Family and Turkey

Good morning,

Today's post is all about being together with family.  It was wonderful to share Thanksgiving with our son and family at their lovely new home.  Our daughter-in-law's parents were also there so the children had both sets of grandparents all in the same place at the same time.

Crystal and her mother wrangled that turkey to the table while son Don gave driving directions to his sister.

There was so much wonderful food that it had to be presented on three different tables.

It was marvelous!

We adjourned to the music room for a concert by our violinist granddaughters. 

And, we met the newly acquired family pets.

What a fabulous day with family!

Now we will repeat the whole thing at our home in a few days and add a few more family members who couldn't attend this dinner.

We hope your holidays are as wonderful with family and friends.  I so enjoy reading your blogs and seeing your pictures of your celebrations.

All the best,
Lois

Final Leg of the Journey - TN to OH

Good morning,

These images are from the final leg of our journey from Florida to Ohio. 

When we woke up in Tennessee we knew there was some wet weather between us and our home in Ohio...

...and it didn't look too bad as we started driving very early.

 But, sadly, it got worse...

 ...and soon it was very hard to see the traffic ahead.

 Things got a little better as we crossed into Kentucky.  Sadly, we had already seen many accidents and vehicles being pulled out of ditches.  There was even an 18 wheeler overturned and cargo scattered everywhere.  Another truck had arrived and the cargo was being reloaded onto that truck.  Another accident involving several vehicles happened immediately in front of us.  No serious injuries, but, sadly, I am sure those people had a bad day.

We were very thankful to arrive home safely.

 We hope you have a very safe winter season!

All the best,
Lois

Fall Colors at North Carolina Rest Stop

Good morning,

We truly enjoy the modern rest stops along the Interstate Highways. 

The images in this post were taken at such a stop in North Carolina.

We took a little stroll to stretch our legs and get the blood moving through them again. 

 The weather was in the mid 70's F and the smell of Fall was in the air.

 This is a large property with plenty of space for dog walking.

 And, the final image of the acorn caps reminds me of gathering these with the children in the Fall to make Halloween decorations and Christmas tree ornaments.

Road trips are such fun and the camera allows us to bring some of that fun home. :)

All the best,
Lois

Driving North - GA to TN

Good morning,

That's our car parked literally right outside our Hampton Inn room near Savannah, Georgia.  We just love this convenience of being so close to checking in and checking out the next morning.

We left the hotel very early to continue our trip from Florida to home in Ohio.  We woke up in Georgia and went to sleep in Tennessee. 

Here we are about the cross the border between Georgia and South Carolina.  The weather was a little overcast early in the morning, but not too bad.

We got a kick out of artwork on 18 wheelers.

 This one looked good enough to eat!

 Truckers truly do deliver just about everything we need.

 When the clouds cleared for awhile we saw some very pretty Fall colors.  We were definitely past prime time, but compared to just seeing palm trees for weeks, these trees looked magnificent to us.

 Mountains! 

 More pretty Fall colors.

 Now, there's a cool ride to take along behind your RV.

 As we rolled into the Smoky Mountains, the rain clouds rolled in over us.

 It was quite spectacular to see the rapid change in the weather.

 I was taking a series of images of the weather over the mountains and obviously put the camera down to look at the screen on the back before the last shot. 

Yes, those are my knees and the image brought me a smile when I downloaded the camera. 

I hope you're still enjoying the trip with us!

All the best,
Lois

Goodbye Freedom of the Seas and Happy Birthday, Martha!

Good morning,

First, I am delighted to say Happy Birthday to our dear friend, Martha.  The last time she and her husband and my husband and I were all together was last September aboard Freedom of the Seas.  We look forward to the next time we can be together.  Martha, we both hope you have a fantastic birthday!

Above was the last glimpse we had of Freedom of the Seas as we drove away from Port Canaveral, Florida, last week.  We'll be back at the end of January, but are happy now to be going home to be with family for the holidays.

We enjoy our road trips and this day the weather was just perfect.

We break the trips down into reasonable driving time periods and always allow time to relax and take some pictures.

 This is always a welcome sight after being out of the country.

 It must be moving day for this lady in Jacksonville, FL.  This shot was taken as we were traveling about 65 mph.

 Then it was through...

 ...what felt like...

 ...a giant bowl of concrete spaghetti.

Just inside Georgia we stopped at our usual Ihop for lunch, then traveled to our Hampton Inn near Savannah.

Tomorrow night we will sleep in Tennessee.

This was so much fun to be going home.  I hope you enjoy our road trip with us.

 All the best,

Lois

Black Friday Shopping!

Good morning,

It's Black Friday!  No, we don't go out and do the door busting thing, but shopping on line in my jammies with a turkey sandwich and cup of coffee is pretty nifty.

I have quite a few things to do in the next short month including baking, hosting, knitting, shopping....  I'll also be assembling gifts for clients of daughter's CPA practice, attending holiday parties for two organizations, wondering when I will sleep....

I usually plan several months in advance and execute the plan as we get close to the holidays.  This year we just got home after ten weeks away.  I have all the holiday shopping to do very quickly so I better get to it. :)

Are you holiday shopping yet or will you wait until the last minute?

All the best,
Lois

------------------------------------------

And now, a word from our sponsor...  ;)

We hope you will come on over to our Etsy Shop EvensensProductions.com where you will find free shipping to USA addresses on all items in the Fashion Dolls (fits Barbie Dolls) and 18" Dolls (fits American Girl Dolls) sections. At this writing the outfit at the top of this post and many others are still available in the store.

We also have fantastic fashions for the family and wood ornaments just in time for the holidays.

And today, Black Friday, with all orders over $25, we will include a free Crocheted Turtle - $8 value!  Our pretty "painted" turtles are approximately 7" from nose to tail and are lightly stuffed with fabric.  They are completely washable.  Colors will vary.

Come over and see us at

EvensensProductions.com

Thank  you and we now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.  ;)

Happy Thanksgiving Boats on the Beach

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Good morning,

Today's pictures were taken on Labadee, Haiti, just before we started our journey home to be with our family for Thanksgiving.

While we are home wearing sweaters and enjoying the cooler weather with our family, it is fun to think about where we were last week.

 We have spent so many holidays away from home, but this year we are home by a warm fire with those we love.

 All of this will be waiting for us when we return in late January.

We hope you are able to be with those you love to enjoy the day, too.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

All the best,

Lois

Catherine and Carol's Cruise

Good morning,

Here are a few more images from the week our daughter Catherine and Aunt Carol sailed with us aboard Freedom of the Seas.  Above Aunt Carol met the Puss in Boots at the showing of Puss' first run movie. 

This is a towel bat...

...and here are more towel critters made by Catherine and Carol's cabin attendant.

These views are from the bridge while the ship was preparing to leave Cozumel, Mexico.

 What a spectacular view!  The bow of the ship below is another ship tied up along side Freedom.

 We couldn't miss a lunch at the on board Johnny Rocket's Restaurant...

 ...where the food is served with singing and dancing by the waiters.

 A more fancy dinner was in Portofino's, the ship's specialty Italian Restaurant.

 Aunt Carol enjoyed the seafood...

 ...while I chose my old standby:  surf and turf.

This dinner was on Halloween Night so we had the pleasure of dining with a beautiful witch who is also our daughter, Catherine.  ;)

 A very enjoyable part of every cruise with Captain Tor is the Captain's Corner where the Executive Team and the Cruise Director answer questions for the guests.

Aunt Carol even got a picture with Captain Tor.  ;)

Enjoy,
Lois