What a weekend!

My dad and Lisa arrived on Thursday evening for a visit. Grandparents day at school was on Friday, and Mackenzie had called and invited Papa and Lili to join her for that and for the Christmas program, too. Indeed, they came and we all had a wonderful weekend. Above is Mackenzie lined up with her class on the way into the auditorium, ready to perform.
They performed on Thursday night and Friday morning. I snapped this picture of Josiah folding his precious hands in prayer at the beginning of Mackenzie's Thursday night program. I loved the sunglasses he was wearing inside the auditorium while praying. Too funny. Too precious.

An overview of the entire group, Kindergarten through 2nd grade.

Savannah and Mackenzie after the performance.

Avery was "Lucky Star," dressed in green. Just above Avery's head, in the choir, is my Mackenzie. The kids all did such a GREAT job!

After the program, we spent the afternoon and evening at Dollywood. Fun times.

We got several great pics of Lisa, Josiah, Mackenzie, and my Dad.

(Lili, Josiah, Mackenzie, and Papa or Poppie)

And since I could not make up my mind about which one I liked best, I uploaded them all!

Josiah and Poppie

Dollywood has beautiful Christmas decorations. I do believe that is my favorite time of the year to walk around up there. Quite magical.

Poor ducks. Josiah loved getting to chase them!

We got to ride The Polar Express in 4D! So fun! (David was still at work when this picture was taken, or he'd be in it, too. We missed him, but we were glad he could join us later that evening.)

Mackenzie and Papa (far left) riding the Shooting Star.

Mackenzie and Poppie

Lili and Josiah riding the Veggie Tales roller coaster.

Josiah running to the next ride while Mackenzie and Lili talk about the rides together.

Josiah, Lili, and Mackenzie on the Scrambler.

Mackenzie and me on the swings.

Dad and Lisa in front of the Carol of the Trees area.

Lili, Mackenzie, Josiah, Papa

While they were here, we celebrated Lisa's birthday with her. The kids decorated her cake all by themselves! I baked the cake and put the layer of chocolate icing on it. The kids did ALL the rest by themselves. Mackenzie did the pinkish color, including the writing. Josiah did the yellow. Pretty good, huh?! Certainly decorated with love. :)

Lili blowing out her candles.
We had a fun weekend, full of activities. We are thankful for family.

Our Weekend

Mackenzie's Christmas musical was this past Thursday night and again on Friday morning. Friday was Grandparent's Day at her school, and I was delighted that my dad and Lisa were able to attend for Mackenzie. The above picture is of Mackenzie's Thursday night performance. Getting there 30 minutes early was certainly not early enough for a seat with a good view! Live and learn. On Friday morning we were there in time for front row seats. :) Mackenzie is on the second row from the top, second child from the edge. Her dear friend, Avery, is standing right beside her on the very edge.
This picture is of the Friday morning performance. We had better seats, as you can tell from the proximity of the picture! Again, Mackenzie is on the second row down, second from the edge. The musical performance was fantastic and quite impressive, too.

As soon as the performance was over on Friday, we headed up to Gatlinburg's Aquarium for the afternoon. This was Dad and Lisa's first time at an aquarium, so it was a neat experience for us all.

My dad and Mackenzie in front of a school of fish.

Mackenzie with Lili at the aquarium.

Mackenzie and me, enjoying the colorful fish in the huge tank.

Papa, or Poppie as the kids often call him, and Josiah exploring at the aquarium.

Josiah in the cave area at the aquarium.

Mackenzie and me in the interactive area.

Mackenzie and Josiah checking out the jelly fish.

My dad, me, Josiah, and Mackenzie in front of a beautiful Christmas tree in Gatlinburg.

Dad and Lisa, or Poppie and Lili

Papa and Lili with Mackenzie and Josiah. I love this picture!

Friday night, though we were all exhausted, we had a surprise party for Lili. Her birthday is this week, so we celebrated a few days early. I'm no cake decorator, but I had fun making a cake for her birthday. I was stunned and pleased when I found out that no one had ever made her a cake before! We all enjoyed the party. :)

Then we woke up Saturday morning to find snowing pouring from the sky. How beautiful is God's creation?! Josiah loved the snow. He had been talking about making snow balls all week, since we first found out that a chance of snow was in the forecast.

Poppie pulling Mackenzie on the sled in our yard. I bet we got a couple of inches of gorgeous snow. By lunchtime it was all gone, but we certainly enjoyed it while it lasted! We had a great weekend and made some wonderful memories. Thanks to Dad and Lisa for taking the time off work to come our way for a visit.

(Side note: David's Grandma had major abdominal surgery Thursday night and is in ICU. She is 95 1/2 years old. Please say a prayer for her and all involved in her care.)

Dollywood

Last Saturday Papa and Lili (my dad and Lisa) came to visit, and we all went to Dollywood! We had a marvelous time...and all 18 of these pictures prove it! Yep, it was the Barbecue and Bluegrass Festival.
Poppi & Lili with Mackenzie and Josiah.
David & Me with Mackenzie and Josiah.
Papa with Mackenzie in the orange car; David with Josiah in the green car. This was Josiah's first time to be tall enough (36 in) to ride the Veggie Tales Roller coaster. He was delighted to get on, but wasn't too sure what to think when it was all said and done!
Lili and Mackenzie getting off the Flying Elephants.
Mackenzie & Josiah flying in the Bumble Bee.

Mackenzie and Josiah riding the pigs.

"Please, Poppi, Can we each pick a duck?!"
"Oh, Thank you, Poppi! We love our new ducks!"
Josiah with his yellow duck.
Josiah driving Lili at the Watson Motor Company.
Mackenzie driving Papa at the Watson Motor Company.

Papa riding the carousel...and Mackenzie to his right!
Lili riding the carousel...and Mackenzie to her left!
Papa and Mackenzie riding the carousel.
Lili helping Mackenzie get down.
Sweet picture at the end of a full day at Dollywood! We even rode the train and ate lunch there, too! A big thank you to my dad and Lisa for coming to visit us. A wonderfully fun day at Dollywood.