Kyle & Julia came to spend the holidays with us - they arrived on Sunday afternoon and left on Christmas Day. They were off the next day to visit Julia's parents in Chicago. We had a great time and were so happy that they could come up and spend time with us!
On Monday, we went and visited the lot to show them the progress on the carriage house foundation. We had had a couple days of warm, rainy weather so our snow pack was definitely much smaller!
We just had a relaxing visit - Jim & Kyle spent the day together on Monday going to the barn and loading up the extra pipe in the car for an eventual trip back to Ohio. Meanwhile, Julia and I headed to the Lake George Factory Outlets for a little exploration of that area. On Tuesday, we spent time exploring downtown Saratoga Springs a little - had lunch at Druthers, a fun brew pub tucked in between some buildings on Broadway, and just wandered through some of the unique stores. We ate way too much, watched an interesting combination of lots of Christmas movies and Duck Dynasty, and went to Midnight Mass (well, it's 9:30 here!).
Since we had no room for a Christmas tree in the apartment, we had to do some improvising!
Last year, we read online about a unique Saratoga Springs tradition - the Peppermint Pig. We ordered one and did it after dinner last year. We felt it helped contribute to our very crazy but exciting and wonderful 2013 so we had to continue the tradition.
The tradition of the Peppermint Pig goes back to the early 1880s and they are still only made here in Saratoga County. The head of the household starts by sharing a tale of the past year's good fortune and then tapping the pig with a little hammer. Then it continues around, with each person sharing their thoughts on the past year and giving the pig a tap. Julia, Kyle & Jim preparing to break the pig!
This is supposed to bring prosperity in the coming year. But it really is a wonderful time of reflection. And we have much to be grateful for this year - good health, new adventures, goals reached, and love and support from family and friends.
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