Happy New Year! It's a little late to be saying it, but we feel like this year is just getting started in some ways. Due to the government shutdown Courtney was furloughed and Sylvan was home, since his school is also federal. For most of January the days were filled with play dates, craft projects, a few long naps, and a little more screen time than usual. We also had a good snow storm and a fantastic, seasonally cold weekend in western North Carolina with the Spearman clan, where we bundled up to see some breathtaking waterfalls. Everyone adjusted pretty well overall to furloughed life (particularly to the looser morning schedule), but we were also very glad to be getting back to normal last Monday. We feel very fortunate that our hardships were not greater during this crazy month. Leading up to the shutdown we had a wonderful holiday season. It started with an epic Thanksgiving road trip (18 hours each way) to and from Texas via Richmond, with cousin Elliot and Courtney's sibling Jess. Everyone lived to tell the tale of that trip - we were even still speaking(!) - so we consider it a great success if not an annual occurrence. We spent Christmas in Charlotte with Jim's family, including a fun evening at the holiday bedazzled Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden and some bonus time with Jim's sister Suzanne's family. New Years Eve was spent at home with Jess and Elliot and some great food. All in all a great way to end the year!