March 2012

Biking at Laurel Lake, Our Anniversary, Buzzard Rock, and Smoky Mountain Anniversary Get-Away, Kristina B.'s wedding shower.

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Rainbow while Daniel was out working.

Is this what will happen to salesmen on this street???

We spent a fun Sabbath afternoon taking an early spring bike-ride by Laurel Lake.

Daniel biking down the trails

Another beautiful view of Laurel Lake.

Kristina on her bike

The highlight was watching the sun set over the lake, before we headed home.

It was so quiet and peaceful out there.

And the colors were pretty, too!

The moon behind us.

Daniel had fun playing with his camera zoom :)

Our telephone company is installing fiber cable to every house in our rural county!

It'll probably be a couple years before they start offering anything faster than 756kb DSL though... (which is what we currently have)

Phone company stringing wire to our house.

Our third anniversary! Daniel got Kristina flowers and some very nice gifts.

Kristina made Daniel a special meal and gave him a pretty card. His anniversary gift she saved for another two weeks until their belated get-away to a cabin. ;)

Pizza wheels and Quiche made out of greens harvested from our garden!

We spent a couple hours working on our nature trail. Marble came along to "help".

Daniel cutting a path through the woods.

Friday and Sabbath was Eastern KY Campmeeting.

This was a very special weekend for us, because they had a special Licensing program and dedication for Daniel as a Literature Evangelist!

Our KYTN Conference President, Steve Haley presented the License to Daniel

Keith Reid (far left) did the dedication prayer, and Dan Herwick (far right) shared some thoughts.

Keith and Caroline Reid did a special music.

Then the Literature Evangelists shared their experiences.

Keith and Caroline, with Kristina and Daniel. It was so special that they could be there for us!

Daniel took this pic of Kristina. :)

Our beautiful wild pear tree in full bloom a few weeks earlier than usual.

Blue Grape Hyacinths

Kristina's salad garden (planted in August), after surviving the entire winter!

The strawberry patch, planted in November, waking up for spring growth.

Another hike to Buzzard Rock--one of our favorite winter/spring hikes because of the sunshine and warmth at the viewpoint. :)

The blue sky and clouds added beauty to the scene.

We weren't the only ones enjoying the sunshine. :)

Daniel taking advantage of the photo opportunity

Jennita was visiting for the weekend, and she enjoyed the view with us.

David was visiting for a couple weeks, doing fundraising.

Daniel enjoying the sunshine.

Daniel working on a really neat photo.

The photo Daniel was taking.

Smile, Jennita!

Buzzards flying overhead. We see lots of them up there--probably where the name, "Buzzard Rock" came from. :)

We took a side trip down the road to explore the boat launch at Big Creek. This is down at the same river we were looking at from the Buzzard Rock Overlook.

The reflection of the clouds on the water is so pretty.

The sunshine peaking through the clouds reflecting on the water.

More cloud reflections.

The butterflies were enjoying a drink at the water's edge.

Marble enjoying the sunshine on the porch.

Claws and Marble keeping their space... They are friendly enemies now. lol

Kristina and Kristina B. re-visited the spot where, exactly one year ago, David asked Kristina B. to be his girlfriend. Now they relived those memories and worked on plans for David and Kristina B's wedding coming up in one month!

Pictures of the creek flowing by.

Kristina B. contemplating the memories.

The creek going over the falls.

Daniel and Kristina took a late get-away for their anniversary to the Smokey Mountains. This was a mountain view on the way down I-75.

Rarity Mountain Lookout, off I-75.

Another view along I-75.

Redbuds bloom in the foreground, while the mountains slice the sky in the distance.

We arrived at our little cabin, a few miles away from Pigeon Forge.

It was SO cute!

Our cute little bedroom in the loft upstairs.

Kristina surprised Daniel with an anniversary gift at the cabin.

Pajamas that Kristina sewed for him.

Daniel trying them on for the first time--they were a perfect fit! He was so surprised!

Kristina made a matching pair for herself, too!

The view from our porch was an amazing glimpse of the Smokey Mountains!

Kristina absorbed in the view. She was SO happy to see some mountains again!!

The porch swing on the porch, facing the view.

Closer up of the view. The camera never does mountains justice.

We had a perfect view of the early morning sunrise. Kristina got up early to watch it from our loft window.

The colors brightened as the dawn progressed.

The colors were amazing!

On Friday morning, the glimpse of the sunshine was incredible--shining its beams on the mountain tops.

We spent lots of time driving and hiking and taking pictures of waterfalls and scenery along the way.

These strawbales were really cute!

Someone was very creative!

A cute little churchyard with the rain clouds in the distance.

Kristina taking a river photo from the bridge.

The photo she was taking.

The weather was a bit chilly.

Another part of the river along the road.

Kristina climbed out to the middle of the river for an interesting perspective.

We took a two mile (round trip) hike up to Spruce Flats Falls.

The mountain views along the way were SO pretty! There were still fall colors, plus fresh spring colors. It was so vibrant!

The Spruce Flats Falls were breathtaking! And it was a quiet spot--we only met two people on the trail the whole way there. It was like we had the whole place to ourselves.

Kristina climbing up the falls.

A closer view of the upper part of the falls.

A unique perspective.

An interesting staircase along the trail--made of one long tree.

The sun peaked out just enough to create a unique glow on the colorful mountains.

An opening fern (fiddlehead)

Daniel taking the previous photo.

More fiddleheads.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Another river along the road.

Daniel took some unique shots through the mossy trees.

Kristina's view from farther down the river.

