note: pictures coming soon, check back often!

You know how it is - it’s vacation time and all you want is to leave the house clean and in order so it’s not a wreck when you get home. Well - I have yet to experience that (except for the time I paid one of my friends to organize while we were gone and that was fabulous!). We left on Dec. 17 - hoping to be on our way by early morning and instead finally pulling out around 10ish after ransacking the house for the power cord to the dvd player - only to discover that it no longer worked.

We made it to Columbus before we finally broke down and bought a new one - I don’t know how we did it back in the day before cars had movie players! I remember reading a lot, but my kids don’t read yet so that isn’t even an option really! We had stopped in Eufala, AL for lunch at the Cajun Corner where we dined on spicy etouffe and chicken strips before loading back up to spend an hour and a half in Columbus hunting the elusive dual screen portable dvd player. We eventually found one at Best Buy where I grabbed it off the shelf and bought it and promptly installed it while the kids played under a gigantic black and white cow.

Continuing on we detoured slightly to stop and say hi to David Yates - one of the buddies to the Mixed Nuts guys. He owns Hawkins Oil - an oil and fuel distributor out of LaGrange, GA. With new pens and hats in hand we loaded up once again and breezed through Atlanta (mostly, but there were still some slow segments as the last of rush hour cleared through) and rolled into Ellijay about 8:30 p.m. Central (9:30 local time).

Harry and Elaine were excited to see us and Mike was a little speechless at the beauty of their mountaintop cabin. We ate pizza and caught up on what our lives had been up to since the last time we’d visited.

The next morning dawned gray and rainy and it continued to pour steadily for the rest of the day. I made pumpkin pancakes for Mike’s birthday and the kids serenaded him with a beautiful rendition of “Happy Birthday.” We took our time in the morning - Mike actually went back to bed for a few hours with a nasty headache (from sleeping wrong on his neck). We eventually were all dressed and loaded up into the same vehicle and headed into town to go to Deli Junction. It’s just a regular sized restaurant where you order at the counter and get a number to display on your table - but it has to be one of the best sandwich places I’ve eaten at in my lifetime. They always have a lunch special where you can get either a half or whole sandwich of the day with chips and a drink for $3.50 or $5 respectfully. The special of the day was a Reuben and I got the half and subbed a cup of tomato vegetable soup instead of chips (my mouth is still pretty sore!). I have to say that I’m really not a sandwich person and I ended up wishing that I’d gotten a whole instead of a half because it was so good! The last time we were there it was the Cuban on special and that was just as tasty!

The neat thing about Deli Junction is the train track that runs along the ceiling. There is a huge, red button on the wall that makes the train go and Wyatt can’t wait until he’s tall enough to hit it on his own.

Since the weather was terrible - raining and cold - we took the kids to an indoor play place with the huge inflatable jumping things. They seemed to enjoy it - the huge slide was a big hit.

We celebrated Mike's birthday that night with some cake and candles. I made a tasty dinner, too!

On Saturday we decided to take a day trip to Dahlonega, Ga. It was the site of the first gold rush in the United States. On our way there we stopped at Amicalola Falls - a state park. It has an amazing waterfall. There are steps that start at the base of the falls and go all the way up. It was really cold, though so we didn’t even attempt to climb up. We drove to the top and looked down - it was impressive! Being from Florida, however, our kids were quite wimpy with the cold and after just a few minutes at the falls they wanted to go back to the car. This park is one of the few that has a lodge and we decided to drive further up and check it out.

What an amazing view we had from the lodge! (and it was warm inside!). We were excited to find they were having a wild bird show and got to see some local owls and even a vulture (who was quite stinky, but very gentle). We had lunch in their restaurant - our table next to the floor to ceiling window and then continued on to our original destination.

