Random Caching Redux

Looking for a fun spring break activity we revived Random Caching.  We had tried this one other time - roll 2 dice to see how many miles to drive and a random direction and cache once we got there.  This time we had Hayden along for the fun.  I'm not sure he knew what he was in for, but we loaded up and rolled the dice.  Hayden rolled a 56 and we headed toward Ohio! (Well maybe not quite Ohio, but it seemed like it at the time!)

I tried to find some interesting & out of the ordinary caches and we landed on this one.  It was at a barbershop that was located inside a caboose.  We told the owner what we were there for and he let us on in.  It took quite a bit of searching, but we finally located the tiny magnetic nano container.

It was quite a fun little visit.

We ended up in cemeteries, parks, and all kinds of off-beat places.

Quite a fun day for our Hackcache crew...an a loaner from Team Eggnogbelly :)

The February Findings

*Full disclosure - I'm completing these blog posts a year later, so they are really a summary of what photos I took.  Obviously, February was just as uneventful as January! 

I surprised some of my favorite littles at Chick-fil-a

The Hackney 4 were each other's Valentine's dates at Monicals

And in a move of stunning dexterity and gracefulness, I managed to slice open my finger while chopping an onion.

One ER visit and 3 stitches later...

Random January

What can I say?  Sometimes January is slow.  We had the usual round of cleaning, purging, and organizing that January seems to bring.  The snowfall prompts photos to send to our sponsored children who never see snow.

Then there is the sledding with the neighborhood friends.

The month ended with Aaron and I attending a worship retreat with the rest of the team from Hope.

Hello 2019!

We usually bring in the new year at our house so it was a fun change of pace to spend New Year's Eve at the Shelby and Jen's ringing in 2019 with the Smith and Schmidt families.

Rachel go in some guinea pig snuggle time with Rylan's new pet

There were several rounds of Uno, and after introducing in the new rules we had recently started playing with things got even more hotly contested.

After frustrating Shelby with the crazy Uno, Heather and I destroyed Shelby in euchre!

And of course, Shelby made sure to fully demonstrate his disgust!

A fun evening with this incredibly fun crew!

Christmas in Flora

To wrap up our time with family we spent a few days in Flora with the Hackney side of the family.

Dusty with the most appropriate gift...ninja dust!

We also got to spend a little time with Glenn, Tina, and Olivia who were in the area from Belgium visiting family.  It was nice to catch up with my gracious hosts from mine and Marla's European adventure.  Rachel enjoyed getting to meet Olivia.

Christmas 2018

We kicked off the Christmas festivities on Christmas Eve at home opening gifts.  When your son works at Best Buy who knows what will show up under the tree!  Aaron surprised Dusty and I with an upgrade.

And Christmas is not complete until Dusty has unwrapped a Chuck Norris calendar

On Christmas Day it was off to Mom and Dad's.  The usual full mantle.  (Note the Chuck Norris mask popping out of a stocking...wonder who that could be for?)

When one sibling has surgery and a heart valve replaced by a valve from a cow the other's must use the opportunity for fun...munching on cow tails!

My Christmas dinner...which looks remarkably the same from year to year

Present time

Trying out the flying presents outdoors.  Our family has notoriously bad luck with any sort of flying toy.

Rachel got make-up help from Haylei

PJ's from Memaw

The evening concluded with a spirited game of UNO

and karaoke 

Daniel got to partake in a special treat....waffles sent to us from Belgium by the Dietrick family.  I made a convert out of him.

No December is complete...

...without a trip downtown.  We had our fill at PF Changs and then headed to Monument circle.

Can't miss shooting this shot.  I have one for just about every year...and they all look just about like this!