Wow, I guess I took a vacation from blogging along with the holidays! I have had a hard time getting back into the grove of everyday life again. This was the first year ever that I was able to take the entire week of Christmas off with a couple extra days the week before and after. It was by far our busiest and best Christmas ever! As you know it started at the beginning of December in Adel and ended the week after Christmas with Grandma and Papa John visiting us.
Back in December of last year, Michael's parents and us and Lorin and Angela all started talking about going to Gatlinburg again for Christmas this year and we started getting it all together to make it happen, or should I say Nana got it all together this time. The time came up so quick, but we were all so excited about getting to all be together and go again.
Before leaving we of course had lots going on too. The kids both had school parties, which their Daddy was able to go to in my place while I worked, they both had Christmas programs, which we always love getting to see (even when they/he does not sing!). The weekend before we left we headed back to Jackson, AL for the Pezent Christmas.
Once again we had a great time there visiting with all the family and catching up and of course eating too much food! Brooke and I got to go with Nana to a Christmas party at a lady in town's house who has been throwing this annual party for over 20 years. It was amazing to see her house all decorated and everyone was so nice. We did enjoy our time there and thank Nana for asking us to join her. The guys got to take in some hunting, but did not see anything the entire time...until they take me along, then all the excitment happened! They put me in the shooting house by myself and a 243 (some kind of gun). Saw nothing all afternoon and it was starting to get late, I leaned forward and looked to my right where I had not been looking and there stood a large doe, but the angle I was at I could not shoot her, so I just waited. Then something spooked her out of the patch quickly and a moment later I see a BIG BLACK PANTHER come into the patch and it was on the hunt. I was scared to death and just started banging around on the house to scare it away. And NO, I did not think to just shoot to scare it, I just knew I could not shoot it if I tried since I was shaking so bad. What an exciting afternoon hunting!
We got home on Monday, then Uncle Lorin/Aunt Angela and the boys came to the house to spend the night before we headed out to Gatlinburg! The kids were all so excited! The next morning was not as good as planned, but we won't go into that. The good thing is we did get loaded up and on the road. I have a slideshow below to show what all happened in Gatlinburg. We ate good, played hard, and slept well! There was still snow on the ground at our cabin for a couple of days before the rain melted it away. The boys had never seen snow, so they were more than ready to get out and start throwing snowballs. Everyone had a great time. We went horseback riding, walked the streets of Gatlinburg, visited Ober Gatlinburg on Christmas Day to go ice skating, and did I mention we ATE???
The ice skating was not as good as we planned...our kids wanted to go, but as soon as their feet hit the ice they wanted to turn back. Michael had Brooke and I had Logan, and we made them go around the outside of the rink holding on to the bar at least once. I was pulling Logan while Michael was pushing Brooke or they would have been stuck right there on the wall even today! Michael had fun skating around a bit and Cody and Joseph had a ball. They did not want to leave!
The last night we hung out at the cabin. Michael and Lorin played their guitars, the kids all played in the game room downstairs, Logan and Caleb entertained us all, Aunt Angela took all the kids upstairs to watch cartoons to unwind before bed. We made some great memories and had a blast! Can't wait to do it again!
Back in December of last year, Michael's parents and us and Lorin and Angela all started talking about going to Gatlinburg again for Christmas this year and we started getting it all together to make it happen, or should I say Nana got it all together this time. The time came up so quick, but we were all so excited about getting to all be together and go again.
Before leaving we of course had lots going on too. The kids both had school parties, which their Daddy was able to go to in my place while I worked, they both had Christmas programs, which we always love getting to see (even when they/he does not sing!). The weekend before we left we headed back to Jackson, AL for the Pezent Christmas.
Once again we had a great time there visiting with all the family and catching up and of course eating too much food! Brooke and I got to go with Nana to a Christmas party at a lady in town's house who has been throwing this annual party for over 20 years. It was amazing to see her house all decorated and everyone was so nice. We did enjoy our time there and thank Nana for asking us to join her. The guys got to take in some hunting, but did not see anything the entire time...until they take me along, then all the excitment happened! They put me in the shooting house by myself and a 243 (some kind of gun). Saw nothing all afternoon and it was starting to get late, I leaned forward and looked to my right where I had not been looking and there stood a large doe, but the angle I was at I could not shoot her, so I just waited. Then something spooked her out of the patch quickly and a moment later I see a BIG BLACK PANTHER come into the patch and it was on the hunt. I was scared to death and just started banging around on the house to scare it away. And NO, I did not think to just shoot to scare it, I just knew I could not shoot it if I tried since I was shaking so bad. What an exciting afternoon hunting!
We got home on Monday, then Uncle Lorin/Aunt Angela and the boys came to the house to spend the night before we headed out to Gatlinburg! The kids were all so excited! The next morning was not as good as planned, but we won't go into that. The good thing is we did get loaded up and on the road. I have a slideshow below to show what all happened in Gatlinburg. We ate good, played hard, and slept well! There was still snow on the ground at our cabin for a couple of days before the rain melted it away. The boys had never seen snow, so they were more than ready to get out and start throwing snowballs. Everyone had a great time. We went horseback riding, walked the streets of Gatlinburg, visited Ober Gatlinburg on Christmas Day to go ice skating, and did I mention we ATE???
The ice skating was not as good as we planned...our kids wanted to go, but as soon as their feet hit the ice they wanted to turn back. Michael had Brooke and I had Logan, and we made them go around the outside of the rink holding on to the bar at least once. I was pulling Logan while Michael was pushing Brooke or they would have been stuck right there on the wall even today! Michael had fun skating around a bit and Cody and Joseph had a ball. They did not want to leave!
The last night we hung out at the cabin. Michael and Lorin played their guitars, the kids all played in the game room downstairs, Logan and Caleb entertained us all, Aunt Angela took all the kids upstairs to watch cartoons to unwind before bed. We made some great memories and had a blast! Can't wait to do it again!
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