Good ole Rocky Top

This weekend I headed, along with Momma, Daddy and Katie Caroline, to the northeast tip of Tennessee to visit my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Mike in their beautiful log cabin. When we first arrived the cold air was a little over whelming but the sight of a little snow on the ground made it all worth it! The snow didn't last long but the cold weather sure did! All in all it was a great trip. Here are some pictures...enjoy!

The back view of the cabin

Me and Katie Caroline enjoying hot chocolate in front of a warm fire

Just for fun we made Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies out of oreos and candy.
Here I am with Aunt Lisa, Katie Caroline, and Momma


Ryleigh (my cousin's little girl) was so proud of her Turkey Cookie!

We ate wonderful food the entire weekend.
Michael (my cousin) and I are "helping" with dinner! :)

My Aunt and Uncle's dog, Gin, had a litter of lab puppies 3 weeks ago and boy were they sweet and cuddly!

Poor little buddy doesn't look very comfortable but he was sound asleep :)

Ryleigh showing off her cute hat

I couldn't get enough of these precious babies!!

We spent most of the weekend crowded around the fire keeping warm and chatting...ahhhh relaxation! I sure did have a great time but it is nice to be home where it is a little bit warmer.

Bennett turned 1!!

Okay so Aunt Nat is a little behind but November 10th was Bennett's big birthday. The Saturday before his birthday, Shelley and Jason had a big bash in their backyard. Bennett enjoyed crawling around in the grass, riding in his red wagon with his friends, and eating his duck cake. Oh what a day! He was such a sport and kept his birthday crown in place the entire time. He is such a happy baby. Opening presents sure was a blast and that tissue paper is just so much fun. I can't believe that a year has gone by like a flash and Bennett is growing and changing so fast. He just gets more precious every day that goes by!

Here is a picture of the picnic table all decorated for the party. Shelley had everything looking so cute. The theme of the party was pull toy ducks so the invitations and cake matched. The party favors were sweet pictures of Bennett in his duck costume all displayed on a photo fan.

There is a season for everything....

and for this season the beauty is seen in the changing of leaves. The leaves in Opelika this year are so beautiful. God has blended the reds, yellows, oranges, and greens are all together perfectly to create a wonderful work of art. I am amazed at how brilliant the colors are. Beka and I decided to try to capture the vibrant colors in a late afternoon "photo shoot." I don't know that these pictures do it complete justice but we sure did have fun being silly and acting like photographers/models! :) Enjoy...

First we decided to climb a small tree...not such a great idea as it really hurt the insides of my legs! ha

Then Beka thought it would be nice to show how large the pretty yellow leaves were...almost the size of her head!

The way the sun came through the trees really was breath taking!

Ahhhh and the best for last...since red is my favorite color this was definatly my favorite tree. It is a Japanese Maple and it was incredible!!

You're never too old for Halloween!

I love to dress up! When Katie Caroline told me that she and her friend Charlsie were having a Halloween party I was pumped!! At first I couldn't come up with an original costume though...then it hit me since I just became and new nurse in May this year for Halloween I should be just that-- a nurse. When I mentioned to a coworker of mine, my idea of a homemade costume (white dress with a white button down shirt complete with red cross and "Nurse Nat" thanks to MBSigns) she quickly dug through her attic to find her authentic nursing cap to top off the costume. It was cute but I can't believe they actually wore these things to work in...it was so bothersome! I used Katie Caroline's baby doll, a hospital baby hat, and hospital newborn blanket from work and my stethoscope from school and wa- la I was a cute 1920's Neonatal Nurse.

Alexis (Cheetah Girl) Katie Caroline and Carly (Pink Ladies) Charlsie (70's Girl) and Charlsie's friend (Bumble Bee)

My friend Beka as a Flapper

Nutter Butter Ghost Cookies

Me with my masterpiece: this Graveyard Cake took me almost three hours to make! It was made of devils food cake, homemade icing, crushed Oreo cookies for dirt, chocolate covered pretzels as the fence, chocolate covered Milano cookies as headstones, a solid chocolate spooky tree, candy pumpkins, and marshmallow ghosts. I thought it was so cute and quite tasty too!!

A spooky up close view of the cake.

The little 50's Family:
Fonzie, a Pink Lady, and Fonzie's Girlfriend

From stalker to blogger....

For the past several months I have enjoyed peeking in, every once and a while, on other people's blog pages... I love looking at the pictures, reading the funny stories, and catching up on what's going on in every one's little world. But this morning I decided that I have been a blog stalker for too long, "I must join!" I thought. And so I took the big leap into the blogging world. Be patient with me-- my stories might be boring, the surplus of cute Bennett pictures might be nauseating at times, and the updates may be few and far between but I hope you enjoy the little peek I give you into my world.