What an amazing vacation! I always forget just how much I miss the mountains, tall trees, lush foliage and that autumn smell of fallen leaves and dewy wet grass in the morning. I loved it that Lucas could explore without running into a pile of fire ants or prickly pear cactus. We spent our first few days lounging around the cabin we rented with the Hortons in Townsend, TN- just minutes from the entrance to Smokey Mountain National Park. We had a wood burning stove (it was chilly there!), an outdoor hot tub on a patio, a wrap around porch with rocking chairs, and access to several cool hiking trails with waterfalls. It was great catching up with Karen and Matt and in classic best-friends style, picking up where we left off since we last saw each other. :) Lucas rode a pony for the first time, admired the cabin-owners' lawn mower collection, and visited with their goats and sheep. After 2 days there, we headed up to Knoxville to see the Yoders. Lucas and Gabby got along really well. It was so fun to see them having a tea party together, running amok through the house chasing after eachother, and singing and dancing to music while both wearing a pair of Gabby's plastic princess shoes. Meanwhile, 8 1/2 months pregnant Laila made an amazing home-made lasagna and we had a sit-down meal with placemats and napkins. Definitely impressive. She also treated both Laith and I to a Reiki session which was very relaxing and recharging. Doug was his usual fun, laid-back self and watched the kids while Laith and I had our Reiki sessions. All in all, it was a great getaway and we look forward to returning to our next family reunions over Thanksgiving (VA) and Christmas (AZ)!
My Dad came all the way from Guam (2 days of travel!) to stay with us for 5 days and enjoy the beautiful late October weather. It was a wonderful and relaxing visit with lots of dessert-eating :) and lots of playtime. We all enjoyed Dad's easy-going company and all the groceries he bought (thank you!) Lucas would ask about "gan-dad" whenever he left the house and he also got entry to Lucas' favorite song where he sings hello to Ravyn, Sufyan and whatever he happens to be playing with at the time (what about hello to mommy and daddy, Lucas?) :) We look forward to seeing Janice next visit and we're already planning the things we want to do when they're both here in March! Thanks for staying with us, Dad- enjoy the pictures!
