Picture with Santa

Saturday we spent the day at The McWane Center and it was all free thanks to my BFF Krystle. We were able to attend the Mercedes Benz Kids Christmas Party, w/ Krystle, Justin, Braleigh and Brodee, thanks to Krystle's mom. We did the IMAX, rode the train, checked out lots of other neat exhibits and see Santa. Aleigh asked Santa for Bendaroos, Silly Bandz, and Pixos (easy for me) and Averee asked for a motorcycle and a dirt bike, of course. Notice Averee looks like he is ready to bite someone. That is how he smiles when you say "Averee, say cheese." Too funny! Aleigh was recovering from bronchitis, so she still looked a little puny, but she felt better than she looked. Needless to say, Averee got sick that night. But we had a great day, thanks to Mimi Leigh. And yes, Aleigh is that much taller that Braleigh and 1 year younger than her.

Refreshed and Rejuvenated

Being silly at the Three Bears Gift Shop.

A bear we saw on The Roaring Fork Trail.

A family tradition to take a pic on the same log every year in Cades Cove.

Group shot at Dollywood.

Family pic by some beautiful trees. It was a canopy of yellow leaves as
far as you could see, it was absolutley beautiful!

We left Monday morning at 6am. We stopped at Cracker Barrrel in Gadsden to eat breakfast together. Then we all caravanned to the mountains, only stopping one more time. We got there on Monday about 2:00 Tennessee time (1:00 our time). We found the cabin and paid, but were unable to check in b/c it wasn't clean yet. So we went to McDonald's b/c all the kiddos were hungry. By the time we finished eating, they called and said our cabin was ready. We had a 5BR, 5 bath cabin w/ a game room, hot tub, theatre, and mountain views. So we all chose our bedrooms, unloaded and settled in. After that we played games and sat in the rockers on one of the 3 porches. The kids of course had to get in the hot tub. We just rested at the cabin all night long.

Tuesday morning I was awakened by the smell of bacon frying. Downstairs, my brother Kevin was cooking breakfast for everyone. Eggs, biscuits, gravy, and bacon. It was yummy! It was raining, so we all got ready and headed out to shop. We went to the Smoky Mtn Knife works for my hubby Josh, then headed to the outlets and stayed til about 3. Found lots of good deals. Aleigh got 3 pairs of shoes, a bag of clothes from Old Navy and a bag from Childrens Place. She racked up! Poor Averee only got one shirt, b/c he didn't need any clothes. He did get a new pair of shoes. We left there and went to have a apple pie at The Apple Barn, then headed back to the cabin and played cards and pool and then had movie night in the theatre. We watched 'Shooter'.

Wednesday we spent the day at Dollywood. Perfect weather and no lines at any rides. A great day!

Thursday we were treated again w/ breakfast by my brother Kevin. We had homemade panackes and sausage, my favorite breakfast food!! We then went to Cades Cove and had a picnic and drove around the Cades Cove Loop. After that, Kevin and his crew had to head home. We told them bye and then went to play putt putt golf. Mom won! She beat me by only 4 points.

Friday we drove around the Roaring Fork Trail and up to the Chimneys. We saw 2 bears. Then we went back to the outlets. Friday night we had a pool tournament, which my dad won! Then it was to bed early after packing up a few things.

Saturday we headed home. Go there about 3pm. Just in time to unload and get ready for trick or treating. We had an excellent time and lots of good memories were made, as usual. Look forward to next year's trip. It is always good to get away for a week, but always good to come home, too...........refreshed and rejuvenated!

Gant Birthdays

So it has been a crazy couple of weekends at the Gant house. With Averee's Birthday on the 10/21 and Aleigh's on 10/23 we have had a birthday party for 2 weekends in a row. Averee loves motorcycles, so he had a wonderful Biker Birthday with choppers everywhere. He absolutely loved it and had a great time. Aleigh had a wonderful Carnival Birthday w/ cotton candy, popcorn, clown and games; the whole nine yards. It was lots of fun and she enjoyed it! I can't believe they are 6 and 3! So now that I am recovered from birthday parties, we leave for the mountains Monday for a whole week. I am super excited and ready to get away. So this weekend will be spent washing and packing; and cleaning b/c I hate coming home to a dirty house after vacation! And by the way, it has been over a year since I have blogged, that is terrible!!!

I am not a good blogger at all. Please look me up on Facebook or Myspace. Sorry Blogspot=(

Just A Few Christmas Pics

1. Averee loves his new guns.

2. Aleigh as a shepard in the church Christmas Play.

3. Me with my siblings and mom and dad, minus my brother Keith.

4.Aleigh with cousins Evan and Mason.

5.Aleigh with her first Bible. She is so proud of it!

6. Aleigh and Averee on Christmas morning.

Birthday Party Pictures

Aleigh Turned 5 Today!

Just look at her, she thinks she is something as she models some of her new clothes she got for her birthday. She says "Moma, I am gonna be stylin'!" Of course I agree, she is stylin'!! I think she is beautiful!

It doesn't seem like she should be 5 years old. It make me want to cry. She was my firstborn, my sweet little Aleigh. I was a SAHM back then, and I just held her and rocked her everyday. As she got older, we played all day everyday. Now she is in preschool, cheer and tumble classes, writing, learning Bible verses.....It just amazes me how fast children grow! We have such a special bond, a bond like no other, that special mother-daughter bond. We get to do all those things that you can't do with dad, or with my son Averee. Like getting our nails done, shopping, fixing hair, you know "girl stuff". I love her very much and look forward to watching her continue to grow and thrive.

She is such a blessing to me and I thank God for her everyday. I pray everyday the when she is to the age of understanding that she (and Averee) will accept Jesus as Savior and live for Him, this is only one of my many prayers for my children. They truely are a gift from God! Psalms 127:3