Christmas Eve 1

Another Christmas has come and gone. We had another memorable Christmas Eve. The day started out beautiful. A little road ride in the morning and back to the house so Lyn could get out for a ride. While Lyn was on her ride Paige and I did a nice nature walk in the back yard. We played with sticks, rocks, moss, tree bark, dirt, water, and leaves. She finally started looking up at the top of the trees and saying her favorite words….oh wow! On our way back to the house we ran into a few of our neighbors doing the same. We talked, and shared Merry Christmas Eve with each other and Lyn road up. Perfect timing. Back to the house to get ready for a festive evening with family.

This year Lyn’s dad, brother, and both her sisters came into town to stay overnight at our house. When you get this crew together you never know what to expect. We went to the 5:00pm church services for families with little kids. We had a great time. We drove to the Groove Park for our annual $12 cocktails. The Groove Park Inn is always in full swing on Christmas Eve. People are dancing around, hanging out by the HUGE fire place, and enjoying a few drinks to celebrate the season. We spend about an hour hanging out and Paige really enjoyed the fire place. I think with all of our fire pit activity at the house she is really starting to enjoy a good fire.

Back to the house we came! We let Paige open a present early and Lyn gave me a present….MOONSHINE! This is not a good sign. Getting moonshine as a present on Christmas Eve is very dangerous. Especially with a house full of people who like to have fun.

Barrett called me to his car where I found a ton of wood he brought from his dads house for the fire pit. I was thinking to myself….when was the last time it was warm enough to sit by a fire outside on Christmas Eve? I cannot remember a time except when we were living in Redding, CA. So of course I grabbed the wheelbarrow and starting hauling wood to the pit. Barrett had one more surprise up his sleeve. He pulled out a 96 shoot roman candle and several mortal shells. Wow…this is going to be interesting.

Everyone gathered out back on the deck to watch the show. Barrett lit all the fireworks which looked like the 4th of July. We got a few good Southern rebel yells (Ken you know what that sounds like) from the neighbors down the street and proceed to build the fire.

The fire was huge! Barrett loves building fires. After Paige went to bed we all gather by the pit and had a few swigs of moonshine. It was a perfect night for a fire. So after a few drinks we headed in to starting preparing for Paige’s visit from Santa. We had plenty of elves running around the house to put her toys together.

When Paige came out of her room on Christmas morning she had no idea what to do when she saw everything. It only took a few minutes before she start diving into the presents and ripping off the paper. It was once again a great Christmas and we enjoyed all the company. From the Bedsaul’s we hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Mom trying to take a picture with Paige befroe her ride. I don't think Paige was into taken a picture. You be the judge.

On our hike in the back yard

Hanging with some of the neighboors

Paige ready for church

Paige and Granddaddy

Paige a church

Paige saying hi to everyone

Our annual outting at the Groove Park

Aunt V and Paige talking by the fireplace at the Groove Park

Uncle Barrett and Aunt V by the fireplace

Paige giving Mommy a kiss

Christmas Eve 2

Hey...you better be giving her milk

Paige having a conversation with her aunts
Opening her first present on Christmas Eve
Paige and Sara getting some quility play time in on Christmas Eve

Father and Son hanging with the fire. Look at that fire!

Look at this bunch. We are in for a long night

Lyn and Caroline trying out Paiges wagon

Christams morning and let the madness begin

Paige checking out a present from Gandma Jan

Paige really wanted some to rind in her wagon with her. Aunt V was perfect for the job

Paige Riding Santa's Train

Paige and Mommy riding Santa's train

Paige getting ready to visit Santa
Paige showing some dance moves before we head out.
The "Cold Steel" look has nothing on Paige

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Fun Packed Weekend

Another big weekend of fun. I cannot believe how nice the weather has been. It’s been in the upper 60’s to lower 70’s for the last 6 days. This weekend is cross nationals and unfortunately I could not make the trip so I decided to run myself into the ground. Let me give you a quick recap of the weekend activities.

Friday 1:30pm – Took the afternoon off of work to spend time mountain biking with my good friend Randall. He and his wife are going to have a baby any day now. She was due on 12/17. We did a great 2.5 hour ride in the backyard. Of course I did not actually get the rest of the afternoon off like planned. After catching up on some e-mails, making a few phone calls, and putting out some fires, I got to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. A few beers on the sun deck and a good Mexican dinner helped close out the day.

