Mountain Time!

we unfortunately had to miss a visit to mountains (to see gramma, papa al, uncle jay, aunt millie, cousin kira and baby john) back in May because of ear infections and a fever virus. this time we didn't miss it, we just came home with it all! Audrey Kate found herself in the ER Sunday morning with the worst wheezing I've ever heard. Diagnosis: the croup and an upper respiratory infection.

(loving on the doll they gave her at the hospital)

We got back to Gramma and Papa Al's to Anne Perry waking up from a super long nap with a 102 fever. By the following day, Addie had a fever virus too. Gracious lands!

But that didn't stop us from having a blast in the mountains with Gramma and Papa Al and a fun visit from Nana! The weather was more than perfect. Cool but not cold. The rain stopped. The sun came out. And we enjoyed every minute outside that we had!

We headed to the Nature Center only to discover they had new fall hours. So we decided to hike back where Addie played in the creek this summer. No creek swimming in this weather, but it was still gorgeous! 

I had the grand idea of getting a picture of Paul and his mom and the girls. Apparently not such a grand idea to our little people. It quickly went from unhappy...

...to unruly! At least a few of us had a sense of humor about it!

So we headed back for lunch and n.a.p.s, and then back outside to play some more!

Gramma had a fun frisbee that was perfect for little hands to spin...

to throw...

...and especially to catch!

And how could i forget...to WEAR!

Doesn't matter what it is, if you give this little girl anything that could remotely go on her head, it does! buckets, baskets, sleep sacks, blankets, hats...

...and frisbees!

This sweet little munchkin was perfectly content to sit on Gramma's hip

...and make silly faces!

We even got to eat dinner on the deck with Nana!

and before the bear arrived (yes, i said bear and no, i unfortunately didn't get a picture of it or the damage it did), sweet ginger dog decided i needed a baby in my lap or one snuggled up close! i am not a lap dog person, but i love this dog!

I had a favorite picture of each of the girls from this trip. not sure what it is about this one, but i love it of Addie. maybe it's her serious expression or her sweet eyes.

 i love this one of anne perry. she just looked so big in this chair!

and audrey kate. i love how serious she is in the picture. i love her sweet eyes too. i think this one goes in my top 5 Audrey Kate pictures!

God has gently reminded me over and over this past week how blessed we are to have 3 little girls. Thankful for their health. Thankful for their spunky personalities. Thankful they are so very different and yet so similar. But most importantly thankful that they are so very loved.
 

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalms 100:5

Happiness is...

...in the details.

We spent the weekend in Highlands, NC. Gorgeous weather. Fun family. Typical drama of sick little girls, a trip to the ER, and a visit from a bear!

But thankfully pictures always bring back the sweet memories instead of the crazy ones.

More to come as soon as I can get my hard drive to cooperate!

But for now, the happiness is in the details.

i've fallen back in love with my 50mm 1.4 lens. now i remember why i loved it so much.

nothing spectacular about ferns except the intricate detail that makes them what they are...and the lighting.

we visited this pond in july; but the lily pad flowers were too far away, and i didnt have my zoom lens. this time there was less water, which allowed me to step a little closer...with the help of a zoom lens!

details of God's creation. perfect in every way.

"...Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10

Highlands: Favorites

the photographer in me wants perfect pictures. 

but the mother in me wants perfect memories!

i think we have a lot of perfect memories from this wonderful trip!

perfect or not, these are a few of my favorite pictures of our girls. 

anne perry smiles. curls. happy eyes.

addie's sun hat.

beautiful colors.

be-stickered legs.

i think out of all the pictures from this week, these next two are in my top five. 

necklaces. suitcase. porch slats. crazy sunlight. 
audrey kate peering out.

glancing over her shoulder like she's debating whether she wants to go or not.

looking so big but still such a baby!

and addie begging for me to take her picture.

i love looking through pictures that bring back such sweet memories. i'm always reminded of what a precious family we have, who love our girls so deeply and surround them with such love and care!

thank you nana for inviting us to your beautiful retreat in the mountains, feeding us such delicious food, and letting our girls completely take over your downstairs! thank you rierie for braving the trip up us. and thank you gramma and papa al for spending time with all of us! and most importantly, thank all of you for loving our girls!

