I love Jermont

We had so much fun in Vermont (or Jermont as Finley calls it). The house was amazing. It was on a dirt road and up a steep driveway.  There was a big wraparound porch with views of the mountains and primary source of heat was a toasty wood burning stove. And of course the dogs loved having 40 acres to run.  We mostly stayed at the house in between outings to walk around a few towns and shop for groceries. We watched lots of movies, cooked, played, and just relaxed. Since the house was totally off the grid we watched snow dump down with no worries about power outages. that was a good feeling

We tried to make it a fun Christmas experience for Finley. Ben cut down a tree and we decorated it with some basic lights and ornaments. We brought tons of gifts, including everything Fin asked for: Thomas trains, A Christmas Teddy and Bandaids. She also got a doctor kit, some fake food and cooking supplies for her toy kitchen, finger paints and a sticker book. My favorite gifts for myself were a whippet statue, a pasta maker and a few gardening books that are perfect for me. Ben got a cool pocket knife and an oil lantern. We baked lemon sugar cookies that didn't come out very well, but Fin helped with the whole process and had a blast decorating them.

After Christmas we ventured out and visited the Ben & Jerry's factory tour and took a ride around Montpelier. 

We had a nice smooth drive home, got unpacked as much as possible and then headed to New Jersey the next morning. We spent the day visiting with my parents and then the next morning went to New York to visit Rachel and my friend Amy from Grad School. We went to see They Might be Giants after hanging out in the city all day. By the time we finally got home I was so tired! But somehow I managed to go out to a NYE party with some new flyball friends. Finley was so good. She socialized with the adults, played with her toys, took a nap on the dog bed, ate dinner and then decided she wanted to go to bed. She promptly passed out in our friends bed until we woke her up to leave.

We find out if we are having a boy or girl next week. Im feeling really good other than bad heart burn. I hope it keeps up. I've starting trying to come up with names. Any ideas are appreciated!