Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Christmas - Chapter 3



Monday, December 19th, we were back on the road again…..this time to Indianapolis to visit Julina and Alex and Shiloh and Stratton.  Weather had turned ugly on Friday, the 16th with freezing drizzle that caught everyone by surprise.  The school busses ran SO late that some students didn’t get home until after 11:00 pm.  Can you imagine?!?!  We had tons of plans for the weekend – beginning with a wedding reception Friday night.  Well, we know what it is like to plan a wedding reception and have hardly anyone show up so Steve and I put the truck in four-wheel drive and drove slowly to the event.  Thankfully, it wasn’t far and most of the roads were treated by then.  There were a few other brave souls who also came.  We were glad we went.  Saturday was to be a St. Louis day – temple and St. Charles with the family but the forecast was so bad that we cancelled everything and just stayed hunkered down at home.  Sunday things were a little better – especially on the main roads but temperatures had plummeted by then and parking lots had not been cleared so most of the wards cancelled meetings – all except Highlands Ward which is where we went.  They got a new bishop to take the place of Dean Hainsworth who had been functioning as both counselor in the new stake presidency AND as bishop.  Another time we were glad we went. 

So, back to our drive to Indianapolis.  Temperatures were still in the single digits and our little rental car had such a hard time keeping the car warm that the back windows kept icing over!  Crazy.  We arrived early afternoon and that evening, we all went to see Rogue One.  Loved it.  Tuesday was project day at the Smiths.  My assignment was to help Shiloh finish moving into her new bedroom and Steve was to help Julina clean her old bedroom to prepare it to be her office.  Shiloh and I made a good team and we had her new digs in ship-shape by early afternoon.  Steve and Julina got their room dusted and cleaned out.  Alex has his service dog, Banjo, who we fell in love with.  

 
 

 

We managed to squeeze in some temple sealings at the new Indianapolis temple that evening (we got there too late for a session) 
 
 and then it was time to drive to St. Louis where we spent the night at Emily’s. 

Wednesday we hung out with Emily and Quinn and Larkin 

 
 Here is Lucy playing with some of  Shiloh's outgrown toys...

and, thankfully, everyone’s schedule worked such that we did our St. Charles trip that evening.  Temperatures had risen a bit so it wasn’t too bitterly cold – although it got colder as the night wore on.  And, rather than fight the crowds at our regular eating establishment – the Lewis and Clark – we opted to drive a small distance to eat at McAllister’s Deli.  Here we all are.  
Some irresistible photos of Larkin at the restaurant....
 


 
  I took pictures of Noah, Lucy, and Quinn holding up their St. Charles treasures.
  
  

And, last, but not least - Quinn who has lately determined that the stink-eye look is his go-to photo face!
 


  

 

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