In Dahlonega we had a hard time getting to the gold mine - there was a natural gas leak and all the roads were blocked off. Eventually the roads reopened and we were able to find our way to the mine. We were practically the only ones there! There was one other man who had come up from Atlanta to tour the mine and otherwise it was just our little family. When you purchase the mine tour you get to pan for gold so we did that first and all walked away millionaires (well we wish!). Actually we all managed a few flakes. What we enjoyed the most was the gemstone “grubbing.” I really think Maddie is a future rock hound. She had so much fun sluicing for gems that I bought another, bigger bucket for us to do after the mine tour. The mine was impressive. I don’t think many of my pictures turned out well but it was cool! We actually went down into the mine - back in the day they discovered a 22 foot vein of quartz and gold and in one day removed 55 pounds of gold! Eventually the mine filled up with water - and part of it is still underwater today. There is a place where they were drilling holes for dynamite blasting and instead of just a hole they hit an aquifer. This eventually did the mine in - it flooded! The new owners were able to divert the water into a creek and now only part of the mine is under water. You can see the water eerily glowing green down one of the abandoned tunnels - I really wanted a closer view, but you know - safety first!

We got back late that night and slept in on Sunday morning. Our plan for the day was to go eat breakfast at Corks and Crumbs - one of the best breakfast’s I’ve ever eaten - and a neat little shop as well. After breakfast we drove to Cleveland, TN where our family friends Gary and Carol Little live. I’m going to digress and tell the story about how I know the Little family in just a bit, but first I want to tell about our drive there.

Harry had given us directions to Cleveland - he mentioned another way to get there that would take forever, but followed the mountain ridge. He suggested NOT going that way, but neither Mike nor I could remember how many left and rights and where to turn so we decided to follow the GPS instead.

How thankful am I that we followed the GPS!!! The route it gave us ended up being the way Harry said would take forever and it was really just what we were looking for in a drive. It’s hard for me to really even express in words how amazingly beautiful this drive was.

The biggest thrill was that it had snowed.

It wasn’t a big snow - just a few little patches of white on roofs and cars and on the leaves cluttering the sides of the road. As we gained elevation, however - it seemed to be a little bit more of an accumulation and around 2900 feet elevation it was about a half an inch. I know my friends in Montana and up North are laughing at a measly half an inch, but it was enough to make everything white and that was all that mattered to us!

There was a scenic overlook boasting 180 degree view and we pulled over and bundled up. Having spent most of my cognitive childhood in Montana - I put on my parka, gloves and scarf - trying to convince my children that they also needed to take proper precautions. I succeeded in their warm coats but both refused hats and gloves.

Boy did they regret that once we started hiking up to the overlook!

Graciously there was enough snow to make a decent snowball and maddie was scooping up small handfuls and eating it - despite us asking her not to eat it! We threw a few snowballs and I pegged Mike in the back and he walked the rest of the way with half a snowball stuck to his shoulder! At the top was an amazing view and a stone pavilion (covered in ice). Mike and Maddie made it up before Wyatt and I did - and Maddie promptly walked onto the stone and slipped and fell. Mike, thinking it was a good idea, pulled up up by her hood and nearly strangled her! There was much crying and screaming from both of my chilly children. We did manage a self-family portrait and Wyatt got the hang of keeping his frozen fingers in his pockets by the time we were headed back down the trail. Thankfully we had left the van running and locked it with the extra set of keys so it was toasty warm for our nearly frozen small fry.

As we continued down the road it began to look like a magical snowy fairy tale. The rain we had the night before had coated every tree, grass and solid structure with water that turned to ice and then snow. I’ve always called it a hoarfrost (I think that’s the definition of what we were seeing). It was one of the prettiest things I’ve seen in my life. Looking out across the mountains you could see the higher peaks that were solid white, giving way to greens and browns where the air was warmer. It was 28 degrees up at the highest point of our drive and warmed to a balmy 35 or 36 degrees at the bottom of the mountain. Despite the lack of mass amounts of snow - it just looked like winter.

