Honeymoon pictures!!!!

 Ha!  I just realized the other day that I never posted any pictures from my and Matthew's honeymoon!  Major oversight!  Hmmm...must be slightly side-tracked.  -chuckle-

So...here are some of the pictures of our wonderfully, sweet honeymoon! 

~ ~ ~

 We spent 9 days in and around Helen, GA and this cute, little cabin was our "Home Away From Home" for that time!  We picked out our location and our cabin together during the engagement and we instantly fell in love with this little place by its pictures!  It was perfect!

 My ring!  Matthew partially designed it.  He picked a heart-shaped diamond and put it in a gold ring with a weave to it.  He did a beautiful job and I love it!

Our first day in Helen...just having fun being together!

Our decorated car...

 

Goofing around playing mini-golf!  Matthew is a ton of fun!

We spent a lot of our time hiking, seeing waterfalls, biking, walking, and simply enjoying our time with each other.

We love being silly together...can you tell?!!!

Anna Ruby Falls...two rivers that join at the bases of the waterfalls to form one new river!  Pretty neat!

Riding around in our automobile!

Up on Clingman's Dome, the highest spot in GA.

The parking lot where we hiked from.

Out on a bike-ride around the lake...

Playing mini-golf again!

One of the days we traveled down to Atlanta Motorsports Park in Dawsonville, GA to ride go-karts!  They reach 55 miles per hour and it's the only track of its kind that has 43 feet of elevated change sections in its race track.  It was a lot of fun!

 We were able to get a cart to ride together!

 We like kissing...can you tell?!!

On the one week anniversary of our wedding, Matthew and I planned a special dinner at our cabin with a candlelit meal, a fire in the fireplace, special music playing, and we even dressed up in our matching outfits we got engaged in.  After the meal, we sat on the couch and started reading our old texts that we sent to each other and as we started going back to our texts from last year, we realized that that very night was the same night one year ago that Matthew first contacted Dad to ask about me!  Awe....  That made the evening even more special for the two of us!  It's amazing to see where the Lord has brought us from in the last year!   What a sweet time of remembering. 

 Towards the end of our honeymoon, we decided to drive up to Hiawassee, GA to tour the lake and go jet skiing!

 Matthew and I both agreed that this was our favorite activity!  It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

 And the lake was beautiful!

 The water was just warm enough that we could jump in off of the jet ski and go for a little swim.  We were able to get it to jump a few waves, which was exhilarating! 

 A picture of Matthew's wind-blown hair!  LOL!

  

We spent one day traveling down to hike Tallulah Falls.  This place used to be as popular as Niagara Falls at the turn of the century, before the town burned down and the falls got damned up and the flow was lessened.  But it was certainly still very beautiful!  It was a lot of steps to climb up and down but well worth the hike.

Sharing a meal at the Dillard House.

Selfie in our car!  I love my husband!

The last day we spent driving across the NC border, up in the mountains, windows rolled down, stopping at waterfalls as we drove along.  It was a beautiful day and a lovely ride. 

Photography one of the falls.

We had a lovely honeymoon and are so thankful for the time we were able to get away and enjoy our time with each other.  Matthew and I are appreciating married life immensely!

The Dulcimer Guy's Holly Jolly Bingo

Just wanted to pass along the news that Kelsey has been keeping up another blog....

The Dulcimer Guy's Blog.

Her and Matthew are hosting the Holly Jolly Bingo game and the prize for the winner is a FREE CD, one of Matthew's "When I'm Happy and I Know It''.  So if you're up for a game of bingo, head on over to their blog or Facebook page and play!

Click HERE on their Blog to play.

Matthew turned 25!

 On December 1st, my husband, Matthew, celebrated his 25th birthday!

Matthew shares the same birthday as his nephew, Nathan, so as a birthday tradition, his brother, Luke, would always take them out to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse.  My family helped me carry on the tradition by meeting us there to surprise him yesterday!

Fond Memory: The first day that Matthew called and asked to speak with me on the phone!  I'll never forget hearing his voice for the first time.  We talked for over an hour and it was almost unreal knowing that he was really, truly interested in courting me!  My heart melted, to say the least.

Funny Moment: The first time that Matthew and I met in person he was trying to help ease some of the awkwardness so he jumped in by telling a joke.  And it was a long joke.  One of those that builds and builds and builds until it gets to the end and leaves you hanging.  Unfortunately for him, we had all heard the joke before so he only got a few chuckles.  It was one of those "slightly embarrassing moments when you tell a joke and no one laughs". ;-)

Flashback...

(My sister-in-law gave us a thumb drive of pictures of Matthew growing up, which was super sweet because many of these I had never seen.)

 He and Luke are very close!

 Dressed for a play.

 On a camping/hiking trip with his brothers and friends.

 The J & L Lawn and Landscape crew.  Matthew is third from the left.

Happy Birthday Matthew.  I'm so glad that the Lord brought you into my life!  I feel extremely blessed to be your wife and I'm looking forward to what God has in store for our future.  You are a loving, kind, cheerful, sweet husband who cares for the things of the Lord and I love you dearly!

My sweetheart on our wedding day.

 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Psalms 1:1-3

Ethan is 17!!!!

 

Today is Ethan's birthday!

Fond Memory:  Our church shares communion every Sunday, and each of the fathers distributes the bread and juice to his own family (being the head of his family).  Well, one particular Sunday Dad couldn't be there, so when it came time to pass it out, the deacons of the church handed the platter to Ethan to pass out to our family.  It was a sweet time to realize just how old he was and to recognize him as a "man of the family" that day.

Funny Moment: Every Christmas, all of us kids go out for an afternoon to go Christmas shopping together.  All of us would take our own money to buy gifts for each other.  Well, Ethan decided to be the big-hearted fellow and drop his change in each of the "door-ringers" buckets as we entered and exited the stores.  At the end of the day, it proved to be a very good lesson on how little change can add up!  As he counted up his money that he came home with and figured out what he had spent, he had given a total of $10 worth of change away!  Needless to say, he learned his lesson!

Flashback...

We love you Ethan, and thank the Lord for you!  You are such a big help around the farm and home.  You have been blessed with the gift of leadership and know when to step in and take charge.  Everyone looks up to you, and has, even from a very young age.  You can take on a challenge and succeed.  Praising the Lord for blessing our family with you!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God....Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;...he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness...Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." 

Romans 12 compilation