Nantahala Trip with The Cannons

It has been a while, but life is pretty busy around here. We have officially wrapped up summer with this trip to North Carolina. It was a blast! We went with Will and Melissa Cannon and their family who we have known since Emma Grace and Christopher were babies. We actually have a picture of the their girls and EG and Christopher together with pacifiers in their mouths. It is fun to look back at now that they are all getting older. Needless to say Melissa and I have been friends for that long as well and so it was easy to all go together and fun to spend time together out of town.

We stayed in cabins in Whittier, North Carolina called Sunset Farms. It was perfect nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains and not to far from the river which is the reason we were there. Lots of memories were made to include driving in crazy Atlanta traffic on the way up which was a Friday afternoon, to experiencing the Nantahala River (some for the first time). EG and Carley went down in a double ducky which is a smaller boat with room for two paddlers. Christopher went down in a double ducky as well but spent most of the time solo. Tanner and Tatum got in with him at different times but were quick to get back in the raft because the water was freezing! The raft was full of all the adults, Tanner, Tatum, Kate and Ava James. We all managed it down the river without falling out until we got to the last rapid which is also the most challenging. EG and Carley were brave and went down in their ducky first. They were so brave that they threw their paddles above their heads like they were riding a roller coaster and when the big rapids hit they went under and out of the boat. It was great! Of course they were rescued with ropes and pulled safely to the shore. One of the first things you learn when paddling is to never take your paddle out of the water. It throws your balance off. It did make for a great show as we watched from the side and took pictures though. Fun times!

When we were done at the river, we came back to our cabins and the kids took a dip in the hot tub to warm up. We relaxed there for while and then got ready to go eat. We found by accident while looking for another restaurant, a brewery in downtown Sylva (about 20 min from Whittier) called Sapphire Brewery. It was perfect for us. They had live music and outside seating. The food was good and it was a great ending to a fun day.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed home but the fun was not over. We stopped for lunch at a highly recommended restaurant on the way home called The Dillard House in Franklin, North Carolina and got there right when it was opening. We walked in with no wait. There is no looking through a menu to figure out what you want to order, the waiters just started bringing out food and setting it on the table. There was fried chicken, baked chicken, ham, country fried steak with gravy, and probably about 10 different vegetables. There was peach short cake with fresh peaches for dessert. We all enjoyed it and were more than satisfied. I highly encourage you to try it if you are ever in that area.

Beach with GG

We recently got home from a week at the beach with my mom, aka GG. She takes me and my family and my brother and his family every year. I think this was our 6th year at the same place in Fort Morgan, Al called the Martinique. It is a really cool place that is like a big neighborhood on the beach. Each beach house has its own golf cart to cruise around in or to go back and forth from the pool or beach. It was a relaxing time to just get away from the daily routine and spend time with family and cousins.

We experienced some effects of the oil spill with tar balls on the beach, so we spent less time on the beach and more time at the pool. Some days were better than others, so we did get some crab hunting in. Will, Sam, and Kate stayed busy for hours at a time looking for frogs and building a "frog mansion" with sand and rocks. It was pretty impressive. We did some shopping at the Wharf and the boys went fishing off the pier in Gulf Shores. We ate some good food at the house where each family took turns cooking a meal and we also enjoyed going out to eat at The Hang Out (for Carley's birthday) and Lu Lu's for lunch one day. They both have great food and a fun atmosphere. The night we went to The Hang Out, Emma Grace and Carley got picked to participate in a contest to find 5 cherries with their hands behind their backs from a pie of whipped cream. It was hilarious to watch. We watched movies, played games, rode bikes, and Uncle Harry taught the kids how to do the pretzel!
We were all introduced to P90X which is a DVD workout you do for 90 days by this crazy guy named Tony Horton. Harry and Joy have been doing it for like 56 days and Harry though it would be great if we all did it. The kids even did it with us. I was sore for days!

Weekend Events

The weekend started off with Robert leaving for a long over due fishing trip that has been planned and re planned with some of his best fishing buddies. I am so glad he got to go because fishing has been all that was on his mind. We watched fishing, talked about fishing, and read about fishing up until he left. Hopefully he caught that huge fish that he has been dreaming about to make him happy for a while.

Saturday I picked the kids up from Camp Mac and enjoyed "family fun day", where they had many of the activities open for parents and family to participate in like riflery, the bucking bull, canoeing, the zip line, and the famous "Wet Willie Water Slide". I decided since you only live once (and I knew the kids would get a kick out of it), I would go down the "Wet Willie" which is 160 ft of slide that literally throws you into the lake. It was thrilling to say the least. I got some pictures of Kate's on the zip line. This was definitely one of her favorites. During their two week stay Christopher skied for the first time and Emma Grace and Kate both learned how to knee board. They made some really neat friends and had a fantastic time!





To the left is a picture of Emma Grace and some of her friends on tacky night. Looks like there was fun had by all.









We ended the day with a birthday party for my favorite niece Georgia. She turned one this week and we had fun celebrating with a small family get together. She has already learned to pose for the camera. Happy 1st Birthday Georgia!

Here goes...

The kids are at camp, so I figured this was the best time to start a blog to share thoughts and experiences that life brings. Life is full of lessons learned from relationships, accomplishments, and even disappointments. I want to capture those lessons learned and record them so I can be a better wife, mother, daughter, nurse, and friend. As a woman and a mother there are pressures all around us to be everywhere, do everything, and have a smile on your face at the end of the day. Life is just not that simple. There is a balance of it all that brings peace and contentment at the end of the day. My goal is to find that balance and blend it together perfectly.
To add to the mix, my family is now what society calls a blended family, (husband and wife with his and hers that we now call ours) so we have to work harder at times to find that perfect balance that makes things work. It is challenging at times that requires a lot of give and take and working together.
In finding that that balance in the life I lead, one thing I know for sure is that your main ingredient has to be to have a relationship with our Creator who knows us inside and out, therefore without communication with Him we will never find peace or understand our real purpose. Filtering life through His Word will help life make sense when it is hard to understand and seems impossible to deal with. I have to remind myself of that daily. The rest of it I am still trying to figure out and has been and will continue to be a life long journey of ups and downs and lessons learned from experiences that come my way. Join me if you like... give me your thoughts and lessons learned in your own life.... Your recipe to that perfect blend.