Our Anniversary Vacation - Day Two!

Today is our actual wedding anniversary -- October 23. Our first stop was this great pancake restaurant next to our motel where we had a great meal of pancakes, waffles, eggs, sausage, bacon and of course, coffee:-) We ate just about everything except for a few bites of pancakes and waffles, which we stored in our refrigerator for a late night snack or quick meal later. Afterward we took off for a stroll to downtown Gatlinburg! As you can see in the top picture, Ana was quite the lady about town (notice her fashionable leggings :-)) We hopped on a trolley and took a tour around the downtown area. You can see the date at the front of the trolley (had to take a picture of the date for our weblog). We spent a big part of the day visiting various shops (including a wonderful coffee shop, "The Doughnut Friar"). An area of downtown Gatlinburg called "The Village" was made up of a number of small quaint European style shops that really added to the romantic setting which already charactarizes Gatlinburg. The last two pictures above were taken in that area. And as you can see, autumn decorations were everywhere, including this group of young scarecrow orphans... :-)

Day 2 continued...

We ended the day by going out for Italian food. It was pretty good, and the atmosphere was nice. We had a kind waiter who offered to take our picture by this four-sided fireplace. It was quite a cozy area. While we waited for our food, we doodled on the paper tablecloth. I drew the cupid, and Ana Maria drew the heart with her name inside:-)

Our Anniversary Vacation - Day One!

We took off for Gatlinburg, TN on October 22 for a few days. Our wedding anniversary is October 23, so we wanted this to be a special vacation! We stopped in Raleigh at the Cathedral to attend Mass and visit with our friend, Father Doug. It was very heartwarming to spend a few minutes after the service with him and receive his prayer of blessing for our trip. We finally hit the TN border and stopped at a welcome center where we snapped a couple pictures. As you can tell from the top picture, it was getting cold and windy! We were thankful to be able to get to Gatlinburg by nightfall, and still had time to get a few pics along the way. More vacation pics are posted in our Yahoo Photo Album entitled "Anniversary Vacation, 2006" at http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jarmanmichael/albums

Getting Ready for Fall!

We enjoyed putting out a few mums and Autumn decorations last week. Everything looks pretty good, I think. Against Ana's wishes, I posted a picture of her working hard to get everything decorated (top) :-) I think she looks sweet no matter from which angle I take her picture!

Dad turned 70 on October 17!

We surprised Dad at Cracker Barrel on his 70th birthday! Ana and I told him we wanted to meet him, along with Mom and Grandma, at Cracker Barrel for a quiet dinner. BUT -- my sisters, brother and their families all joined us to celebrate his birthday. He had no idea! We had a great time, eating and fellowshipping. Our waitress got everyone's attention in the section of the resturant where we were, and she asked EVERYONE to join in singing "Happy Birthday" to Dad! That was pretty amazing with so many folks helping us sing to him. It really was a great evening, and for Dad I think it was a great birthday. I've included only 3 pictures (our neice, Holly, Grandma and Mom, and Dad and me. But I've got more photos of the evening in my Yahoo Photo Album at http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jarmanmichael/albums entitled "Dad's 70th Birthday! Take a look!

Here she is -- Miss America -- lalala! We went to a really fun "Calendar Party/Fashion Show" at the Infant of Prague Fellowship Hall Saturday night. I sat at the Month of May table where the theme was "Taste of Korea" -- some great food! There were door prizes, lots of food, and of course, the fashion show! Ana Maria, along with other ladies of all ages, was one of the runway models. Here she is featuring her 'evening gown' selection. Doesn't she look fantastic? We are already looking forward to next year!

We went over to Beans Coffee House last Saturday to enjoy a sandwich and coffee. The weather was a little cooler, and it just seemed right to run for a cup of java and cozy conversation. I thought Ana looked exceptionally cute in her handmade skirt and her winking coffee cup:-)

Fall is in the air...

Last week we went to Walmart for a few groceries. Just before going in, we stopped for a chat with my friend here. Wow -- you can tell it is autumn, and that it won't be long before Halloween, and then my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! Hmm...I wonder what Mr. Gobbler's plans are for Thanksgiving dinner...

We went to Asheville as part of my job to hold interviews. It was getting quite late in the day when we approached the foothills of the North Carolina mountains. We had hoped to get there before dark, but I think it was about 8pm when we arrived at the Ramada Inn. We ate a late supper at Shoney's next door to the motel. The next morning we ate a sandwich at MacDonalds, hoping they would have espressos. But they did not have specialty coffees! We couldn't believe it. We really wanted a cappuccino with our breakfast. Oh well, the coffee was good. Here's a picture of Ana Maria in the motel lobby.

The other day, we were coming out of Walmart and saw this perfect rainbow. I had to get a shot of it, with Ana posing as the weather girl:-) If you look very closely you'll see that this is a double rainbow. The fainter one is above the clear one.

Friends and Family at the Wedding-Sept 23..

There were many more friends and family members at the wedding. Here are just a few pics of some I caught with my camera phone. The top picture is of Bernardette, Nicole's longtime friend and maid of honor. And there is Ana Maria, and Natalie with Jud (who are getting married next June 23!). And of course, our good friend, Sherry!

A couple more wedding pics of the bride and groom!

Here are some shots I got of the bride, groom, and of course the "mother in law" (haha)! Ana Maria is very happy here as she blows bubbles towards the bride and groom as they leave in a horse-drawn carriage. It was a beautiful site. I believe Nicole will soon post some of those "get-away" pictures :-)

Nicole and Brian's Wedding - Sept 23!

What a beautiful Wedding on September 23 d! Nicole made such a beautiful bride; we were so very proud of her. It was a happy day, and one of great emotion -- especially for her mom. I think Nicole looks like a fairy princess here, don't you? I'll add a few more pics from that day in subsequent posts. Also, Nicole will be posting pictures of the wedding at: http://www.nicolecarina.com/blog.html