Since both Kris and I had July 3rd off from work we decided to take a little road trip to a place called Highlands about 70+ miles south of Asheville. We had been told it was pretty so after a bit of research we decided it would be a great place for some hiking. It took about 4 hours for us to drive there. We originally thought we might try to stay over night but when we arrived and saw how busy it was we decided that we'd probably just drive home in the evening. This first waterfall we stopped at is called Bridal Veil Falls. It doesn't really compare with the one in Provo but it was pretty and kind of cool that you can drive under it.
Our first hike was Whiteside Mountain. It is a landmark along the eastern continental divide. It was a 2 mile look and you wouldn't believe how many funny looks I got for being out hiking with this baby in my tummy. I heard several say "oh my gosh" and "did you see that pregnant girl?" etc. It was fun and the mountains were quite pretty. This isn't quite into the Smokey Mountain National Park but they do consider it as part of the Smokey Mountain area.
Then we went on a little jaunt to the Whitewater Falls. It was 1/2 a mile from the parking lot to this view point. This waterfall is the highest east of the Mississippi River at 411 feet tall.
We had a nice little family take our picture after going down some 100+ stairs to this next view point. The little girl in this picture said to me "you look like you are going to have a baby." To this I replied "your right, I am." Then she wanted to be in our picture so of course we let her. Who wouldn't want to be in our picture;).
She also wanted to continue hiking with us. Her dad said no and of course she was very disappointed until her dad said they were going to the boat. Well, needless to say, I didn't think that 1/2 a mile was far enough of a hike since we had come all this way so we decided to hike down to the river bottom, a "strenuous" 1 mile.
It was kind of steep and there were quite a few roots and some stairs along the way but it wasn't bad going down. We were told to remember that we had to come back up though.
At the river there were other stares but it was sure nice to put my feet in the nice cold water. The hike back to the top wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. I just went slow and steady and it only took us about 35 minutes to get back to the top, even with stopping a couple of times for water. It was well worth the effort.
This was called Dry Falls. It was right off the road. Here's another belly shot for those who like that sort of thing. I was 32 weeks and 2 days here.
Back in Winston there was an Independence Day flag football game where families were invited to come watch. This group of guys gets together every Saturday to play. This was Kris' first time going and he got some pretty good battle wounds. Afterwards we went to our friend's house and had a barbecue. Kris made good ole Sanpete turkey barbecue. It was tastylicious.
Our final destination was Lewisville for the fireworks. There were a bunch of people from our ward who met there so we joined them. You can't tell from the picture but we had a giant tree blocking our view at first. It's to the left of this firework. All in all it was a great weekend.
Over the summer Kris was involved in some research at the school. Last Wednesday they had a day where they presented their posters at school and they were judged. Denzil and I went over their to support our man. Kris looked great and we are very proud of the work he did.
Our friends Steve and Elise joined us for a few of the sessions of conference. Kris got us some cables so that we can connect our computer and our TV. It was pretty sweet.
This is one of the positions that Denzil likes when he is having his fussy time...right around 6-7 pm each day. Kris is so good to hold him when I'm starting to get frustrated because I'm just not doing it right.
Denzil was so nice to let me play dress up with him today. The Jackson's borrowed us this sweet monster costume and I wanted to see how it fit him and if I wanted to take him to get some halloween pictures taken. I think he looks adorable. Maybe one time he will smile for the camera.
The other night I had given Denzil a bath and Kris came in the room because Denzil was crying due to being cold and he doesn't really like it when I put lotion on him. Well, as we were putting his jammies on Kris tickled Denz' tummy and he totally smiled and he seemed to laugh too. Of course I ran to get the camera and we tried it again but all we got was 30 seconds of video of Denzil's straight face. Oh well, we'll catch it sometime. At least we were both there to witness it. It sure was cute.
I stole this idea from Randi but I think it is a good way to have a picture each month to see the growth and changes Denzil makes. Well, after one full month at home things are starting to be a bit more normal. I still am feeding him quite often which apparently is what happens for the first few months. He has been getting it down pretty well but we still have our moments or days. He is becoming more alert during his awake hours and starting to check himself out in the mirror above the swing. We haven't had any official smiles yet but hopefully soon. He is starting to fit better in the 0-3 month clothing. He's still a bit small but I guess that is why they are made to cover several months so that they can grow into them.
This is the one and only newborn size sleeper and it now fits him just right. I tried to put him in it the first week we were home and it was HUGE on him. I guess we'll have to have him wear it several times this week to get some use out of it before he gets too big.
He always does the cutest things with his hands. He is so sweet!
This is just to show that he has gotten bigger and filled out more. Check out the previous picture we took of him laying on this blanket. Keep up the good work Denzil!
The day after my mom left Kris' mom came out to visit for another week. We were so spoiled to have such help.
Since I was feeling much better by then we were able to get out a little bit more. We made a trip up to Mt. Airy (Mayberry) where Andy Griffith grew up. We went on Labor day so most of the stores weren't open but it was fun to walk around a bit and to eat a nice big ice cream cone. Denzil did great in the baby bjorn.
Today I took him to JC Penney and got some pictures taken of him. He did really well considering he hadn't eaten in about 3 hours. By the end he was a bit too cranky but we were able to get a couple of cute ones. Next photo shoot will be in his blessing outfit but I think it might be a bit big on him just yet. We'll have to see when the next fast Sunday is to decide when we want to have him blessed.
Just hanging out on a blanket.
I think he looks pretty big in this one.
You talkin' to me?
A few pictures of our "garden" that we have growing on our upstairs deck. It is looking a little sad, but the peppers and tomatoes are doing well.
This is the baby's half of the spare bedroom. We have some pretty nice borrowed stuff, from even nicer friends. Thanks go to the Jackson's and the Kinlaw's. Airplanes is the main theme, we think it turned out great.
Our first hike was Whiteside Mountain. It is a landmark along the eastern continental divide. It was a 2 mile look and you wouldn't believe how many funny looks I got for being out hiking with this baby in my tummy. I heard several say "oh my gosh" and "did you see that pregnant girl?" etc. It was fun and the mountains were quite pretty. This isn't quite into the Smokey Mountain National Park but they do consider it as part of the Smokey Mountain area.
Then we went on a little jaunt to the Whitewater Falls. It was 1/2 a mile from the parking lot to this view point. This waterfall is the highest east of the Mississippi River at 411 feet tall.
We had a nice little family take our picture after going down some 100+ stairs to this next view point. The little girl in this picture said to me "you look like you are going to have a baby." To this I replied "your right, I am." Then she wanted to be in our picture so of course we let her. Who wouldn't want to be in our picture;).
We got to the game about the 3rd or 4th inning and our new team was really having a great night. The score got to 12-1 I think.
Then in the top of the 7th inning, just moments after they did a "no rain" dance...
Fortunately everyone decided to leave when they saw the dark clouds so we were able to get under the spot where we wouldn't get wet to see about waiting it out. Well, it only got worse so we left too. We didn't own umbrellas at the time so we got a bit wet heading to the car but it was a good time and we might consider going again.
It was fun to be in the front, I didn't have to work as hard as Kris to keep us going straight;). This was shortly before I got him pretty wet.
I guess the only bad thing was that the lifejackets were a bit dirty and so my white shirt (already previously stained) was stained from the "brown" stuff on the lifejacket. Oh well, that's why I picked that shirt and not a nicer one.
