Saville Clan Family Photos

Here is the beautiful couple that started it all:

5 kids later, 5 in-laws later, and 7 grandkids later...

The grandkids (minus Baby Michael, who can't walk!)...

The playful crew...

The couples...

Nana & Papa with grandkids!

And us...

The Georgia Aquarium, Roswell Ghost Tours, etc...

A few days after Christmas, most of the visiting family members bit the bullet, and paid big bucks to go see the Georgia Aquarium. It cost between $19-$27 for kids/adults to attend...HOLY COW!! We managed to scrounge up some discounts online, which made us feel better about the additional $10 parking fee they slap on you downtown. But what do you do?

The Aquarium was PACKED (waaaay too overcrowded), but it was fun, nonetheless.

Here are the 3 Sisters:

The kids were awe-inspired by the moving walkway in the aquarium tunnel:

Maiya and her cousin, Tyler, had hand-wars. He would see how far over he could put his hand on the glass in front of Maiya, and she would decidedly push his hand back.

Ella with cousins, looking for all of the "Dori's" they could see (think "Finding Nemo"...)

The awesome jelly fish...

On another day, Lara took us to Roswell, and gave us her own version of the "Roswell Ghost Tours" that she has heard many times. The stories are quite interesting, and made me want to learn more. However, I figure it is best for me to stay away from stories such as those...I have enough nightmares as it is...

Here we stand near the old (destroyed) mill where they used to make Confederate "Roswell Gray"...

Ella and her cousin, Hunter, sit in front of the mechanics of the operation...

Another family outing had us load up in golf carts, and take the many winding trails of Peachtree City to lunch at "Cafe Pig," apparently the best BBQ place around. The 5-minute car ride was instead a cold 30-minute cart ride...but it was great! Cafe Pig left a lot to be desired for a vegan in need of a hot meal...but that was to be expected from a place that specializes in BBQ!

On New Year's Eve, we watched the most recent Harry Potter movie, and luckily managed to stop the movie and switch it the NY ball Drop with only 15 seconds left on the New Year countdown! That was close! What happens if you don't count down to the New Year? Does the New Year not come?

We also celebrated Jared & Shayne's birthdays! Their cake was a manly pastel pink/yellow/blue.

Haiti

It's times like these when I wish I didn't have kids or responsibilities...just so Jared and I could be on the first flight to a place like Haiti to lend a hand. But, alas, life has its responsibilties, and so life continues as it always does. I dream that perhaps in 15 years, when our then-youngest children will be old enough to be helpful, that we can be a blessing to someone else, somewhere in the world.

Meanwhile, a young couple who are from my home town in Kansas (I was good friends with the girls' older sister growing up) happened to be in Haiti when the earthquake struck. It was fascinating for me to read the account on their blog about their arrival in Haiti, their travels from day-to-day, and their records of Trip Day #8 when the earthquake struck, and their life experience was forever changed. Thanks to the generosity of some other stranded foreigners (who let them hop on their $7200 privately chartered helicopter), they were able to catch a flight out of the there, after several days spent "roughing it" with other stranded visitors. If you want an inside look at the before-and-after, check out their blog! I personally enjoyed going to Day #1, and reading forward in time!

http://sheisahappypeople.blogspot.com

Christmas with family!

After last year's humble Christmas in Mexico, our kids were bombarded with American Consumerism (aka...Grandparent love and generosity) this year! I have to admit that I am quite proud of our $2 Mexican Christmas in 2008, but this year, when the grandparents wanted to spoil our kids with presents that we would never be able to get them...who am I to say no?! They made out like bandits (and they better appreciate it--this is not the norm in our house)!

My parents arrived in Peachtree City only 3 days after we were able to make the week-long trek here from their home (they flew here--those cheaters)! On Christmas morning (spent just with my parents, as Lara & Greg left us their home to attend Greg's family's Christmas in Tennessee), the girls opened goodies like Candyland and Chutes & Ladders (our children's 1st board games!), a new Dora movie, tights galore, Goldfish Crackers (an easy hit with my children--you should have seen their enthusiasm over a palm-size box of Goldfish!), a playdough set, etc. Next, they opened their Grandma & Grandpa's present...a Dora playhouse! I hope you can see the shock and excitement on Ella's face in the middle bottom picture (let's just say it was a HIT)! It is officially the largest toy our children have ever been allowed to have. If we were still going to Alaska every summer, we probably would have had to reconsider. They play well with it, and it came with a ton of accessories (don't you love ebay?). We will be leaving behind some other boring hand-me-down toys to make room for this winner!

