This year, I have taken our lack of traditional design a step further, and we decorated in the girls’ bedroom. Obviously, green and red wouldn’t work in their pink room either, so what was the solution? A pink Christmas tree! And I don’t mean a green tree with pink decorations, I mean that I bought a tree that is pink. Of course, we were a bit late in the season, so Hobby Lobby was pretty much cleaned out of their decoration selection. We were able to acquire a few things for the tree, like some sparkly white balls, and a silver star for the top. I bought a package accessories bundle that included some bows and ribbons that we used, but there wasn’t anything pink to put on it. The solution? We made our own! We bought a set of 12 balls that are made to paint yourself. We painted them dark pink, the girls took turns drawing and writing on them with a silver paint marker, and finally I gave them two coats of spray gloss. We had a blast making them, and they were just the right touch that the tree needed.

We set the tree up in front of the window in Eliana and Lydia’s room, and the pre-lit goodness gives just enough light to serve as a pink nightlight when they go to sleep at night. They are completely thrilled with the result, and it was such a great experience with them this year. We blasted the Christmas music, and acted like silly girls do, and we had a great time putting it together, and as Eliana says, “I’m just going to sit here and admire the tree”, we were in awe at our final result. Here is a video and some pics to share the experience with you:

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Thanksgiving 2007 Photo Album

There’s a lot to say about our Christmas trip to Gatlinburg. I think the funniest part of it all, is that we spent all that money so we could be extra cold and possibly get snow for Christmas, and then once we got up there, it was only a few degrees colder and no snow. But what tops all that off is, that Mom and Dad and the kids sat at home with the little bit of a holiday they could afford, and had plenty of snow! Next time.. we’ll go get a cabin just for it’s location, and not for the nearby attractions.

We did have loads of fun though. Our cabin was big enough, but not extra spacious. The family never felt so close. Walter and Debra, Patrick and Amanda, and the girls all went up a day earlier than Chris and I. They met up with the Harrisons and enjoyed a Gospel singing.

The first full day we were there was Christmas Eve. We went into Gatlinburg and visited shops. it was a lot of fun just to be there with all of us, enjoy a nice lunch, watch Debra almost go into a panic attack because of some hot sauce, look at lots of over priced things, and buy a few things on sale. Walter spent a fortune buying everyone a gourmet candied apple. I accidentally got Debra’s. It was REALLY good. Then the guys went home, and the girls went grocery shopping. We made a mad dash across WalMart that was family comedy movie material.

Christmas morning, we got up and opened presents. That took awhile, considering Ethan had just as many presents as everyone else combined, if not more. Amanda went crazy, as is expected with the first baby. Everyone else got a more sensible amount of gifts, I think everyone was pleased. Then I made French toast for everyone. After breakfast, I had thought the plans were to do nothing but just enjoy the day together, but some of them decided they waited to go look for snow. Chris and I stayed, as well as Eliana since she was glued to her new video game. We ended up going out to the hot tub. That was really nice. Later, we made and ate a huge Christmas feast. It was simply delicious,and we pigged out on leftovers the rest of the week.

The next day we loaded up (after many dramatics that aren’t worth mentioning) and went to Dollywood. This is the one place I felt like I was going to hate. I was so wrong. in 50 something degree weather, we rode every kiddy ride we could get the girls on, and some by ourselves. Patrick and Chris won the guess your weight and guess your age challenge, based on Chris, not Patrick, he just paid. The age guess was especially easy, considering Chris’ peach fuzz head, and salted beard.

Amanda and I walked all the way across the park, just the two of us, after it had turned dark, just to ride the roller coasters. SO Worth It! One coaster, you couldn’t see more than half of it because it wasn’t lighted. Then another ride, I freaked and freaked about up until the moment we finally got in the air. It ended up being boring and less thrilling than some of the kiddy rides we rode. Then we rode the Mystery mine. If we would have had time, we would have ridden this one multiple times. It had two 90 degree drops, fire in our face, a corksrew and a loop. We were lucky to have ridden next to a seasoned couple that let us in on everything that was about to happen just before we got there. So nothing took us by too much surprise, except for the ghost cuckoo clock that sprung out at Amanda near the beginning and scared her to death. Yes, I spent the billion dollars it costs to buy the photo. I’ll scan and upload later.

We walked back and met up with the others just in time to watch the Carol of the Trees. That was gorgeous, and hearing the Christmas story was a really great touch.

The next day, everyone did their own separate thing. Patrick and Amanda stayed home, Walter and Debra went driving in the mountains and did some more shopping, and we took the girls to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Aquarium. They have the biggest underwater tunnel in the country. It takes you underneath the big tank where you are just inches from fish and sharks that are bigger than the biggest adult. We got to touch the horseshoe crabs, and tried to reach the stingrays, but they didn’t come close enough. The girls had a blast, and we did too. Then we went and did some driving through the mountains too. We reached a good summit and parked to get out. The Smokies rolled out before us as far as we could see until the met the clouds. it was awesome, and we praised God’s handiwork. How beautiful is the wrath of God, how much more beautiful his eternal gift will be.

All together, we had a great time. It had it’s stressful points, but that was expected considering all of the strong headed men that were there. HA! Us girls had perfect fun together, we usually do.

The day before we went home, we saw on the news that the following Tuesday, Gatlinburg would get snow.