Home, home at last!

The two week road trip is over and I'm exhausted and sick with the crud.  We both had a great time and really enjoyed the time with the kids and grand kids!

20.3 mpg on the final 396 mile leg home.  WOW. 

Christmas with little kids!

A good time was had by all.....except me.  I got sick, we call it the labama crud.

19.7 mpg on the 397 mile trip from MI.  Not too shabby!

Their driveway is narrow and twisty so I parked off it a tad.  Error.  I had to call Good Sam road service to pull me out after sinking into the loose dirt and wet leaves going uphill.  Last time we used them was a trailer blowout in CO a few years ago.  

Hey Uncle Randy.....thanks for the ducks.  They were quacking all day long!

Preparing for Christmas in Georgia

Renato took Dustin to get some immunization shots in his leg and we wasn't fazed at all.....at least not until several hours later.  Granny, big sister, and Bertha nursed him back to happiness. 

Time to frost the Christmas cookies!

It was another 2 day trip down to GA for Christmas with the new family.
Snack time with granny.

Christmas in Michigan

Randy has Devyn the week before Christmas and she's with her mother this year for the holidays so we went up early to be with Devyn.

Devyn still loves to play cards,  lots of Kipf blood in the girl!

                                                                       Concentration!

Cookie making time, Judy did much of the work while devyn was in school as we only saw her after school.

                                        I even got to help making the chocolate coconut balls.

Here's Randy and his girlfriend, Jesse.  Looks like a ruff life huh?  Nap time.

  We celebrated Christmas on Thursday, here's Devyn with Jesse's daughter Shay.

Devyn is 15 now and can drive with her permit and an adult.  She is impatiently waiting for April and her 16th birthday to get her drivers license.  She's in the 10th grade and is already thinking ahead to taking college entrance exams next year.

She is still very serious about soccer, this last year she lost 4 balls to the underbrush near the fields they played on so she got several new ones (some un-inflated) for Christmas.

The five and a half days in Onsted went fast.  Devyn continues to beat me playing rummy.  We played a lot of Pegs and Jokers.  The weather was typical MI.....overcast, damp, and chilly.  At least we had to trouble with snow and ice.

Road trip!!!!!

We have decided at the spur of the moment to  made a Christmas trip up to MI see Randy and Devyn them down to GA to see Jody & Renato AND FAMILY!

Huntsville, AL visitor center.  It's the home of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Therefore the rocket.

It's a full 2 day trip, we took the truck for comfort and it looks like Patches is into comfort.  How nice of Judy to make such a nice nest so see can see out the windows.

This is not a sight you see now days!  We were on US12 in MI between Coldwater and Quincy and had to stop at a railroad crossing.  We fist spotted the smoke and thought there was a fire behind a commercial building until the locomotive popped into sight.

It was the Christmas train!  Judy checked and there was only one more trip which was sold out.  We beat the train into Quincy where it uncoupled to pull the cars back to Coldwater.

I was very pleased with 18.3 mpg on the 977 mile trip to MI.  This was the first long haul without the trailer.  I kidded a friend about this compared to his new Ram until he showed me his 19 mpg on a trip back to Maine.

Back to Gulf Shores

Another Friday lunch at  Mikee's.

At our favorite breakfast joint.....Krystals!

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Thanksgiving & instant family!!!!

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with Jody & Renato and an instant family.  Just add a home, love and diapers and look what you get!  They have been trying for some time to have a child, then tried adaption while in Biloxi and went through the Forster Care/Adaption program in GA.  After jumping through all the hoops and training and paperwork and background checks they had a call and less than a week later two great little ones.  They have no idea yet if they will get to adapt them or this will be short term if the parents or family want them back.  Dustin is almost 2 and Brianna is 6.  I had some reservations going over for Thanksgiving with them just getting the kids and me being an old fart enjoying peace and quiet.  The dogs are enough for me!  I was VERY impressed!  Dustin and Brianna were a joy and very well behaved.  Of course we were there for only 4 or 6 days and kids will be kids.  Jody & Renato are making wonderful parents.  I can't imaging how much of a sudden life changing situation this must be for them but they are 200% into it with these two beautiful children.

"Little man" Dustin.

Brianna

Game time for granny and Brianna.

Fun time for mom and Dustin.

Renato made pizza for me one night and the kids definitely have an appetite, boy do they eat good. They eat so well they keep Renato busy cooking,  no picky eaters in this house!

Thanksgiving day dinner.  Truly blessed!