The J6 Journey: Year 4, November 30th-December 1st, 2019: Let the Festivities Begin!

Well, ok then, we are home! (And we have been for over a week! I'm so far behind on this blog posts but Saturday is the last one I need to polish. All the rest of last week's posts are done. I always do the current day's post so I don't forget the details, and then go back to finish up others. Here goes. Last one!)

Saturday

I slept hard and had a horrible dream! Gary was pulled through the open east doors of Indian Creek Christian Chruch because of a tornado. His watch found in neighbor's yard. I hate tornadoes. They scare me to death! We don't have a basement this time around, but when we bought our first house, I was very happy we had one. We don't get many tornadoes in Indiana and usually they are F1-F3, so not too bad. But still, they terrify me. We do have an interior hallway in this house, so that would work fine. And as always, I woke up when all hope was lost and there was no resolution. And of course I had a headache too.

We woke up on time and did our best to be ready to leave at 10. However, Gary's other brother and sister in law, Mike and Pam came over about 9:30 and stayed until 10:30, so we didn't hit the road until 11, like I thought we would. The other adults talked mainly about the weather, trips, grandkids, neighbors and changes in Muskegon. Nothing deep or profound. They did ask about Gary’s travels and how Shauna was doing. I know Gary talks with Aaron frequently, so I was glad to overhear the details that Shauna hasn't privately or publicly shared with me. She's doing well, that's pretty much all I remember. I can't wait to see her at Christmas and ask tons more personal details about it all. You know me, I'm a curious one.

Meanwhile, Pam said she won’t be babysitting the newest grandchild because she’s done babysitting grandkids. This made me very sad. This baby will be 10 yrs younger than Kristen and Rusty's older girls. They live in town or near enough to Muskegon. I know Pam has helped them out alot and I'm sure she'll be visiting them. She just doesn't want to do the day to day babysitting thing, which I can understand that it's physically hard. However, I know of other older women with a lot more physical issues that still babysit their grandchildren like Nellie Simmons, who has babysat Abishai before. Nellie is a saint. She's been through some health battles and somehow manages to still help out in nursery and with the boys who are Abishai's age. She has rocked all my babies (except for Abishai because we weren't here when he was an infant). Anyway, each to their own I guess.

Then it was time to make our way home. We had some rainy, cold weather, but not really bad or icy. It was about 35 degrees. And yes, we stopped at Tim Horton's AGAIN on our way out of town. We love Tim's that much! Abishai decided to ride with us. I think after being with everyone else for a few days, he was missing his one on one time with Mommy and Daddy. Keturah and Justin rode with Grandpa. So, we got two doughnot holes for Abishai, two for me because they didn't have maple glazed, and a plain doughnut for Jared. I also had a small hot chocolate with raspberry shot. I would have gotten a coffee but my stomach was already acting up. The hot chocolate was a perfect choice this time, especially since I did actually have their coffee the day before. And yes, I ate real doughnuts with real gluten. And, I think it affected me less this time! I do try to test out the gluten about once or twice a year, and usually only with doughnuts. And usually they are Tim's doughnuts. Lol. I'm so attached to these nostalgic things. But, honestly, Jared is, too. He's happy to indulge in these little things for me. Canada wasn't all that bad for him either. Anyway, they are just doughnuts and they don't really taste different than Dunkin' Doughnuts. It's just the name we like. After that, we took a little nap.

When we reached Chick Fil A (a different one than on the way up to Michigan, but one we had been to before on our last trip to Muskegon), we were all ready to stretch and play and eat. I decided to try out their mac and cheese since I had already had gluten for the day. Oh my word, it's to die for! So rich and creamy and homemade! I could barely finish it! I had a tummy ache from the gluten and dairy but I didn't care. I had my usual cherry coke and grilled chicken sandwich on a real bun, but only ate part of the bun. It felt good to be "normal" again, at least for a little bit. And we also saw some friends from church! The Hipskinds were headed to Michigan to visit family. They have an RV and travel part of the time. I'm pretty sure they came to PEI for the work trips and are part of Gary and Leah's small group. Laura was the one who gave me a ton of clothes last year. So that was cool.

