I hate it when that happens!! I did not take any pictures of our trip!! What was I thinking? Ugghh!!!
We started out this year remembering LAST year and the HORRIBLE traffic jam out of San Francisco. So, this year, we left on Monday!! Very smart choice!! We drove to Merced and stayed the night at my parent's home, babysat Kaelyn again while Mom went to school and Dad worked. It was very nice. She did not sleep well the night before so she took a 2 hour nap!!! Meanwhile, I need to do SOMETHING, so I organized her dresser of clothes! Erika was pleased! :) We took the kids to dinner on Tuesday and headed down to Visalia on Wednesday morning. Jane and Bill took us to The Depot for dinner. I had Bossa fish! WOW! It was so buttery and soft, it actually reminded me of popcorn!! Was yummy!! It was a nice evening, telling stories of old.
Andrew, Erika and Kaelyn arrived at Dick's parents home on Thanksgiving morning. We loaded our car and we all drove down in ONE vehicle! Yup, baby games for the 4 hour car ride! I LOVED IT!!! This is what I got to look at!!! ;)
We checked into our hotel, and was at my sister Brenda's house by 4:00! Right on time! WHEW!!
We walked in to a spread of hors d'oeuvres that was unbelievable!! Sooo many choices!!! Everyone began to busy themselves with mashing the potatoes, making gravy, setting dishes on the table, baking the rolls, all of that last minute stuff! Then, the feast! Was very very good and everyone ate TOO much!!! We got a little silly in the evening, discovering all of the weird things we can all do with our tongues! Very entertaining!!! Guess you had to be there!! Thank you Brenda for hosting such a wonderful, thankful day!!!!
Andrew and Kaelyn on Thanksgiving Day!
This is all of us making our tongue do weird things in the reflection of the window. It wasn't until we were all done when we realized that the neighbors could see us and it would look like we were making faces at THEM!!! Wow! Memories! hahahahah - Just for the record, Amy gets full credit for taking this pic. I actually stole it from her blog - ssshhh, don't tell!
On Friday, Dick and I ran our 4 mile route and headed over to Brenda's for, you guessed....ROUND 2 Turkey Lunch!! hahaha...That plate looked just like the plate the day before!!! Then we headed over to Antonio's baseball game - travel team. Well, let's not talk about that.....it was not Antonio's best day OR the teams best day so some not so good baseball was going on....but he still looked GOOD!! Look at that extension!!
After the game, everyone met up at our favorite RED DEVIL PIZZA place. We love their pizza and go every time we are in town. Amy came over with Randy and Antonio's girlfriends was there too.
Dick and I took Kaelyn over to Brenda's house so she could be with Kaelyn and the rest of us could all kick up our heels at the HONKY TONK Country Bar where we all danced and honky tonked the night away!
Kaelyn was doing fine until she noticed no familiar face was present! Then, the crying began! Oh No!! Poor thing. She finally fell asleep and Dick and I came and picked her up around 11:00. We took her back to our hotel where she slept until her parents came knocking at the door at 2 a.m. They had a GREAT time and really appreciated the time together while Kaelyn was in good hands with her cousins and Auntie Brenda!
On Saturday, we ran our 4 mile route, packed up the car and headed over for yup, ROUND 3 Turkey leftovers!! YUM!! We visited with the Gonzales family until about 5:00 p.m. then made the trek back to Visalia where the kids got in their car and drove back to Merced.
Kaelyn hanging out with Gpa Dickie!!
On Sunday, we went to church with Dick's parents then met up with Galen and Wendy for breakfast. Good to see them, catch up, look at pictures from the Labor Day in November party and ate MORE good food!!! We spent the afternoon with Dick's brother David and wife Morri. I really like them and learn something every time we are together. Morri is the one that gives me my 'Good Books to Read' list. She can pick them!! Jane made a ham dinner and then we sat around the table sharing stories of our childhoods. Always fun to hear what Dickie was like as a child! It compares so much to how Taylor is, very weird!!
On Monday we received an email that Taylor had an unscheduled basketball practice that afternoon so we left Visalia by 10:15. A little earlier than we anticipated, but a blessing because traffic was ZERO!!! NICE! We made the 4 hour journey in 3 1/4!!!
Overall, a very enjoyable, fun-filled time with family and friends. We are thankful each and every day for all of our blessings, our cup continues to overflow!! We missed Taylor of course....it was his year with his mom....but he is always with us in spirit and we are grateful for that.