One of the things that amazed me the most was the line of division between the meager snow and the winter wonderland of the hoarfrost. It was not gradual - but immediate. One minute it was just brown trees and snow-scattered leaves along the sides of the roads and the next everything was white!

We arrived at the Little’s house soon after their other house guests left - we had planned to arrive a little later and were surprised when the GPS said their house was only two miles away!

My family met the Little’s when we were stationed at Upper Heyford AFB in England. We all belonged to Calvary Baptist Church - a church that we basically built from the building up! I remember when it was just an empty building and a huge grand piano. It was once a dance hall/ social club. The Bible says that whenever two or more are gathered in God’s name that He is there with us and so our little church was formed. It was mostly military families and eventually a few British families joined our congregation. I remember the day my dad was baptized in a chest freezer and it overflowed when he was put under the water! (and then again I remember the day I was baptized and my feet went out from underneath me).

Gary and Carol have three sons - all of them older than me. The oldest was in high school when I was in my early elementary years. They were part of our extended family though - as many families do when separated from their blood relatives. I grew up calling them Uncle Gary and Aunt Carol and still to this day feel weird not calling them that! It’s amazing how many years went by with very little contact - we all scattered across the United States when we were done with our tours in England. Many landed in Colorado Springs, Clovis, NM - but we were stationed in Great Falls, MT - so very isolated from all the other families we’d grown so close to in England. The Tuckers, Byrd’s, Loomis’, Little’s - those are the families I remember most and thanks to Facebook I’ve been able to reconnect with many of them!

I know Mike was a little leery of going to visit this family - they were total strangers to him. On the way there he kept asking me - “Who are these people we’re going to stay with?”

His tune changed about 10 minutes after we walked in the door. I think Carol had it right when she posted on Facebook after we left - that some people just feel right when they come into your home and life. We’ve now been officially adopted as part of the family and Mike is now their honorary 4th son and they finally have a granddaughter - as ironically all of their three sons have gone on to father all boys themselves! They have been blessed with five beautiful (and rambunctious) grandsons! We had the chance to meet and hang out with Tim and Tracy - and their two sons Seth(8) and Ben (4). Wyatt had a blast playing with Ben and all four kids got on really well actually. I’ve found a new friend in Tracy - we really hit it off and are hoping that they’ll take us up on our offer for a free place to stay at the beach. Tracy hasn’t ever been to the beach so it would be our pleasure to spoil her with our white sand beaches and emerald green waters!

After a great family dinner (10 of us!) and a terrible night’s sleep (Wyatt was up a lot and the antique grandfather clock kept me up a lot - I’m a really light sleeper!) - we packed up and drove into Chattanooga to an adventure that included the Tennessee Aquarium, ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s and some shopping at the Hamilton Mall. I’m ecstatic to say that for my birthday Mike bought me a replacement battery for my laptop and I’m once again cord-free.

We returned “home” late in the evening and spent some more time visiting. Both kids crashed hard and I was able to spend some time chatting with Carol before heading to bed. Thanks to some Excedrin PM I slept all night - and so did Wyatt! I awoke to a crisp morning and many Happy Birthday’s on the day of my 31st birthday.

After a yummy breakfast of French toast and bacon we packed up, said our goodbyes with promises to visit again soon and drove back to Chattanooga for the free admission to the Discovery Children’s Museum where we played and played for about two hours. It was a really neat place - we’ve been to the one in Portland and now the one in Chattanooga and I really wish we had one nearby in Florida. I’ve heard that Panama City has something so I’m going to make a point to check it out soon.

After lunch at the Big River Brewery we packed back into the van and drove back through Cleveland so we could ramble back through the mountains.

Sadly the weather was much warmer and the snow was all but gone. There were a few leaves by the wayside with white on them, but nothing as spectacular as the drive up. It seemed to go so much quicker too! I did take a few moments to write a little bit - it’s nothing beautiful and probably pretty choppy, but if I add some pictures it might make sense. Mike kept interrupting me to tell me to stop writing and watch out the window. After nearly 8 years of marriage he still hasn’t learned how much writing means to me... Maybe more time will help.

