Christmas Photos

Every year we have an ornament made with the boys picture on it.

We've done this since they were little.

It's cool to put all of those ornaments on the tree and watch them grow up.

Admittedly, they've grown too fast.

It's hard to believe we're halfway through Nolan's senior year.

We just ordered his cap and gown!

Back to the photos...

Sometimes we bring Pepper in to try to get a photo with her too.

She wasn't too cooperative.

This is the best we got.

Our silly dog just wanted to lay down and be pet.

She's not spoiled in the least. 

Some of the silly pics...

You have to let them do "silly" so you can get the "serious" photos.

Then there's the giggling and tree poking...

More giggling.

I found the portrait selection on my phone's camera and finally got a better shot.

Someday I'm going to get an honest to goodness real camera.

Then I'll really let my inner photo bug out!

This is the latest we've ever put up our tree.

We normally do it the Friday after Thanksgiving.

I had just finished my three months of shop training and was pretty tired that weekend.

Those ten hour days wiped me out!

I'm so thankful to be back in the office with regular hours.

This year I remembered to try my gum wrapper chain as the garland for the tree.

It makes a unique garland!

Vacation Part 8 - Anakeesta

By far, our favorite place in Gatlinburg is a new venue called Anakeesta.

It's a site on a mountain top with breathtaking views.

They have restaurants, playgrounds, trails, rides, a fire pit, and lots more.

The only way I was willing to go up was in one of the cars and not the ski lift chairs.

They have several but you do have to wait a few minutes.

It's the red box among the lift chairs.

Worth the wait in my opinion.

This panoramic photo was taking from the deck of the restaurant at the top.

It was so peaceful and quiet.

There's really no good way to describe Anakeesta.

It's not a flashy place that's settled far above the hustle and bustle of downtown.

They have benches in several places that face the mountains.

P e r f e c t !

This area is now a road for their military style trucks.

These trucks are another option for ascending/descending the mountain that was done after our visit.

I think I'll like that option better than the ski lift.

:)

This is in the picnic table area.

There were large yard games for families to enjoy.

Sometimes the mayhem before the actual picture tells more...

Thanks Dan for taking these!

Still trying to get our act together.

Oh look, we did it!

There was this beautiful garden with a waterfall.

So pretty.

Designated scenic selfie spot.

One of the coolest things there is the tree canopy walk.

In most of the pictures you will see barren trees.

You can still see charring on some of them from the 2016 fire.

They have a special tribute regarding the fire.

It's the Memorial Forest Walk. I didn't take any pictures.

It gives the history and stats of the fire.

There are also tributes to those who fought the fire and

those who were greatly affected by the tragedy.

More charring.

You can barely see the wires, but the zip lines run through the trees.

We may just try that next time!

The rest of the gang waiting for us.

Good thing there was an ample supply of rocking chairs!

The brochure for Anakeesta says, "discover the magic in the mountains".

I think they nailed it.

We definitely plan on going there again.

25th Anniversary

We celebrated our 25th anniversary on October 15th.

Ok, we celebrated it the Friday before because life was happening during the week.

We enjoyed our day together just hanging out.

Vacation Part 7 - Gatlinburg

While on vacation we went to Gatlinburg several times.

We went to the free concert area.

I can't remember what it's called.

It's cool whatever it is.

:)

The boys were not with us last year when we visited this.

We made sure they got to see it this year.

We think they liked it.

I love that you can see the mountains from this spot.

The stage.

The cool exterior of one of the Ripley's venues.

It has so much detail it's hard to catch all of it in one viewing.

So are awesome friends/hosts like to picnic in the creek... or wherever there is a nice spot.

We love this.

This creek is in downtown Gatlinburg.

I'd much rather sit here than in some fancy restaurant.

It's such a great place for a picnic!

I hate selfies but at least I got a semi-decent picture!

Just beautiful!

The not-so-good-selfie picture.

This is why we make Nolan take them.

You never know what kind of wildlife you will see while in Gatlinburg.

I found this cool quilt in the visitor's center.

The blocks at the top and bottom are called log cabin blocks.

It's kind of ironic since there's a log cabin in the center.

The detail in this quilt is quite impressive.

We even met up with Uncle Gary and Aunt Janie while in Gatlinburg.