Gatlinburg 2010!

We have been to the Gatlinburg parade since 2004, Mattie's first Christmas!  We did miss it in 2005  since I was due with Layla, but have made it ever since in cold and snow!  Matthew's family comes and we all stay together usually in a cabin, but this year in a resort and the kids LOVE it!  Christmas is the best time of year with little ones!  The parade is the same each year, but the kids get more into it each year as they get older.  This year wasn 't too cold either, which helped us get to stay longer. 

We went to the BlackBear Jamboree this year and LOVED it!!!  The kids had a blast, except for little Gunnar (he was with his daddy at bass pro shop and didn't get to see it :(  )  We will definitely be going back!  Great fun, food, music, etc!  

 Look at all that food!  This was the mid-day show!  Yumo!

Layla was the only one that wanted to say hello to Santa!  So sweet!




Next up was a little shopping at the outlets and then Mattie's big surprise!!!  I just needed to run in a couple of stores and I told the girls I would take them into Claire's to let them pick out a little something for the trip!  Well, once in Claire's, this is what happened:

Are you ready????  Can you guess???????

Oooooohhh la la!   

OUCH!!!!!!

Did I say that hurt just a tad! But oh so worth it!! :)  She wasn't sure if she was happy or not for just a sec. ha ha 

Happy Girl and oh so pretty!!!  She picked out a shiny pink sparkly pair of earrings.  





Mattie has been asking for about a year now and I had always said that my girls would ask for their ears to be pierced before I did it.  She was so excited, but we were about to go eat and her daddy wasn't with us for he and I to discuss this BIG girl step! I mean, this is a huge thing to a Mom and her ears would be forever changed! ha ha   Matthew never actually said yes, but he always gives in to his little girls (and boy - but probably not on earrings for him).  We went back to Claire's after our dinner and Mattie has loved her new ears  ever since!  She does an excellent job of keeping them clean and is hoping for new earrings for Valentine's Day!  It is a great memory to go along with our fun tradition of Gatlinburg!!!