The Days of our Lives (Oct 20 - 26)

Sunday - Went to Hardin Valley C of C with Nana and Grand Dad and got to also sit with Grandmother, Granddaddy, Gran and Pawpaw.  And as a fun surprise, David and Bridget were there as well!  Lunch at Aubrey's with everyone except David and Bridget who had to work that afternoon.  Gran told us about the Parade of Homes, and since it ended that day and Nana and I really wanted to go, Gran offered to come over and stay with the kids during naptime and until we came home.  We took her up on her offer and visited seven different Parade houses with (the somewhat reluctant) Brian and Grand Dad.  I though it was fun and interesting, but none of us would have wanted to buy any of the houses we saw!  We finally stopped our parading so that we could pick up the kids and Pawpaw and go see Pawpaw and Gran's under-construction house.  Although walking up the gangplank to get to the house was a bit scary, we all enjoyed walking through the house and especially enjoying the beautiful view of the setting sun reflecting off the water of Ft. Loudon Lake.  The kids had the most fun playing on a four foot high pile of gravel and then crushing and throwing dirt clods.  After a dinner of Krystal hamburgers, we stopped by Krispy Kreme to round out an evening of favorite Knoxville treats.  Another busy day, but lots of fun!

Monday - Nana's birthday today!  But we all got up and ready again quickly to spend the morning at Grandmother and Granddaddys since Uncle Jim, Aunt Cathy, my cousin David and his youngest son T were there for a visit!  We had a really nice time and are really excited that we'll get to visit with extended family more once we move to Knoxville next year.  After nap the kids helped me make birthday cupcakes (Nana let Nathan pick - chocolate cake with chocolate icing).  Then we found out that David and Bridget's friend, who was supposed to take pictures at the wedding, had broken her camera and wouldn't be able to do the photographs, so they asked me if I would fill in.  After much discussion between me and Brian, we figured out what additional equipment I needed (extra camera batteries and charger, memory card and lens hood), and I started scouring the internet for ideas/tips/photos.  After a yummy steak dinner, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Nana and feasted on chocolate cupcakes.  Sarah cracked us up eating her cupcake, as she ended up with icing all over her face and up her nose!

Tuesday - Brian and I decided that all of us just needed a "down" day.  Daddy worked most of the day replacing the bumper and quarter panel on his truck and also removing the dent from hood and I took a nap.  Brian and I went out for dinner at Parkside Grill (our rating: marginal), then shopped for new jeans for Brian. 

Wednesday - Went to the Plumb Branch house in the morning so that Daddy could help Grand Dad hang some kitchen cabinets.  I met Gran for lunch at Noodle & Co then she accompanied me on some errands around Turkey Creek. Spent the afternoon & evening hanging out at Nana and Granddad's house.

Thursday -  Went for a second visit with Grandmother and Granddaddy in the morning.  During nap, Brian and David went to pick up his tux for the wedding while I spent hours on the new photo banner for the blog.  After Daddy spent the afternoon working on fixing the remaining scratches on the truck, Grand Dad had the great idea to eat dinner at Cracker Barrel and Brian especially was super pumped.  After the kids went to bed, Carroll and I helped Bridget put together wedding favors.

Friday - I ran out in the morning to Joann's Fabric for fabric and to Walmart for some spare barretts for Sarah.  Gran came over in the afternoon to stay with the kids while the the adults went to the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  It was SO COLD during the rehearsal, we were all worried we were going to freeze at the wedding.  My fingers were stiff with cold by the time the rehearsal was over and I was concerned about being to take pictures the next night.  The rehearsal dinner was at Sullivan's in Maryville and I thought everything was super delicious.  I'm going to have to have Brian take me back sometime!  Spent the night planning and making lists of all the photos I wanted to take the next day.  I didn't sleep well that night because I just kept going over and over photography stuff in my mind.

Saturday - The kids woke up super early so Nana took the opportunity to give them a bath so they'd be clean for the wedding.  The morning flew by at home and before we knew it, it was time to get dressed and make sure I had all my equipment and lists packed for the wedding.  Mom had run to Walmart before she and Pawpaw came over to baby sit the kids and bought me some gloves that we cut out the fingertips as well as hand warmers, but thankfully neither were needed during the wedding.  Grand Dad, Nana, Brian and I got to the wedding venue a little after 1:00 and I pretty much went full-speed taking pictures until dinner at the reception.  By that time, I was exhausted and scaled waaaay back on the number of pictures I was taking.  Brian willingly danced with me for a few slow dances and some line dances, which was an exciting surprise!  The party started winding down earlier then I expected so we were able to get home before 9:00, which was fantastic as I had time to start transferring wedding pictures to my computer and pack for our early morning flight back to Boston and get to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fall asleep right away because I kept rehashing the day and how I was or was not able to get all the photos I wanted!