Second to last weekend in August (20th-22nd) my very good friend Aubrey and her dad invited Porter and I to spent the weekend up in their cabin in Pine Valley. Aaron flew out to Nashville that weekend to drive back his sister Rachael, her two little boys (Eli, Porter's age, and couple month old Thadeus), and two dogs while her husband Luke is deployed oversees. (We miss you Luke and pray for you daily!) They planned on making the trip in 3 days but did it in two. 32 hours of driving only stopping once to visit grandparents and sleep for 6 hours. Troopers. We were thrilled to have them back safe and sound.
It was a wonderful weekend! Porter and I met them up there Friday night and they made super-sized yummy hamburgers for dinner. Too tasty. The next morning was sausage and eggs and spaghetti for dinner. I don't know if I was just in a great mood, or if they are gourmet cooks, or if food in the mountains just tastes better, but everything we ate was DELICIOUS. Of course we get dressed for the day Saturday morning and first thing Porter does is go run through the sprinklers. *sigh* Kids just wanna have fun.
Warren (Aubrey's dad who was no nice and didn't mind having a tot around; good thing he's an experienced grandpa) took us out in the Ranger on several rides and I can't even tell you how fun that was: that combination 4-wheeler/golf cart was a blast!!! One trail we went up was so rough (and great fun) because it was made up of nothing but rocks and boulders. It put Porter to sleep! Hilarious. The roughest ride and it was the one he could not keep his eyes open for.
Porter loved seeing all the cows and we stopped several times to take pictures of him. He was such a cutie and such a good boy all weekend. I could not have asked for a better behaved toddler.
Beautiful beautiful beautiful scenery and landscaping with the mountains, rivers, brush, desert vegetation, valleys, and terrain.
This is my Aubrey, Porter, and I. In this picture it was morning and we had no make-up on and we were wind-blown and dirty but we were happy! She allowed this picture if I promised to take pictures later on when we were showered, decent, and done up...didn't get that done. Oops. Will make good on that promise the next time!
They remodeled the kitchen some years back and it is beautiful with tons of cabinet space. The whole time I just thought of how jealous my sister Michelle would be. Her house has the most pitiful excuse for a kitchen with no pantry, hardly any counter space, and virtually no cabinets. It's pretty much a tiny hallway so really it was just an after-thought. By the way, she would be the first to tell you that, huh Michelle?
Aubrey played catch with Porter with those Velcro mitts and ball and he LOVED it! Later Warren found a truck for him and he played with that in the garden area while the lawn was being fertilized and us girls were talking.
Steps from the cabin to the cabin add-on and driveway. So pretty with the trees.
Porter's "Oh no" face as he was watching us work to spread some seed. Guess we were doing it wrong.
This is an infant hat so it was way too small but I'd been saving it for him to wear (along with his hunting camo shirt) when we were outdoors and this trip gave us the perfect opportunity. And just so you know Porter is the one who put his hat on like that...funny kid.
Now I don't know why this was the first I had heard of these pies but we had their banana cream pie and it was AMAZING!!! So so so so good. Can't wait until I'm up there again to have another! We went down into town to run some errands, shop, take care of the dogs, and stop for Nielson's Custard. Heavenly!!! These guys knew how to fatten me up and make me happy and boy was my tummy happy!
They showed me the "Oreo" cows which I got a kick out of and Porter loved. Every time we passed cows he would be sure to repeat a hundred times "Bye-bye Moo! Bye-bye Moo!"
Look at this view!!! Pictures do not do the scenery justice, but it's an attempt. Everything was gorgeous. Nature was breath-taking and the mountains majestic. It was all so beautiful I was just in awe. Down in St. G it was 107 degrees that weekend but up in PV it was 80. Beautiful weather!
This is the Pine Valley Chapel, one of the oldest operating buildings in church history. Next time I go up Aubrey is going to take me on a tour. It was built in 1868 and designed by Ebenezer Bryce, a shipbuilder. He basically designed as upside down ship because that's what he knew. When the church was finished, he said, "If a flood should come, it would float and if a wind came strong enough to blow it over, it would still never crash to pieces." We had such a fantastically pleasant weekend. Thank you Aubrey and Warren!
