A Wonderful Weekend in the Mountains!

My best friends from high school (Amy, Kellie, and Kelly), their husbands (Mike, Clay, and Charlie) and I went to Highlands, NC last weekend for Chris and Liz's wedding. Kellie and Clay's little baby girl, Bailey, also came with us. It was truly one of the very best weekends I have had in a while! There are a lot of pictures on this blog, but I took about 500 over the weekend...really, 500, so in comparison, I really just chose some of my favorites!

When we all got there Friday night we met at Skyline Lodge for a BBQ dinner given by some of Chris's family friends. It was nice to go there and relax and catch up and begin a weekend of fun!


Liz and the wedding party arrived from the rehearsal dinner just as the bbq was about to end. It was so good to see her! We were all excited about the wedding the next day!

We all rented a cozy, little house in Scaly Mountain, which is about 10-15 minutes from Highlands. Saturday morning we hung out around the house and then had a little baby shower for Kellie and Bailey.
Here are some pictures of our house and the scenery around it. We were hanging out waiting for Kellie to get little Bailey ready for our next adventure.

We headed out to Glenn Falls. We took a hike down to see the waterfall. We didn't have time to go all the way down because we had to get back to start getting ready for the wedding, but even still, it was incredible. It was so awesome....God's creation is amazing! Isn't it beautiful?!!

This was definitely one of the most fun and beautiful weddings.

I sent Liz an email earlier this week with a list of my favorite things about her wedding:

• The Scripture, so challenging and thoughtful (Romans 12:1-2, 9-13; Matthew 5:13-16)
• Bridesmaids dresses, very classy
• Liz's dress, perfect
• Chris and his groomsmens' tan suits and plaid ties, totally my style
• The band, Fun...FUN...FUN!!!!
• Seeing Liz, her mom, and her sister together...so cute dancing together
• Seeing Liz and her friends together...so thankful that she has such sweet friends
• Seeing Liz and Chris together, so happy
• Liz's mom's toast...what a special way to honor her special Dad
• The location...the mountain scenery...such a reminder of God's power and love for us during the ceremony
  
  
  I can say without hesitation that one of the biggest blessings in my life is my continued, constant, encouraging friendships with these girls that I spent this wonderful weekend in the mountains. So many times since high school, people that I meet are shocked that my best friends from high school are still my best friends today. It is a rare and special thing. I cannot say enough times how much I love these girls (and their husbands and children!) There is something so comforting about the friendships I have with them. I love our history and I know I am going to love our future. I am so excited about how the Lord will continue bless our friendships because I certainly believe that He will. Amy, Kelly, and Kellie...I LOVE YOU!

This is a picture from our senior year of high school. We were at Kelly's house celebrating her birthday in May of 1997, just before we graduated. (In case you girls forgot)