from the desk of tara hope…

Happy Thanksgiving! yesterday we all got together in our little cabin in the woods for turkey with all the fixins!

i was very proud of the the turkey breast i cooked! it turned out nice and brown 🙂

we had some very cute little visitors! i could have squished baby layla’s cheeks all day! 🙂

after a good meal, which i didnt get many pictures of, we went on a hike to grotto falls. this was one of my favorite hikes ive done in the smokies!

the falls were definitely worth the trip up!

the trip back down was felt a little longer, and matt grabbed my camera and started being silly… so here are matts pics from the trip 🙂

this is the “ok, stop taking pictures of me now” pose!

i kept saying i felt like i was in jurassic park! all the big stones and trees covered in moss, you could tell they had been there for a VERY long time…

i love these ruffley mushrooms, they look “so anthropologie”  🙂

the drive out of the park was beautiful, thanks to a perfect blue sky and lots of cool treasures hidden in the forest…

that night after dinner we played a raucous game of “battle of the sexes” boys against girls! the girls kicked butt, of course, but it was so fun playing with all different ages, and different places in our marriages.

nanner and grandad kept cheating helping the other team 🙂 look at them giving each other looks…

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at one point susan laughed so hard she fell out of her chair! im telling you it was an intense game 🙂

uncle jim told me he wanted a picture of himself on my blog…i dont think this is what he had in mind!

it really was a fun game and i think both sides learned some new trivia that night! if nothing else, we sure laughed alot!

all that laughter was the perfect end to a perfect thanksgiving 🙂

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matt’s family used to own property here in the mountains, so they used to come here on family vacations every year, but haven’t been back in a while. so this week is all about matt re-living the memories of his 15 year old self 🙂

today we went on a scenic drive, to explore a little bit, but we had to stuff matt in the trunk because there weren’t enough seats…

they showed me where they used to stay in an RV park every year, so i finally got to see the place where matts stories from his childhood all take place…

then we found tom, the maintenance man who has worked there ever since matt was a kid. check out that awesome beard! (this guy was a true mountain man!)

after seeing their old stomping grounds, we moved on to a very short hike in the woods. it was perfect weather, and so nice breathing that fresh mountain air(just a little bit cleaner than NYC :))

haha we wanted to act like we did the 15 mile hike, but we went about 1 miles of that 🙂

after that strenuous hike leisurely walk we went to the old mill for lunch. this place was awesome! its like cracker barrel on crack 🙂

if you ever eat here the chicken and dumplins are great 🙂

such a fun start to the trip! cant wait for everyone else to get here over the next few days so there can be even more chaos and craziness and laughs 🙂

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