Let It Snow

And snow it did.....well, for a few hours on Wednesday night anyways. We got a good inch or so--enough to cancel school, call it a snow day, and stay inside. Come Saturday we were blanketed in snow again, this time, enough to cancel church. The snow is gone now, but it was beautiful while it lasted.

Thanksgiving Visitors

My brother Chad, his wife Christy, and their two darling boys, Brent and Davis, drove down from St. Louis to join us for Thanksgiving.

Brent ready to take-out any approaching "bad-guys".

Thanksgiving Day.
Tyler making gravy.

Ready to eat!

Davis providing accompaniment as we played around in Olympic Park.

Brent playing in the leaves outside of the "Swan" house.

The happy family, outside of a farm house at the Atlanta History Center.

Tyler and I on the walk behind to the old farm house.

We had a great time with Chad, Christy and family here. We are very thankful for our many blessings, especially our family.

Blue Ridge Parkway

I can't believe it is already Wednesday. Despite all of our best intentions to post pictures from our trip up to the Blue Ridge Parkway as soon as we got home, somehow three days have passed.

We got on the road at about 4:00 Friday and arrived in Black Mountain, NC about 4 hours later. We checked into the cabin we were renting and had some soup that Rach had made ahead of time and just had to heat up once we arrived. The cabin was great for just two of us. Only one bedroom and a living, dining, kitchen area to hang out in.

We awoke the next morning to some beautiful surroundings - the colors in the trees around the cabin were pretty cool. We headed to the Red Rocker Inn for a great buffet breakfast that included caramel pecon french toast, biscuits and gravy, and some darn good hash browns.

After breakfast we headed over to Chimney Rock Park. We decided to first hike into the waterfall. I had read a lot about what a beautiful site it was. It is where they filmed Last of the Mohicans so I was ready for a breathtaking view. To my disappointment we arrived at the falls to find nothing more than a little trickle of water running down the side of the mountain. I guess that's what a drought will do. We moved on and hiked around quite awhile before taking the elevator up to the top of Chimney Rock. We were exhausted from all the hiking so we ate lunch and headed back for a nap. Later that night went in to Asheville for a Haunted Trolley tour of the city - pretty corny, but fun none the less.

We spent most of Sunday on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was definitely not at peak for colors yet, but portions of the drive were really colorful. Last year we came a little late and found ourselves overlooking lots of naked trees, so we were very pleased with the outcome this year. We drove along the parkway for 3-4 hours stopping at lookouts and just enjoying the beautiful weather (I was glad I had changed into shorts before we headed up).

All in all we had a great weekend - fun to get away and enjoy some pretty sweet surroundings!

Ahhh--

so, once in college, i was introduced to the song "Go to East Asheville Hardware". basically, a song all about supporting your local stores over "chain stores" written and sung by singer/songwriter David Wilcox. the important part: "go to east asheville hardware, before you go to lowes." So, last weekend, we happened to be in Asheville, North Carolina and that song (well, really, I only know that first line by heart--it is a very catchy first line) and so i thought--"how great--we can go get our picture taken in front of this local hardware store". we looked it up. And that is when we found out, it was no more. Kind of a sad ending to such a good song. Well, I guess we still have the song.

Kindergarten Days

Recent Conversation:

Student: Why'd you write your "e" like that?
Me: Because
Student: Did you forget how to write your e's?

And thus continue my days in the world of Kindergarten.

Indian Seats Hike

Tyler and I have finally stopped spending our weekends at Home Depot and have begun to explore the area around us. Most recently we visited Sawnee Mountain, a local mountain with various trails. And, now that we can be outside for an hour without coming back soaked in sticky sweat, we decided to go on an evening hike up Sawnee Mountain. We hiked a trail called Indian Seats, to an area that researches have "reason to believe" was used in ancient Indian rituals. It was all quite picturesque.

The Current State of our Yard

So-- it has been really really hot here in Georgia. Don't believe me--refer to the "burnt" plant (below). Yes, "burnt" to a crisp. When we first arrived in Georgia the plants had been kindly left for us. They were in a sad state though and I took them to a nursery, got professional advice (she suggested watering them) and tried to nurse them back to health. Well-- all was fine and dandy when it was raining everyday, but once it warmed up, the poor plant couldn't contend with the heat and thus, we are hosting a funeral shortly. (Note: bird nest to the upper right of the burnt plant--adds character).

But, proof that I do have some kind of a green thumb and 18 years experience of learning from the gardners of all gardners, my dad, here is our healthy and thriving plant:

Our yard-- well, actually, just one corner, is a weed patch. We are proud owners, or reluctant owners since lawn mowers tend to be expensive, of a lawn mower, weed wacker, and many "yard" supplies now. Tyler and I have both spent countless hours working in our little yard--if you count 4 hours countless. Nonetheless, we love our yard and even though it has weeds, at least they are green. We are looking forward to the fall so we can actually do stuff with our yard--the professionals said fall is the best time to make changes.