Flashback: Bauemersgulley Extravaganza!!!
In both 2005 & 2006, we were blessed to be able to spend long weekends in the mountains around Gatlinburg, Tennessee with our good friends Mike & Ann Baur and Matt & Nikki Gulley. Mike is my best friend and one of the best guys you will ever meet, and he and Ann have been very special to us for a long time now. Matt was in Knights with me at Harding, and he and Nikki were a part of a very tight group of young marrieds who met for Bible study and discussion each Sunday for about a year just before we left Searcy. 
Mike's Aunt and Uncle own this sweet cottage in the Smokies called "The Blessing", and they let Mike and his family use it for free whenever they want. This thing is totally pimped out with a jacuzzi, pool table, huge screen TV with satellite cable, and 3 large and comfortable bedrooms. All that to go with an amazing view, beautiful sunsets, and all of the ridiculous yet magnetic cheesiness of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge just 20 minutes away!
These two trips we took together with the Baurs and Gulleys were very special times for all of us. For us, it is bittersweet to think about our memories there because we know that we will not get to go back there with our friends for quite sometime. Even as I write, I'm getting that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you think about things you love and miss. I have to rely on God to give me peace because He has called us to Togo and we're not turning back.
So here's to intense games of charades and Catchphrase, running riot and going on killing sprees in Halo, big breakfasts, sharing beautiful sunsets with dear friends, hiking to the waterfall, long talks while turning to prunes in the jacuzzi, trips to the movie theater in Pigeon Forge ("Ricky Bobby"!), leaving irresistible snacks out on the grill for the raccoons, worshipping and praying together, and never wanting it to end. I love you all, may God continue to bless your families as you walk with Him!
PS: I also have to give props to the Looches for always making it over from Knoxville for a day. You guys rock!
This entry was posted
on Saturday, February 10, 2007 at 4:42 AM.
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11:51 PMI, too, will greatly miss getting together with these families this year! It's still amazing to me the journeys God has taken each family on and how He is still greatly at work in each of us. Remember the first year when I was pregnant and how crazy it was the second year to have Caden with us?!;) Someday we'll have so many kids that we might have to talk Mike's uncle into buying a bigger cabin. ;)
--April
8:12 AM
I always thought you were tall Brett, but Mike and Matt seem to put you to shame!!
In all seriousness - having those kinds of couples is so important to a marriage I've found. Keeps you accountable and helps you to have a wider viewpoint than your own four walls. It is really neat to watch you and April follow God's will, grow in Him, have beautiful babies and travel all over the world. I remember when....
Thanks for continuing to share your journey with us!
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