Congratulations are in order

This post is typical of our lame attempts to pretend to follow sports. It's just hard for us. But every once in a while, a win comes along that even we can't miss.

Way to go, Yankees! (And thank goodness we get FOX through our TV antennae. Whew.)

Highlights from a great weekend--updated

Anna had a wonderful time bonding with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend. We can tell she misses all the extra attention! Ben and I are having a hard time picking up the slack. It was wonderful seeing our little shy girl open up and socialize a little bit. There's nothing like Grandma and Grandpa to draw her out!








(yes, that is Grandma's cell phone she's holding)











Ribs at Calhoun's. Yum.







The obligatory map photo from our afternoon in downtown Knoxville.


And Norris Dam, which we visited earlier this year. We knew it would be great in the fall.











Hay was put out for the deer, which attracted a whole herd at the time we were out walking. These photos are all courtesy of Grandma, since I naturally left my camera in the car. She got pretty close to one just on the other side of the road.





Thanks so much for a great weekend! We can't wait to see everyone again soon!

Fall in the Smoky Mountains

The rain here in Tennessee has finally started to give way to some fabulous fall weather, and just in time for a visit from Grandma and Grandpa last weekend! Our site seeing opened with a trip to Cades Cove, a historic farming community in the Smoky Mountains active from 1819-1930s. It includes original cabins, churches, and mills, but the public comes to enjoy the scenery and the wild life.







The one-way, one-lane loop around the Cove (11 miles long) coupled with relaxed Southern drivers somewhat offended the efficient Swedish sensibilities of our group, so these photos came mostly from inside the car as we rode along. We didn't stop very often, but even so, it was hard to take a bad picture. If you decide to give the Cove a try, I recommend biking during the hours cars are banned from the road.















And there was, in fact, some wild life as well:



A deer



And even a bear. (No really, it is.) We also saw turkeys and a close-up "boo" (squirrel) who was eating happily out of the working grain mill.

We decided against purchasing the locally ground flour at the gift shop...(though the guide assured us the grain the squirrel was sampling was designated for livestock only).

Even the camp ground rest area was incredibly picturesque:







And oh my goodness, I made it to the end of this post without one picture of Anna and Grandma! Better fix that...

A few remarks about my sock...

Getting ready for Halloween

As you can see, Anna really likes her new Halloween clothes. She's even getting into the spirit of things with some ghoulish grins.







Who doesn't like matching socks?






(alright, this expression is at least partly due to a stuffed up nose. The air is getting so dry with the heat turned on.)



It looks like somebody is ready for a happy Halloween.

The Mad Conductor

Anna's new trick is waving her arms around in the air. She does a little bit of everything here, including a show-and-tell of her most recent library book.

Eight months!!!

Here they are-- the eight month photo shoot with Lambie. Of course we know the best thing about Lambie is the tag...