Monday, December 1, 2008

2008 Thanksgiving Family Tour

Family and Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Jimi and I had a fabulous trip visiting family and friends in Nebraska, Michigan, and Illinois. We literally saw every family member we are close to, on both sides, with the exception of my dear Uncle Jim and Aunt Mildred. I will try to tell you about our trip the best I can without making it boring for you.

We left Longmont at 5:15pm on Friday evening, November 21st and arrived at my Sister's house in Overton, Nebraska around 11pm. There, we spent the night and made sure Miller was all set for his stay during our journey.

Saturday morning we headed out about 9am, stopping at Cabelas and Perkins in Kearney, Nebraska on the way; once back on the road we drove to Peoria, Illinois, where we got a hotel for the night.

Sunday morning after breakfast, Jimi bought flowers and we put them on his mother's grave in the cemetery. We spent rest of the day making our way to Ann Arbor, Michigan where we spent the evening with Jimi's old friend (thought of as a brother) Matt and his wife Alisha. We had a fantastic time. Before leaving town on Monday morning we stopped to visit Christa, Matt's mom, and once again, we had a very wonderful visit with her.

A couple of hours after leaving Christa's home, we arrived in Manchester, Michigan to visit Jimi's dad. We spent a lot of time looking through his pictures as well as some we brought and talking. The next afternoon we headed off to Round Lake, Illinois just north of Chicago to Jeff and Karen's house (Jimi's brother) staying there until Saturday morning; however, Wednesday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. That is an amazing place. There is so much to see: the best being an old captured German submarine, of course we did not see everything before the doors closed. After the museum, we met up with an old friend we both worked with at Cencorp, Darnell. We had a few drinks and an appetizer before making our way back North to Round Lake.

Thanksgiving was fabulous. Karen and Tracey initiated me right into the family by fixing my hair and plucking my eyebrows. It was a fun girls morning. Jeff, Jimi, and Bob hung around the house visiting and hitting golf balls into the woods. That afternoon we had a wonderful dinner celebrating everything we are thankful for. And rest of the evening consisted of a nap, eating-which never seemed to end, and lying around the house.


Friday, we set out for shopping. We spent several hours looking at various deals and fighting the crowds. It was crowded, but nevertheless, enjoyable to be with Jeff, Karen, and Tracey. Before heading back to the house, we stopped for pizza and then at their home a much needed nap. I think everyone slept for a couple of hours except for Jeff. The rest of our visit (consisting of that evening) went by fast.

We left Round Lake, Illinois at 8am on Saturday morning with a 12 hour drive a head of us; our destination being first Overton, Ne to pick up Miller and then finally my parents house in Stamford, Ne. It was late when we got in, about 10:10pm, but we made it.
We stayed up until midnight visiting and then up again early on Sunday morning to visit some more. Finally about noon, we decided it was time to head home. We arrived home about 5:30pm. I unpacked, did the laundry, and went to the grocery store before settling in for the evening.

We would like to thank everyone for their hospitality on our 2008 family tour trip. We thoroughly enjoyed every visit and every stay. I especially felt loved and welcomed into Jimi's family by everyone and that means a lot to both of us. We could not have chosen a better way to spend such a holiday with so much meaning of appreciation and thankfulness. We love you and are truly blessed and thankful to have each one of you in our lives. May God bless you.

Love Everybody,
Lorie & Jimi

No comments:

Post a Comment