Well, we arrived back last night late after a full day of driving and a wonderful week in the mountains & on the beach. I think that even with all of the anticipation surrounding our vacation each year I am always blown away by how much I love the time away/together!

We started by spending a couple of days at Ridgecrest in North Carolina. It is a conference center nestled in the mountains that LifeWay owns. We get a minister's discount (I think the LifeWay employee discount is the same) which means we get to stay there for $34 a night! Incredible! We hiked around the hills, took some pictures of a lake, played miniature golf, and then hung out playing games/watching football as we attempted to keep up with the OU vs North Texas game/score on my laptop.

Sunday through Wednesday we spent in Myrtle Beach, SC. It is amazing being at the ocean/on the beach! Again, this was such an amazing experience - even with knowing full well what to expect (we basically did the same vacation a year ago). We spend a couple of days literally on the beach (all day long) - swimming, collecting sea shells - even seeing a few sharks swimming near a fishing pier!

Yesterday was the long drive home. We were glad to sleep in our own bed - although we didn't get much sleep. Andrea flew out this morning to go to a friend's wedding in Kansas (congrats, Amber!). So - it's dinner & a movie & then everyone in bed early tonight after a day of trying to catch up on voicemails, emails, odds & ends for work. Oh, and catching some TiVo-ed OU action from last weekend after the kids are in bed :-)