Happy Thanksgiving!

We've had a wonderful day. We were able to get together with Matt's family and have a huge meal. I don't think we barely put a dent in all the food. We were thankful to have Matt's parents with us this year as they were going through radiation in Houston this time last year. We are blessed for Jean to be 1 year past treatment, and we are looking forward to many more years with her!

We had a nice get away last weekend in Pigeon Forge. We had a little snow, but the weather was still beautiful. The boys got to swim at the indoor pool and were very excited for that. Matt and I got to do a little shopping while Mom and Steve kept the boys. They were also in Pigeon Forge that weekend for a square dance, the Turkey Trot. We took a drive over to Cade's Cove (a former pioneer area) and let the boys run around. They even got to see the elk that wander freely.

Count your blessings and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Good luck with the Black Friday shopping, if you try it!

Geocaching

We bought a GPS for father's day, and we have enjoyed using it on our travels (noticed I said "we", even though it was for father's day?). Matt says that he needs to buy one for himself now that I have taken over "his" GPS.

Anyway, we decided to try out geocaching. If you've never heard of it, it's like a treasure hunt using coordinates on the GPS. You go to the geocaching website and put in your address. It searches for caches around your area. These are small boxes that have been placed in secret locations. The boxes contain a log and a few trinkets. You pick the cache you want to find, plug in the coordiantes, find the box, autograph the log, and trade a trinket. We picked three to find.

Unfortunately, the first two were on government land, and they were sponsoring a "women's only" deer hunt. So, with guns in the area, we decided not to find those. We were able to work on another one, called a "multi-site" cache. It was actually several coordinates with each one giving the clue for the next. There were about five stops all within walking distance of each other using dates and numbers from local historical markers to solve the clue for the next. The final stop was a little more complicated as it was in the woods. It didn't help that I used the coordinates for the parking location instead of the coordinates for the cache. We were walking around the parking lot for about 15 minutes until I realized, oops! So, we found the box, signed the log and traded out a hot wheels car for a plastic eagle that balances on your finger.

October

Hey, what just happened?

October has come and gone like most of my recent months. We have been enjoying the weather, crazy as it has been. It was warm in the 70s today, but last week we had snow flurries in the morning. Sounds like Colorado!

We have been trying to fit in all the usual October activities. We carved a pumpkin...Star Wars style. We tried to roast the pumpkin seeds, but the boys weren't crazy about them. They loved the pumpkin guts though.We took the Youth group to see Judgment House at the local church. They said that they had over 1000 people come through during the run. It's a walk through drama with an eternal message. It was great, and I know the folks running it must be exhausted, 5 late nights in a row. We enjoyed two fall festivals and a pumpkin party at the boys' preschool. Yum, cotton candy!


Joshua had his end of the season football banquet. The boys were able to get together and visit one last time. I was surprised the other day when Joshua said that he would play football again, if he could play with all the same team mates. So, despite only winning one game, the friendships he gained meant more to him. I was pleased to hear him say it, but it's back to soccer come spring. :-)

We dressed up the boys Friday evening and set out in search of candy. It was supposed to be a quick thing...Mimi's, Nana and Papa's, Chris', and Grandma's. Well, it turned into more of night than I had planned. Mimi wanted us to go to her friend's house, then Grandma's neighbor wanted us to come over, and her other neighbor times 3. No longer do people give one piece of candy each, it's more like a ziploc bag full of candy for each child! We have so much candy that I think I need to donate some of it. Luke keeps climbing up on the counter and helping himself!

Here are my little heroes...