Friday's Fave Five - 6/12/24

I'm back!  I didn't take my laptop away with me so I've spent the afternoon today catching up on a lot of blog posts!  I didn't stop to make comments or I wouldn't be here to post my gratitude list and I have a lot to be grateful for right now.

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Vermont! 

The antlers and glasses were in readiness for the parade leading up to the lighting of the town Christmas tree and lights which we were able to watch on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

We visited the library.  I was impressed with the size of the children's area and the amount of books available.

The boys helped with juicing oranges for the homemade cranberry sauce.

This was our home for our time there - it's our DIL's parents house and Crystal and Paul were EXCELLENT hosts.  We've met them quite a few times now - they've stayed with us in London so we've become good friends and we get on so well.  Paul is retired but Crystal is still working until the New Year but she did have some days off over the holiday period.  Paul is an excellent cook - we were never hungry!

This is my Son and DIL's house.  It's not huge but it has everything they need and the in-laws worked so hard to get it ready for them before they moved over last summer.

We watched the kids decorate their tree which my son had cut down at a nearby tree farm - a new experience for him.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the home of our DIL's Aunt and Uncle which involved an hours drive after the first real snowfall in their area.  We were so impressed at how clear the roads were kept.  The amount of snow they had overnight would have brought London to a standstill lol.

We were 17 adults and 5 children there but it was very relaxed and sooo much food.  And the desserts......yum!

We got to visit our DIL's grandparents and Nick went out a couple of time with Paul and gatecrashed his music events - they both love playing guitar.

We took our hosts our for a meal and our kids took us out for a meal.  We spent several evenings just at home playing cards and it was just lovely to spend time with the Grandkids.  We had one day with just Rory at home as he had no school and another day with just Vinny.  I also got to meet Rory from the school bus a couple of times.  The boys seem to have settled well into American life.

But of course all too soon it was time to travel home.  I'm grateful that our travels that involved an hours drive to a coach stop, a 2-3 hour coach ride to Boston airport, an overnight flight and then a train ride home all went smoothly.

All in all I'm grateful for:

Safe travels

Time with the grandkids and our Son and DIL

Wonderful hosts 

The chance to experience Thanksgiving in the US again (we were there 6 years ago)

That our son and his family have settled in Vermont with both of them having found jobs and the kids enjoying Grade 1 and Kindergarten.

Have a good weekend all.