Catching up

So...we've been busy. And now I'm trying to catch up, though I think I'll have to settle for just not falling behind more. About a month ago (!), Dave's sister, Amber-Rae graduated from Western Carolina University. We were able to go out and celebrate with her and Dave's mom. We've been there before, but each time we go I'm just amazed at how beautiful the mountains are.

We went to Commencement, which was really nice and not too long (a huge plus with a squirmy 16-month-old!). We cheered on Amber-Rae as she got her diploma and then headed to a nearby park for lunch.




It was a beautiful day and the girls loved running around the park; we just had to make sure than Annabelle didn't go for a swim.


That evening, we went to dinner and explored the nearby Cherokee Indian Reservation:

I didn't realize tribes had elections.

It had a little downtown area that was adorable (is it insulting to call a downtown "adorable"?), and we could have spent a lot more time there. Mabes informed us that "Native Americans aren't real anymore. Well, only in India." We went to dinner at a place that had some Native American fare; Annabelle was a big fan of the fried corn nuggets (I think that's what they were called) and frybread. And who am I kidding, I'm a big fan of anything fried, too.