Thanksgiving Trip - Part Four

On Tuesday, November 23, Shawn and Crystal and little Bailey arrived in town.  They had driven out to Oklahoma and spent the weekend with his parents and family in Tulsa.  It was interesting to see how Bailey would interact with her cousins Jace and Kylee, as well as how she would react to baby Macyn getting so much attention.  She was very jealous of Macyn as I was holding her at one point.  Bailey immediately came over and had me hold her too, as she was not sure she was willing to share her "Papa G" with someone else!  Jace and Kylee had a great time playing with her and showing her the house.

Tuesday evening, Sondra and I picked up mom to go to Bill and Marti's house for dinner (or do we say "supper" in Oklahoma?).  Marti had cooked a pot roast dinner, and she said it was the first time in her life that she had tried to cook it!  It was good and we loved it.

Early Wednesday morning, Sondra and I took off for Springfield, Missouri, to see Noel and Janice and nephew Mark.  We arrived before lunch and ate at the Belgian Waffle House.  We went back to the house and Sondra made two pies (one pecan and one coconut cream) for the next day, which would be Thanksgiving Day.  Mark also loves Rice Krispy treats, so she made some homemade Krispy treats for everyone to enjoy.  Noel and I sat and chatted as we watched the news talk of an upcoming storm.  Janice worked that day, and we had some lasagna for dinner.  It had been discussed about the Thanksgiving meal, and all were in agreement that it would be just fine to go out on Thanksgiving Day for lunch.  All through the night a Tornado Watch was in effect and the temperature dropped below freezing.

On Thanksgiving Day Thursday, we asked Janice's dad (Bailey Hill) to come for breakfast.  We enjoyed the crisp morning, as there were icicles on the trees in the backyard.  The high winds calmed down a bit, and the tornado never came to pass.  That afternoon, mom and Marti and Bill made it safely from Oklahoma.

Noel was not having a very good day with his heart issues, so he and mom stayed home for lunch.  Janice and Mark, Bill and Marti, Sondra and I drove out the driveway heading to the nearest Golden Corral for a turkey dinner.  As we approached, we saw the parking lot full and the line out the door for about 50 yards in the 30 degree weather.  We didn't even bother to stop.  We looked across the street and saw an Applebee's restaurant open.  We pulled in, got seated immediately and ordered.  Everyone made their choices, and I ended up having a sirloin steak on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in my life.  It was actually quite a memorable day, and we had some fun with it.

Back at the house, we ate pie and some apple cobbler that mom brought, along with cookies that Marti had made.  Sondra passed out our Christmas gifts to all, and it was a special time as well.  We stayed just a little longer, enjoying the company of family but then had to leave to go back to Shawnee.

We needed to leave Friday morning on our return home.  So, we spent the rest of Thanksgiving Day night with Jason's family and Crystal's family.  On Friday morning, we all headed over to Cracker Barrell for one last breakfast together and then Sondra and I headed for California.

We stopped one last time to spend a few minutes with Patty Murcray in Midwest City and then on the road again.  We made it to Holbrook, Arizona, before turning in for a few hours of sleep.  Yes, it was about midnight when we stopped.

Saturday, we finished the trip back to Rialto, arriving about 3 pm at home.