Subtle reminders

Something so sad happened when I was checking out at the grocery store. The man in front of me had an injury of some kind and his left side/arm/hand constantly shakes. (I assume it was an injury due to the scars.)


He had trouble picking up his bags and placing them in his cart, as well as trouble with counting out his cash. The cashier offered no help with putting his bags in his cart, and stood there watching as he struggled.

There were about five or six people in line behind me and several had rude comments on how slow he was. People take things for granted all too often. You never know tomorrow you could be facing the same struggles he is facing today.

He was a sweet and handsome man, and deserves just as much respect as anyone else in this world. There's no reason to treat people the way people do now. It literally makes me want to cry. I hope whatever his situation, whatever has happened to him that he has someone at home or in his life to let him know that he is loved in this world.

I wish I had done something to help him, but I didnt' want to offend him. I just couldn't find any words. I think in a way that this was a subtle reminder from God, a reminder to be thankful for everything I have. I'm always thankful for my family and friends, but its the simple things I forget to be thankful for like my good health.

God bless this stranger! I pray for the ignorant ones who laugh at him.

 ''kindness is free''

Gatlinburg,TN

Our friends invited us to go to Gatlinburg with them, they completely paid for everything. The hotel,food, and attractions. The only thing I paid for was a few things for the kids and having a few ''Old time photos'' made. Such a blessing that we were able to go and that we have such thoughtful friends!




a train at the Chattanooga Choo Choo museum

 Saturday October 8th was the day we left. We stopped in Chattanooga. First we went to the Chattanooga Choo Choo and toured the museum, went on a trolley ride, then visited the gift shop. It was a lot of fun and my little conductor had tons of fun!


After that we took a trolley over to the Creative Discovery Museum it was a blast for all of us. We spent several hours there. I would love to take the kids back again sometime.

We stopped and got something to eat then made the rest of the trip to Gatlinburg. The weather was beautiful there, mostly in the 70's. The tree's were beautiful! We spent an entire day at Over Gatlinburg, we did the chair lift multiple times. We did the alpine slides, the water slides, the animal exhibit,the playground, the maze, and the train.                                                                      

We visited Fannie Farkles multiple times when we were there. The kids loved it, I loved it, lol everyone loves that place! The babies got airbrushed t-shirts, lil man picked Angry Birds, and Miss Priss picked out a ballerina one. She had her photos made at Ole' Thyme Photo. I think they turned out really cute despite the fact that she had a boo boo under her nose due to her runny nose that started Saturday.

One night we were standing outside of a candy store, watching them make the taffy. All of a sudden there was a man dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow! Not only did he look like him, he talked like him, and his movements were exactly like they are in the movies! We were quite entertained by him. My sweet angel said ''don't let him shoot my mommy'' gotta love the way little ones think! We explained to her that it wasn't a real gun, and that he was only wearing a costume sort of like Halloween, only it wasn't Halloween. She was happy with that and wasn't afraid of him anymore.

We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse, which has great food but poor service. The police were called there because the waitress added gratuity to a check, probably because she knew she wasn't going to get a tip. They wanted her to remove the gratuity, and so they called the police. There was a lot of yelling involved. Anyways I was amused by their high-chairs for the little ones! They are made out of old saddles! Cute idea if you ask me!

We had a wonderful time with our friends. I'm glad that my step-daughter was out of school for fall break and got to go too! I enjoyed spending time with her and the babies.

Monday we ate at the Pancake Pantry, lil man fell asleep waiting on his food. Out of the dozens of times I have been to Gatlinburg it was my first time eating there, I absolutely loved it.



Chocolate chip pancakes

 After breakfast we made another visit to Fannie Farkle's. We all played then cashed in our thousands of tickets for prizes. We walked the strip in Gatlinburg one more time, then started the trip back home. We stopped to see a small waterfall.

We stopped at a train museum in Townsend, it was closed but we still took photos of the kids with the old engine outside. Later on we took the Foothills Parkway, we wanted the scenic route home.

Along the parkway there was a place to stop and park. Then we had a half a mile walk up the mountain to get to what is called Look Rock. I managed to get a cramp in my calf during the walk up the mountain. It was well worth the view once we were at the top though. We could see Maryville, Cades Cove, Clingman's Dome and several other places from this one place. We got to see the sunset while we were up there, and it was absolutely beautiful!

Beautiful view from Look Rock