1st Day of Thanksgiving Vacation

One of these days I'll be completely caught up!  But it will be a while.  For now please enjoy Thanksgiving 2011.
We drove up to Brown County, IN and stayed in an adorable, red cabin.  Nels's parents arranged it all and did a fantastic job.  So a BIG thanks to them!  It was so good to spend a long weekend with them and explore Brown County.  So here's some pictures from Day 1 which was Thanksgiving Day.  (We arrived the night before, but it was late and we basically just went to bed. ;)
Here's the name of the cabin."Shady Hollow"

The cabin.  I just loved the red.  I loved the porch swing.  I loved the crisp Indiana weather.  I loved the naked trees and the leaves covering the ground. 

Mom Nyborg took this picture of us on the swing. 

Nels was in heaven because he convinced his parents to play the longest game ever, Cashflow.  He loved teaching them the game and talking and talking and talking. hehee.  They were very nice and patient and played the whole time. 

I love this picture because I can just hear his mom's sweet voice saying, "Oooh, my little lamb." 

Sven was good.  He has calmed down a lot!  He was guarding the door. 

This is the room Nels and I stayed in.  Fresh and clean. 

The living room/dining room had a fireplace that kept the whole cabin nice and toasty.  I like how they painted the window trim and baseboards red.

We had a lovely turkey with all the other fixin's.  Speaking of turkeys...there was a funny story about that this year.  Mom and Dad Nyborg bought an organic turkey.  We were all excited to try it.  The morning of Thanksgiving, we started to prepare the turkey.  But Mom and I thought it smelled terrible! 

So Nels and Dad quickly went to the store to get another one.  When they got back Nels said, "I asked the butcher at the grocery store if the organic turkey was okay.  He smelled it and said it was fine.  He said that organic turkeys just stink, especially when they’re cooking.  But that it was perfectly fine.  He just warned us that it will make the whole house smell terrible." 

Mom was not happy, but went to work to prepare the turkey for the oven.  "What is this pop up timer in the turkey?" she asked.  (The organic one did not have one.)  Nels explained, "Oh, the butcher put one in for us."  He just kept it going and going.  Until Mom noticed the label on the turkey and that it weighed 10 pounds more than the organic one.  Finally Mom said, "This is not the same turkey!!!"  hahaha! 

Nels had her going for a while and she thought the whole house was going to reek.  Fortunately, he was joking and we had a new turkey to eat that didn't smell, and the organic turkey spent thanksgiving in the dumpster behind the grocery store.

The End.

Picture of us eating thanksgiving dinner at the table. 

Last Pics...

I thought these were cute pictures:

Nels and Malachi:

Me holding Malachi.
We both enjoyed watching Ericka cook yummy food for us. :)

Beale Street, The Peabody Hotel and Corky's

Our last outing was to visit downtown Memphis.  We began with the famous Beale Street.  It's a busy street with bars, cafe's, restaurants and live music.  Here's a few pictures:

Ericka snapped this one from the car window...pretty good:  

Us in front of BB King's Blues Club.

We asked a passer by to take our pictures.  I don't know why I'm sticking my arm out like a chicken wing.  Haha!

Hard Rock Cafe'

Then we went to the famous Peabody Hotel and went up to the roof for the view.  The sun was just beginning to set.  You can see the bridge in the background.

The ducks of the Peabody Hotel:

Inside the hotel:

Then we went to Corky's for some BBQ.

I LOVE this picture of Ericka and Malachi.  Aren't they both adorable!!!

Nels and his big blue eyes and me....lots of food.

Thanks for coming Ericka and Malachi!  We loved having you!!!

Metal Musuem and Dale's

Another adventure Ericka and I went on was to the Metal Museum in Memphis.  My friend Larysa joined us for the adventure.  It was a gorgeous day outside.  I think my favorite part was looking at the outside metal work. 

Here's some pictures:

Entrance to the Metal Museum.

There weren't a lot of people there.  We basically had the whole museum to ourselves.  So I set my camera up on one of the glass cases and we took a picture of all of us with the timer.  Is it just me or do I look out of breathe?  haha.

We loved the flowers sculpted out of metal.

They had some creepy art like this one:

Here's a close up of the skull with a screw through the eye socket...random, eh?

Malachi liked this orange creation.  Isn't he adorable?

Photogenic Larysa: 

So pretty, Ericka and Malachi:

The green metal gate:

This one was cool.  Not the greatest picture and now I can't remember the name of it.  I think it was called "Stairway to Heaven."

I LOVED this rainbow bench.  I thought it was so cool.  It was in a great position too with the gazebo in the background and red leaves. 

We stopped by the Blacksmith's Shop.  It was really loud, but we asked a few questions and learned more about how they do metal work. 

Even the signs for the restrooms were made out of metal.

"Touch the weather vane, touch it I say."  Oh yeah, it's "Spindle" from Sleeping Beauty.  But I still think it's funny. :)

There was an interesting exhibit of metal rings.  Thomasin Durgin made a metal ring everyday for a year in 2010.  Some of the rings corresponded to events that happened.  For example there was a ring representing the rescue of the Chilean miners.  The picture below is from Thomasin Durgin's blog.

 

We enjoyed looking at the rings, guess the name of it or purpose and the price.  Some of those rings were expensive!

Ornate metal door.

Arm picture.  I believe Ericka had the honor of taking it. :)

My dear friends put up with me as I took these timer pictures.  I placed the camera on an uneven surface of cement stairs and hoped for the best.  We got these fun Leg pictures.  I think they're so cute!  Thanks for putting up with me!

Across the street from the Metal Museum is this hill.  It's not an ordinary hill.  It's an Indian Burial Mound.
Larysa and I ran/climbed up the rather steep hill. To find...

A large, beautiful tree and a view of the Mississippi River.

Afterwards, Larysa suggested we get some fried pickles at Dale's. 

Nothing like some fried pickles to end a fun day in Memphis.  Thanks for a fun day friends!

National Civil Rights Museum

One of the days Ericka, Malachi and I went to the National Civil Rights Museum.  Wow.  It was remarkable.  We learned about Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination at Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968.   We learned about the events leading up to the shooting and what happened afterwards. King came to Memphis to help and give support to striking sanitation workers.  We also listened to his last sermon "I've Been to the Mountaintop."  

Here's a quote from it:

"We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."   

He spoke slowly, allowing the words to sink in.  He really was a powerful speaker that moved people to action.  He gave the speech the night before he died. 

Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles was a witness to King's assassination.  He stood on the balacony with King at the time of the shooting.  We watched a video of him describing what he saw and felt that day. 

The museum is the actual motel where he was killed.  We walked through and saw the rooms just as they were in 1968.

Here's a few pictures:

Ericka and Malachi in front of the Lorraine Motel.  Malachi is such a good baby.  He ended up sleeping through most of it. 

On the other side of the wreath is where King was shot.  They had just walked out of their room 306.

Ericka in front of the quote from his last speech. "I may not get there with you but I want you to know that we as a people will get to the promised land."

Me, Ericka and sleeping Malachi.

Part of the museum is across the street.  This was where the assassin stayed and where he was positioned when he shot King.  James Earl Ray was captured and tried for the assassination.  Although it is believed that this wasn't the doing of one man, but rather a conspiracy. 

Me in front of the Lorraine Motel.  

I thoroughly enjoyed this educational experience.  It is definitely worth going to and I would be happy to go again with future visitors. : )