The Elusive Bear

Ever since we have moved to NC we have wanted to see a bear.  People come up here to hunt all the time for them, and supposedly some good hunting is on the mountain right behind our house.  Several times I have seen hunting dogs roaming in our yard and the field next door.  However we haven't seen any since we moved here.  We have been to the national park more times than I can count and still nothing.  Well of course as soon as we got word that we were moving back we struck gold.  On a spur of the moment trip to Cades Cove we saw not 1 but 3 bears!  It was really cool and a great way to say goodbye to the park.  Below are some pictures we snapped that day.  Enjoy!

 The bear is the black dot by the tree right in front of Levi.

 The bear is in the bottom right corner.

 This was just a beautiful view from the day.  

Operation Christmas Child

Christmas is supposed to be a season of giving.  A season to remember and celebrate the One who gave it all for us.  Jesus.  I love the Christmas season.  The way it transforms our society and causes us to think outside ourselves for a moment in time.  I really want to teach my children to give and cultivate a spirit of giving in each of them.  We do that in small ways throughout the year and really try to focus on it at Christmas.  Our church participates in Operation Christmas Child and so we had the opportunity to give through another avenue this year.  The church has been collecting items for weeks (toys, school supplies, toiletries  etc.).  We had a big wrapping party on Wednesday night to prepare the boxes with all the collected items.  Our kids made boxes for kids just like them.  They went around and picked out the crayons and toys they would like and then prepared the present.  The best part was filling out an info sheet to include in our boxes.  We were able to tell about ourselves and draw pictures of what we look like and where we live.  The kids got really into it and were excited to make the presents for other kids.  On the way home Levi was longing for a Cars bath set he had put in his box and it gave us the opportunity to share with him how much we've been blessed by God to live in America and have all the wonderful things we have that so many others long for and need each day.  I'm hoping this is only the beginning of our giving this year.  

 Showing off her completed box.

 Drawing a picture of himself to send with his box.

 Putting the finishing touches on box #2.

*I know we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet, and I'm not in the habit of pushing Christmas before Thanksgiving, but Operation Christmas Child is the perfect time to remember all of our many blessing from above.  Therefore Happy Thanksgiving and may our hearts of thanks be prepared for the joy of Christmas to come!

There's No Place Like Home

We received official notice yesterday that we would be returning to GA at the end of the year.  While we have mixed feelings about the move we are excited to get back to our home as well as our family and friends.  We should be there by Dec. 31st, but may try to move back before Christmas.  Just last week Aaron & I were praying that God would give us some answers for how long we would be in NC.  We were both expecting to be here for several more months, so the news was a little surprising.  I hesitated to even post because I don't really believe it just yet.  However, God is good and gave us answers where we were asking.  He is faithful!!  While we don't know how long we will be in GA, we are going to be back for the foreseeable future, but something tells me our adventures are just beginning.

We will definitely miss NC and all it has offered us over that last 8 months.  Here is just a few things we will be sad to say good-bye to:

• Great Smokey Mountain National Park.
• Cataloochee and the elk.
• East LaPorte park (across the street)
• Webster Baptist Church.  Small group and friends.
• Blue Ridge Parkway
• NOC
• The mountains.  I'll definitely miss the mountain beauty each and every day.
• Family Saturday adventures.
• The gym and park being 5 minutes away.
• Wal-Mart being 10 minutes away.
• Aaron's job being close by and eating lunch with him everyday.
• All the punch bugs.
• Catamount Gap

What we are looking forward to in GA:

• Babysitters!!!
• Family!!!
• Friends!!!
• A house with normal size shower and lots of closet space.
• BSF
• Grandparents!!!
• TV so we can actually watch football.
• Being able to decorate, paint, hang pictures, etc.  

We'll see you all soon!  

Every Life is Beautiful

Aaron & I are huge advocates for LIFE.  We have been blessed beyond measure with our two children.  I seriously couldn't imagine my LIFE without them.  Getting pregnant does not come easy to us, and we have had to say good-bye to two children through miscarriage.  The grief and heartbreak of such a loss is more than I can put into words.  These experiences, both the joy and sorrow, have led us to realize that every LIFE is beautiful.  Through this realization our hearts have been opened to giving LIFE to those who need it, so we are planning to adopt within the next few years.

We have made a commitment to stand up for LIFE in every opportunity that comes our way.  The recently release move October Baby deals with the issues of abortion, adoption, LIFE, and the gift of forgiveness.  From its website this is what is said about the movie;  "With its powerful, compelling story of a young woman who was adopted by loving parents after a failed abortion attempt, OCTOBER BABY will remind moviegoers that every life is beautiful. As it does, the movie will open eyes and hearts to the sanctity of life."  We just viewed the movie last week and it was amazing!  I definitely recommend that you watch it.  Part of the movie's agenda is the Every LIFE is Beautiful campaign.  There are stories of abortion survivors, the beauty of adoption, children with disabilities, healing after an abortion, LIFE, and death.  Each video is just 1-3 minutes and is so worth your time.  You will be blessed I promise!  Please check it out here at everylifeisbeautiful.com.  If you'd like more information about the movie as well there is a link to it from the website.  Please join me in standing up for LIFE and showing others that every LIFE is beautiful.

An 'Incredible' Halloween

This past weekend we attended our church's fall festival.  Levi has been obsessed with The Incredibles, so a costume idea wasn't too hard to conceive.  Levi loves to run.  It is literally his favorite thing to do which is why he makes the perfect Dash.  Naomi went as Jack Jack and Violet was with us too, but she just insisted on being invisible in all the pictures.  We couldn't let the kids have all the fun though.  Hope you all have a Happy Halloween and the beginning of a wonderful holiday season!

Changing Colors

 Living the the mountains has had its perks, but the changing of the leaves has been one of the best.  The leaves have been absolutely beautiful in all shades of red, green, yellow, orange, and brown.  While we have had a pretty good view of them from our home and town, we've taken a few drives on the parkway and through the park to enjoy them a little more.  My pictures do no justice to the beauty we've been seeing.

While driving the parkway we hiked up Devil's Courthouse.  The hike was quite steep, but we all made it!  The view was beautiful when we reached the top!

 Devil's Courthouse from the bottom.

 We also hiked up to Clingman's Dome in the GSM Nat'l Park.  The kids loved all the rocks along the pathway.  It was overcast and cloudy that day so we didn't have a great view from the top, but it was fun anyway.

 One more trip to Cataloochee proved to be awesome as always.  We saw several elk, lots of full grown bulls, and a few young bulls.  The highlight this visit was two young bulls sparring.

Good-bye Summer

A few weeks ago we went with Aaron's parents to Panama City during their fall break.  This kids absolutely LOVED it!  We spent the majority of the time at the beach and pool.  Levi & Naomi are both getting really good and swimming.  My kids definitely love the water.  The weather was wonderful.  High 80's and the water was even warm.  We  swam, flew kites, chased birds, built sand castles, caught crabs and fish, and even kayaked!  We are already looking forward to next summer and our next trip