Autumn in East Tennessee

Last Saturday, we spent the day in the Cherokee National Forest enjoying the beauty of this Fall season! It was an absolutely gorgeous day! We drove up the Cherohala Skyway and hiked out to Huckleberry Bald. We were listening to a Chris Tomlin CD on our drive and this song was just perfect for the day. I've put it on my playlist and I want to share the lyrics with you as well! Indescribable! You are amazing God!

A couple of pictures taken from the car.

It was warm in the sun on top of Huckleberry Bald and Beckett felt the need to take his shirt off! It is a boy thing! Although, Helen wanted to as well! :)
There is a grave on top of the bald and Helen was very interested in the story of the gentleman buried there. I thought this was a sweet picture! As a side note, (and a kind of a yucky note) the man's body had been mauled by wild animals. As I read the inscription on the gravestone, I wondered if it was something that I should have shared with her, but it was already "out there"! Now that she knows what "mauled" is....it has come up in many of her stories. So, if you happen to be around Helen in the near future and she begins talking about animals eating up people's bodies, please know that we aren't some kind of canibalistic family! Just shared a little too much info with our 3 and a half year old! :) Can you imagine what is going on in that little head of hers? Oh my!Helen and her daddy walking along the trail!
This was not posed, I promise! Beckett had reached out and grabbed Helen's hand and they walked along that way for a while! Love it!

Indescribable
From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea

Creation's revealing Your majesty

From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring

Every creature unique in the song that it sings

All exclaiming: Indescribable, uncontainable,

You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.

You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable,

Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go

Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow

Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light

Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night

None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,

You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name

You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable,

Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim You are amazing God

You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable,

You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.

You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable,

Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim

You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable,

You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.

You are amazing God

Incomparable, unchangeable

You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same

You are amazing God You are amazing God

Fall Family Frenzy

Here is a picture of Beckett and Helen behind our trunk that we decorated for Fall Family Frenzy! I also added a picture of our church on the evening of the event! I borrowed it from my friend Olivia's blog because I thought it was such a cool perspective! We arrived to set up at 5:00 before everyone got there and then we didn't leave until after 10:00 so we never saw how packed it looked from the road! It was a fantastic "frenzy"!

This picture was taken of the front of our church from across the road. The whole front parking lot is PACKED!

We took a field trip last Thursday to Maple Lane Farm for a hayride and to pick out some pumpkins. We came home from the farm and did "pumpkin math" which included many estimating activities. It was a beautiful day and the kids enjoyed the hayride, corn maze and having a picnic on the farm! On Friday evening, we went to the Fall Family Frenzy at our church. This was the first time our church has put on this community outreach event and it was fantastic! Over 2,000 people came through the event and it was awesome! Our growth group was responsible for two games and we also decorated our trunk and handed out candy. (Thanks to Marilyn for all of our decorations!) Helen had fun riding the ponies and jumping in the inflatable jumpy things! Beckett was all about the climbing wall! He also played lots of games and came home with tons of candy! Check out The Slam for a video clip of Beckett in action! The following slideshow shows a few pictures from our pumpkin day and our Fall Frenzy event on Halloween!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Helen's Hair!

It was definitely time for Helen to get a hair cut! Her hair had not been cut since January! So this morning we played around with her "long" hair before we went to get it cut. She had fun with the hot rollers and having curly hair for a little while! After a few hours of playing, she looked in the mirror and said, "Mom, my hair melted!" I just laughed and told her to get used to it. Such is life with fine, straight hair! Anyway, we made a new friend today named Tonya and she cut Helen's hair this afternoon! Helen loves her new hair cut!

"Curly" hair!
This is her "before" picture! (The curls had "melted"!)

The "after" picture!

Lots of Beach Memories....

What a great trip! Thanks again to Nana and Papa for taking us all to the beach and giving us such a wonderful opportunity to relax and enjoy the beauty of the ocean! Here are some pictures that show some fun from our trip!

Helen LOVED the ocean! Her favorite thing was jumping the waves!

Beckett loved "boogie boarding" this time! I don't have any pictures of him in action, but he had so much fun doing it!
Burying Ty in the sand!
One of two trips to play putt-putt!
Helen and Lillie in the "kiddie pool"! I was in the big pool and we were playing "Burger King" where I would go to the drive thru window and place my order!
Connor and Marley

Look closely and you can see Michael W. Smith on the keyboards and Steven Curtis Chapman on the guitar! It was an AWESOME concert! Loved it! Check out "The Slam" tomorrow and Beckett will post a video from the concert as well as his thoughts on the beach trip! (Click "The Slam" and it should link you to his blog!)

They played HARD and then they CRASHED HARD!

No new pictures, just a quick update. This has been such a great week of relaxing, playing and enjoying our family! We have had beautiful weather and enjoyed some delicious seafood! (Only one minor "episode" early in the week when we found out that Papa must have an allergy to shellfish!) Nothing a quick trip to the ER and a shot of benadryl can't help! :)

Tonight (Thursday) Beckett and I had a special treat of attending "The United Tour" which is a concert tour featuring Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith. It was really awesome! I had seen on SCC's web site that they were going to be here at Beach Church in MB at the same time we were and I told Sean how much I would love to go! Well, he really blessed me by buying two tickets to the show and I got to take Beckett! We had a great time and it was much more than a concert for me. It was a real worship experience! They each sang many of my favorites as well as a few great praise and worship songs that we love! It was a special night and an awesome reminder of how deeply our Heavenly Father loves us!

We will be sad to leave on Saturday morning, but it has to end sometime! I'll post some pictures from our week sometime on Sunday!