Gatlinburg Vacation/Staff Retreat

Ha...where do I begin?  We just got back from our Gatlinburg Vacation with my side of the family...the Bone's.  This picture just says it all.  We had soooo much fun!!! Abby really wanted us to get an old time photo done in downtown Gatlinburg, it was hilarious.  When Olivia came out in her dress looking so pregnant, I could not stop laughing....

Olivia is my sister, 17 months younger.  We are due at the same time.  What we didn't know until last week is that Olivia is expecting not 1, but 2 baby boys!!!

Here is how it all went down.  Jason and Olivia were not going to find out the sex until the birth.  She called me the day before vacation and said that "suprise"....they did find out and will be telling everyone when we get to Gatlinburg.  I had told her about the cupcake idea from Rachel and Ryan Blackwell.  So, she had cupcakes ready and we were all to bite into them together to find out what color the baby pacifier inside the cupcake was....Blue or Pink???  Everyone was assembled in our Gatlinburg cabin...I had just flown in.  We all bite in...and it is a boy!!!!  After a moment, all the excitement had died down and Olivia says..."Mom....I hope your hungry b/c you need to eat another cupcake to find out what the sex of the 2nd baby is!!!!!!!!" I literally could have about died.  I was in complete shock!  I was jumping up and down screaming, mom was crying, Olivia was crying and all of the men in the room were laughing at the women.  It was a moment I will never forget.  We were shocked to say the least!!!  Now, mom and dad will receive 3 baby boy grandchildren come Nov.  Wow, exciting.

We surprised Olivia and gave her a little family shower that night.  

4 Generations.  Reese, me, mom, and Mom's mom...Grandmother Polly.

Jason, Olivia, Nick, me and Abby went up in the skylift that overlooks Gatlinburg.  

It was really fun and beautiful!

I think my favorite thing we did was swim and picnic at the creek.  The water was freezing but you became numb after about a minute.  We had a blast!

You can see by Nick's expression how cold the water was.  It was so much fun!  

Thanks to Brian (my older brother) for hooking us up with a cabin and a fun swimming spot.

We went to a really great restaurant called the "Abblebarn" in Pigeon Forge.  It is family style southern cooking place.  Really good.

STAFF RETREAT 2009-Branson MO

This is a picture of a table in a restaurant that we ate at.  One day when we have a dining room, I want to get a table like this and get all different chairs just like this.

Tracey Smith, me, Erin Kennedy and baby Brady Blackwell (1 week old) and Rachel Blackwell