Grandson Nathaniel had a week and bracketing weekends off for Thanksgiving. The days went by much too quickly, especially the last two. Daughter Lise (Nathaniel’s aunt) wanted to go to Cataloochee, hoping to see elk grazing in the meadow. I took photos of Nathaniel on a split log bridge, Lise with a house built in 1903, and Lise getting a picture of one elk by the side of the road. Part of the ride was on a rough gravel road that was one and a half lanes wide. It felt a bit unsafe when trying to pass a car in the opposite direction, but Lise did it well. She loves to drive and misses driving in the US.
Back at home, Nathaniel made us hot chocolate. It was probably better not to know the ingredients included dark chocolate and heavy cream. Yes, ignorance is bliss.
Both grandsons and I went to Grace Church of the Mountains, an Episcopal church in Waynesville. I was thrilled they used my favorite Advent hymns for the first Sunday of Advent. The organist played Wachet Auf for the prelude and postlude. He had the expertise and the instrument to make it memorable.
We had lunch at a hibachi Japanese restaurant on the way to Charlotte. The fellows watched intently as the chef juggled knives and cooked the food in front of us. It was quite a show, with delicious results.
We took a farewell photo in front of Nathaniel’s dorm. Lise and David went up to see his room, which they had not seen before.
I was walking up and down on the sidewalk near the car, which was parked in a fire lane. They got my attention so that I could take a photo of them on Nathaniel’s balcony, waving from the balcony below the top one.
On the drive to Charlotte, we realized Nathaniel had not lowered the mirror when he left. We took care of that as soon as we got home. The next day Nate began classes in the new term. Sugar is one of the classes, and he said his fingertips will be burned when handling the molten sugar. Lise begged for photos, but he said he is often too busy to stop for pictures. We’d probably gain weight just looking at photos of spun sugar and decorated cakes. We’ll make do with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.
Mehrling Muse 
Homemade hot chocolate is the best! So much better than the packages. We make it less sweet than the commercial stuff but somehow richer. So glad you had Nathaniel for such a long break!
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Nathaniel sent us a photo of a creation they did in sugar lab today, so he was really back in the fray.
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What a lovely family bonding!
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I love to read the stories of your family and look at your pictures! I feel like I know everyone! Nate will love seeing that picture of David moving the mirror!
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I hope Nate will like the mirror-moving photo. He was kicking himself for not remembering to lower it himself.
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Everyone looks so happy – it’s been years since I had homemade hot chocolate and that was probably after coming inside from building snow forts and making snow angels.
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Homemade hot chocolate, it does not get any better than that! A very cool photo on the balcony. What a fantastic way to spend the holiday. Im looking forward to Christmas photos 🎄🎀
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We’ll be missing Nathaniel this Christmas. He is flying to NY to be with his dad. He’ll have a good time there, though.
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A whole class on sugar. Wow. I better not tell my grandchildren that such a class exists. They would immediately decide to go to culinary college. Love all the time you got to spend with family.
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Nathaniel sent a photo of the sugar creation they made on the first day of class. It was beautiful.
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What great family fun. You are blessed to have such a wonderful family. I love these posts.
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Thank you, Darlene. When I was a teen, I might have wanted to swap my family. Not now! We treasure our times together.
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And a lovely time was had by all – it’s plain to see!! 🙂
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Family time is precious.
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It truly is!
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