Moving Day...Home Sweet Home

Eric, Lydia, Elijah, & Haven said goodbye to their cabin that was on Barbara Mandrell's old property when the new owners decided to make the area more of a tourist attraction.

Elijah explored the big U-Haul before he went to a friend's house to play.
It was INCREDIBLE how many people showed up to help!

Matt wore his official moving t-shirt with pride :0) Those days make him very thankful to now be working at summer school.

The truck was no longer empty....

but most of the house was.

Then the work began at the new house. I was amazed at how much was accomplished that day (although it was just the beginning for Eric & Lydia).

Clothes were hung...

Beds were made....

Bookshelves were filled...

And flowers even graced the kitchen window. (By the way, I love how Lydia has an outside view at the kitchen sink!)
One of the best parts of the day was when Elijah and Haven came home. We had a big welcoming party so Elijah would be excited about his new place to live.

He was glad to see his toys :0)

And there's nothing like helping daddy make a big fire!

Just
a
few
weeks
later
they threw a party!

All 5 of them!

Mom's shirt explains...

Their adorable house was FILLED with loving friends, happy to warm their new home!

Around the House

While we were in Gatlinburg, I wanted to get Luke a sled (they are in abundance at that Walmart, and you can't find them anywhere around here), but we didn't have any room. In case you don't know, I don't travel lightly~ especially to a cabin. We managed to squeeze in the Fridge Phonics Alphabet Set which has proved to bring hours of fun!

Luke needed a kitchen drawer of his own, somewhere he could play without having to hear "close that" or "no touch". I found a cute spoon and spatula in Gatlinburg and some things we never used to help fill it up.

You can often find Luke in his room looking through his books and trying to get his "special" toys out of the drawer before I catch him :0)

This video shows the first time that Luke "helped" to give Jasie a little taste of his food. Yum Yum!

The Smokies

For about the last 5 or 6 years we have rented a cabin in Gatlinburg with several friends from Tech over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. This year Matt and I went up a couple of days early and stayed at The Inn at Christmas Place. Besides not being up to my standards of clean, it did not disappoint.

Here's some of the things that made this place so fun:
After dinner one night, we arrived just in time for the last play of the bells. I was soooo excited!

This is PANCAKE PANTRY! The place where you normally have to wait an hour to get a seat....what a difference a weekday makes.

The Village by the Pancake Pantry is one of my favorite places to shop!

Check out the Christian book store that still has cassette TAPES!

Snazzy.

Clingman's Dome was closed, but we had fun site seeing on the way up.

We finished the weekend with lots of games, laughing, and fun with friends!

What's Going On With My Bathtub?

Luke enjoyed his first bubble bath!

Rocking Rory

This was Luke's first official time to rock.

Pearly Whites

Luke had his first dentist visit at 10 months old because we noticed black stuff on the back of all 4 of his bottom teeth. Wild About Smiles was HIGHLY recommended & they didn't disappoint. Everyone was so sweet! They started the visit off with a picture and a monkey to take home. Thankfully he didn't have decay, but just staining from his vitamin which was "easily" scraped off. He was such a brave boy he got to pick a toy afterwards. Thankfully Grammie was able to come along to document the day!