We haven't been posting for awhile as we've been busy visiting family and working on a repair issue for the 5th wheel. We'll make a separate post of the repair issue as it is yet unresolved. Suffice it to say that we are blessed to travel safely still and thank God for his continued grace upon our travels!
We are steadily working our way south and are still enjoying glimpses of fall color as we travel! We've been seeing varying displays of fall color since August in Minnesota and are happy that our nomadic travels have had this particular perk of enjoying fall for several months instead of just a couple of weeks.
The kids were happy to arrive at their grandparents in time to help construct, paint and display a large nativity scene in their front yard. The pieces were cut from plywood and the guys had a great time helping with the tools! They were also introduced to post hole digging and tamping. We know that is a skill that will return at some point in their future!
We'll have to update the photos in a couple of weeks with the full display of an angel, star and donkey...and of course, the baby Jesus!
A local model railroad club had an open house to peruse their elaborate displays and operation of their trains. The boys had a great time taking that all in, but unfortunately - no camera for that adventure!
We were able to spend some time playing games and watching football games in a 'real' living room at Linda's brother's. The RV is great for a lot of things, but doesn't work well for gathering family to join in those kinds of activities!
Linda's sister and brother-in-law graciously hosted a fajita dinner the weekend before Thanksgiving for a large number of the family members that were together. As the extended family grows, expands and relocates in various locales in the country, it's wonderful to celebrate as many as possible getting together at one time. The food was delicious and the visit wonderful!
We also appreciated their hospitality as we slept at their house - well away from highway noise and really close neighbors! We love our travelling life for this season, but having the peace and quiet of a house without wheels was a nice blessing for us for a week or so. Add in the fun of fellowship over coffee in the morning and some Scrabble tourneys in the evenings and we just were brimming over with blessings.
Thanksgiving Day afforded another opportunity for family to gather with a take-out meal from Cracker Barrel. The food was great and easy clean-up allowed everyone to enjoy the football games and visiting in the afternoon.
Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays as it reminds us to take pause and reflect upon our many, many blessings.
A few of the things for which we are thankful in this year:
- First and always, our thanks to God, our gracious heavenly Father that loves us so much beyond what we can imagine
- Jesus, the Messiah and precious Savior
- Holy Spirit that indwells us so that we can better honor and glorify God
- each other (Craig and Linda) - we love our opportunity to be lifelong partners in all the ups and downs, over hill, over dale, etc.!
- our kids - precious and unique in so many ways - they provide us great joy!
- our extended family that is keeping up with our season of adventure on the road
- our country with its vast expanse of beauty and its unique offering of freedoms for its' citizens
ps - we couldn't including a photo of our neighbor at the RV park. We've seen a few of this type of rig on our journey, but this is the first time we've captured a photo. The ultimate bunkhouse - provides multiple private sleeping quarters with a shared bath/kitchen facility at the front, and lots of doors for individual access to the 'bedrooms'!
We really liked the RV park and could see why many snowbirds were moving in. The nearby Nueces Bay provides a nice view without the saltiness and sand of the Gulf.
We saw several of our old favorite birds, including this heron - out in spite of the cool temperatures!
We arrived in time to make a few rehearsals and help out with an annual Christmas production presented by the local home school group.
Lots of hard work goes in to this production and we especially appreciate the directors, Mrs. Hallock and Mrs. Seaman that dedicate untold hours from summer, fall and into winter preparing the productions. The selected plays are always consistent in their focus that Christmas is centered on the birth of the Messiah. The children, from toddlers to teens, are all encouraged to view their role as messengers, rather than performers and they always provide a tremendous delivery!
Our kids were able to participate by being a shepherd for the nativity scene and a smart aleck New Yorker (due for a huge awakening).
The intermission provided a unique rendition of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' with customized lyrics for home school families - if we can get our hands on the lyrics, we'll share later - very cute!
All in all, a very fun and pleasant evening blessed by the many friendly and familiar faces! We enjoyed touching base with several friends while in the area, including Sean - who was missed most of all by Ginger!
We hope to return again next year to see the same familiar faces and hopefully more. We'll try to schedule a longer visit to allow for meeting up with more of the folks that we remember so fondly in the area!
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