Take Cover!

The Polar Express

Oh, the excitement of a train under the Christmas tree. 

They've waited for months, and are thrilled that it's finally put together. 

Remembering Granny Sue

BLACKETER, SUE ANNA, 94, died Monday, November 18, 2013. 

She was a member of Cedar Creek Baptist Church. 

She was preceded in death by her husband, Elbert Blacketer; and son, Allen Blacketer. 

She is survived by her children, Tillie Hume (David), Joyce Kincer (Jim), Jerry (Becky), Michael (Susan), and Ken (Becky) Blacketer; daughter-in-law, JoAnn Blacketer; 17 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; brothers, Ernest and Willard Shewmaker; and sisters, Alice Spaulding, Mary Jo Roehrig and Linda Worley. 

Her funeral is 1 p.m. Friday at Fern Creek Funeral Home, 5406 Bardstown Road with burial in Highland Memory Gardens. Visitation is 1-8 p.m. Thursday.

With Caleb in 2008

Granny's 90th birthday in 2009

At Erin's wedding, 2011

With Luke on Christmas Eve, 2011

Granny and her great-great grandsons

Our Weekend Away

To celebrate my birthday and our 8th anniversary (tomorrow!) Creed and I took a little get-a-way to Gatlinburg over the long weekend. To say we were excited Friday evening when we left would be an understatement. 

Instead of driving through Pigeon Forge, we decided to bypass the horrible traffic and drive through the mountains. It was a gorgeous drive and worth the few extra miles. Fun fact...The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in the U.S. 

As the road wound its way through the mountains, it followed this river bed.

Our home for the weekend...

The view from the back deck was breathtaking. 

Our mornings consisted of pretty much doing nothing except for drinking coffee on the deck.

Saturday we decided to ride the aerial tram to the top of the mountain and saw three bears on the way up. We only had our phone for pictures, but you can still see them.

Once we got to the top, we rode the chair lift a little higher so we could have an "alpine slide" rematch. Creed won last year but this year I was determined...

I mentioned to the slide attendant that I really needed to beat him this year so they gave me a yellow slide, which is used for two riders. Thankfully, I blew past Creed around the third or fourth turn and finished quite a bit before him. Now he's calling for a rematch!

On Sunday we decided to ride a different set of chair lifts to get a better view of downtown Gatlinburg. Thankfully, I am not afraid of heights.

Monday morning we packed up and headed home. It was really hard to say goodbye to this view first thing in the morning. Just hoping "Mountain Glory" is available again next year...

Lace Ups and Western Day

Last week Caleb broke one of the elastic straps on his tennis shoes (that were only 2 1/2 months old!) so I did something that I swore I would never do...I took both boys to the mall on a Saturday afternoon (gasp!) to help Caleb find a pair. The thing is, Caleb has issues with shoes and it's always a fight with him. He insists on his shoes being super tight and apparently his legs give out and he falls immediately to the floor if they don't feel just right. 

Before getting to the mall, I did some serious bribery with him, reminding him not to whine, cry, lay down in the middle of Stride Rite, etc. I also mentioned to the sweet sales clerk when we got there that he has issues with shoes bothering him but he was going to work really hard to find the right pair. ;)

Six pairs later (and three mini-candy bars eaten by little brother to keep him in his stroller) he tried on a pair of New Balance lace ups and enthusiastically stated, "These are the ones!" Sold! And, apparently he can run faster, jump higher, and even walk "as fast as a grown up" in them. :)

On Wednesday Caleb had "W day" at school with a Western theme. A student's family brought a foal to school and the kids got to learn about it and have their picture taken with it. Pretty fun, I'd say!

Celebrating Hayden

Last Saturday morning we celebrated our friend Hayden's 4th birthday at KaZoing! The boys had a blast and the "party was great" as Caleb mentioned on the way home. 

We hope you had a great birthday, Hayden!!

The kiddos played lots of air hockey.

Caleb

Luke

Ready for snacks with David

The big birthday boy

A Living Room Picnic

Trick or Treat

Fall is such a busy time, with trips to various pumpkin patches, fall festivals, and parties. Last night, November 1st, we ended our busy "fall season" with trick or treating. (Trick or treating was actually postponed one night due to storms on Halloween night.) 

Darth Vader L-O-V-E-D trick or treating and thought it was just about the greatest thing ever. People made the mistake of letting him pick out of the bowls- he totally took advantage and grabbed handfuls! His bucket was three times fuller than Caleb's! Ha!

Cute Cousins- Caleb, Luke, & Caroline

(Jeff & Kim were out of town so Caroline went with us and we sure loved having her!) 

 After dinner at our neighbors' house, the kids were ready to go!

Caleb, Colin, Caroline, Luke, and Barrett

And they're off!

Cousin Ava got to join us as well. She and Caroline just love spending time together. And boy was it different to have little girls running around our neighborhood!

The Five Year Olds 

I realize that I am biased, but I feel like they are all super cute!

The Two Year Olds

(Not quite as cooperative when it comes to pictures.)