Saturday, October 31, 2009

Ema came to visit


Natalie-Rose took to Ema so quickly and so well.

She flew in on Thursday, so we took it easy that day. Just hanging out and visiting.
But the next day we had a lot planned!
First we went to downtown Asheville to let Ema see all the charm and character of our city. And while we were there, we went in City Hall to show her where her son, my dad, works. City Hall is such a historic and beautiful building.
On the way to Black Mountain, we stopped in at the Billy Graham Training Center so that I could show her where I work. It worked out well that there was a seminar going on and so I got to introduce her to some of my co-workers.
By this time we were ready for lunch. So, we went on to Morning Glory Cafe, our favorite place for lunch. Mom and I always get their famous fish tacos.
Here are some pictures of that meal.












Once we finished, we headed off for downtown Black Mountain, and Cherry street. There are all kinds of quaint little shops to go in and window shop. Ema loved it!
















We loitered here and there, in this shop and that. Got a couple Christmas presents for Natalie, and I even smuggled a birthday present for Nate. I love Cherry street!

By the time we had made our way back to the car, we were ready to get back home and have dinner. We needed to rest up, because we had more plans for the next day.

Saturday was the day we had planned to go up on the Parkway to see the beautiful fall colors.
And it was gorgeous, even if it was 35 degrees.
We started going higher and higher and noticed some low clouds on the mountains. Where we could see the trees, it looked like they had a coating of ice. Then we realized it was snowing!
We got to a picnic area, on the way to Mount Mitchell and stopped so we could get out a frolic in the flakes. We weren't prepared for how cold it was!

When we had had enough and were shivering, we headed back down the mountain. When we left the picnic area, we noticed that they had already closed the parkway just beyond where we were because of the snow!

Ema got in the truck with my dad and he took her to all the best places to see in Asheville (from a vehicle). Then they picked up some pizza for dinner on the way home. A fun way to finish a day of adventure!

Sunday was church and Natalie's dedication. I'll continue this later.

Friday, October 30, 2009

The heavens declare the glory of God! (and the trees)





These are a few pictures that my dad has taken around Asheville.
The leaves have turned all of a sudden and I think they are more beautiful than last year. It seems like last year they turned a little and then storms blew them all away.

At least God gives us some extraordinary beauty before the bleakness of winter!

A new star added to the Blogger universe





I was just thinking the other day how fun it would be to publish a blog.
But I thought my family wouldn't go for it.
So I just mentioned the idea, and to my surprise, they got really excited about it.

I am not a witty, creative writer, so this is mainly going to be news and happenings at Star Hill.
But stay tuned, I might catch the blogging bug!