This is np and my trip was awesome. When we went to Tennessee we stayed in a cabin. It was not an old rustic cabin; it was very modern. It had three floors and each floor had a bathroom. The third level was a game room. Also on the game floor there was a movie room with a flat screen and surround sound. In the game room was a pool table, a fooseball table, and an air hockey table. Off of the game room there was a brick porch on the porch there was a hot tub. There we spent hours.

Snuggles with Opa

M and J's dad have quite a special bond together. From the moment Opa played his guitar last year, she's been captivated.

Off to FL

After a wonderful week in TN, we hit the road for a week of fun in FL with J's family. Pool time fun!

Quiet Time

JP is never happier than by a stream with a pole in his hand. Born to "be," our son relishes nature and the opportunity to just take it all in. On this trip, JP had an epiphany; he wants to be a park ranger when he grows up. This is quite a change from his previous ambition of "lightbulb changer." :-)

But, JP wasn't the only boy who thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Uh-Oh!

Uh-Oh! R's parents left their car unlocked...and we just HAD to let them know!

Gatlinburg Fun

It's the Dukes! But wait....Luke's lost all his hair! :-( We enjoy a stop at Mahalia's Candies for yummy treats.

Bucks!

We also were privileged to see some bucks. Cool!

BEARS!

Earlier in the day we had heard rumors of bear sightings but both times we had seemingly "just missed" them. But in the evening we finally got to see two bears ourselves. What fun! They were out in the field (about 50 yards out) in the brush. I think they're eating berries. The kids were thrilled.

Praise the Lord!

We're home from the hospital. Today was a long day, as expected....BUT, we received great news. M's lab results show that her ferritin levels are significantly DOWN for the first time since beginning her oral chelation therapy (My apologies for using the word "iron" this morning. That's what I get for typing before coffee.). This signals that the medicine could indeed be working! This means that M is allowed to stay on her current medicine for a few more months. (For those of you who don't recall, M drinks oj with dissolved chelation medicine in it every morning. The alternative is a subcutaneous drip...essentially a needle that's inserted in a different part of her stomach every evening and taped down to drip throughout the night. Needless to say, that would be horribly painful for her and it would be impossible to explain to a 3 year old why it had to happen to save her life.)

We have a GREAT team at our children's hospital caring for M. When we think of what M's healthcare would have been like in China due to lack of resources at her orphanage if she had stayed, we shudder.

Thanks to all of you who have prayed!

We Interrupt this Vacation Highlights Thread...

We're slow to finish putting up some pictures. Thanks for your patience. It's VBS week here! R's busy playing a dramatic character from the Bayou (who had eggs smashed in his face yesterday much to the kids delight). J's a crew leader for Miss M's crew. N's old enough to help this year, too, delivering the snacks to various groups.

This morning J is taking M to the hospital for a long day. We'll start with the IV placement (always a question on how that will go). Then she'll have a four hour drip of a different chelating drug than she normally takes in an attempt to get her numbers down. After that she'll start her four hour transfusion. Should be a nice long day in hospital bed. For those of you who haven't "killed time" with a three year old who still doesn't listen to books or watch tv, that's a LONG time. :-)

PLEASE pray that M's numbers would go down. She is now getting into "dangerous" territory as far as her iron levels. Thanks!

Cades Cove Loop Road

Everyone has a place where their heart feels truly at home. For R, this is it. The Cades Cove Loop Road. Home to beautiful scenery and wildlife. We drove it twice - once in the afternoon and again in the early evening.
On our first time around, we spotted what turned out to be the first of many deer that day (we stopped counting after 20). M was delighted. There's a picture of a little fawn over her bed and she has never quite figured out what it was until this day. She squealed, "M's woom! M's woom!"

We're impressed that R could handle the drive through the park with signs like these around. Way to conquer your fear, man!

Too Sweet

Stream Exploration

One of our favorite shots of the trip because it shows our boys doing what little boys were meant to do....explore!



Then there's always the ooops shot...."Uh, N? How did you get your WHOLE head wet in 6 inches of water?! Never mind." :-)

Alum Caves Bluff

Grandpa led all the boys (and M.) up a beautiful hike to Alum Caves Bluff--complete with nature scavenger hunt on the way.
















Lots of fun bridges to cross.






































Alum Caves Bluff was our lunch and turn-around spot. Very cool rock cliffs. Good lunch. My brother made grilled lamb with blue cheese and veggies on the side. Not bad on a hike. Just hoped the bears didn't like lamb! :-)




















M tries on her brother's back-pack at our lunch break.




















The boys and their cousins had a LOT of fun looking for salamanders.
















The boys found several of the little critters on this hike. Did you know that Great Smokey Mountain National Park is "the salamander capital of the world?" No kidding.

Tubing in Deep Creek

We spent a fun afternoon tubing in the waters of Deep Creek. This was a favorite place R went to as a kid. The kids had a blast, of course.

First Hike

YEP! There are bear here....watch out!
Our destination. All the boys hiked the 3 plus miles like it was nothing.
Then there was M who fell asleep in her Baba's backpack! :-)

North Carolina

We enjoyed meeting up with R's family for the first part of our vacation in NC and TN. Here are all the cousins in the Dean Dome. Hard to believe that our oldest only has six years until college. His current plans? Two years at UConn, two years at UNC and then Culinary Arts school in Paris. We told him he better get a job this summer. :-)

Home from Vacation!

Not sure where to start! We're home from our longest vacation ever....what a blessing it was to get away for almost three weeks!

Our trip took us to meet up with R's family in North Carolina to see UNC and the Dean Dome and over to Gatlinburg TN to Great Smoky National Park. Then we traveled down to FL to see J's family over to the Gulf of Mexico for the Fourth of July, up to Georgia for more time with J's family and then all the way home again up the eastern coast. Whew! We need to add up the hours, but it's safe to say it was over 50 hours in the car and we are not exaggerating when we say that our kids fussed or bickered for maybe 1/2 hour total. We're trying to figure out how to replicate the car experience on land...today they had an entire YARD and HOUSE to play in and managed to drive each other crazy!

We'll be sharing our favorite pix since they've been requested. It'll be fun to enjoy our journey all over again. See you next in TN!