The Smokey Mountians

 No vacation would be complete if it didn't involve an amusement park, just ask Mark.  We spent 5 days in Gatlinburg and on Day 1 we dropped our stuff off at the cabin and then headed to Dollywood.  If you buy a ticket, you can get in after 3 PM one day and then go back the next all day.  It was a great deal!  Of course, in the hustle and bustle of getting everyone out of the car, I forgot my camera.  Good thing for the trusty iPhone! Above, Mark and Nash ride on Fire Chaser, a fun family coaster that goes backwards! It was a little intense for me.  :)

 The Dollywood train is a real steam train complete with flying soot.  It was neat, but messy.

 The weather while we were there was off and on rain.  It didn't really interfere as it mostly rained overnight, but it did allow Mark to stay mostly dry while he went on this water ride with Nash.  This was a big deal for Nash because the height limit was lower at this park than at Kings Island. You can't see Nash because he's so little. :)

 This is the latest and greatest coaster at DW, It's called Lightening Rod.  It was supposed to have been open, but they were having some technical difficulties so our family did not get to ride it.  I still hear Mark crying himself to sleep over that one.

 Poor Ellie!  Mark strategically placed the park map over Ellie's face so we could be "county compliant".

 The cabin was a really cute 3 bedroom place.  The master bedroom was upstairs and then two bedrooms downstairs with a rec room.

 Brooke slept in a sleeping bag in the rec room, Ellie got her own room, and Stella, Nash and Luke shared the bunk bed room.




The view from the deck was amazing!

 I made Mark take this picture.  I'm so cheesy! It was a street we passed going up and down the mountain from our cabin.

 Not only did we go to Dollywood, but we rode an alpine coaster too.  Ellie was very disappointed that she was too little.

 Brooke was the only one who got to ride by herself.  Mark sacrificed and rode twice, once with Nash and then with Luke.

 The first full day of our trip began with a trail ride for everyone but Mark and Ellie.  Mark says he hates horses and if he did do, his horse would have been names Voldemort, like Harry Potter's nemesis.  :)

 Nash was right behind the guide and there was a lead rope attached to his horse so he didn't have to be in control.  This was a great relief to me and Nash was so thrilled, he didn't stop talking the entire 45 minute ride.

 I was shocked that even Luke said that the trail ride was the high light of our vacation.

It was so much fun as we crossed over 4 creeks and went up hills and down some more.  Mark and I went on this trail ride a few years ago, but I don't remember it being as much fun as it was with the kids. They were all thrilled.

 Another day we took a hike to the Baskin Creek Falls which was a hike Mark and I had done previously.  However, we accessed the trail from a different location and after we were into it Mark remembered that we went the other way because the way were were currently going was very strenuous! We are talking about a 900 ft. elevation change which amounted to an uncomfortable downhill hike to the falls and a torturous 1.5 mile up hill trek on the way back. Nash made it and Ellie fell asleep on Mark's back on the way out.  It was so miserable that later in the trip when Mark mentioned hiking he substituted the word "hike" for a "walk in the woods".

 Our efforts were rewarded with a beautiful waterfall.

 The kids all got hiking boots for Christmas from Mark's parents which was a God send.  They are waterproof which is why Nash had a chance of having dry feet.

 We saw this impressive snake on our walk through the woods.

 The weather was warm and so when we got back from our adventures, Mark put the hose in the hot tub to make it warm and swim-able for the kids.  They loved it!

 Mark is reading Harry Potter 1 to Nash and is reading #3 to Stella.

 One night in the wee hours of the morning we heard a loud crash to find a raacoon had pried the lid off the trash can and was eating my uneaten flour tortillas from our carryout Mexican food. This racoon was massive and not afraid of Mark at all.  He ended up throwing cups of water on it so that he could get the trash back in the can.  We ended up keeping the can inside the rest of the time.  Mark was very disappointed that I did not get a picture of the monster coon, but I was half asleep and a little freaked out.

 Our second hike to Grotto Falls was less traumatic and more enjoyable because the elevation change was more manageable.

 I loved how the roots of this heavily traveled path were exposed over time.

 This reminds me of Jurassic Park.

 I had to share this picture because it's classic.  Stella and Nash are arguing over who's picture I would take first and about a foot behind Stella was a huge drop off.  Mark was furious with their foolishness. Of course, I stood there and watched and took pictures.

 Nash called the Rainbow Falls trail the "Dying Trail" because Mark read aloud that someone died on it.  Needless to say, we avoided that one.

We packed a lunch one day and picnicked at a park alongside a stream.  Nash was wet all over before we broke out the food.  The excitement for Mark and I was tempered when we saw a few snakes upstream in the creek.


Mark and I have gone to Gatlinburg as a getaway for the last couple of years by ourselves so it was entirely different taking all the kids. It was almost as if we were in an entirely new place.  The kids had a ball, but I think next time we will try someplace else with the kids and leave Gatlinburg to just Mark and I.

Catching Up

 Memorial Day weekend at the lake.

 If there ever was another kid who would fall into the gorilla pit at the Cincinnati Zoo, it would be Ellie.  It's a good thing our membership has lapsed.  :)

 For my sister-in-laws birthday, my brother-in-law, Kevin, sent up some really cool paper lanterns.

 It's Kings Island time again!  Ellie loves the kiddie rides.

 Our Gatlinburg cabin, Eagle's View II.

