Our Thanksgiving Vacation

Where do I begin?!  So many things have happened this month.  I haven’t had much opportunity to think about updating my blog.  I guess I’ll know better next year that it’s almost  impossible to keep Treasuring the Moments up-to-date when I’m being overwhelmed by my to-do list.

A few notes about our Thanksgiving trip to Pennsylvania:

 We left home on a Saturday night about 10 p.m. (you know – when you’re feeling your freshest) and drove straight-thru to Pennsylvania – about 36 hours.  Our oldest son, SM, is 16 and was a big help by driving about 17 hours.  Myself – well I put in about 2 hours and was maxed out. 

The day after our arrival we went to some friends’ house and had a very enjoyable evening.  Most all of their neighbors are Amish and so they had invited an Amish family over for supper.  The Amish family gave us carriage rides.  That was quite fun. 

Here’s JM looking like a prisoner.

To be completely comfortable only about 4-5 people should ride in it, but this Amish family has 7 children!  It was a very comfortable ride, quiet and smooth.  The Amish mother and her eldest daughter made soft pretzels that evening.  Oh, were they ever yummy!  I’m anxious to give them a try.

Thanksgiving day we had a bounteous feast and afterwards the children gave speeches, poems and Scriptures that had to do with being thankful or our forefathers.  We then sang some songs with everyone.

SH turned 9 while we were there…  

 and our baby, AE, turned 1 two days later.

We went to an excellent production on "The Story of Christmas" at Sight n Sound which is located in Lancaster, PA.  If you make a visit to Lancaster I would encourage you to visit their theater.  They have about 1,500 to 2,000 people every night they have a show, so you can see it’s very popular.

We made a trip to the Gettysburg Cemetary.

My sister is a great cook so we were well fed with scrumptious food.  She was so very gracious about me using her Internet connection so I could stay on top of the Jamestown 400 treasure hunt put on by Vision Forum.  (Of course, she wants a gold piece or two if we should be so fortunate as to find the treasure.)   The kids got to make gingerbread houses, go on a 13 mile bike ride and spend time with their cousins.  We had a memorable time.  But the day arrived when we had to leave.

We left on the 3rd of December, late in the afternoon, and headed for Michigan to see friends there.  Two hours after leaving we arrived at a toll bridge.  Our first clue that things were not right was when we saw a sign that said "Welcome to New Jersey"!  Oh, no!   We had to make a U-turn and go back the same way for two hours!

A wonderful time was had in Michigan.  Then on to Illinois where my parents live.  We first stopped in Chicago and stayed there two nights.  That was our first and probably last time to go there.  We just aren’t big city lovers.  We stayed downtown.  It was so different to me.  They have high rise buildings that are condominiums. 

Can you imagine having only a tiny balcony as your back yard? 

 Retail shops abound:  Saks Fifth Avenue, Eddie Bauer, etc.  But instead of being in a mall you have to walk from store to store outside.  The weather, of course, was very cold.

I’ve never seen such a display of wealth either.  It was very common to see people in fur coats.  Full length ones.  Even men were wearing them.

We went to the Field Museum to see artifacts from King Tut’s grave. 

 The artifacts are on tour here from Egypt and the money they raise will be used to build a museum in Egypt.  It  was a disappointment because there were so many people that you were pressed on all sides the whole time.  I don’t recommend the exhibit or the museum.

The really special thing I got to do was go to American Girl with my daughter.  It is a 3-story building. 

They even have a doorman. 

It was just the funnest thing to go and be with SH.  It was so cute watching her look around, checking out all the goodies they have, taking it all so seriously. 

 I suppose since it was the Christmas season they were extra busy.  There were a large amount of people shopping and thousands of dollars being made by the store, judging from all the packages I seen.

We stayed at my parents house one night and then left for Arizona – another marathon straight-thru drive like my hubby likes to do.

I know this is a looong entry and that no one but me will probably persevere to read the whole thing but I had to try and catch up just a little.