Christmas 2006 in Gatlinburg

David and I decided to spend a quiet Christmas with just the two of us, so we rented a cabin in Gatlinburg for a few days, packed up the dog and our stockings, and drove up to the Mountains after work.



It ended up being a WONDERFUL idea and the cabin was great...we had a jacuzzi in the living room right in front of the fireplace, a hot tub outside on the deck with a great view, and a pool table upstairs in the loft. Dakota was thrilled to have complete freedom running around the mountain and was happy we hadn't forgotten her stocking...


The weather was gorgeous and we spent some time hiking around Newfound Gap. The views were really great for this time of year--although it was quite a bit colder up here...and David had no jacket.










David proudly showing off the portion of the Appalachain Trail that we hiked. Er, okay we hiked some of it. Alright, we really only walked long enough to get a picture of this sign. It was COLD, okay?










I actually managed to get David on ice skates--he promised he would skate if there were at least five other grown men on the rink. He was appalled to see so many guys out there skating, but took his loss like a man and laced up. David and this little guy in the picture had a quite a show down as they were going in opposite directions and neither one would let go of the bar long enough to navigate around the other. Not that David was holding on the whole time...there were the times he was sitting on his rear on the ice (=



We spent a day at Cades Cove and went for a hike...












There are always a lot of deer (like this one) and sometimes black bears in the Cove. Although we didn't see any bears on this day, we did see an elk. They've just been recently released back into the park. Sadly, I only got one picture of an elk buck with a great rack, but he was already disappearing back into the trees when I snapped the picture.













Kim and David at Cades Cove....................Dakota wearing her holiday finery


We were lucky to have this kind of weather while we were there--except on our last night when it rained and sleeted a bit. But even the sound of the rain on the tin roof of the cabin was incredibly therapeutic.

Pap's 80th Birthday photos

Pap and Betty, Patty, Margie, Kim and David, Tracy and Darrell, Michael and Brandi, Curt (and Eliza) and Lois (Kaitlyn was outside playing).

Pappap's 80th Birthday

On St. Patrick's Day, Kim's grandfather, Jack Roof, turned 80 years old!! We had a surprise party for him and he was thrilled that his daughters flew in from Pittsburgh to be there with him. Coming soon will be photos from the big day...

Kim and Demelza's daughter, Lauren. It's like hanging out with Demelza as a kid!! She is definitely Demelza's "mini-me".

Kim, Demelza, and Lauren.

Christa's Wedding

On Easter weekend, I went to Thomasville, GA to see my friend Christa from high school get married. It was a beautiful wedding and it was wonderful to spend the weekend with Christa and Demelza (another high school friend).

Is...it...midnight...yet?

Crazy kids are excited for the New Year.

Hanson and Elizabeth Tipton--hey, where's your jammies?

Jeff Warkins and Christie Sandstrom...in their fashionable pjs.

The Roskinds, the McKellars, and the Wrights...

For New Year's Eve 2005, we spent the evening at the Roskind's--for a pajama party! It was a lot of fun, for the adults and the kids.

Mom and Dad Wright were able to join us from Lexington, Tennessee to celebrate Tracy and Darrell's wedding. We like to call them Fred and Ginger!

The Roof family and the Land family had a good time getting to know each other...

On September 3, 2005, my sister Tracy and her husband Darrell were married. They had a beautiful wedding where Darrell's daughter, Kaytria, was the gorgeous flower girl.

First Edition

David and I (okay, well I) decided to start a blog to post pictures, give our take on random events in our lives, and to provide a forum for fast updates on what's been going on in our world lately. Hopefully, we will occasionally have something interesting to say! If not, well, it's the easiest way that I can think of to scrap book without all the gluing and pasting...

I am definitely learning as I go--and right now, I have no idea how to post pictures on this site. But I am going to make the attempt, so if you see pictures on this site below this post (or above, for that matter) then you'll know that I have succeeded. If not, I will likely be frustrated and this may be the first and last post ever!