Family, Places

Christmas Travels Part II- Georgia

 

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Dahlonega is a beautiful little town nestled in the North Georgia Mountains and home of one of the first major Gold Rushes! We have made a little tradition of doing a family photo shoot in the square. The Christmas decorations make the tiny town that much more magical and we love walking around to all the shops.

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This year my step-sister Caitlyn was able to come do our family pictures and we absolutely LOVE them! Thank you so much caitcarrphotography.com ! She shoots locally in North Georgia, all over the US, and internationally as well. Here are some of my favorites from our Christmas session.

 

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At the end of our photo shoot we enjoyed the chocolate we picked out and Lochlan got to try her first little morsal! I think she liked it!

 

We tried a new Italian restaurant called Grape Vine’s  for lunch and it was super delicious.  Logan and I might even try to sneak away for a date night next time we’re up there.

We only spent two days in Dawsonville this year, but managed to squeeze in time with both our families. It’s so weird to me having all of our family in the same town. Growing up, my grandparents lived pretty far away from us, and in entirely different sides of Virginia. So we would go visit each set separately for a week over the summer, or a holiday. It was so nice to get that cherished time with them. And it was always super relaxing and filled with fun events. Of course I’m remembering this from a child’s perspective, and it probably wasn’t so stress free for my parents. It’s nice to have everyone together so close, but when we go back to Georgia I feel like every single tiny second has to be planned out to make sure we can fit everything in. I must admit, I’ve become quite good at it over the past couple years. I’m so thankful to have a great family to spend the holidays with, but orchestrating the trip does a number on my stress level, that’s for sure! Haha

It’s also really awesome that Miller Grace and Lochlan have so many cousins the same age as them. As in, literally born in the same year! Somehow Logan and his brothers all managed to have a baby in 2015 and then again in 2017! I guess we’ll have to wait and see what 2019 looks like?? Haha The kids have such a blast playing and I love that they get to make memories together!

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So exhausted after playing with her cousins

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One of the neatest gifts Miller Grace was given was my late Grandfather’s medical equipment.

Miller Grace tells us time and again that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. My Mom found a little shop in Dahlonega and had a bag embroidered with Dr. Miller Grace, and filled it with my Grandpa’s stethoscope, octoscope, reflex hammer, band-aids, wraps,  and splints. She even got a white doctor’s coat to match!

 

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We decided it’d be best to leave the bag and all its belongings at MooMoo’s house so that MG doesn’t end up performing surgery on her sister. And it will make playing with it that much more special event when she visits.

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It was a great couple days with our family celebrating Christmas. Although it can be so crazy, it’s also filled with a ton of love, laughs and great times!

 

Family, Places

Christmas Travels Part I- Rock City

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Daddy is SO lucky to be surrounded by so many girls!

Daddy moved to Signal Mountain a little over a year ago and let me tell you, it’s a neat little place. Just slightly north of Chattanooga, it boasts the benefits of the city below, the views of the Tennessee River, and the quaintness that comes along with being in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

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Lochlan playing with the butterflies last July.

BTW if you’ve never been to Chattanooga I would DEFINITELY recommend making a trip!

Last Christmas we stayed a couple days and got season tickets to Rock City and The Tennessee Aquarium, which FYI, is a tax deduction, so save those receipts! We’ve gone to the aquarium a few times and absolutely love it, especially the beautiful butterfly exhibit.

But this Christmas we only had 24 hours and decided we had to go see the lights at Rock City! It was gorgeous! From the top of the mountain you can see into 7 states and the view is breathtaking! Especially if you stand a little too close to the edge, but that’s for a different reason haha.

 

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Lochlan loved the lights and Miller Grace loved everything! We had the best time dancing through the different lands of lights, eating cotton candy the size of our head, and exploring deep in the caves to see all the gnomes!

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Miller Grace was SO excited to decorate her very own Gingerbread man. I gave her the money and she went and purchased it all on her own. She took it to the table and picked her favorite color and within seconds broke it in half! Talk about devastated!

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The cookie lady was so sweet and replaced MG’s cookie right away. I helped her hold the icing for the next one!

 

 

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Perfect enough to eat!

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One of the things I’m looking forward to most about moving is being able to visit Daddy and Candice more often and enjoying the different events at Rock City through out the year.

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Daddy and Miller Grace during our visit last year.

*Side note- This year we went on Thursday, December 21st and it was PACKED! Last year we went December 28th and it was much less crowded.*