Tennessee trip

We left at 5:20am on Thursday. Brian did most of the driving (thanks, honey!) The beginning of our trip was with the Thompsons. On Sunday, we'll meet 20+ more family members for a Kitterman vacation in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Bristol Motor Speedway

It took us about 7 hours to get to Julie's house where we had lunch and a great visit. Matthew was able to come home for lunch so we got to see the whole fam. Issachar was a great host, showing us all around his home. Ruth took her time checking us out and finally let Emily hold her for this picture without crying. Two hours later we arrived at our cute A-frame cabin in the woods. The Thompsons arrived just minutes after us - good timing. Off to dinner... Dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Gatlinburg. Jenna loved the double kiss from her mommy & daddy!

After dinner, we walked around the town of Gatlinburg. I soooo thought of you, Cliff, when I saw this place! I know you could've eaten here for every meal! 21 varieties ~ wow!! Can you find Uncle Jake in this picture?

Friday: We went to the top of our mountain (where our house is) and the view was beautiful.

They had a fun attraction we all rode. We took the lift up and rode Alpine Slide down. This pic shows Brian and Rachel in the lift in from of me and Emily (Brian's wearing the red shirt.) The white track on the ground is the track of the Alpine slide. You sit in this little wheeled car and fly down this cement track. The car has a hand break, that's it. Quite fun for most of us... some went faster than others. :) Can you guess who?

How many people have tried on those hats?! ewww

Lunch in Gatlinburg at No Way Joses - YUM!

I thought the tree behind the girls was pretty neat, too.

As we walked around The Village in Gatlinburg, this guy had parrots we could hold. He was promoting a show at another location. Pretty neat!

How appropriate. Uncle Jake has a store dedicatied to him!

Brian was in heaven with these caramel apples - one of his favorite treats!

Slick Track in Pigeon Forge

Saturday: Great Smokey Mountain National Park

We hiked 1.3 miles up to the falls. Did I mention there are no porta-johns up there? oh my... On our way back down, we saw a black bear and 2 turkeys. (not the 2 turkeys below... 2 wild turkeys!)

new pet at our house

Emily received a beautiful teal beta fish for her 12th birthday on Saturday. One of our kitties, Josie, was the welcoming committee. :) She was very curious about the fish and watched the tank from many different angles for most of the day. It was great.

Great shots, Em. Quick thinking to grab the camera when Josie was being so funny.

GO BACK 3 years to 2005

Here is our other kitty, Claire, enjoying a new beta fish that Rachel received for her 12th birthday.

Not sure what it is with us giving beta fish as a 12-year-old birthday gift.

It's totally unplanned. random.

But I'm glad we got pictures each time. :)

1 fun camera + 2 creative girls = 300+ SPRING pix

On Saturday, we went to my parents/grandmothers for the day. All of their trees are just beautiful!! The girls took my camera out for a photo shoot and took several hundred pics!! These are just a few fun ones that give an idea of the day... I'm glad the girls enjoyed their time together.

playing with the timer...

a tree growing out of a stump!

Misc January Happenings

We went to VB the beginning of the month and were able to be there for Hannah's 4th birthday party. Danielle did an incredible job, making Hannah's birthday top-notch with a Littlest PetShop theme. Here's the pretty birthday girl: Hannah Rose

Candy dropping from the piñata

Rachel with Juliette (who's SO big and growing way too fast for her far-away Aunt Jen!) More January fun: Emily and her buddy, Sarah got together a few times this month and had a great time together.

Goofy faces

We're very excited about an upcoming trip to see our friends, The Nams, in Phoenix, AZ. I found this in Em's room today - a dry erase board with a "countdown 'til the Nams". I thought it was sweet! It's been a while since we've seen them. Since August 24th @ 4am. But who's keeping track?! (miss you, Ashley!)

And I think I totally whiffed on posting December events. We had fun family gatherings, gingerbread houses with friends, etc.... I'll post that next. I think.

from the white sand to the white snow

We were invited tubing with our dear friends, the Schuchs, Cooks and Hendricks. The girls were thrilled to actually get a snow-day! (homeschooled kids still have school when it's too snowy/icy for public schools!). We drove to Ski Liberty and went tubing for 2 hours. The girls had a great time!

Don't even THINK about it, chickie!

with the Cook boys

Emily

Photo credit: Tim Cook

The girl van - Kim, Em, Rach, Alyssa, Michaela, Di