Thanksgiving / Christmas Decorating 2014

What a great time of year!  Here are some memories around our giant Thanksgiving event last week, and some Christmas decorating done just yesterday (Dec. 5th).

 Three long portable banquet tables were just right to hold the 20+ revelers of Thanksgiving.  The overflow table in the back right corner did not need to be used, partly because a couple of our feasters came a bit later and space opened up at the main table.  The dining room table to the right became a serving table.

 The two responsible for making the celebration a huge success - at work before the crowds.

 Jared and Amy demonstrating how some of the serving was done.

 Some of the crowd at the west end of the table.  Note that Arleen was already in uniform for her work shift at Sizzler's immediately following our get-together.

 Some of the group in various stages of getting their food or milling around at the start.

 One angle of the crowd.  Sorry you can't see, but Brittney also was there and brought a friend, Eric, to participate in the festivities.  Afterward they were slotted to visit another Thanksgiving celebration.  They are at the far end on the left, but hidden.

 Julie and Cameron were able to come up and join in before the end.

The Thanksgiving pie selection brought smiles to all!

 Afterward we convened in the living room for a Thanksgiving program.  Here are some of the Crocketts.

 We loved Tracine's recital of her famous "Rindercella" story!

 Gayle and Brian shared a seat.

 I accompanied the group on guitar for two Christmas carols and got to sit next to McKel.

 Jared and Avril hung out together.

 Getting ready to leave.  Courtney, Avril, and McKel had to get in some deer rides.

 Mom and some Crockett girls, with Rudolph (note red light nose) in the foreground.

Gayle also got in a ride.

And in spite of it being late November, it was mild enough to permit swinging, monkey bar, soccer, and tag games in the back yard.  Brian is even in a T-shirt.

 I took the 5th (of December, not of the constitutional amendments) off and Gayle and I were able to have the little ones over for a few hours.  It was sufficient time to get in some Christmas decorating with Grandma Joyce.

 Two tree decorators.

 Hanging ornaments is fun!

Sometimes decorating is tiring, so one just wants to curl up in a comfortable chair and read books!

November 2014

The first week in November Gayle and I flew to Georgia for a wonderful, restful visit with family and friends.

 We got to go to the Longhorn steakhouse in Covington one evening with Richard, Rosemarie, and all their descendents (as of now).  Here are Gayle and Rosemarie waiting for a table.

 Emily and her mom, Rosemarie.

 Richard and his bride.

 A table with Sells, Cleggs, and Parkinsons.

 David, Katie, and Blythe.

 Abby and Aaron.

 Andrew, Amanda, and Ashley.
 
 The Utahans.

 We also made it down to Eatonton, home of Brer Rabbit and Uncle Remus.  But it's also home for cousin Leon, who owns a beautiful flower shop.

 Cousin Roger has re-created a wonderful village from the turn of the 19th century (roughly) near Eatonton.  Here he and Gayle pose in front of one of the log sheds he built.

 Gayle was baptized in this pretty Southern Baptist country church in Deep Step, Georgia when she was about 9 years old.  Her mom and other relatives are buried across the street in the church's cemetery.

 Next to the church is an outdoor worship area, just above a water filled kaolin (chalk) open mine down below.

 Deep Step is a kaolin mining area, as evidenced by this pit below the church.

 Here are Gayle's mom and dad, side by side across from the church.

 Gayle's mom.

 Her dad.

 Gayle's sister Beth is buried near a Baptist church in Milledgeville, Georgia.

This is Robert Meier, Beth's husband, with me near Beth's grave site.

This is our friend Louis Thacker (his wife Ronda is taking the picture) in Griffin, Georgia, with us.  We're standing next to his Beechcraft Twin Bonanza (T-Bone) airplane.

Here's a clip of us taking off and starting to get above Griffin.

Louis also gave me a shot at driving their very long RV, in case we ever want to get one too.

I did not take out a single mail box!

 Gayle demonstrated how to get into a cock pit of a small plane without damaging the wing flaps.

 Ronda and Louis next to another T-Bone under restoration.

 Here's that RV, next to a workshop trailer on wheels.

We took the RV out for Chinese food.



Rosemarie took us to Athens, GA to see the university's botanical gardens, a real treat.

 Some of the orchids we saw.

 Even though it was cooling down for autumn, there were still some nice plants outside surviving the colder weather so far.

Sisters and BFF.


We were able to hook up with a couple at church from the Covington ward (the Hiatts) and make it to the Atlanta temple one morning.

 Here's Richard and Rosemarie's house in town (Social Circle, GA) which served as our home base the whole week.  We love staying there, and I like jogging around town and out in the country.

 This is Richard and Rosemarie's house out in the country, complete with two dogs in the yard and a golf cart in which to get around.

One of Richard's sculptures.

Emily, Rosemarie's daughter, and her husband Chester, have a family blue-grass band.  One night they performed at a "plantation" out in the country where there was a church fund-raiser event.  The venue was outdoors in a pavilion where folks were eating and talking, so the sound was not the greatest.  But the Cleggs gave a wonderful performance.

This clip shows Ashley on the fiddle, then Abby on the mandolin, and then Aaron on the banjo.  Mom and dad play respectively the stand-up bass and the guitar.

Chester sings "Moving On" as Aaron accompanies.  They started getting some speaker feedback mid-way through, but finished up without showing any qualms.  Very professional!

 Andrew, Emily, Abby, Chester, Mandy, Aaron, and Ashley.

 We got to watch our two smallest granddaughters last weekend, as well as the Kent girls (Nicole, Ella, and Audrey).  Note our early snow.

 The girls had fun drawing clown faces as Gayle had showed them.  Audrey, in the background, is doing it on the white board instead.

 The results.

Nothing like a good competitive game of Old Maid!

Here are two clips of the girls, and then Gayle, playing Dead Man Come Alive.

 Here's Avril, with her "snow cake on a stick with a cherry on top."

 The Kent girls had breakfast with us while their mom went to conduct choir practice (she's the director).

Here I enjoy being the only male in the entire household - 7 to 1 counting Gayle and mom.