Biking the famous Smoky Mountain Cades Cove Loop in the rain with friends and family prior to the summer family reunion for my parents 50th wedding anniversary.
My dear cousin Gus prior to the bike ride. He had a heart attack while we were in New Zealand so it was extra special to see him recovering over the summer.
My sister and I took the kids to a last splash at our beach bach before renting it out for a year or so.
My kids on the front porch of the beach house.
Cousin Kevyn and the kids on the beach.
Summer family mountain trip saw some mountain zip lining (flying fox to our kiwi friends)
Horseback riding through the mountains on our family summer trip.
View of the Great Smoky Mountains from the trail's top.
Hiking with the kids in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park
We had a lot of fun at Lynn's parent's lake-house at Tellico lake. We jumped off old silo's long since flooded for the lake/dam/electricity production.
We started wake-boarding this summer but our boat had lots of problems and was in the shop most weekends.
My parents celebrated 50 years of marriage this June. In July we had a family reunion and anniversary party for them.
My parents are currently at Duke University hospital for a few months to try to get healthy enough for a lung transplant for my dad hopefully sometime this fall. Please pray.
More hiking and lake fun was had with our dear friends the Koenigs from Charleston, SC.
My girls with Janet's girls Kari and Daisy.
The Koenig Nichols crew in the bunk room at the lake house.
Certainly, my niece Leighton's arrival (pictured above with Nana and below in her mommy's tummy) was the number one highlight of our summer.
Wow! It has been a bitter sweet re-orientation time these past 3 or 4 months since leaving New Zealand and returning home to Knoxville, Tennessee. Lynn has coined it, "My Big Phat American Life" as we have returned to a warp speed pace of work, friends, family, fun, and a bit of culture shock. I thought I would show a pictorial guide with posts of some of the best moments since back in the USA. For those of you interested in New Zealand, you can catch some of our overseas year on the Nichols in New Zealand blog at www.kiwiserve.blogspot.com.