I was super tired because of Dramamine and too many carbs. We did hit a couple of patches of traffic, but overall not bad. We got home and worked hard to put everything away and start laundry. Yes, we, the kids did their part this time. I'm glad we went. I think we all needed some family time and reminder that we do have wonderful extended family, all rooted in Christ. No family drama, at least not out in the open. They all adopted me a long time ago when I moved out here before I married Jared. And I'm so grateful for that because I haven't spent any holidays with my side of the family, at least not in NH. We did some things with my parents when they were alive, but I don't get together with my brother. Why? Because we are both lazy and busy. And he only has the kids every other weekend right now. We still communicate via texting when we can. We can still count on each other. But he's got a new social group that I know he's enjoying and being supported by. And the kids are relatively safe and in school. I can be grateful for that. So the Johnsons and the Cooks have been my closer family for the past 20 plus years. Lots of history there. And I absolutely love it. Michigan is one of my favorite states.

I saw this on Facebook and loved it!

I love taking side profiles of the Johnson men. They look so much alike! And their accent is the same, too!

The sisters in law, Pam and Nina.

Jared's glare face. Well, dude, you don't always get in the pictures. And, this is who you are, cooking, as always. You are your mother's child.

One last time of rough housing.

Waiting on the grown ups to be down talking. Oh, and Clara and Luke spent the night.

Abishai said he was feeding his ten babies a birthday cake! Ten babies?! Lol! I think he would be crazy enough to handle that many kids. Sweet thing!

Oh shoot, I don't remember what he was talking about. Maybe the ten babies? Hm,...

We got our Timmy's!

Mac and cheese from Chick Fil A is the bomb! Check out that "burnt" part. REAL cheese, REAL noodles, REAL baked bac and cheese! And real poinsettias on the tables too!

I guess Benaiah had a fun time living alone with the dog for two days! He did post something on Instagram about getting to play video games on the big screen with no one else around. Being a bachelor, enjoy! And I'm grateful he's responsible enough to be trusted. Ava's parents were alerted to the fact that Benaiah was alone so Ava couldn't go to the house when he was there. She did continue to help make sure Socks got potty breaks though while Benaiah was at work.

Lots and lots of poppers!

Oh my, I'm in heaven. More Rubbermaid Roughneck totes! Ok, ok, I know what you're going to say. I need to clean out the ones I already have and reuse them, right? Well, yes and now. Remember how I have been trying to get everything that is semi permanent out of cardboard and into tubs? Well, I still had a couple of things that needed the tubs. Actually, now that I'm typing this, there is one more type of toy I was going to put in a tub and forgot. Whoops! This particular type of tub has been discontinued but I found a feed and seed online farm store that had some still. I have only had one or two lids from this brand and type that have broken in the last 15-20 years compared to brands from the dollar store or even the sterilite brand. I can bend these a bit and they don't break. I'm so sad that they are discontinued!

Keturah spent the night at Bailey's house Saturday night, so only Justin was picked up by Grandma on Sunday. There was no programming for either of them though, so Keturah sat with us during the 11am service. I thought Grandma and Grandpa would ride together for the first time in years, but nope, Gary wanted to get back home and finish decorating! Somehow he had managed to get it all done yesterday! (Or maybe some of it earlier in the week?) I'm sure he feels weird walking into church and being greeted by people but not having anything to really do. I was really surprised he didn't stay for the 11am service to visit with people. Hm,....anyway, we woke up late and so my morning was a bit rushed and so was the rest of the day.

Off to gather up Justin and Abishai. I remembered to pick up snow pants my friend borrowed last year from the KP break room. Then it was off to dinner at Grandma's house with all 8 of us! We got to eat some leftover turkey in turkey and noodle soup and turkey casserole. Leah tried to fool the men by making a new coleslaw that used raw brussel sprouts. Let's just say it was ok for some of us, but not ok for the others. I don't think she'll make it again. We tried to talk about the sermon and/or lessons and how it would apply to our lives, but that was kind of short lived. We then talked about Gary getting rid of cable (again. we've talked about it for two years!) and wanting to upgrade his TV, so Benaiah went exploring what cables they had and what they needed. Abishai got down and played a little but we really didn't stay too long. The older kids are always anxious to leave so they can do homework/have screen time. Benaiah went over to Ava's house for a little while just to see her.

