christmas in carolina

we spent christmas with my parents in north carolina this year. the drive there was a bit more uncomfortable than usual (josh had gone snowboarding two days before, & i'm not used to pregnant roadtrips! we stopped every two hours so i could walk laps around gas stations & rest areas). but once we arrived... we were really able to rest. mom & dad's home is so peaceful, & they took such good care of us! waxhaw is about 40 miles from charlotte, & my folks' homestead is on a wooded 7 acres + a pond. so we stayed around the house mostly, except for a trip to the raptor center, christmas eve at calvary church, & a traditional shopping trip with mom. it was a small & lovely christmas this year.

we loved visiting the raptor center, something dad was very excited to take us to...

: apparently, my ectomorphic husband has the wingspan of a bald eagle :

the raptor center rescues & rehabilitates birds of prey. it was a much more positive place than a zoo, where animals would be happiest in the wild (i love visiting zoos, but they always make me a little sad, too). these birds would not be able to fend for themselves in the wild, as many of them had been shot & had never regained full mobility, or had been hit by cars, leaving permanently damaged wings. our favorite birds were a screech owl named andi, a part-albino hawk named honeysuckle, and a peregrine falcon named aragorn. thanks, dad, for taking us to see the birds!

: we also played LOTS of mexican train, our new favorite game :

: here's my mom :

: and dad, showing us his current work project :

(former jungle pilot, he is now working as a writer & photographer for wycliffe, & scanning in thousands of his own slides for the wycliffe archives. he's delighted to be working from home these days, in a little writer's nook above the garage)