folley beach ~

and then came PETE-MAS ~

big pete turns 60 and little pete turns 38

the nasons traveled from maine while john, allyson and mike all came from california. we gathered in the south to celebrate , commemorate and frolic in the sun and sand.

luxury accommodations;

opening gifts on the front porch while the sun warms your back;

a long walk on the beach;

pete's infamous southern style ham biscuits, made fresh from scratch;

a in home chef to prepare a family style meal for us all;

an evening spent with those you love;

PETE-MAS is all good!

looks like we'll be hosting the 40th celebration in a few short years.

suggestions?

another fine memory goes down in roes history!

he came!!!

i love witnessing the magic of christmas through the eyes of a child;

i love pretending that i am asleep while i wait with great anticipation for the kids to wake;

i love how the coffee smells brewing on christmas morning, it always seems to smell better;

i love hearing kate come down the stairs;

i love how she asks if he came;

i love how she asks if she can scope everything out;

i love making her wait until 7am to wake her dad and brother;

i love seeing all pretty wrap before the frenzy starts;

i love how trey still just stares at the piles and doesn't quite know what to do with himself for a moment or two;

i love that the fruit in their stockings still excites them;

i love how every gift they open is "the best";

i love allowing chocolate consumption long before most people wake;

i love all the hugs and kisses pete and i receive;

i love the look in pete's eye when he seeing his children in all their glory;

i love knowing that we'll soon be gathering with family;

i love knowing that when it is all over we have it to look forward to again next year;

and i love all the amazing memories that we are left with.

christmas eve: the asheville version

the tree was lit, the house was decorated and the cookies and milk had been set out. soon saint nick will be paying the roe house a "special visit".

we came home from school to find a note beautifully adorned in ribbon and holly that had been tied to the front door. it was from Santa Claus himself. we aren't quite sure how he got it to us but we are aren't really concerned. he said he planned to make a special trip to our house this year because he knew we were going to be spending Christmas in folley beach with the roe clan. the concept of a special trip to our house only cause a minor bit of confusion. once the kids realized this meant gifts and good times they were both on board.

a day full of unexpected gifts ~

i had the privilege of planning the holiday party for kate's class which was earlier today. and FOR THE RECORD, 20 kindergartens are way out of my league! fortunately pete was in town this afternoon and was able to join us. the help was much needed.

stories were read and stories were traded. kind gestures, smiles and laughter-were all abundant. the room was full of little people full of hope and eager to please.

kate beamed as she

there is nowhere i would have rather been today.

i like that ~

know first who you are

then adorn yourself accordingly

-epictetus

my christmas came early ~

we made it -- call home and check on the kids

the view from our hotel- that is the good morning america studio


at the stage deli: pete calls beth to reminisce about seeing annie

sporting his infamous smirk, peter handed me an envelope last thursday afternoon and said "merry christmas." inside plane tickets, broadway tickets and the details pertaining to our hotel accommodations.

before i could even start with the barrage of questions that were already festering in my head pete said "lydia will be here on saturday and she is staying with the kids... we're all set!" after a deep breath -- i quickly got extremely excited.

and with that we were off. we flew to nyc through newark early sunday morning. we checked into the marriott marquis in time square, freshened up and set out to see the as much of the city as we could in less then 24 hours.

we had lunch at the stage deli (a blast from pete's past) and met up with pete's colleague jason bell. great to finally meet this man - as i've heard plenty about him.

from there we made our way to a 3:00 showing of august: osage county. gritty! that is the first word that came from my mouth when pete turned to me as the lights went out and the curtin closed. Yah - gritty he replied! very different from most of what i've seen in the past. full or emotion and an end that does surprise.

following the show we made a quick pit stop back at the hotel so i could put on my walkin shoes. we spent the next 3 hours taking in all of the delights the city has to offer this time of year. we saw the tree in Rockefeller center and witness a proposal on the skating rink. we popped into saks and checked out all of the windows. we ended our tour walking through central park and landed at tavern on the green. we enjoyed a few cocktails (they have a rockin very berry cosmo) and then a late dinner. we probably should have waddled back to the hotel but the wind had picked up considerably so we grabbed a cab and called in a night.

monday morning i lounged around and stayed in bed until nearly 9:00AM. MERRY CHRISTMAS to me!!! at 10AM i kissed pete good-bye (he stayed to work) and i made my way back to the airport and started my trek back to asheville -- back to kiddos -- back to reality! back to our home. the place i miss even if i am away for a mere 24 hours.

taking a day -- just for us to enjoy together, especially at this time of the year was amazing.

my husband - he is a gem!