A Weekend Trip to Gatlinburg

A Weekend Trip to Gatlinburg

Sam, Rylee, and I took a trip up to Gatlinburg to visit with my sisters, mom, and Brett. On our way up, Sam and I stopped at the top of the mountain to hike a bit of the appalachian trail. The snow was breathtakingly beautiful! 

 

Our first hike with Rylee in Gatlinburg! 

Remember the crescent roll dough that Sam and I made a TON of? Well, I made a spreadable chocolate sauce, painted it onto the crescent roll dough, and baked it in a twist! It may look suspiciously burnt but actually, the chocolate kind of crystallized/caramelized. While it's not the prettiest thing, it was DELICIOUS! And, the crescent roll dough was actually flaky! I like spoiling my family with yummy food. 

Sam and Brett are best buddies!

It was incredibly cold when we went hiking! We all about froze, but it was worth it. The view was amazing.

My beautiful sisters!

 

Back at the MinIsland: 

Rylee is starting to notice her surrounding enough that we can put her under this a couple times a day. She's growing so much!

We took advantage of a warm day to weed the garden. 

I planted some romaine, red romaine, and spinach (left to right) last weekend. 

I covered the bed with a  tarp for a few days to promote germination...nothing growing yet except the weeds that are rerooting (grr). 

Those of you who have been following us for a while may remember that over a year ago we started trying to fix up the garage. We had to peel paint off the entire ceiling, take the disgusting lights down, re-nail the drywall panels into the ceiling, caulk the cracks between the drywall panels on the ceiling, repaint the ceiling, scrape the paint off the trim, and start cutting in (fancy term for painting the edges and cracks that the roller can't get to) the walls. (This was after a ton of additional work we had done to the garage.) It has looked like this for a year. Terrible right? 

Well, I'm happy to report that we finally finished painting the garage (except the trim and the windows, shhh)!

Rylee helped me paint! I got a great workout carrying her up and down a step ladder to cut in. I tried to put her down, but she only stayed like this for about a minute. Oh well, I probably needed the exercise. 

Sam also got motivated to paint the dining room! (can you find me in the picture?)

It turned out so well! We love it! It's amazing how much a little bit of paint can really transform a room. Now we only have...all the other rooms in the house to paint. Awesome. 

 The most recent development is that Rylee learned to smile! (sorry for the blurry picture. She wouldn't stop wiggling!)

I can't tell you how amazing it is to wake up to this wonderful little lady every morning. 

Did I mention that I have officially applied for graduation! That's right, people. We are moving back soon! Sam and I can't wait!

Pax Domini cum spirito tuo temper sit,
Torey & Sam 

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