So here are my mountain thoughts - they end abruptly as I was told to put my computer away...

“The way the sun hits the side of the mountains. The weeping walls - icicles dangling down from the rock ledges. 1700, 2200, 2900 feet high. The many, rushing creeks cascading down the mountain side. The way the mountains look from a distance - like layers of fondant icing folded to make the rounded hills and mountain tops. Driving through Chattanooga where the rocks were cut to put in the road - hundreds of layers of rock slanted sideways where if I imagine I can see the forces of nature moving the rocks and pushing the layers against each other. The feeling of being so close to God - marveling at His creation of so many wonderful things. I feel small in the mountains - humble that in the midst of so many miraculous creations He took the time to create me and how thankful I am for the life He has given to me.”

I would have written more....

One day I’m going to travel to the mountains by myself and just write until my soul is full and my thoughts are empty for a moment or two.

We arrived back in Ellijay, Ga and ran into Harry and Elaine as they were walking down the street. “There’s Harry and Elaine,” Mike called out - and sure enough they were walking down the street!

We got the cranky kids out of the car and walked around to a few shops before heading to Shane’s - a bbq chain that is popular in Georgia. We’d never been there before but I have to say it was rather tasty. Wyatt fell asleep when we pulled into the parking lot and proceeded to sleep through dinner. He was awake again by the time we got back to the cabin - in time for birthday cake provided by Harry and Elaine - complete with a “31” candle (well a 3 and a 1 together!). They were so sweet - they gave us both Ellijay t-shirts and bought cakes on both mine and Mike’s birthdays. I especially liked the cake they bought for my birthday - it was double chocolate with a buttercream frosting. (that reminds me that I had an awesome chocolate cake with sour cream frosting at Carol Little’s house and must get the recipe!).

Wednesday was cold, but not the crispy morning they said they’d had when we were on our little side trip to Chattanooga. Thankfully it was a nice day and the kids finally got the chance to play in the woods behind the cabin while Mike worked on splitting all the wood Harry had been wanting to split. At 70 he’s very active and upbeat, but I’m glad that Mike was there to split the wood for him! I know Harry appreciated it and remarked several times that Mike seemed a natural. I think all his years of splitting wood in Illinois as a teenager paid off.

I got to enjoy a rare, few hours out shopping with Elaine. I picked up a few last minute gifts at the local Wal-Mart and then we hit several antique stores and just browsed.

Our last night in Ellijay we had leftovers and boxed pizzas while enjoying a roaring fire and root beers. I stayed up late washing clothes and packing up so there wouldn’t be as much to do in the morning.

The morning came too early and after a wonderful, hot shower I re-entered the freezing reality of a cabin in the mountains in winter and promptly climbed back into bed with Wyatt!

We’ve now been in the car for almost 6 and a half hours and we’re just about home. The kids have been great - thanks to three new movies I picked up from the $5 row at Wal-mart yesterday. Wyatt even took a nap.

It’s hard to believe our adventure has come to an end.

Florida welcomed us with rain and wind - 56 degrees - and more severe weather on its way.

While many of our friends and family will celebrate Christmas in the cold and snow - we’ll be tromping through chilly puddles and muddy ground as we celebrate Jesus’ birthday and time with my family.

If I have one memory I want to hang onto from all our adventures it’s the one of feeling loved by people who have chosen to incorporate us into their families willingly. They don’t have to love us or adopt us - but they want us and love us no matter what. That’s what family is truly all about - unconditional love and we were lucky enough to experience that in two different families this Christmastime.

We count ourselves truly blessed by safe travels and happy children - loving “grandma’s” and “grandpa’s” and “aunts” and uncles” as well as two new “cousins” to add to our happy family.

Merry Christmas to you!