Happy 9th Birthday Shelby!

We love you!

Vacation in the Smokies 2008

We took a vacation to the Smoky Mountains a few weeks ago. We had a great week together as a family. We did many "touristy" things like Dollywood, Dollywood's Splash Country, Miniature Golfing, Outlet Mall Shopping, Go-Kart driving, etc. We also enjoyed a dinner theater one night.

My favorite day was the one we spent hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We started small with a 1 mile (round trip) hike to Clingman's Dome just to see how Libby would do. She surprisingly walked a lot...but her Dad also carried her on his shoulders alot. The view from the top was magnificent. You are practically standing on the state line between North Carolina & Tennessee and can see for miles & miles.

After that, we decided to do the 2.5 mile hike to Laurel Falls. We soon found that if we kept Libby "talking" or "singing", she really didn't mind the hiking. When we reached the falls, we took off our shoes & cooled off in the water. On the way back down the trail, we met a park ranger who informed us that there was a BEAR with 3 cubs right down the hill from the trail. They were keeping a close eye on them. We didn't get to see those bears (Whew!)...but we did see some more when we were driving to Cades Cove later in the day.

Lady of Lourdes Family Fun Fest 5K

Mike ran his first 5K last night. He ran in the Lady of Lourdes Family FunFest 5K in Marysville.















The kids & I were race volunteers. Grant was a course marshal (leading the runners & bringing up the rear on a bike), Shelby was a course marshal (pointing the way), and Libby & I passed out water.

We are so proud of you Mike! What a milestone!