After returning to Texas, we settled in and started to prepare for the upcoming Holidays. Barb fired up her embroidery machine and made a multitude of Christmas gifts for friends and family. She also tried her hand at embroidering The Preserve logo onto some shirts for one of the employees. It turned out great!
We spent some time decorating the place with Christmas lights and garland. Brad chainsawed down a dead tree and then cut and split it up for wood to use in the fire ring. There were several nights where we built a fire and enjoyed the ambience and warmth.
Thanksgiving was a quiet affair with just the two of us. We tried out a Bourbon brined turkey recipe for the Traeger and smoked our Thanksgiving bird. It turned out very juicy and flavorful but wayyyyy too much for just two people! Brad was "enjoying" all manner of turkey leftovers for quite a while.
Our next big event was a trip to Orlando to meet our daughter and her family along with another family. Amanda (our daughter) had reserved a huge vacation rental home. It had seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, two living rooms, kitchen and dining room. It was ideal for the nine of us to base our adventures out of.
We visited Universal Studios and all of the Disney Parks. We also took a day to drive to Crystal River and swim with the manatees. I'll post a separate blog entry to detail those trips.
For our return, the youngest granddaughter, Belle, came back with us while her family flew back to Kansas. Belle spent the week with us and had a great time. She got to attend the annual Christmas Party at The Preserve and was overjoyed at receiving a gift. She helped us pack up and then drive back up to Kansas a week later, just in time for Christmas. We spent the Holidays in Kansas (Brrrrr!!!) and then attended a wedding on January 2nd in Liberty, Missouri.
Belle was the flower girl and her sister, Tori, helped with handing out programs. Then they partied into the night with the bridal party. Belle enjoyed sitting at the "Princess Table" (she got to sit with the bridesmaids whom she had wrapped around her little finger!).
The only downside to the trip was that somehow Misty dislocated her hip while scampering around at Amanda's home. After a late night trip to the veterinary ER, the hip was put back into place but it required her leg to be tied up in a sling for 10 days and she had to be quiet and rest. In the course of treatment, we discovered that the pain meds that she was prescribed caused her to become anxious and agitated. After a trip to the vet to verify that the hip was still in place, we took her off the pain med and things got back to "normal" (or at least as normal as it can be for a three legged dog). Prognosis for this type of treatment is no better than 50%. We're hoping that she is strong and fit and that she will be on the plus side of the 50%. If the hip dislocates again after being removed from the sling, then surgery is our next option. We'll see how she goes in the new year.
So that being said, we have put another year into the books. We have been from Texas to Florida, back to Texas, then to Arizona. Spent the summer in Oregon. Returned to Texas via California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The year ended up back in Florida then to Texas, and finally in Kansas. Whew!!!!! During this year we dipped our toes in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. We went from almost the norther border of the U.S. to almost the southern one. We had a great time and look forward to what the New Year holds in store.
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