He's got style!

Benson walked out of his room the other day and said, "Okay Mom I am ready for school."

This is what he was wearing, Brielle's rain boots, and a build-a-bear shirt for a hat.

He looks good.

Our Memorial Day

Memorial day is a great time to reflect and think about those who have served and still serve our country so faithfully. I am so grateful for our freedom and all those who sacrifice so much to make it that way. We have three very good friends serving in the army, and two of them are stationed in Iraq! We love you both and our prayers are with you and your families here at home!


Our Memorial Day was great. It was a huge surprise, but Doug found out on Friday that he had Monday off! I couldn't believe it and I was SO excited! We decided to pack our day full of fun. We started off at the IJAMS NATURE CENTER. It is this neat little place tucked away downtown and it is beautiful. We went hiking on a few of the different trails they have there and it was the perfect day to hike. We saw birds, spiders, butterflies, amazing plants, and we even found a turtle. The kiddos loved it.


After hiking, we took the kids out to lunch. We had a gift card to Olive Garden and the kids never get to eat at restaurants, so they really enjoyed it. Then we came back home and watched a movie, and worked in the yard. Then it was off to the swimming pool for some cooling off. Later we came back home and went to our next door neighbors for a little volleyball and a cookout! It was such a wonderful day. I feel so spoiled getting to be with Doug so much. The kids have been loving every second with him, and I have too!


IJAMS NATURE CENTER

They really do love each other most of the time!

This is our friendly turtle that we found. We scared him
so he tucked himself in his shell.

These beautiful spotted butterflies were everywhere, and Brielle loved them.
Look close and you can see this really cool spider and web, Doug made me
take the picture! YIKES!

Isn't this beautiful!?

Chimney Rock State Park

Before we took Grandma and Grandpa back to the airport we decided to do a little exploring. They were flying out of Asheville North Carolina so we thought we would stop at Chimney Rock State Park. For any of you planning a family vacation, whether you live in the South or not, this is one great place! The main attraction is of course, Chimney Rock. It is about 2, 800 feet above the ground and it is a huge rock that juts out the side of the mountainside. The view from the top is remarkable, and pictures just don't do it justice! You can either get there by riding an elevator that takes you up 26 stories, and then you walk up a flight of stairs, or you can hike up over 400 stairs to the top. The boys were adventurous and took the stairs. Doug second guessed this idea when he ended up carrying Benson. I knew that Brielle would not want to do it, so the gals took the elevator. Either way you get there and it is so worth it. You can also hike up a little further and stand in the Opera box. This gives you a great view of Chimney Rock.

After Chimney Rock we took a hike to see Hickory Nut falls. It is a beautiful waterfall well worth the short hike. This was actually the waterfall filmed in the movie "Last of the Mohican's." The hike was a blast and the kids did so great. We saw beautiful trees, wildlife, and we even saw a snake.

Chimney Rock Pictures
A view of Chimney Rock from the ground

The adventurous hikers Daddy and Benson....

Grandpa Larry and Parker

A view of the stairs from the top
The whole Rose Family

Grandma Lyda and Brielle

The spectacular view!
this is the view from the Opera Box

Grandma and Parker
Our Little Benson
I love this picture of Grandma and Grandpa

Hickory Nut Falls pictures

This is what Parker was doing the whole entire hike!

AHHHHHHH! Watch out for the snake!

The super fast hikers!

Overall, this was one of my favorite new places to visit. We will definitely be going back! We miss you Grandma and Grandpa, we hope you come back soon!!

Riding the Tram to Ober Batlinburg

One day while Grandma and Grandpa were visiting we decided to take a tram up the side of a huge mountain to an amusement park at the top called Ober Gatlinburg. The tram ride was awesome, the kids loved being so high in the air, "way above all the trees and people" as Brielle would say. Thanks grandma and grandpa for taking us! When we got to the top we realized that the park wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Most of the rides were closed because it had been raining. So we went to the little playground, and the kids rode down the WET slides and played on the toys for a little bit. It was kind of lame. But then we got to ride the tram back down the mountain, and that made it worth it! After, that we went out to lunch at a place called the Apple Barn. It is on an Apple orchard and everything has some sort of Apple dish. It was really yummy! Here are pictures from the tram and the playground.

these were some black bears that you could see from the tram!

Ballet Beauty!

Over the past year Brielle has been taking Ballet classes and a few Saturdays ago she finally had her big recital! She did so good and we were so proud of her. She looked beautiful, and it was definitely a HIGHLIGHT of her life. Be prepared their are lots of pictures!



During the performance!

Brielle and Daddy and the flowers he bought her!
The happy family

Brielle's ballet friends
Brielle and the Varnon gals!
Nana Wanda
Grandpa Larry and Grandma Lyda who were visiting for this special event! Thanks guys!

We love Grandpa and Grandma!!

We were so lucky that Dougs parents got to come out for a visit with us! They flew in on Thursday and stayed til Monday and we had a blast. It was also really great for me because Doug took Friday and Monday off work so I actually got to see my husband the whole weekend too! What a concept! We went hiking, to the ballet recital, to Ober Gatlinburg and just played around the house! I will post about those events later. I just wanted to include a couple of picts to show that the kids LOVE their Grandma and Grandpa!

The kids loved being with Grandma and Grandpa! That is Parker asleep on Grandpas back!

Girls will be girls!

Boys will be boys!