Matthew turned 9!

Well, Matthew turned 9 back on March 25th, I can't believe it
but its official he is 9. We didn't have a party but he wanted
to go up t0 ride the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad, so a few
weeks after his birthday we headed up there and did just that!
We made a full weekend of it and enjoyed doing a little hike in the
National Park, Linville Caverns and Grandfathers Mountain,
before we headed back down to home. The weather was great
for all of it and nothing was too crowded, which is just the way we like it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!


































Thanks Aunt Darlene and Uncle Terry, they left the day
before Matthew turned 9 so they left a card for him with a
nice surprise!!














Here we are ready to board the train for our 4 hour adventure!




































































We were really lucky that the sun popped out just as we
were leaving and the weather just got nicer as the day went.



















On the break we got off and ate lunch at a restaurant
right on the river. It was really a great day!














Back on the train for the last leg of the ride!

































Caboose pictures!



















This was the water fall we hiked up to the next day in the
National Park. It was about a mile up and then a mile back
down. It was still morning so it was nice and cool and again
the weather was perfect for what we were there to do.

We stopped back by the train depot before we headed up
to Linville Caverns and took a few pics with the engine!

After the Caverns we headed up to Grandfathers Mountain. This is the

home of Mildred the Bear and several other creatures along with a

museum and suspended bridge.

I have to say when we got to the top of the mountain the wind was crazy.

We had a hard time getting the car doors open it was so strong. We still

went across the bridge and enjoyed the view!

Aunt Darlene and Uncle Terry visited! YEAH!

Well, it has been way too long since I posted anything and
I can't tell you exactly where the time has gone, but we
have been busy. I wish we had taken more pics while
Aunt Darlene and Uncle Terry where here, but we didn't!
We made a trip up to the Biltmore House and really enjoyed
the Spring like weather and that things were starting to
bloom. We walked the gardens and went for the wine tasting
at the winery, it was a full day! What an amazing Estate!




















































































Aunt Darlene and Elizabeth with their computers.














Wish we could visit together more often!

Abby DeLanghe has arrived!

Well the newest DeLanghe is far more needy than the
last one we added(I mean the leopard gecko, although I
am already tired of buying crickets). Her name
is Abby and she is a three month old Boston Terrier. We
adopted her about 10 days ago from a Rescue Center
and she is starting to settle in and get used to her new
home. Catfish is not so sure about her yet, but he'll
get used to her!

Life after Christmas!

Well since Christmas we have gotten back into the swing
of things, twice. Thanks to another snow the kids enjoyed
some more time off and had time to enjoy getting to know
Jerry the lizard. Otherwise we are all well, thankfully, and
back to a normal rountine as of now.

Tree removal, sad yet happy!














This was Matthews Santa imitation, pretty good!














Here are some pictures of Jerry the newest DeLanghe! He
fits right in since he likes to eat and lay around!










































The kids ended up out of school with this second snow
for a whole week! The first two days were fun, but
after that it was come on melt would ya!














I don't know exactly what Elizabeth was doing other than
getting cold and wet!














We had a quarter inch of ice on top of the snow so
the kids used them as giant popsicles, yum(not)!










































David joined in on the attempt at sledding! No broken
bones, yea!!!

Merry Christmas!

We started our gift giving and receiving with Joe and
Grace on a Sunday afternoon in early December. The
kids enjoyed giving each other a little something and
then playing together for a while. The boys both got
books that are very obnoxious, but also very funny.
You have to hear them to truly appreciate the
hilarity of them. The title says it all "Farts"!















The girls were more civil with books, gloves and
sweet smelling hand sanitzers.




























Elizabeth's school party was a Greek Festival
instead of a Christmas party. I guess Middle
School age things start to change. Toga party!


















Christmas Eve we let the kids open a gift from
each other!














Christmas morning, this year Matthew
actually got Elizabeth up, times are changing!


















ready for snow!














ready for a gecko!
































ready to go online and play some games!


















ready to wrap myself around some large prey!














After gifts and a nice breakfast we headed over
to my parents.We got to see Katie and Emily
for an hour or so and then just hung out and
ate too much food!
































We actually got snow on Christmas Day, in
the evening, this picture was on Sunday after
it had snowed through the night. The kids
actually enjoyed a full day of snow fun!
Which for here is unusual, especially this early
in the Winter!














Matthew got his leopard gecko after the snow
cleared and we headed up to Petsmart. His
name is Jerry and so far I just see a lot of
trouble coming my way, but we'll see!