Our Christmas Visit with Family

We've just arrived back in Birmingham for a couple days in between our Christmas visit with my family in North Carolina and our upcoming trip to Belgium for missions training.  We've been busy doing laundry, shopping for last minute supplies needed for the trip, and assembling our luggage, but I wanted to quickly post a few pictures from our fun vacation this past week and a half!

Finn had lots of fun getting to know my family, most of whom he hasn't seen since he was 4 months old (at Kelly's wedding in June).

 Jamming with Uncle David.

 Learning piano from his talented Aunt Kelly!

 Reading a new book with Aunt Christy on Christmas morning (also wearing a new hat!)

We went to a nature center one day, and Finn's favorite parts were seeing the otters and the petting zoo!

 

Aunt Lydia helped with bath time each night.

Finn was super excited to spend time with his Granna!

Going for a walk at the Greenway.  Finn spent the outing trying his best to houdini out of the stroller.

Derek and I left Finn with the family and went to Gatlinburg for a couple days.  Here Derek is enjoying the shopping there!

On our trip back we got to see some beautiful snowy scenery in the Smoky Mountain National Park.

 It was so so cold up there!

 The kind of cold that stings your face!

Finn wearing the hat we brought back for him.

Here we are stopping for a quick break during the long drive back to Birmingham.  Finn enjoyed crawling around the back seat with me finding spare cheerios while dad was off getting us some lunch.

The next pictures we post will be of us on an airplane and in Europe!  Pray for us that the trip goes smoothly!  (And in particular, that Finn will sleep on the plane!)