By the time we got home, I had a little bit of time to do some computer work but ended up trying to figure out who I was giving these Michael W. Smith Christmas concert tickets away to. I've had several people say yes and then no and it's getting a little frustrating. I also spent time browsing on Old Navy because I have some great coupons plus there's a 50% cyber sale going on. I'm not sure which sale/coupon is best because I can't use the coupon until this particular sale is over. Anyway, then I went over to the Young Living website to fix my ER for the month and remembered there is also a cyber sale going on for that, so I had to figure that out. And now I have to hit "send now" at 10 am to make sure I get the product I want at the price I want it. Sigh. Plus there's laundry and kitchen clean up to keep up with. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about food for a couple of days because there's a bit of fresh vegetables left for Jared and both Leah gave me leftovers from dinner and Gary brought leftovers from a board meeting dinner he was at tonight. Leftovers! Yum!

Keturah and I then went back to church at 4pm for KP worship and nursery. Meanwhile, Benaiah had gotten enough homework done between yesterday and today, that he was able to go with us to see the huge light display at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. It was a 30 minute show set to music and was $7 per person or $30 for 5-9 people. I think it was worth it and a lot cheaper than the one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was slightly rainy and I'm guessing most people were on their way back from Thanksgiving festivities or getting ready for school and work the next day. We got right in and could go at our own pace, driving through the light display, no problem. Abishai got out of his seat after taking a short nap on the way there and danced and pointed out all kinds of things. He loved the light panels that looked like people were singing to the music. It was definitely well done. Then on a whim, as we approached downtown again, I said why don't we just drive around the circle, too? We did and saw the monument lit up like a Christmas tree and the IPL building showing of their light displays. Then we headed home. We were out for about 2 hrs and it was an easy trip. Yeah!

Then, everybody, quick, get ready for bed! Keturah had become queasy from some food she ate at church and then the driving, but didn't tell us until we got home. She went to bed without changing or brushing her teeth, poor thing. Abishai actually went to bed pretty fast, too. Tomorrow is a crazy day and I have to stay on task to make it all work. Ah! Time to prioritize, and not worry too much about the back log on the blog. I'll catch up later next week. And this is why we are doing two weeks of school and taking off the week before, during, and after Christmas off. Phew!

Oooooo, acoustic set for the first Sunday of Christmas season. Nice! Way to go Rhett for shaking things up a bit! Aaron Shroeder nailed it on the keys (and/or they used some of the track) and we sang a Christmas hymn as well. Nailed it! The stage design drastically changed between the 11am and the 4:30pm services. I guess the decorating crew didn't want to have to open the building up on Saturday to do it for this morning. But it's done now! Time for the annual photo!

Today's outfit was all about comfort. My new super soft pullover sweatshirt from Old Navy (yup, I still have that pregnant look, oh well.). With, drumroll please.........black fleece leggings! Yup, I finally gave leggings a try. I'm still unsure of them, but they fit today's outfit well because I had a very long shirt. The leggins kept my warm, too.

The only pair of boots/shoes that would go with this relaxed look. Not perfect, but I made do.

Abishai played doctor today after lunch. Gary went to first service and then came home to finish decorating. He didn't wait for the grandchildren to help this year. I'm a little bit disappointed. This is the first time Gary has been home for Sunday dinner in months.

Get your shot, Justin!

This was where the tickets I bought were.

This was where the suite was.

There is where Michael W. Smith typically sits and his face is towards stage right and the 4-7 sections.

IN State Fairgrounds Light Display Playlist

I'll try to explain these lights as we go. It was not busy at all and Jared did a great job of slowing down so we could really enjoy it. It's supposed to take 30 minutes and has a playlist that goes with it.

So many lights strung up! We bet Benaiah wouldn't even come close to doing that job. Engineering his not strong trait.

A few light tunnels. Oh, and this isn't a good play to take kids that have sensory issues.

Abishai loved the talking/snowing figures including the snowmen.

Lots of blinking lights timed perfectly to the music which was a variety of old and new Christmas songs.

Another set of figures Abishai loved seeing because their mouths moved (blinked on and off) to make it look like they were singing!

It was hard to capture the USA flag in all it's glory.

Blurry, but that's a little better.

There ya go, I manger scene!

Angels too!

You could sometimes see pictures created by the lights on the trees.

Soldiers

Lots of color changes.

Cascading river.

Wow, nice shot!

We let Abishai get up and stand in front of me so he could see the lights. Abishai also danced and jumped during the faster songs. He swayed during the softer times.