Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We had 2 big dinners this year, our first being in New York with Scott and Elizabeth. We had such a great trip. I think Rich didn't get all the pictures and video he wanted to in the last post- yet, we'll work on that. We all- Anne, Erik ,Rich and I took a military hop(meaning FREE)) from Ramstein to Baltimore , this involved 8 hours waiting in the terminal waiting for a flight to get to Baltimore- but we did eventually get on and it was like a normal commercial flight with movies, food and all. Anne was thrilled that it was not like our first hop experience with no windows, backward seats, lots of noise and no food! We rented a car--with GPS- a life-saver- and spent the first night in Baltimore and then drove the 5 hours to Groton the next morning. We had such great time. Nathan is talking all the time , repeating everything he hears and is generally the cutest , smartest grandchild we have ever had! After a great 2 days with Liza, I took off to Utah to surprise Katie at her art show- if you haven't seen it go to Casey's blog and check out all the details, he also wrote a lovely tribute to Katie and her art. Kathy picked me up and helped me surprise Katie, she thought she was meeting Kathy to give her a personal tour and I was waiting around the corner - we really surprised her, she was very excited to see me and it was a lovely moment. That made all the airplane time worth it! I got to be there for her final reception and her radio show and I also got to meet Curt - Stephanie's boyfriend. They seem pretty enthralled with each other, and despite threatening him with a five page questionarie from her father he seems determined to stick around and we'll get to see more of him in Dec when we all come to Utah.It was a quick trip, not long enough to see everyone, but so worth it to see the girls and what they are up to. I left Utah on Thursday and got stuck in Chicago overnight because of a late flight out of SLC. I got back to New York Friday morning and then we left to come back home on Sunday.We made the last possible flight out before Rich was off leave ,AWOL and would have to buy tickets! We did have enought time to buy Nathan his first Lightening McQueen car and teach Liza how to knit. Scott took us on a personal tour of Cornell and Rich and the kids had a great trip to Palmyra and church history sites.
We flew back and forth with guys coming home from and going to Iraq, it was quite sobering. The great thing was the crowds waiting at the airport to cheer for these soldiers coming home, there were big school groups, people with flags, signs, ballloons and alot of cameras. I'm glad to see that even if people are opposed to the war they are supporting the troops and the sacrifices they are making. It was so awful seeing the guys saying good-by to their families and then getting on the plane with them wondering how many will be coming back thru Landstuhl wounded. We have busloads coming here everyday.
Our Thanksgivng here was just us, but Anne made us personalized menus and place cards and the kids helped cook, clean up and get out Christmas decorations that day too so we had a good day. We are so thankful for our wonderful family and all the great things they are doing, they make us very proud and pleased.Wish we could have had a house full of family for thanksgiving, you are all invited for next year!