The REST of TG Weekend 2022

 I don't usually blog on Mondays and almost never twice in one week, but I find myself with a lot to journal/memories -- it was so great to be together for a long weekend!

If you missed Thanksgiving Day (and a few favorites from the week leading up to it) click here.

Friday morning we woke up in our hotel rested and I wanted to go on a walk.  We were staying near Stones River, a National Park in Murfreesboro, TN.  We've toured the site before and knew there was a lot of walking we could do there so we headed out.

It was a beautiful morning and we just walked around, finding some trail stories to dial up on our phone and got our blood moving.

Do you see the deer camouflaged in this picture?  He (she?) just stood there and stared at us for the longest time. . .then we saw another right off to the left. 

It was a good way to start the day.  Later the Maxwell's wanted to go for a walk too so we sent them there -- turns out the park is doing a big thing on December 31st (the battle was fought 12/31/1862) so they might head back for that!

When we got back to the hotel they had

ha!  A fun treat for me (although I really didn't think, when I went to bed the night before, that I would eat again for a week!)

We headed back to our hosts' home (the kids all stayed there overnight) and some got to work on the other annual tradition -- putting up the Christmas lights.

I've gotten so many pictures over the years that I just didn't take more than this one (and a video of the method) this year.  As you can see, it equaled out to one worker and three managers :/

Patrick smoked some brisket and ribs and Tommy got the job of carving the meat for another spectacular meal.

And ladies that are toasting another holiday together :)

Nice enough to sit outside or inside with the doors wide open!

And another picture of him with another piece of meat on a bone ;). He's a good sport.  And the only person reheating leftovers the night before at 8 p.m. because he was "hungry" - ha!

These two had gone out for some Black Friday shopping and came back in matching p.j.'s :)

Then we started a puzzle that I had brought to do together.  We had to leave before it was finished, but Claire texted me a finished picture the next day!!

Turns out, this is Debbie's favorite Christmas movie, so that was fun.

I spotted this picture of her father and Tom's father sitting on a table by her front door - I just love it.  It is these two families that celebrate this holiday together :)

We got home late on Friday and were very happy to see our doggie.  The great thing about Thanksgiving is you already feel like you've had a weekend and then it's the weekend!

I finished this awesome, must-read book.  It's been a long time since I've read a book I couldn't put down -- this was it.  "Life in a small Appalachian town is not easy. Cash lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Dodging drug dealers and watching out for his best friend, Delaney, is second nature. He's been spending his summer mowing lawns while she works at Dairy Queen.

But when Delaney manages to secure both of them full rides to an elite prep school in Connecticut, Cash will have to grapple with his need to protect and love Delaney, and his love for the grandparents who saved him and the town he would have to leave behind."

This book seemed "true" to East Tennessee while being a story that I believe could be relatable to anyone.  

Saturday our group of Friday night tennis friends hosted an annual Turkey Tennis round-robin play.  I'm here holding a pen instead of a racquet because there was a mix-up between the group and the tennis office and one too many showed up to play.  I ended up keeping stats and taking pictures -- that is my kind of fun too :). I was so, so happy that they had a full house and everyone was able to play.

Tom won the award for "lowest score" (the only one lower was the host) and we all had a great time.  To be fair, Tom probably hasn't picked up a racquet in 6 months or more.

We got home in time for the OSU/UM game and, well, VICTORY FOR BLUE!!!

It was such an exciting game!!  I have a lot of MI family, so this was a big deal.  My brother and SIL even sent a picture after the game, making this their second win over the Buckeyes in two years :)

I understood exactly how my OH friends felt -- the TN/GA game this year ended the same way for us :(

I was going through some pictures earlier this year and found this gem -- circa mid-80's

My boys had stayed behind in Middle TN to go to the UT/Vandy game -- the weather was miserable

but being the true fans they are, they stuck it out until the 3rd quarter.  I snapped this screenshot before heading to bed:  

At least they came back after their terrible loss against SC last week.

The boys didn't stop their weekend festivities after that -- they met up with another cousin (who lives in Nashville) for the Titans game -- they went out to eat and watch the game. . .she's from Cinci so it made for a fun time although the home team (TN) lost :(. 

I spent most of yesterday working on the puzzle I started with Nana and Laura before Thanksgiving:

This is an extremely difficult one.  I thought I was going to like it because it is so BIG (the pieces are oversized) but they are wonky.  We had to get out a folding table to eat on Saturday night because we couldn't move it!

The rest of the weekend I spent on my annual project -- the Foster Family Calendar.

I'm half-way through. . .there are a couple of pictures I'm missing and many that won't make it :/. 

Here are just a few of the 190+ I have to sort through:

We're celebrating our Foster Family Christmas a week early this year so I've got to really get moving on finishing and ordering.  I would guess I have been doing this for ten years or more -- my mom keeps them all so maybe she can tell me ;)

What DIDN'T get done??  Well. . .you guessed it. . .Christmas decorating.  Ugh.  Not my favorite thing to do.  Wonderful Laura came by before Thanksgiving and put up some of our village, but more is waiting.

I love having the lights on and glowing (there is another scene set up by the front door), it's just so.much.work to get it all out.  Hopefully this week!

But, where I failed in decorating I made up for in shopping. . .boxes are already starting to arrive:

I actually like the shopping and wrapping and cooking parts of the season :). Even when I buy my own stuff (that top box - yea!).  And Robert needs something now so his gift from Grandma will be arriving at his place this week.  The kids are at an age where they send links to their wish lists -- that is perfect for me. 

My sister and I are going to try a "Favorite Things" for the siblings and all these adult children we have.  We'll each purchase two of a Favorite Thing (game, wine, tool, book, etc) and then go home with two favorites of others -- a Foster Family Favorites.  I'm excited to see how it goes!

Everyone was back to work and back to school today -- I even doubled my "normal" two hours on Monday at work.  

I hope this season contains many things for you to enjoy and savor. . .I'll look forward to reading about it on your blogs or catching up on Instagram or Facebook.

Love,

Jenni