Meemaw's Breakfast & A State Park

Day 6
On Wednesday morning my grandma made breakfast for us & boy was it good!! Cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, toast, & coffee. We love it when she cooks us breakfast! I have to say it is one of Johnathan's favorite things to eat! It was what I consider a perfect day because it was rainy & foggy all day long. I LOVED IT!!!! To me there is nothing better on a fall day than to stay inside & listen to the rain. We had decided to go to a state park that was close by. Johnathan had heard it had a great river & he was dying to go fishing. So, despite the rain we decided to go check it out. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, he didn't have any clothes for fishing in the rain otherwise he would have been there all day!


Johnathan & Papa enjoying a cup of coffee on the porch.

The road to the state park. Isn't it beautiful!

Addison holding Bailey's hand while she is asleep as we drove through the state park. It just melted my heart.

Part of the park. There was a river running under the bridge to the left. Why didn't we bring our fishing stuff?!
Daddy with Addison. They went exploring while I sat in the car with Bailey while she was asleep.

On our way back to the house we stopped by an apple stand. They had so many flavors I hadn't even heard of & boy were they YUMMY!!! We also stopped by a grape stand that sells a specific type of grape called a muscadine. My uncle loves them so we picked him up some & when we got back to his house I tried one. It was one of the worst things I have ever eaten! Sorry Joe!

Don't let them fool you! I actually had to spit my in the trash! YUCK!!

The Pumpkin Patch (or not!)

Day 4:
We decided to rest on Monday b/c we had been going & going & we desperatly needed it! I had come down with some sort of chest/head cold before our trip which led to almost no voice on Saturday or Sunday. We were able to sleep in until 10:30 am!! We decided for dinner to go into the town of Shelby. We found this nice little sandwich place which was YUMMY!!! We walked around downtown for a bit then headed back to my aunt & uncle's house then back to bed by 9 pm.

Day 5:
Our day started off a little earlier than normal. We decided to go back into Shelby & meet my uncle for breakfast. He had been telling Johnathan about a breakfast food that is very populare in North Carolina. The name of it: LIVERMUSH. I am going to let that sit with you for a minute. I kept asking what was in it & they kept telling me "it's mostly cornmeal". Yea Right!! Johnathan, being the good sport he is, decided to give it a try. He ordered it "crispy" just as he was told. He said it wasn't that bad but he probably wouldn't ever try it again. NOTE: We missed the Shelby Livermush Expo by 1 Week!! Maybe next time!

Livermush before it's cooked


Livermush: Crispy

After breakfast we had decided to go to a Pumpkin Patch. What a better time or place for our family to go. I did a little research & found a place about 30 minutes away in South Carolina that looked fabulous! So.... we talked my grandparents into going with us. We left out about 9:30 am. We finally found the "pumpkin patch". It was a small covered patio with pumpkins on it. Are you kidding me?? I was sooooo mad! Now, I do have to say that it was also an apple orchard, but a small one at that. Needless to say, we left as soon as we got there.

The girls before we left for the "Pumpkin Patch". Don't they look so cute in their shirts!

We decided to go to a place called King's Mountain on our way back into town. There was a Battle at King's Mountain during the Civil War & we just happened to show up on it's anniversary. There were people dressed in costume that were there to honor the people who fought. Apparently these groups take two to three weeks off a year to travel to some of the battlefields of the Civil War. They are SERIOUS!!!

See what I mean!
We decided to stay for a little bit & watch some of the ceremony. I really enjoy stuff like that. My husband & girls on the other hand, not big fans. We decided to leave about half way through & call it a day.


They wanted to ride on Daddy's shoulders the whole way down the mountain. What a man!!

The Leonhart's at King's Mountain

Mommy & Bailey

Mommy & Addison

The Blue Ridge Mountains

Day 3:
Sunday morning we headed over to my Aunt & Uncle's house to say goodbye to some of my family from Pennsylvania who had come up for the wedding. It had been over 10 years since the last time I saw them. I had such a good time visiting with them. After we said our goodbye's, we headed out on our trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains. My grandparents had offered to stay at my Aunt & Uncle's house to watch the girls so that my parents, my aunt & uncle, & Johnathan & I could all go. It was beautiful! It was so hard to even begin to comprehend the beauty. I couldn't help but just sit in awe at the beauty that surrounded us. Words can't even describe what we saw & pictures don't even begin to do it justice. We saw shades of orange, yellow, & red we had never seen before. What a blessed time we had! Here are a few pictures from that day. Enjoy!!

