April 2016

The Month of April

 Took Madison to the BYU vs SUU softball game.  It was her first ball game, first time on BYU campus, first time "catching" a foul ball, and her first Cougar Tail.
They traded us the game ball for a new ball, she was very adamant about not letting Jordan have it.

 Cougar Tail = One GIANT Maple Doughnut.

She ATE IT ALL! Ok I had a few bites.  I totally didn't think she was going to eat that much! I expected to take 3/4 back home to share with brothers. Nope. Didn't happen. She also ate a cougar dog (regular hot dog that she said was just like Sam's Club).

 The sun was in our eyes so we have to improvise some.

Jaxson played hid n seek at soccer games..

It's track season so of course that means rain at almost every meet..

But there were some in the sun.. and homework being done..

Went hiking to Ogden Overlook for Earth day.. then a tasty BBQ afterwards at Jessica's house.

Frieda and Andrea..

New hiking poles!

Ragnar's new favorite spot at my parents...

And lightening storms means lots of snuggling with stuffys since she's not allowed on the couches.. 

Meeting Chris Wingert.. take 2! No legs cramping up and making me fall down this time!

My friend Lisa came with too, she was blushing hard core!

Day trip out to The Jetty because Derek wanted to do a time-lapse but it was so windy he didn't get much.. Ragnar had the best time ever so it was worth it.

 Chinese Arch

In case you're at a 4-way stop..

Books read:

Children of the Dust Bowl by Jerry Stanley
Trapped (#5) by Kevin Hearne
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Hound of Rowan (#1) by Henry H. Neff
The Second Siege (#2)
The Fiend and the Forge (#3)
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Beowulf by Unkown
Tunnels of Blood #3 by Darren Shan
Calamity #3 by Brandon Sanderson
The rest of the House of Night books.. so glad that's over.  They are the worst! Super quick to read but I think I did more damage to my brain reading these books than any other..

Murvul Day 3

Friday April 1

And we totally didn't think about April Fool's day..

Shaun had to work a few hours in the morning, so her mom took me on a walk around the town showing me some interesting things and enjoying the green-way.  We also stopped by some cemeteries but we saved really looking at them until Saturday so that way Shaun wouldn't miss out.

We also stopped by City Hall where Heather made me go inside to look at the awkward portrait paintings of important people to the town. Then we walked around looking at the monuments and finding the road markers for the original main road from back in the day.

Sam Houston was an interesting dude.

Super old church that was really cool looking.

Once Shaun came home we hit up some awesome Tennessee BBQ from Full Service BBQ.  I got the nachos, Heather got the bowl, and Shaun got this quesadilla style new thing named after someone we forgot to look up.  Either way, I'm still craving this food! Bonus part: our server (dude that is drawing a shark that is also in reference to the food Shaun ate) had the best accent from the entire trip!

Next stop.. The Smoky Mountains!!!!!!
Heather is basically the best!

TUNNELS!!!!!!

First stop: Clingman's Dome

At 6, 643 feet, Chingmans Dome is the Smokey Mtns NP highest point AND the highest point in Tennessee.  It's also the second highest point east of the Mississippi, North Carolina's Mt. Mitchell being the highest by 41 feet.

After a 1/2 mile "hike" up a paved walkway and then up a curving walkway do you get to the top.

Mystery woman..

Going downhill is much more fun than uphill..

Second stop:  Appalachian Trail!
There are many spots in the park where you can hop on the trial and hike, we pulled into one of these spots and got our hiking on.

Although it was muddy (remember the vast amounts of rain from Thursday) it was still AMAZING!

The green is even different than Arkansas!

This is a turned over tree with it's roots covered in moss..
one tree's root system..

Third Stop: Overlook

aannnnnddddd we had fun jumping over state lines several times.

Fourth Stop: Chimney Tops
We didn't get a lot of hiking in here due to time.

Fifth Stop: Water falls where the kayaks go down
They were fun to watch.

Apparently this is where most of the deaths in the park occur..

Sixth stop: A trail that is a family favorite of theirs that has lots of waterfalls.

We only did a few miles since it was getting late and we still had the cove to get to.

You know when you're in the bible belt when even nature sports it's own crosses..

More TUNNELS!!!

Last stop: Cade's Cove

Primitive Baptist Church..

My favorite headstone from the whole trip!

This lil coyote has been well fed..

The adult deer out East are about the same size as baby deer back in the West.

We finished the day meeting up with the rest of the family for dinner and then watching movies with Shaun's sisters.  It was an exhausting day but so totally worth it! Definitely need a few days in this park to take it all in- and explore the surrounding area.