Recently...

A few things from the past few months (since I am really behind!)...

Since we had such bad experiences at Huber's the past two years, we decided to just get together with the Dursts at our house this year. The Huber's tradition lasted nine years...but just hanging around our house for the evening was much more relaxing and hopefully a fall tradition that will continue!

Caleb and Madalyn are two peas in a pod when it comes to putting on productions. They plan out these "shows," which include lots of singing and dancing. Caleb is always the DJ behind the scenes. ;)

Caleb pranked Luke and covered him with stuffed animals one night. So, when Caleb slept with Luke the next night, Creed and I got him back. Can you spot Caleb?

This boy loves his Beanie Boos!

The tree and train went up the Sunday before Thanksgiving!

This boy also loves his Legos!

Our friends Jon and Lucy, and their sweet girls Mary and Margaret, we in town for Thanksgiving so we got together one evening with them and the Dursts. 

And, the kids planned another show!

Our elf Betty showed up on December 1st and brought Lego advent calendars and donuts for breakfast! Each morning since, Luke has been an especially early riser to find where Betty is perched. 

Last Saturday Caleb and I spent ALL DAY in a gymnasium for his robotics competition. WA had 2 fourth grade teams this year. 

Team HydroPilots

They had four, two minute rounds...

and spent the rest of the day huddled under the table playing games. We were there from 8:30am until 5:20pm...It was a looonnng day.

The first Sunday of December we got together with the Dursts and Whitworths for our 10th annual Christmas with friends!

Christmas '08 looked this this:

Caleb & Madalyn

and ten years later...

Madalyn & Caleb

Jackson, Luke, Kathryn, Hayden, & Harper

Pie Face Showdown was a big hit with the kids

and grownups too!

12 Years

For our 12th anniversary, Creed and I spent 5 days in Gatlinburg, and like always, had the best time. This year we were prepared to summit Mt. LeConte and set out early one morning. It was a clear day, so the views were beautiful.

We thought we were prepared for how hard it would be, yet both of us were still surprised at the difficulty of the trail. It is a total of 11 miles round trip, and somehow we were able to get to the top in 2 hours, 5 minutes. 

Some parts of the trail, like the next picture shows, were on the slide of cliff!

When we got near the top, the temperature dropped noticeably. The trees and vegetation also changed...I felt like I was in the Pacific Northwest.

We made it!

Breathtaking, gorgeous views

The rest of our trip we spent eating, walking around Gatlinburg, and simply relaxing! It was perfect! 

Halloween Fun

This year, I FINALLY had help carving the pumpkin! 

This was the first Halloween that the boys did not have coordinating costumes. Caleb decided he wanted to be an old man and ran with it. He went into full "old man" character, even walking hunched over, at a snail's pace up to each house. While everyone thought it was hilarious, it did take us longer to make the rounds this year!

Little brother was a red Ninja Power Ranger, very different than the Red Ranger he was a few years back. ;) 

Organizing his loot

Gatlinburg

We spent a weekend earlier this month at one of our FAVORITE places...Gatlinburg!

We left that Friday as soon as the boys got out of school and were there that evening in time to have some fun. The funniest part of the trip had to do with our Google map detour. It told me that there was a backup due to construction and to take a detour. Well, apparently LOTS of people took the detour on Stinking Creek Road (I can't make that up!) which happened to be a gravel road. Due to the probably thousands of cars that had made this detour since construction began, everything was covered in gravel dust. Even the grass and trees were a whiteish gray! While we made twists and turns on back roads along I-75, laughing the whole way, we were able to bypass HOURS of traffic and get back on the interstate a few exits down. (We also drove through a car wash before we got to Gatlinburg!)

As soon as we rolled into town we surprised the boys and took them to ride the Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster!

The lights make it so cool to ride at night!

Up, up, up we go!

This year we stayed at a hotel on the main strip and it was so nice to be within walking distance of all the fun! 

The next morning we made our annual trip to Ober Gatlinburg for Octoberfest. We hadn't been back since last year's fires so the ride up the mountain on the aerial tram was a reminder of the devastation. You could see foundations of homes that once stood along the mountain sides and there were areas of just burned trees as far as the eye could see. So sad.

Octoberfest!

The boys had a wristband so they had unlimited rides and unlimited times to make it through the maze. They were proud when their time made it to the chalkboard for that day's best time. :)

Thankfully Luke jumped ship and decided at the last minute to ride down on my sled because Creed took a nasty fall. Apparently they are not kidding when they tell you to slow down on the turns because his sled flew off the luge and he lost some skin on his hands and knees. 

Our hotel had cookies and milk each night before bed so Luke had to try some.

After breakfast the next morning the boys swam and had the pool to themselves while I went back to the room to pack up. 

After checking out of our hotel Sunday we tried out Gatlinburg's newest attraction, Anakeesta. It had just opened September 1st, and already had great reviews so we wanted to give it a try.

 The chair lift to the top of the mountain was really nice but it was a little too high off the ground at times for my liking. I was glad when we got to the top!

The views were incredible

The first thing we checked out was the Memorial Forest Walk, which is a memorial for the fire victims. 

Then we did the Tree Canopy Walk, which was so cool!

The last thing we did before riding the (really high) chair lift back down the mountain was to let the boys mine for rocks and minerals. This is something Luke LOVES to do and he is very proud of his collection!

Anakeesta also has zip lines, but I think we will wait until both boys are old enough before we give them a try. I can't wait to go back next year, as they are opening even more things on top of the mountain, including an amphitheater, which will be so cool!

Before heading home, we did a little shopping on the strip and got a few sweet treats. It was the best way to end such a perfect weekend.

Gatlinburg is always so much fun!