Thanksgiving in GA

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

 Rest stop in GA

We're here!

 Shearing a sheep in the stand (by Adam)

Thursday:

Cousin fun!

Eli peeled the hard boiled eggs

All these clarinet players:)

Looking for glass

Adam hurt his shin so he has one pant leg rolled up

Jacob found a lizard and they named it "Stripes"

Soccer game

Friday:

Treasures from Uncle Rick

Adam's pockets are loaded

Where's the youngest Russell boy?  :)

Now what?

"Where's Poppa Rick?"

Eli made a "leaf pie"

Saturday:

Tour of the boys area in the woods

Watching I love Lucy

Jared and I worked on this 1000 pc puzzle.  Eli is concerned about something happening in I Love Lucy.

Silly boy

Goodbye Uncle Dee

Sunday:

I wanted to get a picture of Jacob and Uncle Rick with the clarinet but everyone wanted to be in it.

Trip to Georgia and back. By Jared. 

 Jared here recapping our Thanksgiving day trip to Georgia and back. We packed the van, and by we I mean Kimmy, and headed out for Georgia on Tuesday afternoon around 1pm. We got the boys out right before their lunch times. Adam had a math test that went a little long so had to wait about a half hour. We dropped Norman off at Rody and Vikki’s first before hitting the opening highway. The drive down was nice, besides “The in the way state” which is in a constant state of construction. We drove till Powell, TN which is just north of Knoxville, TN… I thought we were in Knoxville but after stopping I didn’t want to get going again…I was tired of driving after 10 or so hrs. We spent the night at the motel. The boys enjoyed the motel and breakfast. We then cleaned up the motel room and off we went heading towards Atlanta and the Lego Store. We had about 3.5 hrs till we were at the Lego Store. Driving was nice no issues, traffic was thick but it was moving quite nicely. At the Lego store the boys each got a jar for the pick-a-brick section. Kimmy myself and the boys went to town organizing the blocks to get the maximum number of bricks into each of the containers. There is a bit of mad scientist to the method. The lego store employees approached and asked if we needed help. They then commented on how organized we were and indicated that we appeared to know what we were doing and were going to get our money’s worth. We worked and worked, Lego store employees kept stopping by to comment on our methods. I asked for an automatic vibrating platform so I could get more in…they laughed. I didn’t get my automatic vibrating platform. We finished up and had some packed canisters of legos. And so off were went to the Monastery which was about an hour or so away. We arrived around 3:30 pm or so… I think. Uncle Dee, Uncle Rick, Mom and Dad were already there. The fridge was packed with food and the freezer with ice cream. Thanks Uncle Rick. We brought down 6 bags of frozen apples for the apple pies. We settled in and waited for Jason, Heather, Nolan and Gordon to arrive. They arrived in the evening. It was great to see them again, it’d been a couple of years since they were last down. All the boys had a riot playing together. Thanksgiving day arrived and the food was amazing. Jason and Heather made a great mac and cheese dish and a cheesy dip that was really really good, glad there were leftovers for the next few days. Mom made a perfect bird…and then the mashed potato saga. I basically destroyed hand held electric beater. And had to “mash” by hand….they were not all that spectacular of a mashed potato at all. But they were mashed potatoes. Lima beans and corn made the table as well. Good food good times. An amazing soccer game broke out in the afternoon. Brother Ignatius came down to play. The kids said he was a kid and on the kid team. Jason and I were on offense and Uncle Rick played goalie for the adults. Nolan, Jacob, Adam and Br. Ignatius played on the “kid” team. Jason, I and Uncle Rick would of won if it wasn’t for the fact that we’re old and slow. Fun game. Thursday evening Br. Peter-Damien and some of the Jr Monks came down to visit. Br. Ignatius, Br Philip, and Br Emilio. We worked on puzzles in the evening. Heather started one and Heather, Mom, Dad, Kimmy and Myself worked and worked….we thought it needed to be finished before we went to bed. So at 1am it was completed, ugh. Friday came and the 5 boys continued to have a blast playing together . We went for a walk around the Monastery, through the glass shop and checked out some projects Ft. Methodius was working on for a church. Amazing windows. We continued our walk to the bakery and chatted with the monks in the bakery. They were preparing for the week of baking. I showed Adam the 26lb buckets with sugar in them…he thought that was cool. We continued on to the store. Chatted with Br. Peter-Damien and Br. Mario in the shop. Visited with the warehouse crew. Jason and Heather left Friday afternoon. But not before Uncle Rick passed out the treasures he brings…various odds and ends. Dallas Star “stuff” and other items. The boys were so sad to see Nolan and Gordon go… they had such a good time playing with them. We worked on more puzzles and relaxed… and relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful 70 degree weather with lots of sunshine. Hot! Father Augustine came down Saturday afternoon to the family guest house to chat. Good to see him again. Father Francis Michael (the big hancho… aka Abbot). And not “HEY ABBOT!” came down to chat as well later in the evening. Always nice to sit and chat with him. He told a great story about saying Mass for Nick Sabin, Alabama head coach. Again another nice day of visiting… The boys found a great area of brush/woods to run around in next to the family guest house. They took us on a tour of the area. Through the waiting room past the traps, down the hallway and past the bathroom (ask no questions just keep moving) . The boys has a blast cutting away the PICKERS and other odds and ends. Mom made a number of apple pies…each tasting better than the previous. The ice cream was consumed. The boys quickly learned that the best person to ask for ice cream is Uncle Rick… Never saw such a huge grin on those boys faces holding a bowl full of ice cream…and I mean real full. Ice cream for breakfast and in the evening. Making lots of good memories. Uncle Rick brought up his clarinet. Uncle Rick played it in high school and Uncle Dee played it in Jr. High…. So it’s really really really old! Keeping it in the family for Jacob to play. We had to stop on the way home to pick up a bottle of silver polish and Kimmy cleaned and polished on the drive. She did an amazing job and that thing sparkles!!! So we said good bye to Uncle Dee Saturday night and left early in the morning on Sunday. We said goodbye to Mom and Dad and we’ll see you at Christmas. We said good bye to Uncle Rick as well. Just after he stuffed our van with lots of cardboard tubes and cardboard. The boys built all sorts of stuff on Monday evening at home with the tubes. All sorts of rockets and guns and Wall-E. We left and headed home. The drive was long, traffic was thick but that just extended our vacation a tad. The low pressure oil light kept coming on….made the drive more exciting, but thankfully uneventful. The 12.5 hr drive took ~17 hrs …whew were we beat but another wonderful time in GA. We certainly enjoy the trip. Eli held on to Uncle Dee Saturday night and said he wasn’t leaving… the morning of the drive home had 3 boys that stated they were not leaving. But the party has to end sometime. Stopped and grabbed Norman on the way home. Thanks Vik and Rody for watching Norman, that was a huge huge huge help….and no you can’t keep him. Fun trip, looking forward to Thanksgiving 2016