Family....I Love Them!

December birthdays can be a pain.  Just ask Georgia.  Her birthday is the 29th.  Too soon after Christmas.  Everyone is kind of reeling from all of the Holiday stuff.  However, Chelsea was on top of scheduling Chadd's birthday dinner.  She did the near impossible.  She got all of us together on the same night.  Amazing!!

Having a large group at a restaurant is always a bit daunting so I called ahead.  I was told they don't do reservations or call ahead seating.  I told them just to consider it a heads up then that nine of us would be coming at 5:30.   And then we found this....on the table.

Okay then.

Our fabulous server made up for this little snafoo.

That and the food. 

We really do enjoy eating here.

As I said our server was great.  She was the one who took the picture of all of us after I had snapped a few and Chelsea had taken a few. She shooed us back to the table and insisted on doing it herself.  That is why I was laughing so hard.  Because she was a quiet young lady who had seemed quite reserved until she got stern with me to get me to get into the picture.  Tickled my funny bone.

About Chadd on his birthday.  

We love him so much.  

Happy Birthday to a very special young man!

A hard worker, great husband and 

genuinely caring soul.

Today Warren, Georgia and I went to York County to deliver a fundraiser

order to a Relay for Life Team from Chambersburg.

It is nearly midway for both of us.

Since Georgia and Warren are York natives...

and we had lived there for a while, we enjoy going back over

now and then.

We took back roads to see places we used to enjoy seeing

frequently.  This meant that we meandered up and down hills, 

around twisting turns and past many bodies of water.

At one point Georgia saw a pileated woodpecker and was very happy.

I loved seeing the familiar farms and all that goes with them.

Making me most happy are pretty fences, farm ponds

and animals silhouetted at the crest of a hill.

If there happens to be a barn with stone

I'm especially pleased.

As we drove we discussed memories from years gone by.

We even drove up to the house Georgia sold when she moved 

here nine years ago.

It was the first time she had been to see it in all of that time.

Amazingly it was unchanged.

The only notable change was how huge the pine tree in the front 

yard had grown.

We were in disbelief.

But that's what nine years can do.

We visited two family farm stores.

Twin Pines Farm Store and Ilyes Butcher Shop

These places have meat unlike anything you can find at 

a grocery store.  We miss it and consider it a real treat 

when someone has opportunity to get over there to pick some up.

I say it is unlike any you can get anywhere else and I mean it.

Each of these stores has their own recipes for these meats.

Yum.

Summer Sausage, Sweet Stick, Snack Sticks and "Golden" Hot Dogs.

Mikey coined the term "golden hot dog" years ago because he says they 

are as valuable as gold.

Haha.

On our way back into Lancaster County we crossed the Susquehanna River 

on Route 30.

I snapped this looking over at the Columbia bridge.

Such a pretty bridge.

And yes, that is ice on the river.

Well, there you have it.

Bits and pieces.

Rambling.

But you get the gist.

We are family.

And that is "golden".