The Last Summer Hurrah

Before school started we snuck in one last trip...the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Right before that though I took the girls and Cal to the middle school to find their classrooms.  We missed the "middle school night". 


Our purpose in going to North Carolina was to see my Aunt and Uncle serving a mission near Bryson City.  We stayed at Flaming Arrow campground and loved it! There was a great pool, lots of games, and a fun little store.






Before we saw Uncle Steven and Aunt Susan we did a horseback ride at End of the Trail.  We loved it! 


























We rode up a trail to "the end". Such a pretty view! 














The Smokys are so pretty!


Sadly my Aunt Susan wasn't feeling well and was in the hospital that weekend.  We were able to see her but spent a couple of hours with my Uncle Steven on Saturday.  We had lunch, some snacks from the camp store, then went to Mingo Falls. After Mingo Falls we met up with Uncle Steven.


























A boy and his hammer!
























Clark snagged in some drone flying time.


We also stopped at a local fudge shop in Bryson City.  It's such a cute town!






That evening we had dinner at their apartment.  It was so nice of them to feed us!


Uncle Steven and Aunt Susan are on a mission there, serving members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  They also get serve among many Cherokee people.  We enjoyed hearing the different stories.  The Cherokee written language is very interesting looking.


Here is their little apartment.








More swimming at the pool!


We bought some colored powder to put in the fire.  You aren't supposed to used the color fire flames to cook stuff.  Oops!  Next time we'll read the directions better.  No one became sick, thankfully.


We enjoyed church with Uncle Steven and Aunt Susan.




After church we ate dinner at their apartment and then drove home.  Our plan is to not buy gas on Sunday and it worked perfectly to drive straight home from their place...we didn't have to fill up at all! 

The last couple of days of summer brought pool trips and another trip to Shenandoah for a special family home evening before school started the next day.  Boo hoo.