Cades Cove and Other Stuff

Well, I'll start out with the other stuff.  I wanted to share a picture of the irises in my front yard. 

 I love purple irises, and we have about 36 buds.  Too bad they don't all bloom at once.  I guess it's okay, though.  This way they last a little longer. 

My yard has a lot to be desired actually.  We live on the top of a quite steep hill (ask Maria who refuses to drive up my driveway.).  If we used weed killer, it would be a mud slide.  We were finally able last year to plant a few shrubs in front of the house.  The flower garden is about the only nice place in it.  We're working on it, though.

Tomorrow is Daniella's 4th Gotcha Day.  It will be 4 years since we were finally able to hold our sweet little girl.  We had a long and agonizing wait (1 year) to be able to go to Guatemala to get her.  When they got to the hotel with her, I almost fell down on those slippery marble floors trying to get to her! 

A couple of weeks ago, we headed out to Cades Cove, which is about an hour trip from our house. 

It started out pretty overcast, but turned into a beautiful day.  We had a late picnic lunch first, then started around the loop.  The girls sat in the back of the SUV with the hatch open.  They had a blast.  They were riding backwards, so every time we'd go over a hill, we'd hear laughter, and "Weeeee." 

We stopped in one of the old cemeteries, which is the first time since Ashley and Briana were very young.  It is so fascinating and sad, too.  You see all of these tombstones of babies, some less than a day old.  And, you see where a mother had to bury baby after baby.  It gives a good opportunity to talk as you go about all of the hardships these settlers faced. 

We stopped to let them wade in the river, and it being so warm out, I forgot that it was still March and these rivers are freezing in the summertime, much less when the snow has just melted.  Most of the feet didn't stay in too long!  Daniella was the only one who could have cared less.  I had to make her get out so she wouldn't get frostbite.

Ashley and Marissa

Daniella

On the way home, we took a different route down Little River Road and stopped at The Sinks. 

Can you believe we have lived here 16 years,and my little ones have never been there, and my older girls have no memory of it?  We used to go much more when they were little, but we let busyness get in the way of going to the mountains very much.  We aim to change that. 

This is a very long post, I know.  I've got to try to get in here and post a little more often.  I hope everyone has a very blessed Easter. Briana will be singing with our choir this Sunday morning, and we are looking forward to that.