And on Christmas night, the rest of the Saville crew began to arrive. The final party filled the house the day after Christmas, for a 2nd Christmas Morning. This amounted to 12 adults, and 7 children running around...it was chaos...but it was great! Ella scored with her white elephant gift bag from the dollar store. It included this cute chef apron and cap, as well as some glitter glue/paint, and some other goodies.

The next morning, Ella came into the office (where we were sleeping on an air mattress...due to the large amount of guests!), and whispered to me "Can I use the glitter paint?" I said "Are you going to use it by yourself, or with Hunter & Cole (her cousins)?" She thought for a second, and replied, "What do you WANT me to say?" BRILLIANT ANSWER. I quickly replied that I preferred that she didn't involve her highly active boy cousins, and do the craft by herself. And she did!

Maiya has begun to act like her older sister, dressing up in crazy outfits. This ensemble was particularly humorous--she has on an INFANT sweater/dress that I wore when I was a baby.

And just her sister, a few hours later, the ensemble changes...perhaps something like this?

And DARE I forget Maiya's new potty chair from Grandma & Grandpa that she got for her birthday? Maiya was SOOO excited to use it! Now, if only we could keep up that excitement, and get her to always use it? Ella trained herself by age 2...but Maiya is going to need more motivation/help than that!

If she fails? Maybe we'll just give her to the postman?

And this is where I admit that is the accounting time of year, again. I REALLY don't like it. So, I am avoiding the yucky work load by blogging (while Jared takes a nap, and the kids rummage through my purse behind me...pulling all the cards out of our wallets...and generally just making a mess), and by researching "other" things that simply "have" to get done...(right?).

Getting out of Dodge

We spent almost 2 months at my parent's new house in Utah this Fall. It was great! We were gone for 2 full weeks of that time, in Hawaii (thanks to my angel sister, Lea, who took our 2 girls in addition to her 3 active boys! And also, my parents watched the girls on the weekends), and when we were in town, we were generally glued to our computers, trying to get our Polish Pottery and Wood Watches website in working condition.

Remember how our Polish Pottery supplier went out of business with only 1/2 a day's notice this summer? Well, we got so many lovely emails from past customers, and we decided it was silly to not continue to look for a new pottery supplier. So...we debated...and finally settled on an incredibly diverse new collection of Polish Pottery for our website. Our Wooden Watch section has also tripled in size, and will continue to grow until I add the full collection of about 300 wooden watches.

Anyways...other than being stuck on our computers, and making a quick trips to to SLC, then Park City, and even St. George to find new accounts for the Wooden Watches...two months flew by fast! We didn't get a chance to see any friends when we were in Utah, which is somewhat astonishing to me (considering we had 1 1/2 months)...but I guess that is the life of a self-employed business owner. You just keep working...and working...and working...

The girls loved being with their Nana & Papa!

They also got to see their new cousin, Michael (my little brother's new arrival)! He is so cute, and I am always shocked at how little babies are, when they are born!

We re-packed our van/trailer, yet again (we're really really really experienced with packing and re-packing), and managed to empty out 17 boxes from our van/trailer. We left behind items that we didn't need for our short stay in Atlanta this winter...and we'll return to my parent's house in the Spring to be reunited with them. The girls insisted on helping, and Jared is such a good sport to let the girls think that they are actually helpful (ha)!

And just when we were about to leave in early December...this snow storm hit...

Needless to say, we did not leave. We waited until the snow settled a bit, and the roads on I-70 (crossing through Colorado and Kansas) cleared up. Then...we quickly crossed country in between 2 major snow storms...managing to miss them both! Whew!

In Colorado, we stayed with a family friend, Vanessa! Well, in many ways, we just consider her part of our family. Her family is so adorable, and she has done some beautiful work remodeling their cute house in Castle Rock. We enjoyed visiting with them, but wish we could have visited much longer!

We continued on to Kansas, to my home town of Topeka! There, we stayed with my old BFF from my high school days, Annie, and her wonderful hubby, Brett. Annie has red hair, and her and Ella looked like a great pair!

Thanks to the $4 and under section at Toys R Us (with a $4 off birthday card), Maiya got a few simple gifts for her 2nd birthday!

We went to the West Ridge Mall to get some walking in (KS was snow-covered!), and visited with another great friend (formerly known as Charlotte Carter) while there. Of course, half of our "walking" time was spent watching our kids play on the electronic toys that we never put coins into.

Next, we were off to Nashville, to see my brother Ben, and his wife, Jenny. They live in Franklin, which is a beautiful community.