Aunts & Cousins from Pennsylvania. Starting from Left: Me, my Mom, Hannah (in the pink), Mary, Rhonda, Cindy, Morgan (in the yellow)

The Blue Ridge Mountains



More Beautiful Trees!


Me & Johnathan

Joe, Darla, Mom, & Dad


A river we came across when we stopped to get fresh apples. I could have stayed there forever!! And yes, I actually did take that picture!

Johnathan wishing he had his fishing pole.


For dinner that night my Uncle Joe made is "top secret" (wink-wink) ribs & boy were they yummy! After dinner we all went out back & sat around a campfire. It was the most perfect way to end the day. Thanks Darla for the best popcorn we have ever had!!!


Papa, Meemaw, Bailey, Addison, & Nana.

Grandad with Bailey (she loved driving that tractor!)

Grandad with Addison (a little more hesitant a/b the tractor)

The Wedding

Day 2:
Here are a few pictures of my cousin's wedding. It was sooooo beautiful! We are so blessed that we were able to be there for it! You guys are amazing! Thank you also for letting us stay at your house while you were on your honeymoon. We had such a great time visiting with you both! I wish we lived closer to each other. Blessings over your new life together! We love you!

Brittney & Brian

Family Picture: my Dad & Mom (in the back), Chrissy (my cousin: Brian's sister), Aunt Darla, Uncle Joe, Brian, Brittney, my Meemaw & Papa, Bailey, Jill, Addison, & Johnathan.

The Leonhart Family

Addison, Aunt Darla, & Bailey at the reception.

My Uncle Joe & Me at the reception.

Mr. & Mrs. Wybiral leaving the reception. Have fun on your cruise!!

We're Back!

We got back this past Tuesday from a 10 day family vacation to North Carolina. This was our very first Family Vacation with the girls & we had a blast! Why North Carolina? Well.... I have a cousin (Brian Wybiral, on my mom's side) that got married on Oct. 4, there was a Nascar race the following Sat., & it was a great opportunity to catch a glimpse of the fall folliage. It was one of the best trips we have ever taken! I'm going to have to do a lot of small blogs to catch you up on everything we did & everywhere we went. I guess there is no better place to start than at the beginning. So..... here we go!

Day 1:

On Thursday we drove to Oklahoma City for our flight to Charlotte. We spent the night in OKC b/c our flight was at 5:30 am on Friday. Talk about early!!! We were up at 3:00 am to make it to the airport by 4:15 am. The girls did so good getting up that early. I think they were so excited about the "airplane trip" they didn't even know what time it was. (The only bad thing was that we had a couple of drunk guys in the room next to us who kept me & Johnathan up from

1:30 am-2:30 am. Johnathan finally had enough & called down to front desk & within minutes things were quite.) We got into Charlotte at 11:15 am. My dad & grandpa picked us up to go to my aunt & uncle's house about 1 hour away in Shelby, NC. My cousin's rehearsal & rehearsal dinner was that night so needless to say, it was a long day!! I don't think we went to bed until 12:30 am. So, here are some pictures from the first couple of days. Enjoy!!!

The girls at the hotel in OKC on Thursday. (Bailey Lt., Addison Rt.)

Addison with her ticket.

Addison & Bailey looking at the planes.

Bailey at the Atlanta airport waiting on our plane.

Johnathan & Addison with some of our luggage.

My cousin Brian and Brittney at the rehearsal. He loves to hunt so Brittney made a dress to wear for the rehearsal as a surprise for Brian. She even had an a bright orange veil. Aren't they so sweet together!!

The girls playing on the playground at the church. If you look really hard at the background you will see that there is a cemetery. That's right, a cemetery. You don't know how many times we had to tell the girls to stop playing on the tombstones; they thought they were so fun to climb on. (Just kidding!)

Another picture of the playground/cemetery.

My Dad, Mom, Me, Addison, Bailey, & Johnathan at the rehearsal dinner. Boy was that brisket good! Great job Joe! The best I've ever had! Also, great job on the potato salad Meemaw. Where did you get it again? Just kidding.

My Uncle Joe (my mom's brother) & Aunt Darla: some of the greatest people ever!! They were reading a blessing over Brian (their son) & Brittney.