For my birthday, Chad bought us tickets to go to the Gaither Family Fest in Gatlinburg, TN. Now, I have to let y'all know I am the only one in my family who LOVES the Gaithers. Chad listens to it for my sake and V can't stand it!!!
So, over Memorial Day weekend we packed up and went to Tennessee. What a great trip it was, despite V's nonstop complaining about the music and H running me/us ragged at the concerts! We were blessed to stay at Chad's dad's house and had a great time with his family. Plus, Leo made a few new friends- they had 2 miniature poodles so the three of them ran around the whole time and had great fun!!
Here is H "helping" me pack her suitcase.
I'm sure you can tell what I packed and what she packed. :)
I did NOT pack the magnets, stickers,etc.
Here we are on our way!
H enjoyed watching her new Mickey Mouse
movie but V wasn't too happy about sharing the dvd player!
After 9 or so hours we made it! The
Smokies looked so beautiful in the background.
As we were trying to find Carl's house, we were
using my phone's GPS and this is the road it told us to go to.
I told Chad not to take it but he decided we needed a little adventure!
We followed the "road", a dirt path through the woods and this is what it led us to....
a field behind someone's house!! I couldn't stop
laughing, because apparently the road wasn't
finished yet but the GPS didn't know that!
So we turned around and went back down where we
came from. Turns out that if we would've went a little
further into the field, we would've ended up in
Carl's backyard! Who knew!
We finally made it!!
Leo couldn't be happier!! He had 2 new friends
to play with and they were great "hosts"!!
So, after we unpacked, had a little dinner and freshened
up a bit, we went to Gaither family fest!!
Here is Gordon Mote and Bill Gaither singing together.
Here is Jeff and Sheri Easter and their daughter.
H is enjoying the concert too!
But she kept me running, Chad running and
was the entertainer for the crowd!
We were trying to figure out what to do
with her saturday morning!- we most certainly
didn't want to bring her back. :(
So Barb (Carl's wife) went with me
and we had a great time!
The Isaacs
Ben Speer.
After the saturday morning concert,
we met up with everyone else for lunch.
This is Barb, Chelsea and V
H was busy picking out brochures
on what we should do next!
After lunch, we went to a park and some
fun stores in Pigeon Forge.
Here is Chad and his dad, Carl.
My precious, beautiful girls!!
Having a little "daddy time".
I found my princess poopsie wand!
Doing a little "window shopping".
Grandpa and V
Driving through the Smoky Mountains.
A mountain view of Gatlinburg, TN
I love this. Gorgeous.
My most precious V
This is the entrance to Gatlinburg, where the Gaither
family fest was held at the convention center.
That night we brought V and H. What a huge help
she was in taking care of H. The night concerts
lasted over 5 hours so it was really long for
her to "be good"!! :)
My FAVORITES- the Gaither Vocal Band
Now THAT'S some music!!!! :)
I could listen to them for hours and hours.
That night after we left the concert we walked
through Gatlinburg- a fun tourist town.
A miniature Herbie!
This is where we parked almost every time- it was
called the church honor parking lot.
It cost $5 and you had to put your money in
a box next to this church.
Now it's Sunday morning, and Gloria Gaither was signing
her book! H fell asleep near the end of the concert so her and I
went and waited in line for Gloria to sign my book. I was so
excited to meet her!!
I'm sure H will love this pic when she's older!
H, Gloria and I.
Bill and Gloria's daughter, Amy, also wrote a book and
I had her sign it for me too. Poor H
slept through it all!
My precious V waited a long time to ask Bill
if he would take a picture with me.
She said to him, "my mommy
is a big fan of yours and would
love a picture with you." Thankfully
he said yes! Love that girl!!!
He even took one with the girls! Poor guy-
his "people" were trying to drag him away for
lunch but he took the time for pics with us.
Thanks Bill! :)
(we're on a first name basis now) haha
Now to end this fun and crazy morning, H had
dropped a book down the bleachers and
there was NO room to reach in there
and get it. So Chad got a broom,
and he and V somehow got it out.
She had to go under the bleachers on her
stomach and push it out with the broom.
And Chad had to pull her out from under there, book in hand.
It was hilarious!!
What a beautiful view of the Smoky Mountains
I loved the feeling of Memorial Day everywhere we went!
So that night, we left the girls with the grandparents and
had a date for the last concert!! Here we were on our way
there. The drive between Pigeon Forge and
Gatlinburg is one of the most beautiful roads I have ever seen!
Ken Davis
The Martins
Lynda Randle
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound!!!
Gaither Vocal Band with Karen Peck
Russ Taff and me!!
Gene McDonald- he saw me taking
his picture out of the corner of his eye
and all of a sudden turned toward me with this
huge grin! It was soo funny. :)
Logan Smith- he is only 14 years old
but when he sings, he sounds just like
Vestal Goodman. I first saw him earlier
this year when he came to Little Rock
to sing with the Easters.
This was near the end of the family fest and I was so
sad it was over. It was such a wonderful time
filled with my favorite music ever-
southern gospel!!!
Before we went back to the girls, we went
to a candy shop and bought a few of my
favorite candies- Maple Pecan Clusters.
Then we sat outside and just enjoyed being together.
Monday morning, we went to the lake for a
little bit of swimming and family time.
H had a great time with grandpa.
Isn't this the sweetest pic ever?!?
I'm not sure Chad would "approve" of this picture but
I thought it was a cute pic of us two.
Finally, after swimming and a delicious lunch
(thanks Barb!!), we had to say good-bye.What a wonderful and fun-filled weekend it was.
Chad, Carl and Chad's half sister.
It's amazing how much they look alike!!!
And a huge thanks to Carl, Barb, Chelsea!!!!
And thanks to the dogs for giving Leo
a wonderful vacation too! :-)
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