Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Trip

Last weekend, Isaac and I joined our close friends from college for a weekend reunion in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN. We flew up to Knoxville a couple of days earlier and spent some time with my parents and brothers. The weather threatened our trip, but everyone made it to the cabin and back home safely.

Kyle, Kelly with Hallie, Dana, Traci, and Leanne...it is easy to color coordinate on game day!

Andy with Joshua

We loved seeing our friends, but we are glad to not see snow and ice in FL. We all decided to come back next year in April and hopefully, Jason, Greg, Marcie and Emerson will be able to join us then, too!

Isaac with Hallie...he needs a little girl, doesn't he? Hallie has more than one man in her life wrapped around her little finger! Hallie's grandfather sent out her annual Christmas letter this year and Hallie was in every single picture...her mommy, not so much!

Andy, Mark with Isaac sitting on him-poor Mark!, Josh, and Nic in front...these guys were so silly the entire weekend...they definitely always pick up where they left off! We played "Apples to Apples" throughout the weekend and these guys were hysterical. They also enjoyed the pool table in the loft.

The connections: Isaac went to high school with Nic and grew up in the same hometown as Andy. Isaac was roommates with Mark and Nic at different times throughout college. Isaac and Josh were friends in college before Josh met Kelly and Isaac and I starting dating (Kelly and I were roommates in the dorm at the time and lived together until we got married a week apart from one another, whew!)....then on a spring-break trip, Mark met my and Kelly's friend, Traci, and they fell in love too! Andy and Dana met in college as well and Dana quickly become a great friend to us all. Somewhere in there, Nic fell for the "hot girl" (Leanne, of course) in the choir at church, finally got the guts to ask her out and the rest is history!

Sweet Miss Hallie, "The Tiny Trendsetter"

View from our balcony

The boys sliding on the ice, why they thought this was a good idea is beyond me.

Traci, Kelly, Hallie, and Kyle

Last picture before venturing down the mountain. It took us a while to get out to the main road due to five cars that were stuck on the ice and a rock slide. Thankfully, we all made it out safely and Isaac and I got to enjoy some extra time in the car with Josh, Kelly, and Hallie. Weekends like this show us how much we miss these friends and how blessed we are that our friendships have remained through distance and major life changes.