i might have just enjoyed the best weekend ever. well at least the best one i have had in a long time. our MOPS group had planned to have a Ladies Retreat out at the camp but we were not able to get enough ladies to sign up. this was a huge bummer to me since i had put in a lot of time planning it and advertising it. however God had better plans for me. (he always does!) anyway, there were a few ladies that did sign up so we decided to revamp and little and were just going to do a smaller retreat in town at a girlfriends house. well our numbers kept dropping do to things out of anyones control. it came down to me and just three other ladies. like i said before God had better plans for us than i could have imagined.
friday night we all met at marcies house. we brought finger foods for dinner and all shared. we sat around the table and talked for hours, then moved out to the couches and talked for hours. we shared how we first met our husbands and how they proposed, told funny stories, compared kid stories, sympathized with and encouraged each other. it was SO good! last year this time i was praying so hard that the lord would bring me some friends here in greeneville. moving out here has been one of the loneliest things i have ever done. sometimes i think just being a mommy of young kids can get pretty lonely too but i really had NO friends. God has been so good to answer my prayers and right now i have some of the most incredible godly women in my life and i am so blessed. we finally wrapped up our conversations when we realized it was 2:30 in the morning!! we all spent the night together and were able to sleep in a little.
sat morning we got up and had a wonderful girly breakfast and then headed out to the camp for a trail ride. dave offered to take the 4 of us on a ride and we were excited to go. it was really fun. i hadnt rode a horse since before i was pregnant with brenna. after riding we went over to kays house and she had a yummy lunch prepared for us. then i took the girls on a tour of the camp. it was so nice to be able to show my friends what we have been working on so hard. they loved it and it was fun to see their excitement for it.
we headed back to marcies that afternoon and had a serious MOPS planning meeting. we tried to come up with a tentative outline for our next year of MOPS. we had to make ourselves quit at 9 pm so we could head home to our families.
so all in all we got lots accomplished while have the best time with just girl friends. the dads were all great to watch the kids for us so we could enjoy this time together. if you can believe it didnt take a single picture while the 4 of us were together. :(
after church on sunday dave and i took the kids on a hike. we had been wanting to hike up to Margarite Falls ever since we moved here and never have taken the time to do it. we thought their might still be some pretty spring flowers on the trail so we made a point to go this weekend. we meet up with a friend and his two girls and we all set out for our big adventure. we were able to borrow one of those kid backpack hiker things so brenna even came with us.
because we had gotten lots of rain a few days earlier the water fall and creek leading up to the water fall were flowing with TONS of water. where you would normally just jump from rock to rock to get across the water we had to wade through it. we carried the kids across so they wouldnt get wet but dave, matt and i were soaked from our knees down. even hiking through the freezing cold water and being wet for the majority of the hike, it was still so much fun.
the kids all did great. garret pretty much ran the entire thing, we had to keep telling him to stop and wait for us. raelyn is the slowest walker i know so we didnt know how she would do. she actually did really good and b/c we were so proud of her she was pretty proud of herself too. brenna did awesome in the pack, however i think her legs and feet must have been pretty alseep b/c she fell for about 30 minutes after we took her out of that thing :) dakota even came with us. we had to carry her across the water too like the other kids. she is not to fond of the water but she was giving it her best try but the current was pretty strong so dave just picked her up and carried her. she was very grateful.
the waterfall was really cool and cold! the kids were freezing when we got up there, it was already a pretty cold day so when we got near the water it was chilly.
the whole family up at the top.
playing with camera settings. i always wondered how they got pictures like that. now i know. :) fun stuff.
so this weekend was just great. special time with friends and special time with my family. thanks Lord for the refresher. i needed it :)
last summer we went with a friend of mine told us about this awesome boardwalk called Wakodohatchee. we were looking for free things to go and do so she took us and the kids all had a great time. so we had to take a return trip this summer. it is so fun that garret has remembered some of the things we did last summer and wanted to do them again. 
this summer we got to enjoy the boardwalk with a friend i went to high school with and her two awesome kids. we had a blast with heidi, ashley and austin.
the sweetest baby bird. when we first spotted him his momma was feeding him! by the time the kids spotted him the mom was gone and i wasnt fast enough with the camera to get the two of them together. :(
this bird sat on the rail while the kids tried to walk slow and quite up to it. they did pretty good.
beautiful ashley
handsome austin... garret and austin got along great.
got got to see LOTs of gaters this time. last time we only saw one that was really far away. this time we got to see them up close and personal.
the whole gang.... kenzie got to come with us too. she has been a great help with the kids while i have been here.
exciting news for Lil Chicks! Mom sold her first dress to heidi :) ashley saw this dress and fell in love. cant blame her, i loved it too! we told her to try it on so she could be our model. it fit her great and she didnt want to take it off. so yeah for mom! 
