Thankful Thursday

Happy 4th of July!

I think this July 4th is the perfect Thursday to list somethings for which I am very thankful.

1. I am thankful for a loving and merciful God!

Titus 3:5 (NLT) "He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

2. I am thankful for the freedom we have in America and all of those protecting our freedoms.

3. I am thankful for Jason.

I could not ask for a more hard working and loving husband.

4. I am thankful for family.

Jason and I are so blessed to have such wonderful families. We love spending time with them.

5. I am thankful for our pups- Daisy Duke and Scarlett.

6. I am thankful for my job.

7. I am thankful for sweet friends.

8. I am thankful for the time Jason and I were able to spend at Whisper Mountain last week. It was a fun time in the mountains of North Carolina!

Some scenes from our time at Whisper Mountain

We are truly blessed.

Hope everyone has a great 4th!

Fall in the Mountains

Happy Anniversary to Jason's parents!
They have been married for 53 years today!

In order to celebrate, they wanted to go to Pigeon Forge, TN and invited Jason and I to go with them. We, of course, said yes! It's an absolutely beautiful time of year to be in the mountains.

We took the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Smoky Mountains. The leaves have definitely changed and everything was beautiful. We stopped at Waterrock Knob Overlook to take a few pictures.

After lunch in Gatlinburg, we went to Ober Gatlinburg to ride the sky tram. The sky tram takes you from downtown Gatlinburg up the mountain to the ski resort area. From there you can take a ski lift up to the very top of the mountain. It was so much fun. The scenery was breathtaking. We even saw a deer feeding on the side of the mountain under us.

View from the top!

Jason's Parents at the top

Us at the top

From the very top of the ski lift

On the Ski Lift

View from the sky tram

After checking into our rooms in Pigeon Forge, we decided to go to a dinner show at the Smith Family Dinner Theater. It was a singing/comedy show. When we got there an employee gave me an index card and told me I was chosen for a door prize. He was a little sketch about it, so I figured it would be more complicated than someone just handing me a gift. I was right. I was called up to the stage along with 3 other women and 4 men. Then we had a hula hoop contest! Boys against girls. I still can't believe I hula hooped in front of all those people! They did end up giving each of us a CD and some coupons as a prize though. Jason got it all on video. I'm surprised he hasn't posted in on Facebook!

That's me, middle left.

The following day we had breakfast at Applewood Farmhouse and stocked up on our absolute favorite apple butter from The Apple Barn.

Then we were off to Dollywood.

At Dollywood we:

Rode all the roller coasters, checked out the 25 pound apple pie, watched the making of sorghum syrup, rode the train, caught a show, went to the Grist Mill for some fresh cinnamon bread, and fed the ducks and fish.

We had a great time!

On our way back home, we drove through Cade's Cove. It was a great drive. We were able to see more beautiful scenery and see some wildlife. We saw several black bears, deer, and turkeys.

One of the does.

One of the churches

We had a wonderful time! A big thank you to Jason's mom and dad for inviting us!

Dillard House

When Jason went on his bachelor motorcycle ride with his sisters, they stopped at the Dillard House in Dillard, Georgia for dinner on Friday night. They had an all you can eat seafood buffet! They all thought it was so good. When we got back from our honeymoon, they wanted to go again. So one Friday night we loaded up with Jason's parents and his sister and brother-in-law. The dinner was really yummy. Although, their crab cakes were not as good as the ones Jason and I make! The Dillard House also has a petting zoo. After dinner we headed up to see the animals and feed them. It was so funny. The animals knew exactly why we were there and followed us around trying to get us to feed them. They had cows, goats, sheep, a camel, a donkey, and chickens! I took lots of pictures!!


All the animals...

The Texas Longhorn Cow was very pushy, and she had a HUGE tongue!

After feeding all the animals, we started back home. First we stopped at one of the parks to see some beautiful mountain views.

These views are gorgeous! We love the mountains. It's amazing to see God's creativity.