A Journal, with Pictures

Anoth­er great fam­i­ly Christ­mas, maybe the best ever. The grand­chil­dren are matur­ing and every­one seems to just enjoy get­ting togeth­er and add Christ­mas tra­di­tions and its spe­cial. Jen­nifer, Mike, and Alexan­dra drove from Flori­da on the Sat­ur­day before Christ­mas and we met at the cot­tage at Chechessee Creek. It was relax­ing, with some pre-Christ­mas things includ­ing dec­o­rat­ing the Christ­mas tree. On Christ­mas eve Hei­di, Gary, Brenn, Caitlin, and Kin­sey came over from Savan­nah arriv­ing in time for Christ­mas eve din­ner. Plen­ty of food and cheer with antic­i­pa­tion for Christ­mas morn­ings gift exchange. Christ­mas morn­ing dawned a beau­ti­ful day and every­one was up at the appoint­ed 7:45 AM that had been nego­ti­at­ed the evening before. It was great fun with every­one enjoy­ing the gift-giv­ing and receiv­ing. This was fol­lowed by a hearty brunch, then on to fig­ur­ing out how to oper­ate new things or start­ing new books, etc. There were trips to Spring Island, vis­its to the gym and relaxing.

Christ­mas din­ner prepa­ra­tion start­ed right after brunch with the 15-pound prime rib going into the oven. Every­one did their thing until around 5:00 PM when the ther­mome­ter said the cen­ter­piece was done and we gath­ered and final prepa­ra­tions were com­plet­ed, includ­ing carv­ing the roast. It was a great Christ­mas feast and after the bless­ing was said we indulged. After din­ner, there was Apple and Mince pie and more Christ­mas fun.

The day after Christ­mas, there was some shop­ping by a few brave soles, Brenn and Gary went fish­ing, the gym got heavy good use, there were trips to Spring Island and some read­ing and relax­ing. Brenn, Gary and­Mike sight­ed in Bren­n’s new pel­let gun behind the cot­tage, Mike, Alexan­dra, and Gil went to the shoot­ing range and sharp­ened their pis­tol shoot­ing eye. In the evening, Gary went out and brought the fam­i­ly bar­beque from one of the favorite local restau­rants and we again had more than enough to eat and drink. After din­ner more fam­i­ly social­iz­ing. Fri­day the Mont­gomerys and Prado’s head­ed home. Joyce and Gil had a qui­et din­ner of left­over roast, fresh veg­eta­bles from the Spring Island farm, and the last of the mince pie. The tree came down and great mem­o­ries were all that was left as we head­ed back to Hilton Head. What a great fam­i­ly hol­i­day week!

 

Joyce and I flew to Fort Laud­erdale Flori­da for Thanks­giv­ing. A beau­ti­ful day and a per­fect flight. By the time we had unloaded and put the cov­er on the air­plane, Jen­nifer was there to pick us up and take us to Casa Mont­gomery a lux­u­ry resort in South West Ranch­es. We stopped for lunch and got set­tled and it was time for cock­tails and a bar­beque in Jen­nifer and Mikes’s new­ly redone out­door kitchen.

Wednes­day was a day of relax­ing, some shop­ping, and ear­ly prepa­ra­tion for tomor­row’s feast. Weath­er was great so we enjoyed the day which fin­ished with din­ner out­side on a per­fect Flori­da evening. Thanks­giv­ing day saw the seri­ous meal prepa­ra­tion get start­ed, some foot­ball view­ing, more relax­ing and a mid-day snack. Alexan­dra showed off her Christ­mas dec­o­rat­ed room and we hung out until it was time. Jen­nifer cooked the turkey in their out­door kitchen, and Mike did the carv­ing. It was a great way to give thanks and enjoy our fam­i­ly over a great din­ner. We enjoyed pump­kin pie, then Alexan­dra enter­tained on the piano. Real­ly, a great fam­i­ly day.

Black Fri­day saw a lit­tle bit of shop­ping and Alexan­dra did some rid­ing, but the main activ­i­ty was enjoy­ing fam­i­ly and relax­ing. The cooks got the night off and we did Asian at a near­by restaurant.

Sat­ur­day after break­fast we left Fort Laud­erdale Exec­u­tive air­port on anoth­er per­fect day for the two and a half hour flight back to Hilton Head. Anoth­er great flight and by twelve-thir­ty we were hav­ing lunch at our favorite Mex­i­can restau­rant on the Island. Anoth­er great Thanks­giv­ing with min­i­mum stress and max­i­mum fam­i­ly fun.