Pre-Christmas adventures



So why the hornet's nest from Michigan?  Bragg Family South made an unexpected trip to southern Michigan in November to attend the funeral of Hope's grandmother Kay Pruden, who passed away at age 94 the week before Thanksgiving.  While there, we had a chance to visit a few places, including Eastern Market in downtown Detroit:


Belle Island, just upriver from the Detroit skyline:


Below, Stephen and Rick Pruden, the "third child club", enjoyed some quiet time together:


The extended Pruden family and friends gathered at a local Italian restaurant following Kay's funeral service (Kay's husband, Don, is in the wheelchair):


On our return trip, we made a brief detour to check out a natural area along our route called Hemlock Cliffs Natural Area on the Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana.  This steep box canyon carved into the sedimentary rocks of this part of Indiana contains isolated populations of eastern hemlock, a tree more common to northern latitudes and higher elevations.  Below, Stephen and Hope climb down the steep path to the canyon floor:


This natural area has a lot of cool bluffs and some impressively large hardwoods, in addition to the hemlocks:


The kids liked walking along the large downed trees, especially those that bridged the small stream flowing on the bottom of the canyon:


Lots of large bluff shelters, also, as you can see in the pictures below:

 
 

Notice the kids in the pictures above, dwarfed by the bluffs?

After a good Thanksgiving, for which we had a nice dinner with friends, we have now shifted into full holiday season mode, which included decorating a gingerbread house given to us by a family friend:


We spent evenings watching holiday movies and cartoon specials, as well as decorating Christmas cookies:


And our new Christmas tradition--going to Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, AR, for their elaborate holiday lights display.  The couple pictures below don't do the lights (or crowds) justice:

 

There have also been Christmas parties and holiday kid music concerts, as well as a few other adventures, including the installation of a new hot water heater (my biggest plumbing adventure to date), an unanticipated trip to the emergency room for Beth to get a dislocated knee cap "relocated" (yes, it was as unpleasant as it sounds!), and Kenny's big adventure--the shooting of his first deer!


(Sorry about the bloody doe picture, people, but we were hunting...).  Now, we look forward to the cold and snow of the Northwoods!

Merry Christmas and happy New Year, everyone!

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