Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben is the handsome one with the shaved head in the back on the left.  I looked through photos for over a half hour trying to find one of of this handsome guy.  Ben is a very smooth operator and has a way of avoiding my camera.  Hope you had a wonderful day!  We miss watching you jump off the bean bag.

Mantra

Seth's mantra is that he would rather be playing a sport than watching a sport.  My mantra is a little different...after all I'm a girl that can't quite catch or throw.  My sweet husband loves me enough to forget his mantra every couple of weeks.  Last weekend we went to the Clemson vs. University of North Carolina game.  The game was fairly close for the first half...the second half was a different story.  Clemson pulled out another win and now has an 8-0 record.   We have one home game left this season...I am going to miss Clemson football and all the fanfare that comes with it.

Chimney Rock

We had our first visitor this past weekend.  Seth's father, Reed, came to visit us.  He was working on a job site in West Virginia and decided to drive down a couple more states.  He arrived late Friday night.  We had warm shrimp jambalaya waiting for him.

On Saturday, after a breakfast of apple pancakes topped with homemade apple syrup we drove about an hour and half to Chimney Rock, North Carolina.  Yes there is a Chimney Rock outside of Wyoming and the two look very different from one another...the drive to this Chimney Rock was scenic.  The further North we drove the more colorful leaves we were greeted by.  We drove through a little town Bat Cave...how awesome would it be to say that you were from Bat Cave.

After entering the park we drove up switchbacks to the top parking area.  Here is a picture of the view just outside the gift shop.  We enjoyed this view later with our picnic lunch.

We started our hike up the trail.  This is a picture from the first lookout.

Here is a picture from just below Chimney Rock.  The view was just as good as from the top of the rock...and it was less crowded.  We did venture up to the top of the rock.

I headed across to the Opera Box to capture a picture of Seth and Reed on the rock.  They are just below the flag along the fence line.

They hiked on over to meet me and captured a picture of me from the Opera Box.

We hiked up further to Devil's Head.  We were wondering where they came up with the name for this point until we spotted this guy.

And here is a picture from the very top of Exclamation Point.  It was 823 stairs in total up to the top and worth every step.

On our way down I snapped this picture which gives you a better idea of what the Chimney rock looks like.

After a picnic lunch...Seth found a penny machine.

We hiked to a waterfall in the park.  Our pictures didn't quite turn out...but it is the waterfall from the movie The Last of the Mohicans...if that means anything to anyone.  After our hike to the falls we started our drive home.  We stopped at a fruit stand for some North Carolina apples, fresh apple cider and boiled peanuts.  After relaxing at the apartment for a couple of hours Reed treated us to dinner at our favorite Mexican Restaurant.

Sunday after church we treated him to some Southern home cooking...We made the Pioneer Woman's baked beans.

Seth made some ribs which he coated with his homemade Memphis Style Barbecue Sauce and Mustard Style Sauce

I made one of our favorites...Sweet Potatoes Au Gratin

...it was finger licking good.  It was also good to have a visitor.  We hope more of our friends and family will venture out to our neck a woods for a taste of our Southern life.

Rolling up October

The last few weeks have flown by.  I can't believe we are almost halfway through October.  It is finally a little less humid in our neck of the woods.  We have been spending a little more time outdoors.  A couple of weeks ago we went to a Blues concert in the Botanical Gardens.  The next day we helped out with a Kudzu cleanup in Greenville.  For those of you that don't know what Kudzu is...consider yourself lucky.  Some people call it "the vine that ate the South" and I would have to agree.  Here is a picture of what it looks like.

After the cleanup we ate at our favorite Mexican place in Greenville...they have a pumpkin salsa that is to die for.  Then we made our monthly trip to Costco :)

On Conference Sunday we met some friends at a park for Brunch.  The food was great and the company was even better.  Seth took along our Croquet set and read the rules...he found out that you are actually supposed to play in teams.  He said it was a lot more fun to play that way...so if you have a set lying around google the rules and give it a try.  

Did you know that Seth has taken up carving?  Here is a picture of his latest project.

His mom bought him a carving kit for Christmas several years ago and he decided to pull it out and get started.  On our trip to Atlanta in August we spent an eternity browsing at a wood store.  Seth was looking for bass wood because it is hard wood but it is soft with a fine texture.  When we went camping a couple of weeks ago he brought along his project.  He seemed to have a little difficulty keeping all of his tools together...so I decided to make him a little tool roll.  He ended up having me make one for his wrench set too. 

This past weekend was perfect.  Friday night we rented X-Men First Class.  If you haven't seen it yet you are missing out.  Saturday we headed to the Clemson vs. Boston College game.  We took the scooter...in the picture below you can see a reflection of me in Seth's helmet.  We braved College Avenue which is the Main Street in Clemson.

This week was homecoming so all the sororities and fraternities had decorated on the field in front of Tillman Hall.

We also visited one of the main tailgating fields.  It was more like a tent city...I have never seen this many orange and purple tents in once place.  If you thought you knew what tailgating is all about...you have no idea.  The game started at 3:00 pm and people were already tailgating at 8:00 am.  They pay hundreds/thousands of dollars for a tailgating spot.  Most tailgaters don't even go to the real game...they watch it from the satellite televisions that they set up in the back of their trucks.   Honestly going to a Clemson game is a cultural experience.

Clemson won the game.  Our Quarterback was injured in the third quarter but it looks like he will be back at practice tomorrow.  Clemson is currently 6-0 and ranked #8 on both polls.  GO TIGERS!

Happy Birthday Hyrum!

Happy Birthday to the handsome guy hanging out on top.  We miss you!

Happy Birthday Ayrith!

You have grown so much since our wedding day.  We love your long locks and little giggle.  Sorry our wishes come a day late...we hope you still had a wonderful day.