Trip to Pigeon Forge, TN (July 27-31, 2007)

We went to the Smokey Mountains (Pigeon Forge, TN) for one last trip for the summer. It was Mackenzie and Mallory's first trip to the mountains. Saturday, we went to the Dixie Stampede for dinner and show. We had a feast for dinner while watching the entertainers sing/dance. Definitely left with full tummies! The girls had fun watching the horses, buffalo, ostriches and other animals doing different races and cheering for the South riders in rodeo style events. On Sunday, we drove up to Cade's Cove. We saw several turkey and deer, beautiful views of the mountains, also admired different buildings (one was a Baptist church est. 1827 and cabins). Afterwards, we went tubing down the Little River. The water was cool but oh, so refreshing and a lot of fun going down the rapids. The weather was perfect too. Sunday night we had dinner at the Apple Barn Grille. You'll see a picture of the girls at the apple orchard. Monday was a fun day at Dollywood. Mallory experienced her first roller coaster ride! Mackenzie's a tough gal too. We rode 2 roller coasters, river rampage and side winder, watched a Veggie Tales stage show and had some good food too. Mommy was TERRIFIED but rode just for the girls...I didn't open my eyes one bit! We spent about 7 hours at Dollywood but only got to see about half the park...guess we'll have to go again! Enjoy the pictures.

San Diego trip (July 15-22)

Hi all,

Daddy's home! Billy had a weeklong trip to San Diego. He attended the annual ASCLS meeting (national med tech convention) and his company LABSCO met with manufacturers to see the latest and greatest in lab instruments. Yes, he was there for business but definitely had time to "play". See the pics! They had a SYSMEX sponsored event at the Hotel del Coronado, toured the USS Midway, went to a San Diego Padres game (it was a special day because Tony Gwynn was honored for being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame), and they also enjoyed a drive down the coastline to La Jolla in a Sebring convertible (saw a few seals on the beach too). We drove over to Jackson Sunday, did a little shopping, had lunch at Oby's (mmm good), then went to see Hairspray (good movie). Billy's flight was right on time (5:20pm)...you can count on Southwest Airlines :~) After a week of fun and excitement, it's back to reality...

Happy 6th Birthday MALLORY (July 5th)

For Mallory's 6th birthday she had a bowling party. A great way to celebrate and stay cool from the summer's heat. All the kids had fun. A highlight of the girls' birthday parties is a special picture video made by Papa (David Howell, Billy's dad). He always does a great job and we're able to see how the girls (and us too) are changing as they get older.

State Games of MS

The State Games of MS was held the weekend of June 15-17, 2007, right here in Meridian. There were approximately 5,000 athletes in many sporting events such as soccer, baseball, swimming, softball, kayaking, etc. This was Mackenzie's 2nd year to play soccer in State Games. Her team played in the U8 division and won all 3 games. They did great! Thanks to good coaches, Greg Tabb and daddy!

Getting started...

Hi all,

After seeing my cousin's and a friend's blog, I thought "why not, we could have one too". I hope you all will check periodically and see updates from the HOWELLS from MS. Ready, set, here we go!