Highlands: the 4th of July

ok. so only 2 more highlands posts to go!

we chose the 4th of july weekend for several reasons, one of which was the small town 4th of july celebrations!

we started the morning with a trip to the creek (again) with just Addie, Paul and me. she had so much fun (again) jumping around and playing with just us; and i got to grab a few of these flower shots! we {forgot} to bring her a change of clothes, so we just stripped her down and put her in her carseat wrapped in a towel!

after showers and little girl morning naps, we headed to see the birds of prey from the Balsam Mountain Trust Nature Center. Addie was mesmerized, but the little girls not so much. so paul strolled them around until we all piled in the car and drove {more than} a few blocks to the 4th of July picnic. there was a fire truck with the ladder fully extended that spewed water from the fire hose all over the field for the kids to run and play in at the end of the picnic after the medical helicopter took off and did a fly over!

but before all of that, addie jumped inside the firetruck and didn't want anyone else to get in!

so we pulled her out and grabbed some lunch with Nana, Rie Rie, Gramma, Daddy, and the baby sisters.

picture attempt of all 3 girls #1:

picture attempt of all 3 girls #2:

perfect picture: fail.

perfect memory: success!

there were so many things to watch!

 

i love how very different yet so similar these little girls are.

then it started to rain right before the helicopter took off, so paul loaded up the babies while Addie and I stood and watched it take off and do a fly over. wow! (sorry, no pictures. the camera was staying dry in the car too!).

then we headed home for naps.

after naps, gramma and papa al came over with the yummiest home smoked pulled pork bbq ever, and we had delicious cold salads and grilled corn on the cob and divine peach/blueberry cobbler and ice cream made by my aunt/nana. then a few of us and Addie went to hear the patriotic program (complete with a bagpipe) at the local church but headed home early to wait for the fireworks.

we put the (completely exhausted) little girls to bed and watched the fireworks with an excited Addie, who's emotions ranged from utter amazement to complete bury-your-head-cover-your-ears fear! it was sprinkling again, so i didn't take a single fireworks picture either {sad!}.

barring the limited number of pictures i took, it was a wonderful day of celebrating our country and the men and women fighting for our freedom, all while being surrounded by wonderful family!

Highlands: the Waterfall

paul's mom, aka gramma & margaret, also has a house in Highlands. so the girls and i spent a morning with her and started with a beautiful waterfall!

now, i can wear one baby; but there is no way i can wear and/or carry two babies totaling close to 50lbs together (down steep, slippery steps), and this {short} trek to the waterfall was no place for a stroller! so anne perry (who's a bit of a mama's girl right now) was on my back and gramma strapped audrey kate to her back in a second baby ergo and off we went!

(now that is one impressive gramma, don't you think!?!)!

 

and as we walked down, this was our first view. beautiful, but...

 

we rounded the corner to this:

if you look closely, you can see a wooden fence behind the falls. we were able to walk down there and addie found this. she was much more excited about it than this picture shows, but i still thought she was cute {grin}

there are many words that could describe a waterfall, but about all i could think of was...

wow.

 

now, don't get me wrong, addie loved that waterfall and talked about it for days; but she had more fun splashing in the tiny creek that ran down the walkway!

jumping. hopping. swinging. stepping.

and smiling :)

thank you for taking us to this beautiful waterfall gramma! we can't wait to go back when we visit in the fall!

Highlands: Mountain Creatures

not only were there some exquisite flowers in Highlands, there were some unbelievable creatures!

I don't normally begin posts with my favorite picture, but just in case you don't make it to the end of this one, i'd want you to see this...

the redbird, aka Mr. Cardinal according to addie, would swoop on and off and around the deck. this was the only shot i got of him, and i was using a 300mm lens (huge zoom!) because he was so far away by the time I could grab my camera and get outside!

but this little guy visited us every day!

he and his compadre (a much larger squirrel) would chirp and fuss and fight over the bird seed!

however, this beauty would wait patiently until all the little finches and both the squirrels had eaten their fix.

a man from the Balsam Mountain Trust Nature Center came to town and brought some beautiful Raptors to share with visitors from their Birds of Prey program. he did a fabulous presentation that Addie is still talking about an entire week later! you know, because all birds DON'T lay eggs. do you know which ones don't? keep reading to find the answer :)

he even offered to bring out the birds later and hold them up in a more natural background so we could take pictures! yes, my camera was practically salivating, but mommy duty came first and we had to leave before it was over for a picnic. so i did what i could to angle my camera/myself in what limited space that i had to create my own more natural background. :D

i couldn't resist posting some pictures of the sweet (looking) owls he brought. each of the birds he brought had some sort of physical limitation/disability due to injury. while they are not a rehabilitation center, they do house birds who have been rehabilitated elsewhere.

i got bumped to the back for this bird and felt bad pushing my way back through to my mom and addie.

but i peeped over someone's shoulder to grab these! i sure wouldn't want to run into those eyes in a dark alley...or on a dark mountain!

but when he brought this guy out, i didn't hesitate to take the chance and slip back in beside addie and my mom. because wow...what a beautiful symbol of our freedom and the men and women who have and continue to fight for us to keep it.

such an incredibly majestic, powerful creature

and yet still so beautiful!

and since i know you're just itching to know which birds don't lay eggs...?

why the male birds of course! ;)