We are home! And it is so good to be home. We had a very nice little Thanksgiving vacation, if you will, with some twists and turns along the way; but all turned out well. We departed from Fort Worth at about 12:30 Wednesday afternoon, with plans to eat supper in Shreveport at around 5:00 with our dear friends, the Johnson's. However, about 60 miles from home, while traveling down I20, the van began to shimmy and shake and not long after, we spotted rubber flying from our tire! We pulled over safely, thanks goodness, and drove the van to the next exit. This exit turned out to offer nothing more than some farmland and barns (egad!) so we pulled into one of the farmyards to change the tire. This was the first time we have ever had a situation like this since we bought the van, so we were in for a few surprises (ha). There was a jack, but nothing else so John was trying to take off the screws and all by hand. Thankfully, a farmer pulled up to mend a fence and lent John some stuff. He didn't offer any help, though! (this is SO not Alabama). Well, he got the tire on, but it wouldn't hold in its air, so he had to take it back off and put the bad tire back on! We asked the farmer for directions and traveled four miles up a country road to a Wal-Mart to buy some tires. After all this, we didn't make it to Shreveport until about 9:00 p.m. But we still had a great time with our friends.
The next morning, Thanksgiving day, we had supper with the Acklen family in Minden. The food is another thing that is not like Alabama! There always seems to be two basic varieties of dressing at this gathering: soup and very dry. John came up with the genius idea to mix the two, thus producing just about the right consistency. Top this with lots of cranberry sauce and voila! We spent the night with his Dad and the kids had a ball. They got to play with their step-cousin Parker, whom Elijah hero worships. He is a sweetie and plays so well with Elijah. They never seem to fuss, although there is the occasional tattling that goes on.
The next morning we went to the Hollenshead's (John's Mom's side). I always look forward to the visits here. I feel so at home there and am very thankful for the comfortable bond with John's grandparents and his Mom. We got to spend some really good quality time with John's niece and nephew, Kaleb and Ainsley. Kaleb and John did some serious wrestling and Ainsley and Grace and Elijah played until they were pooped! Grace and Ainsley both suck the same thumb and are attached to the same blankey! It was really cute seeing them together.
Day #3--we slept in a little and had a wonderful breakfast of Papaw's egg gravy and biscuits before heading off to Farmerville to get some winter clothes and our Christmas tree out of the garage. The weather was terrible! Icy cold rain and really cold weather. We met with the Bordelon family, very good friends of ours from our church we used to go to in Sterlington, for a late lunch at Ryan's. I got to do some Christmas shopping with Victoria and Sis. Iris. We stayed this night at a sort of guest trailor some other friends of ours lets us stay in when we need it. Sunday morning was rainy again (ick) but we enjoyed being in church with old friends and hearing Bro. Tracy preach. He is a wonderful preacher and I do miss his preaching. Sunday night the Rev. John Acklen brought forth the sermon--"Title Unknown" and the Lord really worked through him. There was a wonderful response in the altars.
So this morning we got up and after a few stops, finally made it home at about 6:30. I am having a serious conflict with the roaches that decided to take over my kitchen while we were gone. I took all the dishes out of my cabinets and sprayed down everything, but I am not sure if it is helping. ICK! We shall see in the morning when the smoke clears from the battle.
My parents will be here Wednesday via airplane. Yeah!! We are all very excited! It will be the first time my parents have been out here since we moved. We have not seen them since August, which seems like forever ago. I will probably want to hop on the airplane with them when it is time to leave. But I will not think about that right now....
Thank you, Lord, for Blogspot, a place to record our travels and adventures.
1 comment:
I heard about some of this from your mom. Glad things turned out well--loved looking at the pics. Hope the visit goes well with your mom and dad!! Ya'll have fun!
Post a Comment