It seems that our annual trip to Pennsylvania will now always involve a snow storm or at least the threat of a snowstorm. Last year we were stranded for 2 days in a hotel after being snowbound on our way to PA.
Jon left for Chicago December 14th and was due to fly back to Raleigh on Saturday night. We were going to leave for PA first thing in the morning the following day. Saturday morning I awoke to an iffy forecast. They were calling for possible winter weather that night. They weren't sure about the track of the snow and Raleigh was supposed to get more snow then we were. I instantly had flashbacks of last year and had visions of being stuck on the highway. After making several calls back and forth to Jon with forecast updates, we decided the only way to be sure to avoid being stuck in snow was to leave Saturday instead of Sunday. This meant that I had to quickly pack, clean up the house, and drive to PA with the kids on my own. Luckily my mom and Mark had the kids since they had spent the night the night before. I was able to concentrate on getting us ready to go without worrying about the kids.
Jon switched his flight from Raleigh to Pittsburgh. His parents would pick him up from the airport. I left home, picked up the kids and was on the road to PA by noon. I had a mission, drive as fast as was legal and safe and get us to Grammy and Grandpa's as soon as possible. The kids were great and they had 3 new Netflix Christmas movies to help keep them entertained. I was amazed that we only had to stop for potty breaks twice in the 8 hour trip! We made it in record time!
We had a great visit with Jon's family. Here are quite a few pictures from our trip.
The view of the mountain from their front porch.
We can always count on plenty of snow at Grammy and Grandpa's.
Charlotte LOVES the snow and only wants to come in once she's frozen.
Evan flits from one thing to the next for about 20 minutes and then he's ready to come in. This day's snow fun was cut short for Evan after he fell face first on the driveway when he was chasing Jon. Evan had quite a fat lip. I think it's becoming a habit for my kids to fall and hurt their mouths each holiday.
Look at the beautiful snowflakes that fell on my coat! If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the flakes better.
We got to visit with our friends, Nate and Haylee and their cute kiddos. It's great that our kids are so close in age.
We decorated gingerbread men and sugar cookies.
Jon's "The Headache". The gingerbread men were glued together at the head.
Jon loves sledding at night. Crazy idea, if you ask me. Good thing their sledding hill doesn't have trees. 
We got to visit with Jon's aunt while we were there. Jon and Charlotte played the piano that was bought for his grandmother in 1910. It needs tuning but it's beautiful. 
Aunt Irene and Aunt Betty with the kids.
On our last morning in PA, everyone was there for presents and a Christmas meal.
Uncle Dave crocheted this amazing tea set for Charlotte. I can't imagine how many hours of work went into this. She loves her tea set!Then it was time to go home.
The next morning, Christmas Eve, we saw our first male Red Bellied Woodpecker on the suet feeder! We have a female that visits too! We sure are loving our bird feeders.
And how do you know that you've been to PA? Your car is more gray then red! After a fun trip through the car wash, it was back to it's regular color. Evan was both terrified and thrilled by the car wash.We had a great trip and had a great time visiting family and friends!
