A Fall "Trip"

On the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving J.R.'s maternal grandfather passed away. His grandfather had been battling cancer as well as diabetes, so his death did not come as a surprise. It has been kind of hard on J.R., however. The last time that J.R. saw his grandfather was at our wedding, nearly one and a half years ago, and we had planned on making the trek to North Carolina for a visit over Thanksgiving. The news came that the funeral was planned for the Monday before Thanksgiving, so less than twenty-four hours after learning that his grandfather had passed away, J.R. and I had packed up Gabriel and our assorted necessities for travel and were on our way. The drive to the small town where much of J.R.'s extended family lives is approximately twelve hours on a good day, assuming all goes well. We made it to West Virginia our first day, approximately eleven hours after we had left home. The following morning we got up, left, and rolled into extremely southern North Carolina shortly before the funeral began in the afternoon. Gabriel was happy to let anyone hold him for the remainder of our visit in NC, J.R. and I reasoned that this was probably due to his having spent a day and a half in the carseat and just being happy to not be confined to it any longer.

Although the drive down went splendidly (taking into consideration the fact that a three and a half month old was on it), the return trip did not go so well. We began our return on Tuesday afternoon, after having visited with J.R.'s sister, who lives in NC, as well as his parents and brother. By the time we reached home on Thanksgiving at around 3:00 in the afternoon, Gabriel had been in "melt down" mode for about a half hour. The moment that we got in the door and I pulled him out of his carseat, however, was a glorious time for him: the crying ceased immediately and he gazed around, with what I presume was immense joy, upon seeing that he was home again.

Of course, the entire trip was not all spent in the car. We visited King's Mountain National Military Park as well as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The weather included seventy degree days. The trees in the south were in full fall color, making the Appalacian Mountains look exactly like the photographs on postcards. In short, I became a fan of the area. Last February was the first time that I had seen the Appalacians when J.R. and I passed through them on our winter break, and I will admit that I was unimpressed for the most part. I had been spoiled in my past experience with mountains, we went to Glacier National Park for our honeymoon, and the Rocky Mountains as seen on the Going-to-the-Sun Road are the greatest display of the beauty of nature that I have ever beheld.

Without further ado, a few photos from our trip "down South:"

No wonder I think that the Appalacians are beautiful as well now, eh?

A-Hunting He Will Go

Actually, it is "a-hunting he went," now. Today is J.R.'s birthday, he is twenty-four. J.R. has thought always that it is pretty spiffy that his birthday and the opening day of firearm deer season in Michigan coincide. His hunting has resulted in two deer mounted on our walls, a seven-point (among many other deer) that he successfully bagged this morning, and J.R. spending at least the morning of every birthday since age fourteen hunting. To J.R., and many others, November 15 is a holiday, a fact that is summed up rather accurately in Escanaba in da Moonlight, "it's like Christmas - with guns."

Happy birthday, J.R. - I love you, dear!

Three Months

Gabriel is now three months old, and I have to admit: this month looks like it will be the best yet. Gabriel has become interested in toys, or anything within his line of vision, now. Naps have improved. We have been able to stay out longer during the day without suffering a massive break down on Gabriel's end. He does better when people other than his parents hold him.

My biggest problem lately has been trying to reset Gabriel's little internal clock to match up with daylight savings time's end. Keeping him up later at night has not worked so far, though when he starts his day by 6:00 am and clearly is ready for bed I cannot bring myself to keep him awake later than he wants to be. I will not complain about such a small thing, however, daylight savings will be back on in early March - a mere four months away. Honestly, morning is my favorite part of the day, so Gabriel helps keep me from missing much of it by sleeping in.

In closing, a photo of the cutest little leopard on Halloween: