Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving 2005 was spent in a variety of locations. We headed North to South Bend on Wednesday night, had Barnaby's with my parents, then went out with some friends in Mishawaka. On Thanksgiving morning we started our drive from Elkhart to Lansing, Michigan. The picture above was the view for most of the drive down US-131 in Michigan, just South of Kalamazoo. We heard later that the road was closed due to the inclement weather - so we're glad we didn't get there just in time to turn back - that would've been frustrating :( As it turned out we were only a little late to Thanksgiving dinner, and nobody minded waiting for us (we hope).
Thanksgiving was made more special this year because not only did we go up to Jill's Dad's neck of the woods - Grand Rapids - but Jill's sister Randi, her husband Joe, and daughter Rachel were in town as well. This picture is Aunt Jill and Rachel at Mike's Jimmy John's in Grand Rapids.
On Saturday we headed back South to Elkhart - to celebrate Zack and Kayla Carnes' birthdays. Kayla turned 6 on the 26th, Zack turned 11 on the 28th. The picture above is my Dad out on the pier that he built behind their new house on the St. Joseph River. We got to see some nature while we were there, because from the end of the pier you could just make out a leatherback and a snapping turtle sleeping on the bottom.
Saturday marked the first time that both of my brothers, and their families, and Jill and I were all at Mom and Dad's new house. The little cutie above is Randy's daughter Brenna (1.5 years old). She had a lot of fun playing with Chase and Kayla at my parents house.
This is Zack and Kayla - and their shared birthday cake. Chris and Brandi are lucky they like eachother enough to share a cake. Actually they get along pretty well, and we all had fun on their big day.