Wednesday afternoon we pulled out the few Christmas trims that we have and decorated our shed and the dash and front of the motorhome. Most of the decorations (read lights) went on the shed as we will be going on the road in a week. It was fun getting out lights, wreaths, poinsettias, red bows and the tiny creche I made with plastic canvas years and years ago. I dream still of having a real nice one but they do take up storage space so for now this will do.
Then it was time to create a big pot of our favorite chili soup so we could share it with our friends on Thursday at lunchtime.
Early Thursday morning I was up making a huge waldorf salad that would go to the Thanksgiving potluck we'd be attending in the evening. Then we were off to spend the day with our good RVing friends Frank and Bette who now have a park model home in a nearby park.
They had recently returned from a cruise in the South Pacific Islands as part of their 50th wedding anniversary celebration and had loads of pictures and stories to share about their experiences. WOW, what a wonderful cruise that was. It included several different excellent lecturers on board for those moments when they were cruising including Jacques Costeau's son who has been diving almost his entire life as dad took him out starting when he was quite young. And the beauty of their pictures was absolutely awesome. Gorgeous scenery!!
A relaxing lunch of soup and crackers and lots of conversation followed. We just never run out of things to discuss and share. We feel so blessed to have them as close friends. One topic of conversation was our planned travels for next spring and summer as we'll be traveling together on a caravan that will follow Lewis and Clarks travels all the way to Oregon. There we'll travel down the coastline of Oregon and head into California. That is such a huge state with so much to see. It will take us all winter to wrestle out what to do and what we'll have to skip.
Then we turned the tables and showed them our pictures from our northern European cruise this past summer and shared our stories.
Ken, of course, had to watch the Lions game as that is a Thanksgiving tradition. So while he and Frank enjoyed that, Bette and I had fun playing cribbage. I taught her the game when we traveled together a couple of years ago and she has been working on her skills using an electronic game on her phone.
There still was time for a couple of men vs women game of Sequence. The guys topped us this time around.
We then topped off the day with s turkey potluck dinner at their clubhouse with about one hundred other residents. That, of course, meant a huge variety of some very tasty dishes. What fun! It was certainly different than just a few family members and friends around a single table but it did offer a chance to meet new people and learn more about them as well as share with close friends.
The rest of the weekend was filled with delightful activities too. We shared a lunch with long time friends - our children grew up together on the same street in Pleasant Ridge - Bob and Lucie Gabel at one of our favorite restaurants, bd Mongolian, which originally started in Royal Oak, Michigan and now has franchises in several states. The restaurant in in a shopping center about 45 minutes from us so we took advantage of that to check out a few shops and even pick up a couple of Christmas gifts for family. It was so nice to just have relaxing, unhurried time to just look and consider.
Ken and I sent up a major cheer on Saturday evening when we finished off our Christmas letter and got cards addressed, stamped and ready to go to the post office for those who live a long distance away. We always love hearing from our friends and getting their letters that bring us up to date and for the first time we were actually ready to share our year early enough to get them off before all of the holiday activities overwhelmed us. Writing these letters always gives us time to think about all the blessings we have enjoyed throughout the year. What a perfect activity for Thanksgiving!
Advent began today, Sunday, and Ken and I were asked to light the first candle in the advent wreath at church. It is lit as a symbol of Christ our Hope. What wonderful hope we have in Him. Then we sang with our little choir the anthem "Count Your Blessings". What a joyful service.
We followed that with dinner out with two sets of friends. How fortunate we are to have so many with whom we can share this wonderful season.
Thank you Lord for all that You have blessed us with in our years together.
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