Picnic in the Mountains

A couple of weekends ago we headed up to Asheville for a picnic with some friends. It was rainy and cool in the morning but it cleared up and turned out to be a beautiful fall day. After our picnic near Davidson River, we headed up to the Fish Hatchery and let the kids feed the fish and then continued on up to Looking Glass Falls. The fall colors were gorgeous and we had a great time visiting with friends.

Getting his first glimpse of the waterfallLooking Glass Falls

Tuckered out after a long day without a nap

Gatlinburg Weekend

On October 16 we headed up to Gatlinburg for a long weekend with the Colburn family. The weather was a little rainy but it had started turning cooler so it really made it feel like fall. On Thursday we took Tyler to ride some kiddie rides in Pigeon Forge. He went on his first go cart ride with Grampy which I think scared him a little. He loved riding the carousel with Grammy but I think his favorite were the airplanes. He is definitely his daddy's little boy! Tyler had a wonderful weekend despite a fall that left his face a bit scraped up. He loved spending so much time with his cousin Elle and friends Kylie and Bailey Root. As you can see in some of the pictures below, Tyler and Kylie couldn't get enough of each other!

Having fun at breakfast with Elle

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a real black bear on Saturday night. We were driving out of the parking lot from dinner with Ryan, Jen, Jeff, Tach and the kids and someone spotted a black bear having his own dinner in the dumpster a few feet away from our car. We stopped the car and watched him for 5-10 minutes until he was finished and walked back up through the parking lot and sidewalk where we had just been - definitely exciting and a little bit scary to think we could have run into him just a few minutes before! The pictures below are a little blurry but you can see the image of the bear right in front of the white van and beside the dumpster.

Saying goodbye to Kylie after breakfast at the Pancake Pantry

Garrett's First Birthday

On October 4th we drove up to Asheville for Garrett's 1st birthday. I don't have many pictures to post but I did manage to get a couple shots of him enjoying the cake. I can't believe this little boy is already 1 year old!! Where does the time go? Happy Birthday Garrett!

Pool Party

We had a pool party this year for Tyler's 2nd birthday. We were a little worried about it being too cool but it ended up being a beautiful day and the kids had a blast swimming together. We had a great day and Tyler loved having all his family and friends come to celebrate his 2nd birthday!

Elle and Bailey

Macey and Elle

He actually blew out his own candle this year! Yummy cake and ice cream!
I think Kylie got a little too much blue frosting!

Go Panthers!!
As we were trying to clean up and put all of his presents away before bed, we came in the living room and found him sitting here enjoying several of his gifts at the same time - his new winter vest, the pants that go with his new Panthers outfit, his V-tech computer, and of course, his new Cars couch. I think he is excited about all of his new presents - what do you think???

First Haircut

The day after Tyler's 2nd birthday we headed down to the local barber shop for Tyler's 1st haircut. Yes, you read that right - first haircut at age 2!! Tyler still doesn't have a lot of hair but it definitely needed a trim in the back. It was looking a little too much like a mullet for our liking. As you can see from the pictures, it did not go well at first. But after a cookie and a lollipop things got much better. Thanks Renee for a great haircut!

Celebrating Tyler's 2nd Birthday

We started Tyler's birthday celebration by going to lunch with Uncle Ryan, Aunt Jen, Elle, Grammy, Grampy, Grammy and Papa. After lunch we had to come home for Tyler to nap and so I could finish decorating his birthday cake. Tyler had a big surprise waiting for him when he woke up from his nap - a new playset in the backyard!

When Tyler woke up from his nap, we took him outside to see his new playset. He was so excited! As soon as he saw it, he immediately screamed "swingset" and started running toward it. His favorite thing is definitely the slide. He will climb up the ladder and go down the slide over and over again. Hopefully he will warm up to the swing soon. After playing outside for a little while we came in and had pizza, cake and ice cream and opened a couple presents.

Reading his new Curious George books
Tyler loves his bath crayons and

bedtime book from his cousin Caleb in California

Tyler had a great birthday! He is a very lucky little boy and we are so blessed to have enjoyed the last 2 years with him. We pray for many more birthday celebrations to come.