A Different Kind Of Christmas

This was a Christmas first.
As long as I have celebrated Christmas, I've never spent it on the move.

I am usually cooking at home, or helping out in someone else's.
~
The morning started off with a beautiful pink sky and we thought we might be in for yet more rain...
...just what we needed, right?

But on Christmas morning after picking up the older grandboys,

 we headed off to see their dad, about two hours east of us.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal and had great time celebrating Christmas.
It was nearly 80 degrees when we arrived and needless to say, it felt more like summer.
 

It was truly a blessing to for his boys to see their father in this new light.

He gifted them with iron crosses that he made for them in the shop.

I wish I would have remembered to get a photo of them.

 

 

The day ended as colorful as it had begun with this glorious sky.

It was soon time to say our goodbyes and head westward, toward home.

 

And then there was that awesome Cold Moon that won't happen again until 2034.

 The first leg of our Christmas weekend journey was complete.

~

Early on Saturday morning, we loaded into the car for a four hour plus road trip.

We were heading west this time, taking the grands to their destination Christmas surprise.
They knew we had a trunk full of gifts for Adam's family,
 but they were racking their brains as to why they would need swimming trunks :)
~
That fabulous moon was still hanging around as we made our way towards the mountains.
We were meeting up with the Tennessee Rays in Pigeon Forge...

...just about the half-way point for both of our families.
 

What would they do without their electronic devices?
Heck...what would I do we all do without them, am I right?? {{smile}}
 

And what makes a road trip more special than seeing a rainbow along the way?
~
And as planned, we made it to the Wilderness at the Smokies Resort right about lunch time.

Although they thought they had figured it out, Dacey and Dylan were pleasantly surprised,

not only to spend the weekend in Pigeon Forge, somewhere they had never been,

but to spend the weekend in Pigeon Forge with their cousins!
The difference in age is irrelevent to those kiddos.
~
Spending one day in the overly crowded indoor waterpark was quite enough,
So that evening we made our way through the heavy traffic into Gatlinburg to see the lights.

NOTE TO SELF:
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT go to Gatlinburg at Christmastime.
~
Breakfast on Sunday morning at the Pancake Pantry was a must, according to Adam.

OH. MY. GOODNESS.
I had the sweet potato pancakes with cinnamon/butter syrup and sausage.
I don't think any one of us was able to eat all of what we ordered.
~
We then drove another mile or two into the Great Smoky Mountains.
It was misting rain part of the time but still so beautiful.

I was able to get some good fence shots that I will share on another linky :)
 

Of course these photos do this place no justice.
No justice at all.

 

The roaring waters of the Little Pigeon River was nearly deafening.

 

One of the many stone tunnels under the bridges in the Smokies.

Trees or not, the mountains majesty nearly takes my breath away.

Yes, it was a different kind of Christmas.
Did I miss all of the cooking, preparing and the typical Christmas scenerios?
Yes, maybe... just a bit.
But was it a fun way to have Christmas?
Absolutely.

It's not where you are, but who you're with...
...and why we are celebrating.
~
And there was someone who missed his mommy and daddy very much.

I'm pretty sure Oscar didn't enjoy his trip to the kennel as much as we enjoyed our trip :(
That's okay, buddy...you can go the next time.
~
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.
Can you even believe it's almost 2016???
 

 

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