Saturday 10:00am – Lyn and I got to do another ride together. Wow….two weeks in a row! We meet up with a few friends in Pisgah National Forest and did a great 3 hour mountain bike ride. The views were awesome, the trails were in great condition, and the weather was perfect. After the ride we all went back to our house and ate some good food and hung out on the deck in the sun. After about an hour I got a call from a neighbor about doing a night ride. Night ride….ok.

Saturday 6:45pm – Scott and I took off for the back yard. It was a perfect night! The sky was clear, the stars where bright, and it was still in the 50’s which was amazing. We ended up riding for about 2.5 hours. When I got back to the house I cracked open a cold one to celebrate our great day of riding.

Sunday 10:00am – Another beautiful day on the rise. Lets see….I have done a lot of mountain biking over the last few days I guess it’s time for a road ride. I decided it was a great day for the Asheville Roubaix route. The ride is 35 to 40 miles and 60% pavement and about 40% dirt road. It’s was a fantastic ride! No flats and a lot of mountain bikes giving that look “what the hell is that guy doing out her on a road bike”. A few hours later I’m back at home hanging out on the deck in the sun with Paige and Lyn.

Sunday 1:45pm – We actually went out and braved the crazy Christmas shoppers to get a few little things. We got everything we needed in recorded time and back to the house we went.

Sunday 4:45pm – I still had a lot of scrape wood for our fire pit so I decided tonight was a great night to do some burning. With the help of Lyn’s brother we made a huge fire. Paige loves it when we build a fire. We grilled up hotdogs, pork chops, and pasta. It was a great end to a beautiful weekend.

Riding in the back yard!

When your wife is about ready to pop you must keep in touch at all times.

Right after I took this photo of this sticker a gun shot went off in the back ground. Keep on riding man!!!!

Here's something I have not seen in a long time. Lyn's and my bike loaded in the back of my truck heading out to Pisgah National Forest. This opportunity only comes around a few times a year for us.

Continuation of Fun Pack Weekend

Showing the stairs who's the boss!

Since I'm always taking the photos I had to take one of myself.

Another beautiful day riding in Pisgah

Scott and myself out on our night ride.


Great dirt road ride up and down off of the parkway. I love riding dirt on my road bike!



Hanging out by the fire in the back yard. Fire pits rock!!!

What A Great Saturday

What a busy weekend! Saturday morning we finally decided we did not have enough time to go tree hunting this year so we went the easy route….the Farmers Market! It’s about 5 miles down the road and all the tree farms have an area to buy their trees. Actually we got a tree cheaper and nicer….score! I got the tree home, pulled out the chain saw (and in the words of Tim Allen….har,har,har,har), trimmed it up, put it in the stand, and got it in the house in recorded time. Paige went down for her morning nap to prepare her for the next big event on the schedule….Major Bear!

You ask…what the heck is Major Bear? I asked the same question and the answer is a bear (a person in a costume, not real) that comes to the Groove Park for a visit. So Lyn, Paige, myself, Lyn’s Dad, brother, sister, and sisters boyfriend all partook in the event. Paige went absolutely crazy! Dancing with the bear, talking to Santa, and showing off. It was a lot of fun.

Lyn’s Dad took Paige back to his house for the night so Lyn and I could have a night out on the town. But before we hit the town we went for a much needed ride together. We rarely get to ride with each other. There was a little snow on the trials but that didn’t stop us crazy and wild kids. The ride was great!

Alright… now it’s off to town we go. Sushi, saki, beers, chocolate, and finally ice skating…what! Did I just hear ice skating….are you serious? Lyn looks at me dead in the eyes and says “yes…and your going to do it”. I tried pleading for an out but there was no way that was an option. I strapped on my ice skates and took off like Mark Hammel I mean Hamilton. Got into my full speed back wards skate mode getting ready to perform the lay, tuck, tuck…oops wrong movie. I meant my back flip and Lyn yells…watch out for that kid? I woke from my daze and grabbed my skates for real and started lacing them up. Off to the ice we went. I think I made it around about 5 times and it was all over for me.

On our way home there is a Toy’s R Us so we decided to stop in and have a look. We are helping several children this year that are in need. So we bought a bike, go figure. I also ended up buying Paige a motorized go kart for Christmas. It is the coolest thing! I cannot wait for her to take her first drive. I’ll make sure to take plenty of pictures.

Sunday was race day for me and continuing education for Lyn. It was a great weekend.