In January, we went up to Pigeon Forge for our annual cabin trip. Every year for the last few years we've rented a cabin for our friend, Lindsay's, birthday. A group of us and all our kids stay up there for the weekend and have lots of food and games and FUN!
Here's a shot of all the kids - just like herding cats!
This year we actually got snowed in. I realize that for my midwestern friends and family this might imply that we received 4 feet of snow and couldn't open the door without facing a wall of the white stuff. That isn't exactly what "getting snowed in" means in these parts. Around here, if you get enough snow to ice over the roads and you don't have chains - that is getting snowed in. Especially if you're in the mountains - which we were. They only salt the main roads around here and there are a heck of a lot more back roads than there are main roads, so it doesn't take much to snow us in. The good news is, we had PLENTY of food and PLENTY of beer. Phew! We had to stay an extra day through Monday to get enough sunshine to melt the ice and we only hit one sketchy part of road on the way home... The kind of spot you only get one shot at going down. I took a picture of it:
Under those tire tracks is black ice.Being that it was Lindsay's birthday, we had our friends make her an AWESOME cake!
Yes... that's a cake. Pretty cool, huh?
Following our mountain adventures were three notable events - The Father-Daughter Dance, The Strawberry Plains Half-Marathon and Valentine's Day!
Unfortunately Gwyneth was very ill the day of the dance and she was contagious, so she didn't get to go. But because she's Gwyneth, she had a great attitude about it and was excited to see her sisters off. We got to have Mommy/daughter time at home and I exposed her to one of my favorite movies from when I was a kid: The Neverending Story. It was her choice between that and Goonies. I'll get her to watch Goonies another time - you can count on it.
At the dance, they had a blast. Everyone danced - even Shawna! (no flash on the iPhone)
Mallory made me a Valentine at the craft table
Shawna won a prize for youngest daughter at the dance. When they came home they were wiped out! Mallory even brought a plate of cookies home for Gwyn. I love my girls.
The half-marathon seemed like it was never going to get here and then all of a sudden it was upon us! Then, while we were running it, it seemed like it was never going to end! Of course the day of the race it was really, really cold. I'm not sure if I used enough "reallys" to get my point across. It was C.O.L.D. cold. Really. The night before the race, Neal decided to give me my Valentine's Day gift a little early. (the race was on February 13th.) He gave me a very small video camera. If you're at all familiar with the "FLIP" video cameras it's a bit like that, but it uses a video card instead of internal memory... and blah, blah, blah - It's cool. He thought I might like to have it at the race in case there was an extra person to take video of us crossing the finish line. Well... there wasn't. But we still made use of it while in the car talking before and after the race. Here we are before...
There wasn't even a photographer at the finish line! What a bummer! But we did get a picture of us after we finished, so that will have to do.
The race itself was hard. Maybe one of the hardest things I've done. No headphones were allowed so without Lindsay right there with me, I think I might have gone crazy! Although there was plenty to look at as we ran through the countryside with a view of the mountains and plenty of working farms and horse pastures. It was truly a beautiful site. I'm not sure I ever really got warm the whole time and there was one point around mile 8 or so where the sun disappeared and my face froze so much that I couldn't move my lips to form words. That was uncomfortable. But, we finished. We didn't stop, we took our time and our frozen joints managed to squeak us across the finish line in about 2 and a half hours. And if I can get my knee to stop aching from over use, I'd like to run another one... one of these days!
Here we are in our shirts:
Who ran a Half-Marathon!? Oh that's right - WE DID.
Valentine's Day was the next day and we had our annual Murphy Fondue Night! What's better than melty cheese with fruit, veggies and bread!?
Melted chocolate with fruit, marshmallows and pound cake! Yummmmm. 
Fashion came over for dessert
and then watched the girls so that Neal and I could go see Avatar. We really enjoyed the movie! If you haven't seen it, Go. I don't think you'll be disappointed. However, don't worry too much about the 3D... I don't think you'll miss it. Neal found it to be really distracting and I could have done without it myself.The girls had Valentine's Day parties at school that they both really enjoyed! Fun was had all around! Next month Gwynnie and Mallory both have their 1st soccer games and on the 5th, I'll be headed to Ireland with Fashion for a week! My first trip overseas. I'm very excited and a little nervous. I'm taking my camera, so be ready for pictures!
Speaking of pictures - we've taken the next steps in putting together our business. We call it elizabeth k. Photo Creations. There's a website and a facebook page. We're hoping to get really rolling in the Spring. Say a little prayer for us! http://elizabethkphoto.com
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