Tennessee

We took a little trip to the Smoky Mountains this past weekend with our good friends the Watkins. We rented a big cabin on the Tennessee side near Pigeon Forge, and it was a blast!! We really enjoyed just hanging out at the cabin and went and took a hike one day in the Smoky Mountain National Park to see a waterfall. Apparently it was only a 2 mile "easy" hike to get to this waterfall, but it seemed a lot longer and harder than was portrayed. Oh well, we got a chance to take a break for photos and play with the kids every now and then. The weather was pretty cold, but it was beautiful in the park. We really enjoyed the cabin and hanging out with our good friends..it was a nice family getaway!!

Elizabeth with her friend Noah!

We thought this sign was pretty funny!!

Up the hill we go...

We took a break at a small waterfall so the kids could play in the water.

But, this is pretty much how the rest of the hike went...holding Elizabeth all the way!

And holding Elizabeth again!

When we finally made it to the waterfall we all needed to have a snack and refuel for the hike back down. I love this picture...you can see Christina having fun in the background :)

The Watkins: Katelyn, Christina, Noah, and Josh

Me and Tina at the waterall!

Nathan, Elizabeth and Kathy

View from our cabin

The last day we thought it would be fun to go eat pancakes on the way out of town because they have Pancake Houses everywhere...but it is pretty obvious how Elizabeth felt about the idea. Honestly, it was a good stop and Elizabeth just threw her fit after we had breakfast, thankfully!

On the way home we relied on our GPS to take us home the fastest way, but we ended up going the LONG way through the park!! And, on very windy roads!! We were just thankful the Watkins' survived and are still talking to us :)

Oh and I have to mention the dirt road we decided to take instead of going all the way back because we thought we were almost to the interstate!! Luckily, we made it to I40 shortly after this, but it was an adventure for sure!

And, we got to see this beautiful river!! The Smoky Mountain National Park is so beautiful and I would highly recommend a trip here!

Daddy's HOME!

Well, it was a long week in Charleston! Elizabeth and I returned to Charleston last Sunday to get ready for Daddy's return home! We have been cleaning house, grocery shopping and getting things ready for Daddy to come home! I have been very careful about telling Elizabeth when we were going to see Daddy because I was afraid of how she would react. Well, on Friday night I put her to bed and told her that she would see Daddy tomorrow. That was not the best idea...she did not sleep well at all!!!!! I think she was way too excited to think about anything else!!! We got the news late on Friday night that Nathan was landing earlier than expected, so of course I was thrilled and realized how much I had to get done before morning. Everything worked out great, and the guys made it back early and we were all able to have lunch together as a family :) The video below is a perfect representation of Elizabeth's emotions ALL day!! She was so giddy as soon as we made it to the ramp, and could not contain herself until I gave her the green light to RUN to Daddy...I had NO idea how fast she would really run and almost knock him over...it was amazing and brought so much joy to my heart to see what it meant to him! We are so happy to have Nathan home and be looking for a new post soon with pictures from Nathan and his deployment...he has so many stories and experiences to share. Enjoy the pictures and thank you ALL for your thoughts and prayers for the last 4 months!

Waiting in the terminal for the guys to land!
Everyone got escorted to the ramp for when the airplane landed!
Elizabeth really liked waving her flag for Daddy...she kept asking "where is Daddy?"!!

Oh wait...there is Daddy!
Look how excited she was to see the airplane and wait for Daddy to get off!!!
There he is....getting off the airplane!

Words can not even express the joy I felt when I saw Elizabeth run to him and give him the biggest hug ever!!!

The family is back together again!

Seriously, Elizabeth did not leave his side ALL day!!

Elizabeth just wanted to hug and kiss Nathan the whole time...notice Nathan's Global Eagle patch which is his squadron patch.

Finally made it back to the house after a long morning, but so glad to have the family back together!!!