Tennessee

We arrived in Knoxville on Thursday and Friday morning Tate was scheduled to take his drivers license test. He borrowed Catherine's car, Brian took him on the highway for the very first time, and off he went- and passed! It should be noted that he was NOT ready and we should all be fearful of Tennessee drivers! 

That afternoon, we bought a car. Meet Dolly-

And Macy got her permit!

Tate was so surprised to see all the graduation cards that friends and family sent him! 

Ann came up from Alabama and we got to spend the day together in Knoxville with her friend Kami too.

That night we met up with Wiley and Andrea, who recently moved back to TN from Colorado. Dinner, drinks and giant Scrabble- 

It was a beautiful summer night walking around market square-

Sunday morning we went to church with the family- back to Brian's childhood church where Peter is not the youth pastor. 

Lunch with Billy and Jenny after church- 

On Monday nights Peter & Cathryn play pickle ball in their church league and we got to tag along and learn how to play!

First time going white water rafting as a family, and first time for Macy & I-

Just our luck that the bus driver hit an electric pole on the way to the river and the wires fell on the bus- 

But not to be stopped, off we went about 30 minutes later for a few hours out on the Upper Pigeon River!

I was a tad nervous, but I ended up really enjoying it! Just enough thrill, just enough getting wet!

Originally my Aunt Sandy was planning to come rafting with us, but she hurt her back and had to cancel. But she still drove over from NC for lunch with us after rafting. We had a good laugh at the fact that her iced tea cup was as big as her head!

Our first time to a Bass Pro Shop-

And our first time to a Buckee's!

We planned our while summer around being with Gil on her 80th birthday! She wanted a family dinner, so Brian was sure to make that happen for her. Happy birthday Nana Gill-

The cat apparently never sits with anyone. But there's something about Tate that he likes-

A trip to the zoo with Auntie Cathryn and Gracie- 

And a recreation of this picture from 7 years ago-

 Never enough time, but saying goodbye was a tad easier this time knowing that we will get some McCullough-Kim visitors in England! And also knowing that Tate is just a short, direct flight away from them now. 

We packed up Dolly and hit the road- no more rental cars for us!