Thanksgiving Festivities - Gatlinburg

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving the kids had feasts at school. Aaron's class sang a few songs before eating.

I'm not a fan of the craziness of this day. Great food but way too many people. Hopefully it's memorable for the kids.

Now for the REAL fun! Wednesday we traveled to Gatlinburg to meet family and celebrate together.

The magnificent view from the cabin. Surprised the leaves still had their color so late in the season.

Most evenings we played games.

Thanksgiving morning Josh and I hiked Bullhead trail. The Chimney Top trail we had planned to hike was closed due to the start of wild fires.

Besides so much natural beauty, we were so blessed to see a BEAR!!! We watched him for as long as we wanted and got some video too. So neat that it was just Josh and I in the woods alone with a bear.

We made it home in time for the Thanksgiving feast. Looks the part but was so easy to put together. Thank you Costco!

The kids took advantage of the hot tub.

Later in the evening we headed to Ober Gatlinburg to try snow tubing.

Looks fun but the waiting and straight short route made it boring. Again hoping the kids enjoyed it.

Next day we took the older kids on Porter Creek Trail.

The waterfall was dried up due to the lack of rain but still a beautiful trail.

We may have pushed the kids too far because by the end Addy was complaining about everything.

Jackson loves exploring historic home sites and there were several, including a cemetery.

For lunch he treated ourselves to the Dixie Stampede Christmas Show.

They serve a meal while you sit and watch the show.

It was so awesome! The kids loved it. Their nativity part was so neat and included real animals.

Back at the cabin, we had fires every evening and the kids were thrilled to watch a Teen Titans Go marathon on cable TV.

Our last day Josh and I hiked to Baskins Creek Falls.

When we got back we headed to one of the many popular pancake houses for a late breakfast. The grannies.

Oh yes, I can get Jackson to SMILE!

After breakfast our family played mini golf upon Benny's request.

Such a great course! Ripley's does it again with a Davy Crockett theme.

Headed home the next day. Jackson got the front seat because he puked one day on our way down the mountain.

Benny happy to be in the back with Aaron. Snuggle buddies.

November Birthdays

These decorations have spend almost a month in our kitchen and are still up today.

Aaron's 8th birthday was November 10th. We went out to eat at Pie Five pizza for dinner to celebrate.

Then came home for presents and cake. Joyce made him banana pudding upon request.

He also had a date night and spend his money from Great Grandma. Thank you Grams!!!

Then we had to stop at Sweet Frogs and sugar him up to complete his evening out.

For Joyce's birthday we went across town to her favorite Wisconsin restaurant, Culver's!

Then came home and ate Culvers frozen custard with a delicious cake from Publix.

As a gift we gave her a captioned photo album of her time spent in North Carolina.

Another evening we celebrated baby Preston's 1st birthday. The party food was so delicious and included Moe's BBQ!

My girl turned 12 on the 28th!!!

She also got take home BBQ from Moe's for her birthday dinner.

Then we celebrated with a family party.

No Benny!!! Joyce made a fantastic ice cream cake with lots of oreos, Addy's favorite!

The first Friday after her birthday, Addy had her favorite school friends over for a sleepover party. We ordered pizza and made a campfire with fancy smores as dessert. They stayed in the guestroom downstairs.