Weekend Wrap Up

What a weekend! It started with the big snowstorm on Friday night. Mark was able to get some great pictures while I panicked about the possibility of being snowed in. Don’t blame me for panicking – I grew up in Florida!

We had four inches of snow when we went to bed and there were six inches when we woke up the next day! We didn’t get snowed in, but we definitely had a hard time getting down our driveway and out to the main road.

We actually had planned on driving to Pigeon Forge on Friday night, but the snow postponed our departure until Saturday morning. Before we could get out of town though, we drove up to Grandma and Grandpa B’s to help them get their car out of the snow! They have a long and curvy driveway, and in the process of trying to go around some snow-heavy branches, the car slipped off the driveway. Mark and Grandpa B worked on it for a while, and eventually a nice man with a tow chain came and pulled the car free. While the guys were working on the car, Amelia and I went inside and Grandma B let her open an early Christmas present!

What a perfect present – a hat and mitten set! Just what she needed to stay warm in the snow. Once the car was free, our little caravan headed down to Pigeon Forge. Grandma and Grandpa B were given a vacation weekend at a gorgeous three bedroom timeshare, and they invited us along!

When we were about a mile from the timeshare, our car stopped working while we were stopped at a red light. We were in the left turn lane with Grandma and Grandpa B were right behind us, and a nice young man helped Mark and Grandpa B push our car through the intersection and into a nearby parking lot. To make a long story short, we ended up needing a new alternator. Mark was able to find a place that was open 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. They came and towed the car back to their shop and had it ready for us at 2 PM the next day, to the tune of $400. Not really what we had planned for our weekend, but we are just so thankful that we were able to get it fixed on a Sunday, instead of having to wait until Monday morning. God is good, and He definitely was looking out for us this weekend! From being able to find a place that was open on Sunday, to the shop having the part we needed, to being able to fit four adults, a baby in a car seat, and ALL of our luggage (including a portable high chair, portable crib and a stroller) into Grandpa and Grandpa B’s car; we definitely saw God’s hand working throughout the whole situation. We are incredibly blessed.

On Sunday morning, after a delicious breakfast at Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin, we went outlet shopping while waiting for our car to be fixed.

Amelia tried on some fun sunglasses at the Carter’s outlet! We also found the deal of the century – the Bass outlet shop was having a buy 1 get 2 free sale! Also, if you purchased a single pair, you automatically got 50% off. The four of us each found a pair of high-quality snow boots, and the total savings listed on the bottom of the receipt was over $275! Wow!

Later in the day, after we picked up our car, we headed out to the Knoxville airport to pick up Uncle Paul! Amelia was so excited, she kept doing her scrunchy-face!

He is home from school for the next two weeks, and we are SO excited to spend some time with him. While we were waiting for Uncle Paul, Amelia found a new way to entertain herself – fun!

Even after all of the “bad” that happened this weekend (from Grandma and Grandpa B’s car getting stuck in the snow to our car needing a new alternator) we had fun. Amelia was very well behaved the whole weekend, and was a joy to be around. She’s a great little traveler – she just goes with the flow! Again, we are just so thankful that we had the Lord watching over us, and that Grandma and Grandpa B were there to help us when our car was out of commission.