Twenty-One!

Twenty-One Candles!!!

Today (the 27th), our oldest daughter, Ashley, turns 21 !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Ashley is such a joy and great daughter, with a gentle and quiet spirit.  She has such a servant's heart, and wants to do nothing but have a life pleasing to the Lord.  Since she was in 1st grade, she has felt a calling to missions or ministry of some kind.  That has never wavered, and she is preparing herself through school and her growing relationship with the Lord, waiting for the area God will call her to, whether it's full time ministry, volunteering, counseling, or through her writing. 

Ashley is always there willing to help me out, whether with things in the house, helping me with the little girls, or running errands.  She is my friend.  I frequently ask her input and opinions on things.  She is fun-loving, funny, helpful, sincere, mature, hardworking, devoted, and passionate.  I love to spend time with her. 

Other than mission work and writing, she also dreams of traveling to far off lands (she'll have to wait for a husband that dreams of far off lands!!), having a family, and possibly adopting. 

If you are interested in reading Ashley's exciting entrance into this world, you can click HERE.  There are also several of her baby and growing up pictures there. 

Here is a video that I will probably get in trouble for, but you've just got to hear this southern accent, and see my little cutie.  She was 2 1/2 in this video.  </center>

You can stop by her blog and wish her happy birthday.

Mother/Daughter Getaway

Marissa and I got back yesterday from our mother/daughter getaway to Gatlinburg.  This is only about 30 min. from our house, but is a different world.  For those not familiar with Gatlinburg, it is a tourist town---many would say trap!--nestled literally at the foot of the Smoky Mountains.  You drive straight out of the town right into the National Park.  Most of the town is along one main parkway, and you park and walk everywhere you go.  This is a picture Marissa took of a section of the parkway.
We had such a GREAT time.  It was really special spending that time alone with her.  Also, as you can see, it was not crowded at all.  She was the only school age child in the whole town, and there were only a few babies and toddlers.  In about 3 weeks, you won't be able to budge on that sidewalk for several weeks!  The weather was perfect--a little cool at night, but beautiful. 
  We got there Sunday afternoon around 4:30.  This was the view from our balcony just after sunrise the next morning. 

After getting settled in the room, we hit the parkway window shopping, mostly.  I bought her and Daniella new outfits for their Wacky Bears (like Build-a-Bear), and she bought herself a couple of things.  We had a nice dinner, and just strolled around. On Monday, we went to a couple of stores and played 2 games of putt-putt, with a break for ice cream in between! 

This is a neat putt-putt.  It's up on the side of a "mountain", overlooking the town.  It's super shady and pretty, and also has markers at each hole telling about the history of Gatlinburg, the National Park, and the settlers of the area.  Marissa loves history, so she read every one. 
Lunch at Quiznos

Some of the fall decorations

We liked the window full of striped candy.  It was cool looking.

  After our late lunch, we went back to the hotel and rested for about an hour, then hit the indoor pool.  We ordered pizza in the room for supper while we showered and got ready to go back out.
  We decided to ride the sky lift, and were surprised we knew the lady working that night.  She gave us comp tickets, so we got to ride for free.  Marissa had never been up the Sky Lift before, and she loved it.  We like seeing all the lights at night. 
Marissa at the top of the Sky Lift


Afterwards, we walked around until the shops closed at 10:00. 
Tuesday morning, we walked up the parkway for breakfast, then packed up.  We drove just a few minutes to the Sugarlands Visitor Center for the National Park, and went to the nature museum.  This has taxidermy animals native to the park, along with native plants. 
Black Bear

 We also browsed the bookstore.  I got Marissa an If You Lived With the Cherokee book and a Step Into Reading book ---The Trail of Tears. 
And our last stop was driving a few more minutes to the river, where we sat and enjoyed the quietness for a few minutes.  We would have enjoyed that longer, but Marissa had reached "worn out" by that point.

I am so glad we took the time for this trip.  We built forever memories, and it was special to spend it with her. 
(The only things I didn't mention were the Cinnamon Melts, the caramel apple with nuts, and the chocolate fudge!)

County Fair

First of all, I'd like to thank Carol for giving me this sweet award.  I appreciate my blogging friends SO much (especially those of you who leave comments. HAHA!! ----Umm, Annemarie.)  Really, I have met so many nice people here, and learned so many great things. 

I also want to mention really quickly that Marissa and I are going to Gatlinburg next Sunday, and spending 2 nights.  We'll walk the parkway window shopping, play putt-putt, swim in the indoor pool, eat too much junk, and have a nice mother/daughter weekend.  I took both of my older girls the fall they each turned ten, and Marissa has been counting the days.  The older ones and I have also rented a cabin a few times over the years, and had our own little retreats.  I'm really looking forward to this weekend with Marissa. 
Last week we went to the county fair.  This is the first time we've been in about 6 or 7 years.  Actually, it's only about the 4th time we've been since we moved here 17 years ago.  When I was growing up, the fair was one thing you didn't miss.  We have lots of fun memories from our childhoods at the fair.  We had a fun night.  I tackled one too many rides myself, though.  I should have stayed off the Himalaya.  Oh, my!  I was so sore the next day, I could barely walk.  Briana and I both had bruised backbones.  However, I rode The Roundup, and that was so FUN.  That was my favorite ride as a teen.  Briana rode it with me, too.  It was the first time she'd ever ridden it, and we had fun giggling together!  : ) 
This is a photo I found off the internet.  If you've never seen this ride before, it goes up almost completely vertical, and it spins really fast! 
James, Ashley, and Marissa entered some photos in the fair this year, and Marissa also entered 2 pictures she created. 
This is Marissa's watercolor, which placed 2nd.  It doesn't show up as well in the picture, but it is so bright and colorful, I had already framed it and had it hanging in the hall outside the kitchen.

This is her dolphin/sunset drawing that placed 3rd. 
Ashley placed 3rd with this photo.


James placed first with this photo.  (I think they were in 2 different catagories.)

Here are a few more shots from our night at the fair.

 I'm not sure what was so funny on those motorcycles above!

They had a blast on the Fun Slide.  They rode it over and over and over.
Look at their faces in this next picture.

Letitia