Anna finally bought a Jeep!  She is enjoying having her own car again.  She couldn't decide between another pickup truck or a Jeep...but this one finally won her heart.  It's hard enough parking with 5 cars in the back yard...I'm not sure where the twins will park once they start driving their own cars!

 We went to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with Mike's parents. This picture was taken in Grandma's neighborhood.  I remembered to upload my pictures in reverse so they would be in chronological order...but they got posted the opposite way.  Oh well.  We took this picture just minutes before we got in the car to come home.

 Family pictures.  It's hard to smile when you're staring at the sun and waiting for the camera's timer.

 My hubby and children went on many boat rides.  They usually left during daylight and came home after sunset. 

 The beach has many fascinating creatures.

 My children enjoyed Grandma's golf cart.  Since Grandma and Grandpa live on a little island, there is no fear of fast cars.

 Ruthie and I took many rides on the bikes.

 On our way to the mall for Black Friday shopping, we passed this animal hospital.

 For some reason this entrance door caught our fancy.  The other side of the building had a door marked Dogs & Exotic Animals.

 My pictures are really out of order!  This was taken on a boat ride.

 Eating pie and Tofutti ice cream on Thanksgiving Day. 

 Grandma has a nice big table so we all can sit comfortably at meals.  We ate like royalty...as usual.  Thanks, Grandma!

 Allen caught this animal off Grandad's pier.  When we tried to get close to it, it would squirt a stream of water at us!  We threw him back in.

 For years, Mike has told us the story of how every Thanksgiving holiday, Uncle Herb (Grandad's brother who lives in NJ) would come up to Connecticut and bring lox and bagels.  Mike has been trying to revive that tradition ever since.  He finally got his lox and bagels.  Grandad was pleased! 

 When we got to FL, we learned that Grandma and Grandpa are planning to sell their FL home and move closer to Dwight and Linda, about 3 hours north.  Grandpa misses his tractor and wants some land to mow.  They are looking for a little farm.  So we tried to make the most of the beach since this will probably be the last time we come to this home.

 Grandma does her grocery shopping off the island at a Publix.  Behind the store is a large pond with two alligators, a large turtle, and birds.  We stopped many times to see how they were doing.

 Grandma and Grandpa eat breakfast out in the lanai most mornings.  Grandpa watches the morning news and does his crossword puzzles.  

Coming home from the beach and looking for Grandpa's pier.  We had a wonderful time.  We left Maryland on Sunday morning and drove nonstop, arriving in Florida around 3 am.  We stayed until Saturday morning when we left to visit Dwight.  After an hour catching up with him, we headed home to MD, arriving around 5 am on Sunday. 

When all was said and done, we decided our children are now too big to be bunched up in a mini van for that many hours.  We need to rent a bigger van for long trips. 

Hope you and yours enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday as well.  Many blessings ~ Kathie

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.