Lost Months Cont'd...

In early October, Nathan and I took our concealed carry class. He did his macho manly thing and blew through it like it was nothing. Me, not so much. Yeah....Ever hear the saying, "couldn't hit the broad side of a barn"?  Yep. Me. First of all, the .22 I had to shoot was way to big for my hands. Secondly, I was shaking so badly that I wouldn't have been able to hold it, had it been the right size. Really funny.

My grandparents had been making plans to move into a "retirement community" in PA. The idea had been "thrown around" for the better part of the year but suddenly it was very much a reality. It was a very fast decision which caused a mad dash scramble for the rest of the family to help go through and pack up 20+ years' contents in their house. Nathan and I decided to head up to northern VA to lend a hand. We stayed through along weekend; Nathan doing yard work for my grandfather and me helping box up random things that didn't need to be used immediately. We were able to get a lot of work done and also procured a few furniture items for our house. Since we don't have a large enough vehicle to haul large items, Nathan's parents were kind enough to let us borrow their Tahoe. Somehow, we managed to pack it full with a little bit of room to spare. I have to say that the two of us have become something of experts on packing a lot into a little space. --hehe. Even though we were exhausted from all of the work, packing and reorganizing, it was so much fun to sit in the basement with Granddaddy, drinking our beers, listening to blaring jazz music and discussing life's past events. A memory I will never forget. We left on Sunday morning to head home. I tried to hold back the tears, but they burned my cheeks as the realization set in. The realization that I would never go back to that house. A house that held so many childhood memories.


The last picture of 340 Chappell St. I got before they moved a month later

For the 2nd year in a row, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house. My parents came down (their first time visiting our house) on Wednesday night. Thursday, the guys began frying the turkey off the deck. The weather was so balmy and for some reason the frying turkey attracted a horde of flies. Very strange. With all of the activity in and out of the house, we ended up with about 25 or 30 flies in the house!!! YUCK! Nathan's dad is particularly good at "catching flies" and managed to remove a good number of them, however we had a lot of fun ridding ourselves of the rest. Blech. Earlier in the fall we had bought a lemon and lime tree from our favorite tree farm and were happily surprised to see that they started blooming!! (Right now, we have a TON of small lemons and limes...yippee) The flowers were beautiful!

Nathan's grandmother was able to join us for Thanksgiving dinner. His aunt and uncle also came and it was a great time being together as a family. I had no idea at that precious time that only a few short months later, I would lose two family members. Gives even more meaning to the atmosphere of that holiday. Nathan made a fire and several of us went outside to enjoy its warmth underneath the amazingly starry sky.

Me and Victoria :)

Glad my family could come visit

I love Thanksgiving. I always had such wonderful memories of our huge, crazy family "reunions" at my grandparents Virginia home. I remember big hugs, turkeys too big for the oven, practical jokes, chili con queso so spicy it was almost inedible. I remember my Grandfather's fervent prayers, the beautiful music that somehow brought everyone together despite the arguments or discipline of the day. I am so thankful for the family I have and look forward to many more holidays together.

Thanksgiving 2012