December

We kicked off our Christmas celebrations with our friends, the Dursts and Whitworths. We played a few rounds of bowling and then spent rest of the evening eating and playing games at RecBar. It was a blast and we all decided we need to do it more often. 

The boys did a great job at their all-school Christmas program.

It is crazy to see some of these big 5th graders...some of which Caleb has been in class with since he did two day 2s preschool! They sometimes argue or will get in fights, but they have such an awesome bond! Friends forever. :)

Caleb was amazing at his piano recital- we are so incredibly proud of him!

After the recital, we met up with Creed's extended side of the family at RecBar.

The Fowler cousins

All fancied up for Creed's work party

Betty the elf showed up on December 1st. Luke actually calls her Beddy. :) This year he decided that he and Caleb were too old to sit on Santa's lap. Instead, he had his picture taken with "Beddy" and wrote her a note to tell Santa his wishes. 

"Dear Santa I've been really good. Here are my CRISTMAS wishes. Nentindo Swich Nerf Rival minigun. From, Luke"

We celebrated the Thursday before Christmas with Grandmom, Grandpa, and Paige at Luke and Bri's house. Caleb opened box after box after box...to get his gift card from Uncle Luke and Bri. He thought it was hilarious!

The boys had a 1/2 day on the 21st and both celebrated with classroom parties. Caleb wasn't too keen on me hanging out in his room so I spent most of my time with Luke. ;)

Luke is such a great helper in the kitchen! It is always so much fun to make sugar cookies with him. He doesn't remember his Granny Sue, but I always make a point to remind him that we are using her rolling pin.

While Caleb ran in the kitchen, iced one cookie, ate it, and then left, Luke worked until the last cookie was iced!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandaddy's on Christmas Eve Eve

Gingerbread house fun

Luke decided to write Santa a note this year...

We made the rounds visiting extended family on Christmas Eve and on the way home Luke spotted Santa's sleigh in the sky. He was so excited. We all spent time outside watching it. Then he came in and wrote the note. :)

"Dear Santa  I can't beleav its you. Can we touch Beddy on Christmas eav? P.S take this candy cane to help your breath. From, Luke"

CHRISTMAS MORNING!

We were so happy to gift Uncle Drew with his very own Uncle Drew basketball!

Creed and Caleb both got wet suits for late spring surfing.

Caleb organized an impressive gift this year...he assigned different parts (keyboard, tower, mouse, chair, etc.) of his gaming computer to different sets of grandparents. He was so happy with it and immediately got to playing.

And little brother got back in bed with his Switch.

Creed got me a mug...

I'm sorry for what I said while we were trying to dock the boat

The majority of Christmas Day was spent in epic Nerf gun battles with both Uncle Matt and Uncle Drew.

Creed and I, with my (not so) little brothers.

We ended up meeting Marshma and Papa for dinner at Mussel & Burger Bar...but we had to make a stop at RecBar on the way. 

After PeePaw and Grandma Beth left, we spent time just being at home and playing. Both boys had a friend over one afternoon.

Luke and I also had an epic Jenga tower.

I walked in the living room and saw this on our tv...

The end the month, we ended up spending 4 nights at the cabin. It was so relaxing and a great way to ring in the New Year!

November

On November 1st, both boys were recognized in chapel for making Principal's Honor Roll (all A's) so we celebrated that night with dinner at RecBar.

Creed and Caleb went down to Cumberland to put the boat in dry storage for the winter. :(

The weather was beautiful so they got to do a little hiking at the State Park as well.

Little brother and I stayed home and had a popcorn (and gummy bears) movie night.

Luke had his chapel program and did great delivering his lines. 

He also happened to be recognized that day for doing a "Good Deed."

The Sunday before Thanksgiving we got the Christmas tree up and Luke couldn't wait to get the Polar Express running.

We spent Thanksgiving in Charleston with Creed's family and then drove the following day to PeePaw's lake house. The boys began with a polar plunge...

After coming out of the freezing cold lake water the hot tub apparently felt pretty good!

The annual oyster roast
We had over 200 oysters with family and friends. It is always such a fun afternoon and evening.

The next day the crazy boys did another polar plunge, but this time talked their daddy into going as well.

I spent almost an entire morning trying to organize Luke's room, which is always littered with Legos and Pokemon cards. He was super proud that I hung a shelf at his level so he can show off some of his favorite pieces.

13 Years

On November 13th, Creed and I celebrated 13 years of marriage. This year we decided to spend the night in Knoxville before heading to Gatlinburg. It was an incredible week and we are so thankful for our time together!

Dinner out in Knoxville

We stayed at a hotel right in the middle of downtown so it was the perfect location to walk around and get to know the city. We really liked it and would definitely visit again.

This year, we did two hikes. The first hike was to Grotto Falls and the trail was very doable, just at around 3 miles. It was also a fairly crowded trail, since it was so short.

Grotto Falls happens to be the only waterfall in the Smokies that you can walk behind.

The following day we decided to hike to the summit of Mt.Leconte again, but to take a different trail. We ended up making a loop- we went up the Rainbow Falls trail and came back down the Bull Head trail. While Rainbow Falls was pretty to see, the Bull Head trail had incredible views as it went along the side of the mountain. 

We were prepared for the 14 mile round trip hike physically. We were also prepared with correct gear and brought enough food and water. I was NOT prepared mentally. It was so SO hard. The trail was very steep, gaining 4,000 vertical feet, which meant we also had to hike down 4,000 vertical feet. It took us right at 7 hours (including our time at the summit) and was very icy within a mile or two of the top. Plus, the trail was incredibly rocky. We had to walk staring down at our feet to make sure we had our footing- it was just plain hard. Later, we found out that these two trails are the two hardest in the Smokies. (Wish I had known that before we left...might have prepared better!)

We walked up for hours...

Halfway there... Rainbow Falls

We made it!
We inhaled numerous Cliff bars and guzzled water at this point. ;)

The summit is a little less than half a mile up from the Lodge. It was like climbing a sheet of rocky ice, so that half a mile took twice as long.

Heading back down...this part of the trail was incredible. It has been severely burned in the fire and the landscape looked like something out of a science fiction movie. (It was also the part of the trail where I was DONE walking...but we still had 4 miles to go...)

Next year, we won't be taking the long way up LeConte, although I am proud to say we made it this year. ;)