South Carolina in December...

 After some early December holiday events, including Korinne's orchestra concert, which we were so happy to attend, we left the next day, December 7th for South Carolina.

 It's been awhile since our last visit and we took the opportunity to spend a week with Libbie and the kids in the middle of Jeff's month-long trip to China to teach students at a university in Bejing.

 We were hoping that would make the long separation, a bit easier on their family.  It was so fun to see them.  Xander loves his grandpa and they connected again right away.
Sadie has become a master at balloon creations.  We all got to wear marvelous hats.

We arrived about midnight on the 7th but Libbie was a trouper to come and pick us up in spite of her early morning workout schedule.  Thanks, Lib.
Thursday night, the 8th, was the first of Benson's holiday performances.  We got to hear him play his trumpet in two concerts and a parade.  He does a very nice job playing the trumpet.  We loved it!

 Benson's really good friend, pictured below,  also plays in the band. Instead of stopping for ice cream after the concert, we maximized our dollars and purchased ice cream at the store so the kids could enjoy it several times.  Enjoy it, they did.

 We loved checking out Jeff and Libbie's new home which is currently under construction.  You know Steve loves the construction process.  We were able to attend the 4-way inspection and walkthrough with the supervisor and meet their realtor.  It went well.  We were glad that we could assist with that on Jeff's behalf.  We are excited for their home which should be complete by February sometime.

 A little lunch at a Japanese quick stop restaurant was tasty.  It was like going to a Japanese Benihana-type grill and watching the chef cook your dinner to order only it was much cheaper.  The chefs grill it to order behind the counter and it is served in 10-15 minutes.  We enjoyed it.

Friday night, we were able to attend The Pirates Voyage Christmas Show at the Dolly Parton Theatre.

It is pretty incredible how they manage to combine pirates,  singing, dancing, acrobatic and diving tricks, special effects lighting and a live nativity all into one Christmas family oriented show.

Our seats ended up being some of the best to see the nativity and especially the camels which they brought in and out through the door right next to us.

The next morning the Conway Christmas Parade started at 10 a.m.  Libbie did a great job of finding a good parking spot and getting us situated in a good spot for the parade.  We dressed as warmly as we could for a 2-hour parade with temperatures in the 20's-30's.  Benson is in the middle of the back row playing his heart out on the trumpet.

Santa hats and mittens from the Dollar Store were essential and Libbie's hand warmer packets helped a lot too.

After the parade, Steve and I took Xander and Benson to the neighborhood party at the clubhouse.  They had a pizza lunch and got to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  Liberty was picking up Benson from the high school during the event.  I guess they stopped by after so Benson could run in and grab some pizza.  We had left by the time they got there.

 In the afternoon, Libbie and I took Xander and Sadie to the park where Libbie met her friend Char.  They went on a serious walk while I watched their three kids at the playground.  It was chilly but Sadie ran around so much she began sweating.

 I was glad to get back home to warm up before we left for the Night of a Thousand Candles at Brookgreen gardens.  The lights and candles were gorgeous but it was cold and the kids got tired so we didn't linger at all.  We really did quite a bit of walking that day.

 Sunday, we cooked and prepared for Church in the morning.  By the time we finished dinner after church, it was time for evening devotional and get ready for bed.  It was cold and rainy so we didn't even venture out for a family walk.
Monday, we met with Liberty's building supervisor and realtor for a 4-way walk through inspection of their home.  It was very informative, and we were able to convince the builder to make a few minor changes that will make organization and storage a little better.  We think it will be a nice home, and we were happy that we could fill in for Jeff.

 Xander shows us the room he and Benson will share.

 The house will have a front porch which is a feature I would love.

Xander was very excited to help me with Christmas wrapping one day.  Libbie had a Dr. appointment so we took advantage of the time to wrap somethings.  He was all about using the black duct tape and ended up wrapping several other items around the house.  He was always ready for one more package.

 We finally had a little break in the weather and headed for a quick walk on the beach.  Because the Donut Man shop is nearby, we had to make a stop there too.  The kids were excited to get one for their family home evening treat.
The beach was beautiful but missing much of the natural sand breaks and berms.  They were literally washed away in the recent hurricane.

 Liberty is jumping for joy to be on the beach.  She and Xander are "beach people."

 I tried the water.  It was COLD!

 Somewhere in our adventures Steve was stickered with a "Support Old Baldy" sticker.  We do.

 One night we dropped Benson off at tennis practice and went shopping for new shoes for the kids.  It was fun to see them so excited about getting their new shoes.  Xander's light up as he walks.  He thinks that is very cool.  His old shoes were so worn and small, they went directly into the garbage can.

On Tuesday night, Libbie taught her fitness camp group, Steve went with Benson to the high school band concert and I stayed home with Sadie and Xander.  It was a win/win as the little kids were tired of long concerts and Libbie needed to teach her group.

Wednesday morning, we took Xander with us on a couple of errands.  We ended up stopping by Bojangles for a couple of "boberry biscuits".  Xander talked us into some chicken as well and he ate most of it.  He was very happy to brag to the other kids that Grandpa and Grandma had taken him to Bojangles for chicken.

 It seemed like the week just flew by and before you know it, we were back at the airport for our trip  home.  We love this family and wish every time we didn't live so far apart.  However, they love their beach and we love our mountains so we will make the most of our visits when we can.

 I finally found these two cute Xander pictures that Steve had taken so I had to add them in.