Thanksgiving 2008

We're back from our thanksgiving in Missouri

We had an awesome t-giving - up until I was sick on Friday. Didn't stop me from going shopping, though! But once I was done with the early morning shopping, I was in bed for the afternoon!

John's brother Danny from Chicago came down with his son Zain - first time we've seen him and he's 5 years old! He's a very cute and very polite young boy. He was a sheer joy! He started when the arrived on Wednesday screaming in fright about the dogs – Lucky and John's brother's dachshund Sandy. (They had gone to a friend's house once who had two great danes – who eagerly jumped up on him and freaked him out.) I told him we get him over his fear of dogs. By the time they left on Saturday, they had adopted a dog from someone on the parking lot at Walmart (whom Zain named "Noisy Quiet Love"), determined that was not the right dog for them, took it to the humane society and got a dachshund instead!!

John's other brothers were there for t-giving day (well, not the two that we've disowned) and everyone got along great. Ate, played some PS3, played some football, shot some guns, shot a longbow that Danny brought down, etc. His sister and her hubby were supposed to come but John & Danny were at their house on Wednesday night and there was a lot of drinking and Wii playing going on. So sis & BIL ended up too sick for t-giving - hangover LOL! But John spent a good amount of time over at their house on the other days, so I'm sure they got their fill of him.
John did not get to hunt, but one of our friends got a deer and John went over and helped him skin it and cut it up (the meat processors won't just take the whole deer anymore - you have to bring them just the meat and they will grind it and make sausage, jerky, etc.) Anyway, we will get some of the meat when we go back up there at Christmas.

Not only did I get to visit with my cousin and best friend, but I also got to visit with the gals from my old office that I was so close with. One is leaving the office, another got married in August and is pregnant! The things I've missed out on! (If John doesn't get a job and we end up moving back to MO maybe they will rehire me!)

Of course Jacob's cousin Blake spent the entire week with him. And the boy who was his best friend in 1st grade (Joseph) came out and spent a day with us. (We try to get them together over the summer when Jacob is there visiting, but it just didn't happen this past summer.)
John, his BIL (Chief of Police), and I took Jacob and Blake down in the woods and taught them how to properly load, handle and fire John's 22 handgun, S&W 40 and his 223 rifle. Jacob enjoyed it and looks forward to some more shooting lessons with his dad.

A visit home would not be complete without some sort of auto repair by my dad! LOL! I was losing water so he determined that the plug on the radiator was bad so he had to drain that replace the plug. While investigating the "belt squeak" that has been going on since March, he determined that my alternator as making noise and could possibly go out, so he replaced that – we figured better to be proactive and do it now then get back down here to TX and have to pay a mechanic to fix it. Of course, that cut into the already tight Christmas gift funds.

I rested a lot, read a few books, and enjoyed food, family and friends. It was probably one of the best thanksgivings I've had in years!