Journey Winter Retreat 2009

Each year we have the pleasure of getting to go with Frazer Journey Singles on their winter retreat to Gatlinburg, TN. Bart works closely with the group at church. The past couple of years we have gone in February but this year they moved it back to January in hopes of seeing a bit more snow. It was perfect! It was very cold and we did get to see snow but without all the hassle and danger of getting snowed in. :) We had such a wonderful time! Here's a group shot of the entire gang.


We left Wednesday night for Chattanooga in an attempt to drive while the kids were most likely to sleep. They did great! We stayed at the wonderful Sheraton Read House (a personal favorite!) for the night. Of course after the long ride Owen and Katelyn were a little hyper when we got there. Owen got so tickled at Katelyn over the smallest things. His little laugh is just so contagious. This may be one of my favorite videos to date - it just makes me smile every time I watch it!

We got up at walked across the street to The City Grill for breakfast and then back to the hotel for some indoor swimming. We were not scheduled to meet up with the rest of the group until later Thursday night so we spent most of the day in leisure just wandering around Chattanooga. Friday morning after breakfast we set out for Ruby Falls and Rock City. It was the coldest day yet with temperatures getting down to 14 degrees and windy! Brrrr!

I had never been to either of these places and it was really neat! I would definitely like to go back to Rock City again one day.

The craziest thing happened while we were at Rock City. I broke my tooth!! All I did was bite down on the end of my glove to pull it off and BING! went my tooth! ROAR! It was a veneer and didn't hurt but I'm sure that will cost me a pretty penny to fix! Bart laughed and made fun of me the rest of the trip. True love!

On Saturday we were determined to find some snow. The weather forecast wasn't looking very promising so we drove up to Newfound Gap which is on the Tennesee/North Carolina border. Sure enough it wasn't hard to find! It was so pretty up there!

Owen got to experience his first snow and absolutely loved it!

Katelyn enjoyed snow ball fights with the "big kids"!

We spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around downtown Gatlinburg. The frozen fountain was pretty impressive!

On Sunday we ventured out to a little secret thankfully not well known among the tourists - the community bowling alley - for some good cheap fun! I didn't have a particularly good day of bowling but Katelyn is coming along pretty well! I was very proud of her. Just like her Pop, she loves to bowl! :)

After bowling it was back to downtown for some black light mini golf in 3D. I must admit it was pretty neat!

Right next door was this very cool mirror maze!

On Monday we woke to beautiful snow falling outside. There is something so peaceful and quiet about watching it snow. It was starting to accumulate pretty quickly so I was glad it was about time to head home. Katelyn enjoyed trying to catching snowflakes with her tongue.

Of course, we had to stop for one last group picture as we were heading home.

It snowed on us until at least Fort Payne but thankfully with no travel problems. The Mercers had such a wonderful time! Thanks everyone!!

If you are crazy enough to want even more after this monster post, the rest of the pictures are HERE. :)

WHEEE!!!

On Wednesday nights we are at Frazer for family night supper, Katelyn has choir, Owen plays in the nursery, and I enjoy some much needed adult time either in Bible Study or just some quiet time in the Atrium. We thorough enjoy it each week. The Carliles (Wendy, Kinley, & Hilton) join us as well as Chuck, Anna, and Thomas. At the end of the evening the kids always look forward to a few minutes at the AquaZone slide. It is an indoor slide that the kids totally love! My little nephew Thomas has come out of his shell and will now be renamed "Wild Man Thomas"!! :) Check him out going down the slide!



Hilton couldn't resist all the fun and braved his first ride down the slide. He LOVED it and went back for more! We were so proud of him! Here are all the kids exerting that last bit of energy before bedtime.

The rest of the images are HERE.

Giggle Boy

Katelyn had a dentist appointment last week and while Owen and I were waiting for her to finish I noticed that he was in a particularly good mood that afternoon. He would just laugh when I tickled him. He is such a happy baby!

Playdate with Kinley & Hilton

I've been having some pretty significant neck pain lately and finally decided to go to the chiropractor. I thought I might have slept on it wrong but after a week it was still giving me problems. When you go to the doctor and he checks you out and says "Oohhh!" that is not good! Come to find out he is treating me for torticollis (much like Owen)! It is requiring several visits for ultrasound, cold and traction therapy. Most days it seems to be getting better but then again some days are better than others. Hopefully it will be corrected very soon. Anyhow, during one of my doctor visits the kids spent the afternoon playing with Kinley and Hilton. They had such a wonderful time! Thank you Wendy for taking these pictures!

The princesses in action...


The boys...

Bathing Beauties

Slowly but surely I'm learning how to multi-task with my two birds. Lately I've realized that it is so much easier to just put Katelyn and Owen in the tub together. They have so much fun and get squeaky clean as a result! As usual I couldn't resist the photo op the other day.

There is just something so precious about a little naked hiney at this age! Don't you just wanna pinch it!?!

Katelyn was having too much fun!

And so was Owen...

I think this was one of my favorites. I love the water splashing all around him!

MORE!

I mentioned in Owen's 8 month post that he is starting to do the sign for "more". I was finally able to get him to do it for a video the other day. Let the signing begin! :) He is also saying "Da da" quite a bit now but I haven't been able to get a good clip of that yet.

Look who's...

...standing up! Yep, there hasn't been much action on the crawling front because our little man would much rather stand! Most days he would rather stand than sit! He's not quite to the point of pulling himself up yet but wants to stand whenever he can. He'll stand holding onto the rail in the pack and play, in the crib, and just about anywhere else you give him somewhere to hold on to. He's even learning to tighten his grip when we feels himself starting to fall.

This one is not the best quality image but it was just too funny not to share!

See, he'll stand just about anywhere you put him! He's not too sure what to do when his weight shifts and this thing starts to move though! However, most times he goes down without a tear.

To celebrate his new achievements I decided it was time for his official first pair of walkers. Later that afternoon we were at Uncle Chuck and Aunt Anna's house and he loved standing next to the couch. They give him so much more support. He was so proud of himself!

I kept having the feeling of "deja vu" and I took a quick trip back to the old blog (www.xanga.com/LoriMercer). When I came across February 2006 I realized why... click HERE and HERE.

Guess I've got to go right now and let down the crib mattress!!