HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Wow, Thanksgiving has come and gone.  There were some GREAT parts of it, and some sad parts.

The sad part was that my married kids have had the flu bug hit their house in a powerful way.  Ryan pulled a shift in the ER and believes he was exposed to the bug there.  He got really sick for a couple of days.  Just as he was determining he would pull through ... Jaimee Rae got hit.  She threw up every 20 minutes for a couple of hours one night.  Poor sick little girl.

Mommy Rhiannon was busy cleaning up bedding and washing things to kill germs - remember we have a vacation to go on next week - first with Ryan and then Jaimee.  They decided to not come on Thanksgiving, but MAYBE come on Friday for Sabbath and Saturday night GAME NIGHT at our house.

But then the bug got her.  She was a sick girlie too.  Fortunately Jaimee was on the mend and Ryan was able to care for her.  As of tonight (Saturday night) outside of a tender tummy after eating, she is feeling better.  So hopefully the worst is behind her.

I missed them all - felt like a big hole in our Thanksgiving.  The other holes were that Joy and her kids were in Florida with Keith's family and  Kate was with her family up in Minnesota.  We were blessed to have our friends the Downey's with us again this year and Wynter and Andy's friend Chris was back to visit.  We've met him before.

One of the GOOD things that happened was that for the first time in a LONG time Holly and Joe were back.  Holly is my brother Mark's oldest daughter.  Joe took some nice pictures of the family that was there.

Dad, as many of you know, has not been doing real great.  That is why we moved the celebration back to mom and dad's house.  He got to be there with us in his recliner.  All the noise we made didn't seem to bother him much as he seemed to enjoy knowing we were all there, though he can't see us.  Mom and dad (Gene and Shirley) got to meet 12 day old Tanner (JoDe and Josh's baby - JoDe is Joy's oldest daughter, Tanner is Joy's 2nd grandchild).

LOTS of good food.  OH MY!!!   Probably the MOST ever.  None of it was bad.  So we were all happily chowing our way through games of FARKLE, conversation, a little Karaoke, laughter, and simply enjoying the day.  Seemed like everyone was in a good mood, didn't hear any cranky remarks or see any crabby actions!  YEAH!!!  It was just a very good day.  Wish everyone could have been there, but ... nothing we could do about it.

Later we, Randy and I, went to Mark and Bellie's while they worked on a computer.  When we got home we worked on the church bulletin and then since it was almost midnight we headed over to Walmart.  DUMB!!!  I've NEVER seen the parking lot that full - EVER.  And inside?  Not ONE cart to be had.  People were elbow to elbow waiting for midnight when some of the bargains were to begin.  Others were forming lines for the super bargains that started at 5 a.m. 

All we really needed was a ream of paper so we could print the church bulletin.  We had it and a couple of other things we'd picked up as we walked around in our arms.  When we got to the front of the store ... the lines were ENORMOUS.  Now, I don't know about Walmart in YOUR area - but here in Muscatine it seems that there is ALWAYS a long wait at the checkout.  I hate that.  Seems to me that a company that puts their owners on the richest people list every year - could somehow make it so that there was enough checkers to get you in and out in a reasonable amount of time.  With that said - the lines were even longer than normal.  We just put our stuff down and walked out the door.  NO WAY.

Since we are going to Florida next week - we decided except for Baby Jaimee we aren't going to do much for Christmas.  I think we all agree that we don't need a trip AND presents.  So we aren't shopping seriously.  Kind of nice to be able to just go out and be IN the WILDNESS and not PART of it!  Whoo hoo! 

Yes, we are heading to Florida.  First time in years and years!  The whole family is going - all of us ... Randy, me, Nick, Rhiannon, Ryan and Jaimee.  We'll have plenty of family time - probably to the point of GET OUT OF MY FACE by the time it is over.  (We're all sharing accomodations!)  Our time is limited - but had kind of thought about sliding through Savannah to see Steph and Steve.  Randy finally called Steph, but we haven't heard back from her.  So that may not be something we can do this time.  And then we want to go over to Edgewater where Keith lives.  There is a river they can kayak down to see manatees and dolphins.  Think we'll try to be there on a Sabbath to enjoy that little nature adventure.  Again though - our trip planner (Randy) I don't think has made contact with Keith to get the details, so we'll have to see how that works.  What we do know is we'll spend a few days visiting Mickey Mouse.  We're all anxious to see how Jaimee reacts to the excitement of it all.

It's almost midnight -- I turn to a pumpkin at midnight, so better head up to my bed (aka pumpkin patch).  Tomorrow is the Goddard thanksgiving.  I plan to go for a little bit.  I always get a couple of pizzas to take.  I'm not cooking!  Pizzas always disappear and there isn't anything to take home to clean up.  Works for me!

Love you all!  V

Here are pics of our Thanksgiving gathering - some with my camera and some I copied from Holly's FB page!  Hover over the pictures for titles.