I Miss Them!

Our two youngest boys were invited to go with Brooke and Ricky and family last Thursday to the Smokey Mountains to see SNOW!! Monroe and I had planned to take a short family trip up to Tennessee to see some snow this winter but Monroe's back is not doing too well since his back surgery in October. It is just too painful for him to sit more than 30 minutes at a time. So, to say the boys were elated with this invitation would be putting in mildly!

Brent and Bradley are not home much with school and jobs so our house has been extremely quiet the past 4 days and I hate it! I miss the antics of the two younger ones, like this for example:

I even miss the gross surprises when I turn around to see this:

And the times when they are so bored that they get creative and make paper clothes....LOL!

And I do so miss these 3 lovies!!!

Oh. I miss Brooke and Ricky too ;-)

My dear family is on the way home. They had such adventures! I can't wait to hear all their stories. Most importantly they got to see SNOW and lots of it! They got to spend every day playing in the snow. I let Brandon take my camera so I will have pictures to show soon. I will keep you posted....

The Best Birthday!

Wow, is it already the second week in November???? My days have been extremely busy lately and I don't "do" busy if you know what I mean. Also, my family has been taking turns with a stomach virus for over a week now. Just about the time traffic slows down to the bathroom and I breathe a sigh of relief....someone else darts by me headed to the bathroom. It has been a couple of days now with no "incidents" - dare I breathe that sigh of relief? Ahhh, such is life in a large family.


My birthday was the last week in October and I was fortunate to spend it in my favorite place ever, the Appalachian Mountains!!!! Monroe and I sort of had a trade-off. You see, he was invited to go to Texas on a hunting trip with a friend. As a matter of fact, he has been gone this week on his hunting trip (he missed out on the sharing of the stomach bug...lucky). So when my dear friend, Kay, mentioned that she had a trip planned to the mountains to see the gorgeous fall leaves it was a done deal ;-) I think we hit the autumn show at the peak time too.


This time Bran and Bryce were able to go along as well. We had such a good time just being out in nature enjoying God's creation. We went on long drives every day we were there. I know the pictures don't really capture the true beauty we saw but here are a few of my favorite shots.

This red tree just stood out all alone. Isn't it beautiful!




I don't know if you can see it but there is a farm down in the valley in this picture. Ummm....what was that tenth commandment?....something about coveting?....ah geeez!

One day we went for a drive on the Cherohala Parkway. You could hear the ooooo's and aaahhhh's as we climbed higher and higher. The contrast in the colors of the leaves was just amazing. Then we began to notice bare trees. When we made it to the highest point it was a completely bare forest as you can see in this picture with Bryce.

We enjoyed delicious picnic lunches each day. Kay baked a turkey breast before we left Georgia and it was so good. We dined on cheese and crackers, sandwiches, hummus and chips. I think it tasted even better because of the atmosphere and chilly weather!! Yummy!

Another picnic spot by the river. This was another day, I promise! We did do more than eat!!

Even on a rainy day Tallualah Falls Gorge was breath taking!!

Another shot by falls. I can't remember the name of these falls.

A highlight of the trip was our visit to Foxfire. The boys and I are studying American History this year and this was a perfect field trip to add to our school year. How about that for creativity. I was able to add in a day of school on our vacation. Shhh, don't tell the boys.

This is a picture of the gorge at Tallulah Falls. It is out of order with the other pictures. I can no longer move my pictures around with blogspot. I'm not sure why. Anyway, views like this one always make me stand in awe of my Creator. He is so big and powerful and yet he takes notice of ME?

"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers,

The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;

What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him?

And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?

Oh Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Thy name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8: 3-4 &9

Camping at the Springs

We took a long weekend and went to the local springs for camping and swimming. This is a favorite camping spot for our family. Isn't the water beautiful? In winter months you can come here and see the manatee. This spring is a refuge for them.


This is what I love about camping. Getting away from the phones, tvs, etc. See what happens? I looked out the camper window and Brandon had made himself a bow and arrow. I am not so sure he could provide the family with dinner from that bow and arrow but it did shoot!

Roasted marshamallows are so delicious when you cook them over an open flame. Personally, I like mine burnt!

Don't they look like they belong on the show, Survivor?

A rare photo moment!

Swimming at the spring. Actually, this swimming area is a little ways down from the spring. We swam up river to the spring and the guys loved diving down to see the open spring below. I watched nervously from the surface (with my trusty raft) as they got braver and deeper with each dive. There was a huge fallen tree covering the spring and they would dive down and swim under the tree!!

We had a visit from Brooke and family on Saturday! Of course, I was so excited to see them.....okay to see my grandbabies! Here is the famous Lukie face. Such a cutie! I love it when he makes this face.

Reese's first outing at a state park. She seems to be taking it all in stride. By the way, she looks EXACTLY like Brooke's baby pictures in this shot!

Parker is enjoying the remaining honeydew from lunch.

Just relaxing and enjoying each other.

Poppa and Parker taking a walk to find wild grapes they saw earlier. They were very TART!

Well, we had a great summer! Now back to the daily routine of school, work and university life.

God is so good!

A Little R&R

A dear friend of mine, Brenda, invited us to her "getaway" home in South Alabama for a few days of R&R. The trip ended up being just moms and kids. I think everyone had a lot of fun!! The first day the kids wanted to fish, if you can honestly call it that. As soon as you put your hook in the water you get a bite! A fisherman's dream!! The catfish were so plentiful that the kids would see them swimming around the dock, run and get their net and scoop them up from the shore! Brandon is showing the largest catfish he caught (sorry it is not a very good picture). I am not sure how much it weighed but Brandon was straining holding the net up and he is a pretty strong guy. Here is the bass Brandon caught. Right about now his older brothers are wishing they would have gone along on this trip!!

We hardly saw the young'uns during the day unless Brenda and I went outside to watch them play. They always showed up for mealtime, however, starving from all the exercise and fun.

I can't believe we had a fire going in MAY in the south and it really felt good!! We moms sat around the fire while the kids played. Here they are coming by the fire to warm up too.

It rained every day we were there but that didn't slow anyone down. They played in the rain as long as there was no lightning and loved every minute of it.

This is one of my favorite shots! Doesn't that look like fun? Of course I wouldn't be able to move the next day if I were to try something like that!!

Bryce the muscle man! Oh yeah!

Brooke just looking cute!

One day the kids pretended to have expensive mud baths.

Here they are being silly.

Here is a view from the dock looking over the backyard and house. The previous owners had the long picnic tables built because they often had fish frys. I can see why with such successful fishing in this pond. I intended to get a picture of me and Brenda but I forgot. We all had such a great time. It was very peaceful and relaxing. A perfect way to kick off the summer!

Good-bye Alabama house :-( Great fun, great friends and great memories made here! Thank you Brenda and Brooke for the invitation!

By the way all you fishermen out there, this beautiful piece of property is for sale. If you are interested, just leave me a comment.