Second to last weekend in August (20th-22nd) my very good friend Aubrey and her dad invited Porter and I to spent the weekend up in their cabin in Pine Valley. Aaron flew out to Nashville that weekend to drive back his sister Rachael, her two little boys (Eli, Porter's age, and couple month old Thadeus), and two dogs while her husband Luke is deployed oversees. (We miss you Luke and pray for you daily!) They planned on making the trip in 3 days but did it in two. 32 hours of driving only stopping once to visit grandparents and sleep for 6 hours. Troopers. We were thrilled to have them back safe and sound.
It was a wonderful weekend! Porter and I met them up there Friday night and they made super-sized yummy hamburgers for dinner. Too tasty. The next morning was sausage and eggs and spaghetti for dinner. I don't know if I was just in a great mood, or if they are gourmet cooks, or if food in the mountains just tastes better, but everything we ate was DELICIOUS. Of course we get dressed for the day Saturday morning and first thing Porter does is go run through the sprinklers. *sigh* Kids just wanna have fun.
Warren (Aubrey's dad who was no nice and didn't mind having a tot around; good thing he's an experienced grandpa) took us out in the Ranger on several rides and I can't even tell you how fun that was: that combination 4-wheeler/golf cart was a blast!!! One trail we went up was so rough (and great fun) because it was made up of nothing but rocks and boulders. It put Porter to sleep! Hilarious. The roughest ride and it was the one he could not keep his eyes open for.
Porter loved seeing all the cows and we stopped several times to take pictures of him. He was such a cutie and such a good boy all weekend. I could not have asked for a better behaved toddler.
Beautiful beautiful beautiful scenery and landscaping with the mountains, rivers, brush, desert vegetation, valleys, and terrain.
This is my Aubrey, Porter, and I. In this picture it was morning and we had no make-up on and we were wind-blown and dirty but we were happy! She allowed this picture if I promised to take pictures later on when we were showered, decent, and done up...didn't get that done. Oops. Will make good on that promise the next time!
They remodeled the kitchen some years back and it is beautiful with tons of cabinet space. The whole time I just thought of how jealous my sister Michelle would be. Her house has the most pitiful excuse for a kitchen with no pantry, hardly any counter space, and virtually no cabinets. It's pretty much a tiny hallway so really it was just an after-thought. By the way, she would be the first to tell you that, huh Michelle?
Aubrey played catch with Porter with those Velcro mitts and ball and he LOVED it! Later Warren found a truck for him and he played with that in the garden area while the lawn was being fertilized and us girls were talking.
Steps from the cabin to the cabin add-on and driveway. So pretty with the trees.
Porter's "Oh no" face as he was watching us work to spread some seed. Guess we were doing it wrong.
This is an infant hat so it was way too small but I'd been saving it for him to wear (along with his hunting camo shirt) when we were outdoors and this trip gave us the perfect opportunity. And just so you know Porter is the one who put his hat on like that...funny kid.
Now I don't know why this was the first I had heard of these pies but we had their banana cream pie and it was AMAZING!!! So so so so good. Can't wait until I'm up there again to have another! We went down into town to run some errands, shop, take care of the dogs, and stop for Nielson's Custard. Heavenly!!! These guys knew how to fatten me up and make me happy and boy was my tummy happy!
They showed me the "Oreo" cows which I got a kick out of and Porter loved. Every time we passed cows he would be sure to repeat a hundred times "Bye-bye Moo! Bye-bye Moo!"
Look at this view!!! Pictures do not do the scenery justice, but it's an attempt. Everything was gorgeous. Nature was breath-taking and the mountains majestic. It was all so beautiful I was just in awe. Down in St. G it was 107 degrees that weekend but up in PV it was 80. Beautiful weather!
This is the Pine Valley Chapel, one of the oldest operating buildings in church history. Next time I go up Aubrey is going to take me on a tour. It was built in 1868 and designed by Ebenezer Bryce, a shipbuilder. He basically designed as upside down ship because that's what he knew. When the church was finished, he said, "If a flood should come, it would float and if a wind came strong enough to blow it over, it would still never crash to pieces." We had such a fantastically pleasant weekend. Thank you Aubrey and Warren!
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