Trip to North Carolina, Part 3! Triple Falls!

While in North Carolina we visited many waterfalls! I LOVE waterfalls! But, by far, my favorite was Triple Falls. This is where the Hunger Games was filmed.
My step brother had come here with Mom and John a couple of years before this, so it was bittersweet to hear the stories from when they were here.

Pictures truly cannot do justice to the majesty of these falls. They are awe-ing.

Once we parked, we had to hike A LONG WAY to get to the actual falls.

see? over a mile!

 

And it was FREEZING..............

SO PRETTY in the forest

Then we finally came to the board walk that goes down to the falls....it was LONG too.

 And FINALLY we were there!

 These falls are AMAZING....Kyle and I climbed way up them!

 It was a bit harry in a few spots but we made it! (I kept thinking to myself "if Ronnie was here he would have an absolute FIT...this would NOT be happening"!)

looking down to where we were! Can you see my Mom and John way over there? Those teeny tiny people?

 

 Here's what the falls sounded like from up there! This doesn't even come close to doing it actual justice...it was deafening!

Looking up from where we were...this is the very top fall. John was telling me that when Joshy was there with them, it was all iced over and they climbed all the way up THERE!

looking back down

 Time to head back down!

 Coming back down was MUCH more difficult than going up was.

 My pics have only shown you the top two falls....here is a video in which I panned from the lowest fall all the way across. BEAUTIFUL.

We weren't done yet though! As we headed back up the boardwalk, instead of going back on the trail that would take us to the car, we took a right and headed a bit downstream to play! 

It was really fun...pics in another post!

This and That (including MACY JEANNE's ARRIVAL!)

My SIL, Amanda was induced on the 2nd...my niece, Macy Jeanne Chambers was born at 2:48am on the 3rd! She is BEAUTIFUL!

tired daddy

exhausted mama

PURE PRECIOUSNESS!

Proud Auntie! Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!!??!

This week our family started a new devotional..."Focus on the Family's" study on patience. They have a whole bunch of four day topics....Kyle actually chose this one :) We have been enjoying making time for our bible reading, devotion time and blessing jar together.

This coming week is going to be CRAZY BUSY!
Kyle starts piano and art club tomorrow, science club Thursday and I am teaching a sewing class Thurs and Fri. This is all in addition to our normal life schedule (swim team for 2 hours/day, 5 days/week, church on Wed's, scouts on Tues's, etc.) AHHHH!!

We got a great deal on a keyboard, thanks to Detto helping us know what to look for! Kyle's been practicing piano ALL WEEKEND LONG....

 He taught himself The First Noel on his own! And he's working on Silent Night right now.
I'm excited to see how he does with professional instruction. He seems to have the ear for music like Ronnie does...  I DEF DO NOT! lol.

In the meantime, I am preparing to teach a Valentine's Day Quilt class.
 Here are a couple of the blocks I've made for it. (WE are doing a four block with sashing wall hanging).

I've started a FB group (Lisa's Quilt Circle-isn't it a CUTE name!) for local sewers/quilters and it is taking off! I am blessed by this! I had NO idea it would be so popular, but I am loving getting to "meet" new people with a mutual love for quilting! Just about everyday I am adding friends to my FB page b/c people I don't know are wanting to be a part of the group. I LOVE IT!

I went into our LQS yesterday because they were having a great sale! Here are some of the goodies I picked up:

2 yards each...these will make great blenders or backings!

4 panels and some correlating fabric! Quilts and books for Aria and Macy!!

Look at this BEAUTIFUL thread! LOVE it!

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Last night I made Beef Stew from scratch for dinner...man was it DELICIOUS! and I LOVE that there were NO preservatives in it and no sodium except for the dash of salt I tossed in!

 I sauteed some onion, garlic and the beef in coconut oil, then added some spices and 2 cups of water-I let it simmer for an hour and a half....then I threw in another cup of water and a carrot, a few bits of celery (shhh, don't tell Ronnie, lol) a potato and half a carton of mushrooms. I let it cook for another 40-45 mins and added a 1/4 of a cup mixed with cornstarch....TA DA! YUMMY wholesome beef stew.

I also tried my tea from England last night...I had actually forgotten about it! Lisa brought me some Earl Grey back from Europe. I love Earl Grey tea and it was neat to have some from it's place of origin...........it was really yummy.

I hope you all have had a fabulous first week of the new year!

Christmas 2012 part 1, Mom and John

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We really focused on giving!

We were able to visit each little branch of our families and enjoy time with them all! It was so great!

We began our Christmas rounds on Dec 22nd. We went to my Mom and John's to do Christmas with them and Johnny and Amanda......but....Johnny had a cold and Amanda's doctor advised against her driving so far from her hospital b/c she was coming along in her pre-labor! So...it ended up being just us and the rents :)

We had a feast of food!

 And we opened presents!

 This is one of the ornaments that Kyle made this year :)

 We had a photo book made for Mom and John of our time with them in North Carolina.

 Johnny, Amanda, me and Ronnie went in together and purchased an outdoor family photo session for them for Christmas!We will do it in January, once Macy Jeanne is here!

 Then it was our turn to open................

Nana made this reindeer ornament for Ky :)

CRAZY remote controlled vehicle.

 

Ronnie got two really nice shirts!

Gift Card!

and a fun skirt!!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with Mom and John!