Amanda's Poems

Amanda wrote a couple of beautiful poems shortly after our Cross Family Reunion. I just have to show off her talent!!

God's Might
I love the rain.
I love the booming thunder that chills my bones.
The crackling lightning with its blinding flash and heart-stopping beauty.
And then the peace, as the thunder growls quietly in the distance and the lightning illuminates the ominous black sky.
As the droplets of water run swiftly and slowly down the window making shadows like freckles on my skin.
The lightning flashes still and the thunder roars its mighty roar.
Yet I feel that same peace as if time is stopped.
It is my time.
It is my time to watch and to hear the power of God.
For it is His might the thunder bellows and it is His beauty the lightning illuminates.

-Amanda R. Cross, June 25th, 2010


This next poem was inspired by a beautiful copper rose that Auntie Tammy bought for Amanda in Tennessee.

A Copper Rose
A copper rose, so delicate and so beautiful.
It is a quiet beauty, subtle and deceitful.
The colors are soft, yet they give the impression of belonging, being deep within the copper...as if it has always been.
The shape is as elegant as a swan spreading its wings on a warm, sunny day at the pond.
It gives off the aura of love and hope...
For better days to the lonely man,
And happiness and love everlasting to the lovers and the romantics.
This flower does not die, nor will it ever. Just like the moon in the sky, it will last forever.

- Amanda R. Cross, June 27th, 2010

Tennessee Family Reunion - Friday - Dollywood again & Dixie Stampede

Friday morning, we packed and checked out of the cabin and said our tearful good-byes. It was so sad for it to end and seemed it was over way too fast!!!

However, it wasn't really over for all of us. We were given rain checks to spend another day free at Dollywood because when we were there Tuesday, it rained off and on all day and many of the rides were closed. So, Lauri & Matt's family and our family went back to Dollywood. We don't have many pictures of the day, but I thought this one was cute.
After our time at Dollywood, we went to the Dixie Stampede for dinner. For anyone who's been to Medieval Times, it's the "rodeo" version of that. We had a blast!! We were so happy to have a little more time with Lauri, Matt & their girls.

Tennessee Family Reunion - Thursday - Goofy Golf, Arts & Crafts Trail

Thursday morning we went to a mini-golf course of Lenna's choosing. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have dozens of mini-golf courses, so we let our most enthusiastic mini-golfer choose the course! Other than the heat and the sunburns, it was a lot of fun!

After mini-golf and lunch, a group of us went on the Arts & Crafts Trail, which is an 8-mile loop of road with shops all along it. The owners are craftsmen who sell the product of their trades, like artwork, metalwork, jewelry, glass and metal art, chainsaw carving, etc. On the way there, we stopped at a Great Smoky Mountain sign.

We had such a great time on the Trail - we stopped for some yummy ice cream and got some really great stuff! Here's Megan in one of the shops (with Uncle Matt in the background). The next picture is at a chain-saw carving place. That bear is pretty incredible!

I think the best part of the trail was when Matt & Lauri's van got stuck in the mud!

And Lauri tried to pull it out all by herself!

The rest of us girls thought we'd give her a hand.
Tim offered more of a mental kind of support...
We didn't even budge it. So, the owners pulled it out with their SUV. I don't understand why that worked better than our GIRL power!!

Tennessee Family Reunion - Wednesday - Swimming

Wednesday was our nice relaxing day.

We went swimming at the local pool.
Megan doing some kind of amazing dive...
...and the family cheering her on!

We grilled out for dinner and made S'mores in the backyard of the cabin...

...and played games. This is the "newspaper" game (except we used a paper towel roll) where you get to try to hit people with the paper towel roll before they can say someone else's "name", which in our case, everyone chose a state, so the state they chose was their "name".

Wednesday was a really great day!

Tennessee Family Reunion - Monday & Tuesday - Dollywood

We spent Monday late afternoon & evening and all day Tuesday at Dollywood. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

The girls in front of the Dolly Parton Tour Bus.

I love this next one in front of the bus cuz it's candid. If you're wondering what I'm doing...I'm not doing the chicken dance as Amanda said when she saw this picture, I'm just putting my backpack on.
This is us in front of the lamest ride in the history of mankind - Journey to the Center of the Earth 4D Adventure. The movie is awesome, so we really thought this ride would be great, but it was pathetic! The dude with the backpack and the cheesy smile is their Brendan Fraser look-alike.

It started raining shortly after this ride, so everybody killed some time on the merry-go-round. This picture of Nana is too cute for words!
Auntie Tammy and my girls are pretty darn cute, too!!
A miracle happened at Dollywood - Nana rode a rollercoaster!!! We were all so proud of her and now all her grandkids can brag that their Nana rides rollercoasters! I don't know if it will ever happen again...but it DID happen! She doesn't even look scared!

Group picture at Dollywood followed by our family picture. Isn't it amazing we got that butterfly to sit in our hands?

Here are some great pictures of us on Daredevil Falls:
We did a lot of other stuff at Dollywood, too. We went to a couple shows, rode the steam train around the park, ate at an amazing buffet called Miss Lillian's, rode on several other roller coasters...the Mystery Mine, the Tennessee Tornado and the Thunderhead, and shopped at the Emporium. We had such a great time!