The Porter Crew

     As 2012 dwindles to a close and 2013 will begin with a few changes for our family (I will be homeschooling Will again), I find myself needing to dwell on the One who never changes or grows old or weary.  My Christmas break has been spent at times feeling excited, tired, overwhelmed, peaceful, stressed, fearful, sad and thankful -- just to name a few of my emotions. Over the past few weeks, I truly have been on an emotional roller coaster, mostly because of our children and our trying to discern what is best for them in many areas. Ryan has been a blessing of stability when my mind and heart start whirling in a million different directions. But my true stability comes from God and His word. He is the One who causes the stars to shine and the rain to fall and the seasons to change. Yet He cares for even our somewhat "petty" problems, and He wants us to fall before Him no matter how we are feeling.  As we've gone through Christmas holidays -- which have not been all joy and gladness in the Porter home -- I have been reminded again and again that the sins that make me so sad/stressed/angry/overwhelmed are the very reason why Christ came! He came because of the brokenness in each of our hearts that make us hurt those in our own family, i.e. sibling rivalry and parental frustration! He came so that I might have hope -- not in myself or that our kids will grow to love one another or that homeschooling will solve all the problems for us -- but that our hope will lie in Him alone, in His humility, His grace, His love! What a Savior we serve!! I will still be tired and frustrated and sad and angry at times (probably too many times). But I have the hope that He has set me free to serve Him as a wife, a mother, a homeschool teacher, a daughter, a friend, a sister in Christ.   My prayer for the close of this year is that I will step forward in faith to whatever path He leads me on, and that I would fix my eyes on Jesus -- not on my failures or those of my husband or my kids or others -- but serve Him wholeheartedly.

Daddy and Daughter Date Night -- heading to the zoo

Mother and Son date night -- bowling, sushi and a game of Quirkle

Our annual gingerbread house

Merry Christmas 2012!!

   

   Before the holidays hit us, here are some other pictures of our fall fun that I've neglected to share.

Meredith watching Will do his spelling

Maggie's crazy birthday celebration

Chief Justice Margaret in the March of the Presidents Program

Will as Teddy Roosevelt

Meredith's birthday celebration before school

Meredith was very specific about her cake -- colors, unicorn, where the horn should point. Thankfully Mama passed the test of approval!

The "windy" party at the park

Wow, my 6 year old!!

Maggie with an old homeschool project

  While in the Smokies, we celebrated Maggie's 11th birthday. She chose her breakfast and supper meals, and Mama obliged even on the road. For breakfast we had apricot cream cheese stuffed French toast, then later for supper, Ryan grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and I baked our family favorite chocolate chip pound cake. We went on our longest hike that afternoon, and the kids did amazingly well, but then coming back down the mountain, we got stuck in traffic. Thankfully, we got back in time to make the cake and have our celebration.

A favorite: the hammock swings

Another favorite: having Babe along

Poor Babe: we found out once we got her to the Smokies that dogs were not allowed on the hikes

Maggie's first change of earrings, a pair of mine from high school

Our only bears to see were the ones decorating the fence of our cabin

Can't see the sign, but I think it said, "Welcome to the Smokies"

Meredith and I surprised Maggie with decorations

Meredith's gift that she planned and paid for: a small box of Werther's

Will wrapped his gift in toilet paper : )

A candy bar!

Saying goodbye!

     One of my favorite things we were able to do with our kids in the Smokies was hiking. We went on 3 trails -- one very easy, short trek to a tiny trickle of a waterfall where the kids were able to wade in a stream; another fairly easy, albeit long, hike on a paved pathway that led to a nice size waterfall, Laurel Falls, where fifty+ other people were also enjoying the view; and a final 3.6 mile round-trip hike to Andrew's Bald  off of Clingman's Dome, the tallest mountain in the Smokies. The last hike was, by far, the most taxing since the journey back was mostly an uphill climb on a pretty rocky pathway. Meredith did great on the way down, but the return was not quite so joyful! We did make it though, and when we got back to the parking lot, Will still had enough energy to climb some interesting rocks before we headed back to the cabin. The 20-mile trip back to Pigeon Forge took over 2 hours! We had thought about playing putt-putt before going back to celebrate Maggie's birthday, but even the kids opted out after seeing how bad the traffic was. We have already promised them a game in Florida, Lord willing, next summer.

Cool resting place

And of course, Will has to get UP on the tree

Our first waterfall

Climbing carefully into her first wading stream

Our kids loved running along the first trail which was pretty flat

Just a sampling of some of the fall foliage we were able to see

Will was the photographer on this one

Meredith was my hiking companion, so we got to see some amazing views together going towards Laurel Falls

Will climbed on every possible rock he could get on!

Maggie climbed a bit too -- though she didn't ask to have her picture taken nearly as often as Will!

Notice where Meredith is

Finally, Laurel Falls! No one actually wanted to smile on this one -- just to be honest.

Clingman's Dome -- Maggie's birthday

Meredith's photography

Andrew's Bald with the Appalachians in the background

We made it, and everyone's smiling!

Meredith took this picture -- notice Ryan -- sadly he had cell service!

The way back -- no one was smiling!

Goofing off during our break

Will is at the top center

King of the Mountain

One final climb for everyone except Mama