Installment 1 of our 2020 Fall Trip

How does one capsulize 4,000 miles through 12 states, hours of fun and celebration with family, not to mention too many hours in a car to count, into a few written words and a minimum number of pictures?

You can't!

In order to be brief yet blog enough to relive when eventually printed in a memory book, it may take some doing.  Then again, perhaps the most memorable and meaningful experiences are those that involve personal interactions that still bring a smile to our face.

As you may recall from previous posts, our destination was Northern Indiana for the wedding of our only grandson on October 10.

When we left on Sept. 30, our first stop was to visit our nephew and his fiancé' in Little Rock, Arkansas.  We always enjoy our time with Lee and Jacqueline and are looking forward to their own wedding next May.

After arriving in Granger, IN, we were so glad we had several days to help John and Michelle do last minute things for the rehearsal supper and the wedding.  I'll show some of that later, but the main thing that being there early accomplished was to help Jackson get some much needed work done in the house he and McKenna are rehabbing.

Many long, late hours have gone into this rehab.

While the men and Michelle did manual labor, I reupholstered the dining room chairs.  Needless to say, it was all a labor of love and we can't wait to see the progress they have made when we go back for Christmas.

It wasn't all work by any means as I found time to enjoy the gorgeous weather, 

celebrate Mary-Elizabeth's 20 birthday,

walk a bit in the neighborhood and enjoy the beautiful geese that make these ponds their home.

I also visited this beautiful home that was all things Fall.  I found the just right pumpkins to decorate Michelle's Front porch and add some fall touches inside as well.

On Friday night, our son and daughter-in-law hosted the rehearsal supper at a local Italian restaurant and it was a lovely and a perfect setting for this fun evening.

I really enjoyed working on this large framed board capturing so many happy moments between Jackson and McKenna in the past two years.  Their story is truly a fairy tale come true.

Michelle made all the flower arrangements that lined the tables and they were absolutely beautiful.

Our daughter Christy with her youngest daughter Ava Grace.

The ecstatic and beautiful bride-to-be.

Three generations of Days

Cousins Mary-Elizabeth and Ava Grace.  These two are our family's rays of sunshine and the most outgoing of the bunch.  You can easily see that, can't you.

So much love!

The wedding party stayed at the Essenhaus Inn in Middlebury, IN, which was near the wedding venue, following the wedding.  We went a night early which gave me some fun time with granddaughter, Ava Grace.

After she posed for this one, we saw the sign that said, "Please stay off cows!"  Oh well, she was so cute and the calf didn't seem to mind.

This is a huge mural inside the Essenhaus Restaurant and Shoppe.

She would have loved to have eaten inside this Amish buggy, but the rest of us didn't fit unfortunately.

And then it was Saturday.

I hope you have had time to see my blog post on the wedding which can be found HERE.  It was such a perfect day for one of the sweetest couples you could want to know.

Early Monday morning, Dick and I struck out for a twelve day extended trip.  We called it our own special honeymoon for elders.

I will cover this part of our trip tomorrow so come back.