Daniel standing on the river's edge for some depth perception.

Kristina getting a unique perspective with the help of a tree for framing.

Here is her first result! (her favorite)

Her second result.

A roadside cascade.

Another hike to see more waterfalls and cascades.

The Lynn Camp Prong (creek) along the way.

The wood violets were out in every color.

Dutchman's Britches were everywhere.

The Trilliums were the most impressive. They were EVERYWHERE!

Star Anemones were pretty too.

Kristina taking wildflower shots

A small waterfall along the Lynn Camp Prong.

Daniel's close-up of a small spring along the trail.

Kristina's far-away view of the entire hillside--little springs were dripping everywhere and trilliums dotted the hillside.

A few more closer views.

Kristina's view of the trilliums lining the rock, while the water dripped below.

The Lynn Camp Prong Cascades--view from a bench on the trail.

Kristina enjoying a rest on the bench, with the cascades behind her.

Two butterflies on a wood violet.

Kristina taking photos of the wood violets.

More wood violets and butterflies.

Another river along the road.

Kristina's photo of a roadside spring.

Daniel's photo of her from the car.

Another vibrant mossy green river.

Another day at our cabin--this time with cloud covered hills. We weren't sure how much views we'd get to see today!

Then the clouds began to part and the sun started peaking through again, and our hopes brightened, as we headed out the door!

Daniel stopped to get a picture of this unique complex of dwellings on the side of the mountain.

Kristina took one of the same view, but from farther away.

The dogwood trees and redbuds were all in bloom.

Another mountain viewpoint. You can see some of the fall leaves still on the trees.

Pretty little Spring Beauties along our trail.

Lillies.

Carpets of wildflowers just covering the hillsides.

Anyone know what this one is? Comments are welcome!! :)

More carpets of wildflowers--the whole hillside was covered with them!

Daniel taking another flower close-up.

The beauty of greenery along the trails was breathtaking.

A little cascade along Roaring Fork (creek), with our first glimpse of Grotto Falls way up in the background.

Daniel pausing for another photo along the creek.

Another cascade just before Grotto Falls.

Our first stopping point--Grotto Falls. It was a small falls, and there were LOTS of people everywhere, so we didn't stick around long.

Our destination was further up the trail--to the top of Trillium Gap, and from there to the top of Brushy Mountain. Kristina wanted some good mountain veiws. :)

Kristina taking a quick stop along a spring.

Daniel crossing a spring along the trail.

We made it! At the top of Trillium Pass, exactly 3 miles from our car, and nearly all of it steady climbing in elevation.

Kristina hiked faster the closer we got. She was SO excited to get to the top of Brushy Mountain!

Poor Daniel had a hard time keeping up with her...

The trail was full of water--it was like walking up a creek bed! But we could see the top just ahead.

You can see why this mountain was named "Brushy Mountain." Check out the height of the brush compared to Kristina! It was like walking through a jungle--the only thing above us was sky!

Our first glimpse of the surrounding mountains!

Our view from the top! Totally worth the hike! :) The camera just doesn't do it justice at ALL!

Un oh... look out in the distance! There's a rainstorm headed straight for us, and we have over 3.5 miles to hike back to our car! We headed back down the mountain at top speed!

Back down the mountain--just passed Grotto Falls, less than a mile left to our car. It was sprinkling, but we were doing fine.

We outran the worst of the storm, so once we got back to our car, we were able to stop for some pictures along the road.

This is called "Place of a Thousand Drips" and it is rightly named! The camera didn't have a wide enough lens to get them all in--you're seeing less than half!

More of them on the other side.

There were so many trilliums around the drips and even along the roadside.

Kristina taking a close-up of a trillium. She has hundreds to choose from!

The roadside lined with thousands of trilliums. We'd never seen so many before!

Another river view along the road. It's a good thing they put lots of pull-outs and view point parking along the way!

We ate a picnic lunch between rainstorms. :) Ended up finishing our last few bites in the car when it started raining again.

The view from our cabin when we arrived back that evening!

Kristina looking at all her pictures from the day's hike.

Our last morning in the cabin, Kristina surprised Daniel by putting on her wedding dress!

On the front porch at our cabin.

In the living room.

Up the stairs to the loft.

When we checked out of our cabin, on Sunday morning, we decided to have some fun before heading home. Here, Kristina is photographing the mountains above Gatlinburg.

Our adventure was spending Sunday morning at the ice skating rink in Ober Gatlinburg. Since we got there early, there weren't too many people out there skating yet.

Kristina hadn't skated in 20 years, and Daniel hadn't in about 16 years, so we had to work at brushing up our skating skills!

But after the first hour, we were both flying around the rink.

Daniel thoroughly enjoying himself.

Here comes Kristina!

Daniel's turn!

Our favorite part was finally getting our skills good enough to skate around hand in hand. But since we were our own photographers, we couldn't get that on camera. :(

The view from the parking lot, at Ober Gatlinburg--a winter ski resort, but their skating rink is open all year long.

On our drive home, happy and refreshed from the time together out in God's beautiful creation!

The sun set before we got back, so we stopped along the way to capture the colors. What a special way to end our anniversary get-away!

Kristina was at Daniel's parents house stopping by, during the sun set and took these photos.

Scenic view through Yahoo Falls Picnic Shelter

Kristina, Amber, and Kristina B at Kristina B's Wedding shower.

Jennita and some of the other guests visiting.

Dessert display! (they were yummy too!)

Punch Table

Fruit salad table.

More of the guests.

Friendship garden activity

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