Turkey Vacation -by Jared

Jared here... I decided to steal the computer away from kimmy and write about the last few days. We took off for Georgia to visit Uncle Dee aka Brother Cassian and the rest of the Fam for Turkey weekend. We left at the ripe hour of 12:30 am stopped for some coffees and hit the road. The boys stayed awake for quite some time and seemed not to be aware of the early hour. I certainly was and will look forward to the day when they can drive that early hour and let their old man and mom sleep. I don't remember what time it was but I reluctantly gave up the wheel so Kimmy could drive. I tried to sleep and got about 40 minutes or so in before I took over. I felt somewhat rested and the mountains were giving kimmy fits. As it turned out we were pretty much through the worst of the mountain driving. We bought a GPS and had a lot of fun with it on the way down. It helped to keep me awake through the night and I'd freak kimmy out as I pushed the buttons on the GPS and drove at the same time. But it was quite handy and a fun toy. I down loaded a different voice for the GPS unit than the standard choices. it was an Elf named Elfred who would randomly say funny little phrases. So he and I talked off and on. We stopped at the Lego Store in Lawenceville GA just north of the monastery where Uncle Dee lives. We had fun walking through the store..the big kids had more fun than the little ones. Then we headed south via the GPS...seemed like a good idea but the traffic was nuts. And at about 5pm we arrived at the monastery. Uncle Rick had already arrived but that was it. We had a fantastic weekend eating and visiting with cousins and nephews and other various family members. Jacob got sick later that night puking his guts out most of the night. Poor guy. Next day he was good to go... possibly something he ate. We met more monks this time than last and had a great visit with all, Father Matthew and the Abbot Father Francis Michael were the first to visit the family at the house besides Br. ET (Eutropius I think...ET is easier) who is the guest house caretaker. However we saw less of ET this year than past. He didn't have to watch us try and steal his pet rooster this year. Uncle Dee and I took the turkey over to have warmed and while waiting I was treated to a tour of the bottom level of the Monastery. Lots of beautiful empty computer boxes. We then ventured up to the infirmary to visit a few monks, Fr Elias, Br. Tom, Br. Mark (I think that was his name...) who worked in the infirmary and he didn't like Uncle Dee's shirt one bit. I guess it's a long running joke between the two... monk humor. And I met a couple of other monks who's names I forget, but it was a great tour to those secret Monk places. I heard the Abbot Francis Michael say to Br. Elias "you look good in black and white"...the monks habit is black and white... more monk humor. Uncle Rick made off with a weeks worth of fudge and fruit cake from the store, and he brought many Stars odds and ends to pass out. A fantastic oil changing sweatshirt to boot. So much goes on in 5 days it's hard to remember everything. Bottom line is we had a great time with family and hopefully everyone comes back next year. The house we stayed it was full but it was a good full. Kimmy, I and the boys all slept on the glassed in porch. It was cool but very comfortable for sleeping. We had a good tour of the monastery and nice walk through the glass shop and met Br. Mario....not sure where Luigi is but maybe next trip. It was great catching up with all the family members again. And once more congratulations to Kristin and Rob that 9 months will fly by...that was just a joke. at least I think it was....it's more like 8 months. HA... teasing. We said our good byes and headed for indianapolis on Sunday. We decided to take two days getting home and I took monday off work. We made it to Indy in about 8 to 9 hours. Monday we gave mom and dad a quick crash course on downloading pictures and file management on the computer and then took off at 11am for home. As we stopped along the way the temperature dropped. We arrived home at 4:30pm. When we had left for GA I had set the furnace to come on at 55F. When we walked in the door of the house the temp was 49F... furnace didn't come on..switch is a little sticky...so now the pellet burner is going 90mph. The room with the pellet burner in it is about 60 now but back here in the bed room it's about 54. The boys are in the sweatshirts and my toes are numb. So I'll let Kimmy add some pictures as I've ramble on for too long, not to mention I need to put my hands in the pockets of my new oil changing sweatshirt I have on as my fingers are freezing.

Home sweet home... house feels just like the porch in GA. Now I'm off to steal Kimmy's slippers.

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