New York is Coming!

Just wanted to let you all know that New York blog is coming! I have a TON of pictures and a TON of stuff going on right now...
Also...Anthony and I are going to the beach Sunday - Wednesday, then going to West Virginia from Friday - Sunday....
Many pictures will follow! I know it's been a while and I'm sorry! I'll try to catch up.
Summer classes are almost over! Hooray!

Lile's first Homemade Haircut!

So I love my little Lilehana...but I don't love the $30 it costs ever time she needs a haircut. So my friend Michelle and I were shopping at Big Lots and we found a kid's haircutting set. I thought....Hmmm...this could work!

So I bought it and brought it home....what an adventure!

As you can see....she wasn't terribly happy about it! I took this picture in the middle of the haircut! I thought she looked like a lion...she now has VERY little hair! And the day I cut it she shivered the whole time she was in the house! We had to cover her up with a blanket because she was cold!

This is a pile of hair...in the middle of the cut! You should've seen it when I was finished! It was like a snow storm!

Gatlinburg!

Ok...so I know it's been a while...but what a while it's been!

So you all know we rented a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN for all of our friends so we would be able to spend some quality time together. We went June 12-16 and we had a GREAT time! Here are a few of our adventures...

We all enjoyed walking the streets of Gatlinburg...this is in front of the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum..This is a ball of solid granite floating on water. You can stop it from rolling, or change its direction with only a finger..it's pretty cool.

From left-to-right we are...Anthony,Gary, Collin, Erin, Melissa & Baby Faith...Jeromy and Anna joined us later.

Faith figured out a way to squeeze all the money out of all of our pockets! But she was just so darn cute tossing coins into the fountain...

We always make a point to play Putt-Putt while we're on vacation. This is Hillbilly Golf...you have to ride a little cart that carries you up the mountain to get to the playing areas. It's up the side of a mountain and completly in the shade. It was a great break from the super hot temperatures...Ok, Ren & Anna..maybe not super hot like Arizona...just keep in mind that our hot is extremly humid hot, and is completly different!

Anyway..we had good times here...until Faith got cranky!

The boys actually did some crazy bungee thing...and almost all of us rode go-karts and played video games and such...but Erin has those pics and I haven't gotten them from her yet...so I'll show you when I get them.

The girls did plenty of shopping...all the outlet malls and cute little stores downtown make for a great place to spend your money. We also spent alot of time eating...not just the girls, but everyone! That seems to be a theme with our group!

Our cabin was really nice...and pleasantly "cozy." It slept 8 people, but only had two bedrooms and two baths. So Anthony and I shared a bedroom with Jeromy and Anna on the futon. Gary and Erin were on the pull-out couch in the living room and Collin, Melissa and the baby were in the big bedroom downstairs. The two bathrooms were inside the two bedrooms...so when Gary and Erin needed to potty in the night they had to come upstairs to our bedroom to tinkle...and our bathroom door was the LOUDEST, squeakiest door you could ever imagine! What an adventure. Not to mention that there was practically NO insullation anywhere, so there were no secrets...we could actually see the light from Collin and Melissa's bedroom through our floor boards. But it was great..

Our next big adventure was our visitor!

I found this guy in the shower...right before I stepped in I noticed there was something in the corner near the drain. I almost just swished him down the drain with water...but I decided to put my glasses back on and see what it was. I said "Anna...you've gotta come see this bug, it looks like a scorpion." She says..."No way, Kyla...it can't be a scorpion, that's silly." So she finally gets up and comes to see it...and she was like "Oh my goodness, Kyla, it really is a scorpion...it's even got a curly tail! WOW!" So we checked it out and sure enough..it really was a scorpion! We googled it..and this type of scorpion is native to Eastern TN, and Western NC mountains...it also said that life-long residents should consider themselves lucky if they actually get to see one of these guys.

What a surprise!! I sure am glad I put my glasses on and checked it out before I just hopped in!! Anthony scooped it out and put him back out across the road, safely away from our shower!

We had a great time...and we've decided we need to do this every year...but somewhere different next time. I'll share more pics when I get them from everybody else....

My new endeavor...

I just became a consultant for a new wonderful company. It's called Thirty-One and it's a Faith-based company founded on and around the Bible verse, Proverbs 31..about a virtuous woman who deserves reward.

The products are beautiful and so very useful. I haven't booked my first party yet, but I'm hosting a party next week at school. If you have the time or interest,

Wednesday June 11 from 12-3 my friend, Rebecca, will be setting up in my classroom to showcase the products.

If you would like to see the products or maybe shop, but can't make it to the party... if you log onto Rebecca's website: http://www.mythirtyone.com/rbridle and click on the right on "My Events" a June calendar comes up. Just find my name and click, you can shop and view the catalog. There are many promotions for discounts and things. Personalization and monograming are included on most items for free! So get creative!

You guys should check it out...its so great for gifts of all kinds!

HALLELUJAH!!

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

It couldn't be a better day! The rugrats left for the last time today!

I have babies to keep, people to see, a puppy to love...

My girlfriends and I are going to New York City..I've never been and I can't wait! My new camera will definitly be put to good use!

Anthony and I are planning on doing something, but haven't figured out what yet...we've mentioned several things, but nothing sticks out. We'll just play it by ear I guess!

What a great day!

Linville Falls

Saturday we took our little family for another outting! This time we headed north towards the Blue Ridge Parkway and ended at Linville Falls. For those of you who are Criminal Minds fans, the Falls were featured on this week's episode...except it wasn't really Linville Falls they were showing on TV while they were mentioning the Parkway. Funny how that happens.

Anyway....we took Lile for her first BIG adventure and she was wonderful! She walked so good on her leash and stayed right with us. She was sooo tired by the time we headed home! Poor little puppy had never walked that far in her whole little life! We just love that little thing!

We kinda thought it was funny that we went to school in Boone, and live only about an hour away from Linville and neither one of us has ever visited there. You can hike, camp and take beautiful photos. You can hike up to the top of the falls..or follow a trail to the basin of the falls. We opted to take the top of the falls trail this time.

We'll probably hit the basin next time.

This is a picture of the upper falls...they're pretty small.

This is a picture of the lower "big" falls...we were WAY up above this! But thanks to my SUPER new camera...I got the close up pic, too!

For you, Ren....I got a Canon 40D...it's awesome! Maybe you guys can come visit and we'll show you all this cool stuff in person!

Look what my new camera can do!

Sunday fun!

Today we decided to throw our kayaks into the car and paddle around the lake! It was a gorgeous day and we had tons of fun! It was Lile's first experience with a large body of water... other than the bathtub...and she had NEVER been in a boat before, much less a kayak! She did pretty good...she only tried to jump out of the boat twice...she was riding with Anthony and wanted to ride with me. He has more experience and we thought it would be easier for her to ride with him. Anyway...she almost jumped out and then when her feet hit the water she was scared, like she didn't realize there wasn't land there!

Here are a few pics of our family outing!!

These turtles were sunning on the trees...they just sat patiently while we paddled by. Until Lile started barking and scared them!! She wasn't sure what to think of them!

How cute are we?!?!

This is Lile having one of her "mommy moments." She almost fell in the water trying to get into my boat...