Jenny was sweet, and made a cake for Maiya's birthday!

Ben & Jenny have a ridiculously cute boy named Tyler. Tyler is scrumptious...and you just want to eat his cheeks!

Of course, they found a hill to roll down...
They also took us to the Grand Old Opry Hotel, which I haven't been to since I stayed there when I was 11 years old. My sister was "Miss Kansas National Teenager" back in her beauty-queen days, and we accompanied her to the National Competition! It was fun to see it 16 years later, and compare it to my childhood memory. And of course, we had to take a bad photo in front of the giant Christmas tree (bad, because I had the photo setting set incorrectly)!

LAST, but not least, we finally drove to Atlanta, where we will be staying until April. My sister and her husband, Greg, live in Peachtree City, which is about 30 minutes south of Atlanta. It is a "golf cart" community, where residents actually drive golf carts to the grocery store (they get front row parking spots!), and down special paths connecting the communities, etc. It's a nice place, and we're happy to spend time here with them! Hopefully, they'll be able to stand us taking up their space! So far, they claim to not mind, because we're using all their un-used rooms in their beautiful, 4 bedroom home!

Merry Christmas!!

You may have to click on the card to see the details...

Still alive!

Well, sort of.

Sorry for the long stretch of time. I guess that's why I began blogging when I was still in Hawaii...because I assumed that I would not get around to blogging about the trip very quickly AFTERWARDS. So, our stay in Hawaii was 14 days long. 7 nights of that were spent in a tent, 2 nights in the car, and 5 nights in cheaps hotels/hostels.

I would say it was definitely more of a work trip than a pleasure trip. We made it to the beach once, but did manage to do some sight-seeing. To see all of the potential shopping areas on each island, we literally circle the perimeter of each island. We drove a LOT, and I was sick a LOT. It didn't help that the is the first time I've ever had "Morning Sickness" in droves...oh wait...did I just write that? Yup...due July 5th-ish.

So, we arrived on the Big Island for the last 5 or so days of our trip. We visited every major shopping area we could (the not-so-fun-part-of-the-trip-to-blog-about), and also managed to see where the recent lava flows are. We were driving on recently paved roads over stretches of dried volcanic rock, such as this.

This lava flow is fairly recent, and covered whole communities. So what do they do? Rebuild on top...

And please note the steam from the STILL ACTIVE lava flow viewable from the house...

We drove up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for a total of 30 minutes, or however fast we could make it through. They had notices for high sulferic gas levels, and encouraged visitors to not stay long if they felt unwell. Jared is trying not to get burned from the steam coming out of this hole...

And I am simply trying to BREATHE. Steam was coming out EVERYWHERE you looked. It reminded me of Yellowstone.

Volcanic tubes can be found under the dense rain forest-type canopy...really amazing!

We ventured to the Southern tip of the Big Island, and saw some turtles laying around...

And despite what the GPS says...we didn't go boating or swimming.

The Southernmost Restaurant in ALL of the US.

And skipping to somewhere else...

Random Hawaiian-style graffiti (white rocks placed on dried lava rock)

Beautiful Temple on the Big Island

I've seen speed BUMPS, but never a speed...

Went to a restaurant that had this plastic bag of pennies nailed to the wall. I asked why, and they said it had to do with giving the business prosperity, and keeping the flies away (not in a literal sense...but in a "blessing" type of sense)

This is how I felt almost the whole trip...YUCK.

We also visited another area, south of Kona. A large portion of the Western Shore looked just like this...dried lava flows, with housing developments going up right on top of them!

We stopped in and saw Jim & Teri Richards (remember Jim? He's Soapy Smith from the Days of '98 Show across the street from us in Skagway)! He bought this property 20 some years ago (2 lots for $7,000...that's the kind of price you can get for building on VOLCANIC ROCK!), and has built this house from scratch. We posed for the camera (with the trash...and yes, that was strangely intentional...but that's Jim)...

Some random National Park we visited...

Very pretty & educational. But don't ask me to remember anything...or the name of the park, etc...

And although I'd love to keep a better record of the trip, for my own personal reasons...this will have to suffice. I made a photo album on my Facebook account that has some more scenic photos...so you can check them out there.

Since returning from Hawaii, we built an entirely new website, added entirely new product, visited Southern Utah to find new Wood Watch accounts, and then drove cross-country through Colorado, Kansas, Tennessee (and many in-between), and we've finally landed in the Atlanta, Georgia area for the winter. We are so thankful to not be living out of a suitcase (after 2 1/2 months of that)!