 Ellie is talking up a storm, so darn troublesome, and extremely adorable.  Here she's calling, "LUKE!!"

The beach was incredibly relaxing and the most enjoyable year, with the least amount of crying ever. More on the beach later...

Here's the story and the reason for my absence...

Brooke's psychologist says that learning to cope with OCD and anxiety means that you have to learn to tolerate being uncomfortable, not that you like it, but learn that you will not die if things aren't just so. I think it's safe to say then, that I am coping well with all that's been happening these last two months.

I will try to give the Cliffs Notes version of the saga for sake of time, but you also know by now that I am usually anything but brief.  For what it's worth, this is me trying.

*In the beginning of May we went to Gatlinburg, TN and stayed in a cute little cabin.  I have pictures to post which may just be for another day.  It was  jolly good time with loads of fun memories.  Can't wait to tell you about our tortuous "walk through the woods" or that raccoons really like flour tortillas and how brave Stella was to ride Wild Eagle at Dollywood.  I promise pictures soon.

*We've had 16 showings on our house since the last weekend in April and one very low offer which amounted to nothing. Yes, that's a lot of vacuuming.

*We were told by our loan officer that we did not need to sell our house to purchase the land or to get the construction loan, but one week before closing, we get word that's not going to work out.  It was something about him using the wrong debt to income ratio.  Apparently, there are different formulas for different types of loans.  We were pleasantly surprised that the appraisal for the land and our house came back 30K more than we are paying.  That's great, but didn't help our current situation any. On to Plan B.

*Plan B was to just purchase the land and wait for our house to sell to get the construction loan.  This was a bit disappointing, but we were dealing well and waited mostly patiently for the loan people to start all over again a new land only loan.  Think about Mark resubmitting every scrap of financial paperwork all.over.again.

*On Friday, June 10th around 12:30 pm, the kids and I (minus Ellie who was hanging with bio-dad), were involved in a car accident totaling our minivan. We were mostly okay and walked away with only sore backs and necks.  It was scary and I literally didn't see it coming.  I was cited for failure to yield to oncoming traffic.  I started a post the Saturday after it happened to help process because it was traumatic, but we left the next day (Sunday) in our rented minivan to vacation with Mark's family in the Outer Banks and I tried to forget about it.

Mark talked with our loan officer who advised us to wait to close on our land, which was to be on the 30th of June, before we purchased a new car and muddled the financial waters. This was fine because the rental van was going to get us to our vacation and back. We are flexible people by now.

*While we were driving home from the beach through the mountains of West Virginia in a torrential downpour this past Tuesday our unpopular-with-us loan officer calls to say that the land only loan will not go through either because the land only appraisal was 37K lower than we were under contract to purchase it for.  Seriously.  The reason he stated was that there are no comps in our area to justify the sale price and no house to balance it out.  When you look at the big picture of land for sale in our county, what we agreed to pay is totally reasonable, and we even feel that we are getting a good deal.  The bank does not care about that and so we are on to plan C.

The sellers agent was made aware of this discrepancy and said that the sellers can't let the land go for the appraised price because they will have to bring money to closing.  They did agree to knock off an additional 7K and now we are waiting to hear if they will wait for us to sell our house in a few months down the road.  More on that in a minute.

*Meanwhile, we are still waiting to see if the county is going to recommend Ellie to go live with her bio-dad in August or if they will go for permanent custody and we get to keep her.  The county prosecutor said he would try to go for PC, but that it is a gray area and they will have to make their final decision by the first of July which still means nothing until, ultimately,  the judge rules in August.

It's a good thing I'm good at waiting now.  We have met with a lawyer to determine if we should muddy the waters and fight for Ellie ourselves or just wait it out.  The short of it is that we will wait a week to see what the county intends to do and then make a decision from there.  Court is scheduled as of right now for August 3rd.

*If you haven't been following the money trail thus far we now need to sell our house, buy a new car, and possibly hire an attorney while still attempting to bring our dream hobby farm to fruition.

I say this all nonchalantly because not much is really as important as getting a safe car that we can all fit in, making sure we are covering all our bases with Ellie, and finding balance with the craziness swirling around us.

All of this is part of God's plan and even in the midst of it, we see the blessings.  For instance, if we got the land and the construction loan without selling our house, we'd be out of funds to get a new car.  Also, if we sold our house we'd be insane because we were going on vacation and Mark just began a 5 week training cycle to fly a new airplane.  It's an intense training schedule which will keep him away even more than usual.   In reality, it's as if we dodged a bullet for the time being.

I think God is telling me to deal with life as it is right now with all the messy, unresolved issues lurking in the background.  Live in the present.  Make the best decisions with the way things are presently and to just keep keepin' on waiting for it all to fall into place.  This has been uncomfortable for sure, but it's good to.  I've realized that even though things aren't as I wish, I'm not going to die. I'm tired, but grateful that God has good plans and we will continue to see the goodness in our blessings and our trials.

Last night/early morning our tornado sirens go off at 3AM so we woke the kids up and drug everyone down to the basement. Fortunately, the worst of the storm missed us and we headed back to bed some 20 minutes after it all began. Another line rolled through an hour later, but with no tornado sirens, and after reassuring Luke on two different occasions at my bedside, I mostly slept through the rest of the the thunder and lightening.  I'm dog tired and on occasion so weary and weepy, but life keeps on rolling.  Hopefully, I'll post more pictures soon.

Yours truly,
Katie