Thanksgiving Weekend 2018

Tons of fun this weekend.
We met up with family earlier this month.
For the Thanksgiving Holiday we had time for a get away.

First up, we went for a hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
What we didn't realize was that everything was closed because of a huge ice storm a week and a half ago. There were downed trees everywhere.  We got to the entry to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Waynesboro, Virginia. When we arrived we were bewildered with a number of other motorists. However, undeterred, we drove along a parallel road that connected with the Blue Ridge Parkway here and there.  We got within a mile and half of our intended hike and just parked the car on the side of the road and thus began our adventure.

You can see why the Parkway was closed.  There were many downed trees like this one.

We hiked along the parkway until we reached the Humpback Rocks Trailhead.

Because of such limited access, this trail, which is usually highly trafficked, was virtually empty.

There were patches of snow and ice, especially up near the top.

It's a pretty steep hike.

We got to the Humpback Rocks and enjoyed some serious views in total solitude.

Because of the downed trees, it was surprisingly slow going.  The trip took much longer than we had expected and we only arrived back to our car just as twilight was fading!

Sometimes this is what the trail looked like. We certainly did our share of horizontal tree climbing!

After that hike we had huge appetites for the Thanksgiving Buffet at Hometown Grill. By something of a coincidence, this was our second year in a row enjoying that particular restaurant on Thanksgiving day.

The next day had some great experiences.

First we went to the Frontier Cultural Museum. This is a great living history place that teaches about the Parent Cultures of the Virginia Frontier. We learned about East Africa, England, Ireland, Germany and Native American cultures and how they contributed to the American culture.

It was a cold morning, which is why everyone is so bundled up.

We had a fun lunch at in Downtown Staunton and the Shenandoah Pizza Restaurant.

Then on to The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum

The kids particularly enjoyed the scavenger hunt that they had available.

Virginia is the Birthplace to 8 US presidents.  We are still getting around to learn about them all. Woodrow Wilson is the most modern Virginia President, although he was around about 100 years ago.

After this we went to Kathy's Dinner, famous for the best Breakfast in the Valley.  Although, it was dinnertime, we all agreed, it was an excellent breakfast.

Last up was to take in a play at the Blackfriars Theater. A replica of Shakespeare's lesser known indoor theater.

I regret not taking a picture of our handsome kids dressed up for the theater.

We saw Richard III.  The kids totally enjoyed it. I was very surprised to hear my 9 year old son excitedly quoting (and paraphrasing) Shakespeare.

It was a late night last night and we spent the night in Staunton again and had a lazy morning and came home today.

Totally a fun trip.

Halloween Costumes

Toy Soldiers

We won the prize for best costume at the church Halloween party. On Halloween, we were asked to pose for a picture about six times. Several houses made a point to give the kids extra candy because they liked the costume so much. 

Mostly this was a bunch of old clothes and old toys and a lot of green paint. We bought some green pantyhose to wear on our faces, then went to the hardware store and bought a gallon of matching green paint. It turns out we needed two gallons to do everything. Each costume had a shirt, pants, helmet (from the dollar store) belt, gloves, shoe covers and a cardboard cut out for the feet. We have sniper, a rifle, a bazooka, a radio, a scout and a grenade. Altogether, we spent sixty bucks for all the paint pantyhose and miscellaneous purchases.  $10 per costume, not too bad.

van der Horst family reunion- Sun Valley, Idaho

Group photo on Sunday afternoon

Sunday morning before going to church.

We went to Craters of the Moon National Monument and went caving in the lava tubes. It was otherworldly down there.

Feeding a crowd like this is not an easy task.  We just had to do a "Baked Potato Bar" while in Idaho.

Grandpa Celebrated his 75th birthday with the whole family.

Clark and the rest of us heading out for a horseback ride

Spencer with his horse, Chester.

We took a hike in the beautiful Sawtooth Mountain Range

We played lots of games, including some silly ones like this giant sized, battleship-inspired ping-pong ball game.

We played games all week.

Grant is an early riser.  He talked Grandpa into an early morning fishing trip at the nearby river.

The whole group prior to our bike ride.  We did an 18 mile trail in the mountains.  We were proud of everyone for completing the whole trail, especially little Laurel on the smallest bike. 

The Harriman Trail

More family games- Raingutter Regata.  We made the boat in the middle.

Our group ready for rafting

White water rafting on the Salmon River

Look out for squirt gun attacks.

Uncle Bret took us for a shooting experience with rifles and pistols.

That's some good shooting.

Hanging out and more fishing on the Big Wood River.

Hill Cumorah Pageant and Family Reunion in Pittsburgh!

We were able to make a two-for-one trip this weekend.

First we went to Western New York along with the Youth conference kids and saw the sites in Palmyra, especially the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

Then we split off and went to Pittsburgh to meet with family, especially the McConnell family reunion.

First of all we had to get something to eat. This place was a lot of fun.  Everything they serve is some sort of crepe. Breakfast crepes, dinner crepes, dessert crepes...

Next we went to the E B Grandin Print shop which is the location of the original printing of The Book of Mormon.

This is a replica of the Smith family log home.

This is the Bible from the Smith family.  Joseph studied this Bible to seek answers to his questions. 

The upper room of this house is where Joseph would have stayed and would be the spot where he received important revelations.

In the Sacred Grove

At the Hill Cumorah, waiting for the pageant.

Prior to the show, the cast walk around and chat with the audience.

The next day, I took my two boys to the Palmyra Temple

Spencer turned 12 a few weeks after they closed the Raleigh and Washington DC temples, so this was a first time experience for him.

We made it to Pittsburgh and toured around the city.

We had a lot of good times with cousins and grandparents...

Check out this reenactment photo: