'tis the season

Randy and Mary Jane came to visit for the weekend, their first time back since helping us move into our house. We had a fun weekend that didn't involve any Highland events, a stark contrast from the previous weekend.

We had enough time Sabbath morning to take a quick hike out to the pond that's been featured several times on this blog over the years. On the way out, Randy and I tested out the frozen puddle dominating our softball infield. The ice wasn't quite thick enough to totally hold us, but you could still run and slide pretty well.

A HUGE fallen tree across the path had these ice stalactites and stalagmites hanging from the uprooted base. I thought they were rather interesting. I wonder if they were part sap?





The frost was thick on everything and made the plants sparkle in the morning sunlight.


We went to the Madison Campus church to meet the Hunts and enjoyed their combined choir (Madison Academy, their church, and some other non-SDA church) performing Handel's Messiah. I had fun wandering around a new church to take pictures. The challenge has kinda worn off at our church, although I did climb into the baptistry (way up high in the front of our church) during the service a few weeks ago to take pictures!

My second cousin, once removed (!) goes to the Campus church and she was singing in the choir. Can you find her? I had fun talking to Iris after church. I don't think we've ever gotten together outside of the yearly Rilea Reunion in Jax Beach every year.

Chilling on the Hunts' comfy couch. We had a yummy lunch and a nice time talking. I liked watching and taking pictures of the birds in their back yard.

After lunch, we took advantage of the short amount of daylight left to walk the loop around Moss-Wright Park. It's a really nice park with a huge sports area - soccer, baseball, softball, and basketball. We've taken the Highland kids there before.

The obligatory self-portrait. We wouldn't want you to forget what we look like! This was supposed to have flash, but by the time the flash went off, I was making angry faces at my camera. So this is the best I can give you, expression-wise.

Connie creamed us all at Settlers of Catan after sundown. I'll have to upload a video, because the trading was downright hilarious! Ryan and I have been wanting to play that recently, but it's way more fun with more than just two people.

We went outside to see the huge nativity (which looks like a nativity, so I'm sure you can imagine it) and the outdoor lights. It was bright enough for pictures without flash! You could also go on horse-drawn carriage rides . . . through the parking lot? I'm not sure where they went.

The trees are amazing. They're huge and look like every twig is covered with lights. Giant light trees! There's also a huge pyramid/pole-style light tree thing. That paints a clear picture, doesn't it?

~

After coming back inside, we made the 8:30p water show early enough to get a good vantage point for pictures, but not great for the music and narration. Oh well, what you wanted were pictures, right? The exposure was long enough (0.8 sec.) to show the lights changing in the picture on the right.

In front of the gazebo and fountain in the Garden Conservatory. It's the smallest of the three "gardens" and has an upper and lower walkway. I think it's the prettiest, but probably least dramatic of the three areas.





This is the Cascades area of the hotel, adjacent to the main lobby where guests check in. Disappointingly, they have the little jets of water that shoot from rock to rock turned off. That's my favorite part of that area.

After a late night getting back, Sunday was a pretty lazy day for me. Randy and Ryan worked on Ryan's thermostat on the Grand Prix while Mary Jane and I watched a Hallmark movie. We'll see them again this weekend when we go to Collegedale to see John Locke before he heads back to S. Korea.