New Office Help

This is Kathryn's new game...as soon as she hears the printer whirring, she jumps up to give Nick the paper. It's so funny!

5 Months...Already?!

Not sure where this month has gone. And this pregnancy is flying by for me!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Last weekend we went with Joe and Jeanie to get some pumpkins in celebration of Fall being upon us. This year there were actually pumpkins that were grown, unlike last year, when they scattered imported pumpkins on the field because of the drought. We ordered a pizza and headed off to Hodges Dairy Farm, a family owned business that's fun for the kids. Lots of animals, lots of pumpkins, a corn maze, and hay rides (although we missed the last one). I've been meaning to write about how much I love Fall, but time seems to be more scarce these days with trying to squeeze in naps when I can. This little outing reminded me of how much I like Fall. I have loved the cooler weather, pulling out jeans to wear, lighting my Mulled Cider candle, making apple butter and applesauce, putting up Fall decorations, drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes (mmmm...), sleeping under the covers all night, going for walks, planting mums and pansies in my garden, the list goes on. What HAS caught me off guard, though, is how much Christmas stuff is in stores already! And this is coming from the girl who usually pulls out my Christmas music October 1. I think I'm enjoying Fall a little too much to wish it away to Christmastime this year...

Snuggling with Daddy

"This looks like a comfy place to rest my weary legs..."

"Heavy" is the new word recently

Best Buds

Trip to the Mountains

It's hard to believe it's almost been a week since we got back from our trip to the mountains! So finally, here are some pictures. We stayed for 5 days at the McCoy's cabin near Brevard, and once again we had a wonderful time. This year we met up with Matthew and Aliza Williams, good friends from Pastors College who live in Virginia. They were a wonderful couple to vacation with! They even inspired us to go hiking, which we didn't do last year, and we saw some pretty awesome waterfalls (pictures below).

Here's a picture of our first hike to Paradise Falls, which was a 9 out of 10 for difficulty (oops, we now know that means NOT baby-friendly). We thought we could do it, but poor Kathryn kept getting hit in the face by little branches, since the path was hardly a path at all. It was really a step above bush-wacking. And after getting bonked on the head by a fallen tree (miscalculated clearance), she was a bit traumatized. About .2 miles from the bottom of the falls, we decided she had had enough, especially when the way forward involved a steep drop, weaving in and out of fallen trees. So kiddo and I stayed up on this little ledge while Nick, Matthew, and Aliza hiked to the bottom. Here's a shot of the three of us, just before heading back up, while telling Kathryn to be "brave and cheerful" on the hike back. She actually did much better on the way back, thankfully.

Here's the ledge where we waited for the others.

Riding the 4-wheeler with Nick driving...a much more efficient way to explore the wide trails around the cabin!

Looking for the "woof woof" that kept coming up to the cabin. Kathryn could hear him barking, so she took off (without shoes) on the gravel, determined to find it.

Upper Waterfall on Sols Creek- we didn't see anyone else during this short hike, which was fun. It was like having a private waterfall.

The view on the way back from Sols Creek...simply beautiful.

Schoolhouse Falls- this was cool because you can get behind the falls and walk around

Warden Falls

Greenland Falls- a great one to do with kathryn. The trail was very interesting and pretty wide.

Another shot of Greenland Falls- if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see Nick in an orange shirt at the top.
This was an unnamed rapids on the way to Carlton Falls from Greenland Falls. The hike to Carlton was a 9 out of 10, so Nick stayed back with Kathryn at the bottom of Greenland Falls while the rest of us hiked to Carlton. On the way, though, was this beautiful scene.

Worn out from a day of hiking...I couldn't believe Kathryn fell asleep in the backpack!