Ellijay - GA

We spent a few lazy days in the mountains of Ellijay, GA, the term "mountains" of course being somewhat of an overstatement. Rolling hills, or "substantial elevation" would be a much more fitting term. For our kids sake we referred to them as mountains, though, and if you would have heard Sophie's fearful screams when we drove up the winding road, you would have thought we were at the very edge of the Rockies!

Thursday and Friday it rained pretty much, so we stayed inside, watched movies, played the Wii and enjoyed the hot tub. I was honestly surprised how much our kids were excited over what's basically nothing but an oversized and very warm bathtub with bubbles! Of course the view from the hot tub was quite nice (see the panorama shot on top).

Friday late afternoon we did venture out into the town of Ellijay. Did the same again Saturday morning and even made it into Blue Ridge. Looking for Blue Jean Pizza (with good reviews online) our GPS unfortunately mis-directed us completely and we just couldn't find it. With not much else to pick from, we went down the main street and stopped at "Danielle's Great Eats".

Here's a lesson learned: If a restaurant feels it is necessary to point out in their name that they serve good food, just keep on walking! I mean, isn't serving good food the point of any decent restaurant? It's like getting your car fixed by the "Honest and Truthful Garage".

Needless to say, the food was below par. Truth be told, I'd rather have a Big Mac than eat at that place again.

Oh and guess what restaurant we drove right by on the way home?...

Other than that we really enjoyed window shopping in antique shops, building a fire, snuggling on the couch, reading books, watching movies, the delicious food Elizabeth made and just some quiet, quality time as a family without the phone ringing or any errands to run!

I think those "mountains" will see more of us.

PS: We have no idea where he got it from, but Alex also enjoyed "shooting the deer" from his post at the window with the help of his trusty plastic vacuum tube. Every once in a while he'd stop looking for deer to chase his brothers screaming through the house, though.

BIG Families

Allison and Erik, friends of ours, just had super cute twin girls a few months ago (see photo). Her story about "A Day in the Life of....ME!" made me remember that hectic first year with our boys. Multiples somehow add up to much more work then the sum of them. I still don't know how Elizabeth made it through that first year of not only taking care of the two of them plus Sophie, but nursing them too (which is what Allision is doing, plus she has 2 older kids). I just remember getting woken up by Elizabeth to get the other baby, while she was nursing one, picking one up, snuggling with him in the bed in a half slumber until she was ready for him. I certainly have rosier memories than Elizabeth, although I know she misses that baby stage to a degree.

That's probably why Elizabeth and I really enjoy watching the Gosselin family in Jon & Kate plus 8 on TLC. If you've never seen the show, you can catch reruns on Discovery Health. They started out with twins and then wanted "just one more" but ended up with sextuplets! Fortunately they are all healthy, but their house sure is a mad zoo! Kate is super organized and Jon is very laid back, at least it seems that way and it's fun watching the kids with all their different personalities. A lot of times their interactions with one another remind us of our kids and ourselves. Watching Jon & Kate dealing with all the daily struggles helps reminding us that 4 kids really ain't that bad (right Elizabeth?)...

Dad getting set apart

Dad was getting set apart as stake patriarch today, so the whole Martin family in the area came to Alabama to be in attendance. Dad will be able to pronounce all Patriarchal Blessings for his grandchilren, regardless of whether they live in the Birminghame Stake or not.

Tailgating in the Church parking lot.

Alex, Dallin and Max

Henry (sits & eats like his Daddy), Ethan, Mikela and Mia

Alex, Dallin, Max and Henry, Ethan

The whole gang chowing down.

Just after the laying on of hands.

herb