HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Tyndall AFB, Florida: We made a quick trip to Orlando over the past two days. It was 385 miles down there and we spent exactly 32 hours there, then drove back this morning, but it was worth it. We had a wonderful time with Kari, Mike and gang, and with their friends that they traveled down here with. The day was spent at Animal Kingdom with about a million of our closest friends! When we were driving down there on Wednesday and sitting still on a freeway with 3 lanes going both directions, we should have realized that it was going to be crowded.

All the way down to Orlando I was thinking that I should be home in Minnesota, cleaning the house, baking pies, preparing turkey and all the trimmings, and getting ready for a house full of company on Thursday. We've traditionally had our meal in the evening so our kids could go to their in-laws at noon, so I always had the whole day on Thursday to prepare also. However, our Thanksgiving dinner was a bit different this year. Instead of dressing and potatoes for starch, we had a huge pretzle. Some cheese dip replaced the turkey, a large dill pickle shared with hubby was the relish tray, and a shared bowl of fruit was the salad. Our table was the lovely top on a yellow garbage can where we stood next to our beautiful granddaughters, Kjirsten and Katie as they had a similar dinner. (Oh, the top of the can was very clean! I saw workers come by every few minutes and spray and wipe down the outsides of the cans.) The sun was shining, temperature must have been in the 70's, the trees and flowers were in full bloom, and it was a glorious day. We have not been to Disney before, and I walked around in awe. How can they do these things, how can they make all the wonders, and who thinks of them all to begin with?

On this Thanksgiving Day we give thanks to God for our salvation, our faith, our church, our kids and grandkids, family and friends, good health, safe travels, and our country. Not many places in this world have it this good. We are very blessed.