Tennessee Trip

 We knew we wanted to go my nephew Jordan's farewell but we didn't realize all the conflicts we were going to have for the weekend. SO to keep it simple we decided to fly to Tennessee to hear him speak in his singles branch and miss the farewell. It just so happened that he had always wanted us to be there when he went through the Temple so he scheduled that for when we were going to be there so it worked out really well! We headed out Friday Oct 26. It took the whole day to get there of course because they made us go through San Diego (like that's on the way!!) So it was later when we got there and since we were starving from feasting on airplane food we drove straight to Jack's BBQ. Seriously we didn't even check in to our hotel first. Just the smell at the door is killer. By the time we got our food we were ready to gnaw off our arms. So I did a little face book update so Beth could see where we were and feasted on BBQ.

We checked into our room after about an hours drive to get there and our room was so strange. It was next to a mechanical room or something and there was a hideous humming and vibration the whole time. Since we were going to be there for 3 nights I wanted to complain but it was late when we checked in so just made do. Seriously there were ripples in my water in my cup when I put it down on the table?? SO I didn't sleep that great all night with the racket. Mendis slept through the whole thing. Lucky guy.
The next day we headed over to breakfast at IHop. So that's a pretty popular meal in the south on Saturday morning because the line was out the door. Seriously it took about an hour an a half for breakfast! We didn't have much time left so we raced over to Stones River Battle field since it was right down the street from our hotel so Mendis could commune with history a bit.

As you can see it was beautiful and we just loved the fall colors! Apparently we missed the good stuff by about a day but we were thrilled anyway. It was amazing to see how fast the leaves fell because they were pretty much over when we flew home. So we headed to the Nashville Temple to meet up with the family.

 This was our first time going through a small Temple. It was the coolest thing. They have everything in miniature! Loved it!! It was just beautiful and a very special afternoon. We were so happy to be there for Jordan and the family. We are so far away we miss alot of special times.

 Before you have a heart attack let me explain. Jordan was working on the facial hair to complete his Wolverine costume for Halloween so he didn't shave and get a haircut until Thursday. I saw the Halloween pics and he looked pretty good I have to say. Then promptly turned into a missionary.

Love these kinds of pictures.

We all trooped down to Golden Corral to feast afterwards. We met some of the family's good friends and ha a great evening time. We swung by our room and changed clothes then headed down to Tullahoma to Beth's house to play some games.

Killer game of Settler's of Catan!

Jordan asked for it...he really wanted to wrestle...

So after a couple of hours of treats and games we headed back to our room about 45 min away. We got up bright and early the next morning to be at Beth & John's Sacrament meeting because it was the primary program and Beth was leading the music. She promised us she was tired enough to fall of the stand but she hung on without mishap. Primary programs are always so cute. So we headed back up to our motel for a quick 30 min nap and then headed to Jordan's talk in singles. When that was over we went back and changed clothes and headed back down to Beth's for dinner and more games! As we were driving back and forth we really enjoyed the scenery:

This adorable spot was right down the street from the chapel where Jordan spoke so Mendis slowed down so I could get a picture before anyone could ram us on the road! Isn't it the coolest spot ever!

You see these barns painted all over Tennessee and many other states. I just love them. See Rock City and Ruby Falls. Brings back good memories of other trips to Tennessee.

There's another billboard way off in the distance.

The next morning Beth, John, and Jordan met us at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was so fun to visit one last time before we went our separate ways. Mendis and I headed to the Hermitage which is Andrew Jackson's home in Nashville that we haven't ever seen before. It didn't disappoint because everything was original. Of course you can't take pictures inside either. IT was pretty pricey though so don't think we will be returning any time soon.

The gardens were nice but freezing to death!

The back of the house.

It was really windy that day and cold. Hurricane Sandy was just fixin to come in as they say in the dirty south. That was for Beth. Whatever the dirty south is. We spent the rest of the day in airports and headed home. It was brief but it was a super fun trip. It makes me nuts that we all live so far from each other and can't be there for every thing but it was fun to get to one thing anyway! Good luck Jordan. He is out serving his mission right now and is in San Jose California! We are so proud of him.