Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow!...look at that...I'm only 1 week behind. Holiday miracles really do happen! Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving in the Knight household. This year was our year to spend it with my family, but instead of us traveling to Indiana - my family made their way to Jasper this year. We thought it might be fun to try something new and it was really nice not to be the ones on the road for the holiday. Mom, Dad, Kate, Lee, and Jacie arrived at about 1pm on Wednesday and stayed until Saturday morning. Wednesday afternoon we spent getting settled in and doing a little hiking at Foster Falls and down the Fiery Gizzard Trail (I KNOW...that's the best name for ANYTHING you've ever heard. What can I say...we do things up right here in East Tennessee). That evening we all went to dinner at Rafael's...the local pizza, pasta, burger/anything else you could want restaurant (Don't knock it til you try it...). Thursday morning we started cooking. A friend of mine smoked our turkey (I wasn't brave enough to cook my own...baby steps folks) and another couple in the church had brought me a delicious Honey Baked Ham so the meats were taken care of. Lee, Jacie, and Mom helped fix all the trimmings and by 12pm it was time to dig in. I didn't get any pictures of us stuffing our faces...partially because that's not flattering and because I was too busy shoveling it in myself. After we could hold no more (we didn't even have room for pie until the next day...GASP!) it was nap time. Once our food had settled we went back up to Foster Falls to hike off some of that turkey and stuffing. We had no idea how out of shape we were until we were hiking back up...yikes. Lee was in heaven...he LOVED hiking. I fully expect he'll grow up to be a forest ranger, Smokey the Bear impersonator, or environmental forestry engineer (lets hope for the last one).

Although she liked climbing rocks in the woods, Jacie had been waiting for Friday to roll around because that was the day we planned to visit the Chattanooga Aquarium where she could see Nemo and Dory from the movie Finding Nemo. The aquarium is great for both the young and young at heart and we all had a good time....That would be a terrible understatement for Jacie....it made her day! Lee and Jacie (okay, the rest of us did it too) petted and fed sting rays and sharks. They had a great time in the butterfly house too. I was just trying to capture those elusive Kodak moments and make sure no butterflies were harmed in the process. When I put Jacie to bed that night I was playing with her hair and as she was drifting off she was still telling me, "I love giant turtles, and fish with pink fins, and the sharks....". When we got back from the aquarium Lee and Dad headed back to Foster Falls without us girls to climb things and stand too close to the edge of cliffs...(you know stuff that would give Mom a heart attack). That evening we played several games of Uno Attack (I was the proud winner of at least 2) whick included healthy doses of heckling, harrassment, and good-natured ribbing. Let's face it...board games aren't much fun otherwise. Everyone was worn out by the time we went to bed. Saturday everyone got up for breakfast (Jacie gets up at 5:30am so it doesn't take long before we're all up :) and then they headed back home. The Thanksgiving holiday was great...I would definately do it again! We missed seeing all the rest of the family (grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and my sister Emily and her family) but sometimes its nice to shake things up. They (and you!) are welcome to come visit any time...me casa es su casa. We hope you are having a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends! Check out our Kodak moments below.

Next post....the Christmas tree.

Love to all,

The Knights

Kate and Jacie....they got their fair share of the pretty genes.

I said pretty genes...not smart ones. Just kidding...Nurse Kate is the brain in the family.

He's a 10 year old boy...what did you expect when I said "Say cheese?"

Lee and Jacie: typical sibling behavior. Someone is almost always screaming and hanging on for for dear life....unfortunately its usually Mom :)

My tiny kitchen staff....my apron covered her whole body.

She makes a mean Green Bean Casserole

Lee: excellent at chopping celery but he draws the line at onions

Anything that resembles a chicken leg is fair game at the Knight house

Favorite post-Thankgiving meal activity

Foster Falls from the overlook

Dad is up on the rock and Jacie is the pink spot on the right..you guessed it...she was headed up to see Dad. No way.

It was way easier going down than coming up

Jacie - Wii Fishing Champion of the World. She can work that thing better than I can and she doesn't know how to read yet.
Petting the sharks and sting rays

Must be sweet

Is that the face of excitement or what?!!!! She had been walking up to EVERY butterfly just waiting for one to land on her....made her day.
He may not show it but Lee was as excited as Jacie when one landed on him

I think the crab was bigger than Jacie

Checking out the fish