🎄🎄🎄🎄2013 ~ December 11-15 Spending time with family during the Christmas holidays

Day 1: Wednesday, December 11, 2013

My husband and I are traveling to Nashville Tennessee to pick up Lora at Nashville International Airport at 2:35 P.M. She is on flight 4013 and she will be leaving MA, at 12:45 P.M.

 Nashville International Airport

We stopped in St Joseph Tn to buy lottery tickets.

In Nashville, we stopped at Opry Mills Shopping Mall and The Bass Pro Shop.  We walked around checking out all their Christmas displays.  

Bass Pros Shop had a Santa Village, where children could sit on Santa’s lap and tell what they wanted for Christmas.

Bass Pros Shop

Bass Pros Shop

Bass Pros Shop

We rode to the Nashville Airport to pick up Lora. Then we rode to Opryland Hotel where we walked through all of their Flower Gardens, which were beautifully decorated for the Holidays. The Cascade Gardens, the Garden Conservatory, and the Delta Island are each decorated with millions of lights, poinsettias, & a 48-foot Christmas tree at Delta Atrium.

Outside were more lights, a manger scene, carriage rides, and a hot roaring fire.

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

Lora and I rode the Delta River Flatboat which holds up to twenty-five people for $10.00 a person. It is a guided indoor Scenic tour that takes about fifteen minutes. 

The ride takes you through the beautiful lush indoor gardens that features an 85-foot fountain, three waterfalls, banana and coconut trees, and much, much more.

Out on the Magnolia lawn was the Nativity Display. 

There were Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, sheep, cattle, the shepherds, and the three wise men. 

Then there was the reading of the birth of Jesus. 

 Cracker Barrel on Music Row

We were hungry so we stopped at Cracker Barrel on Music Row to eat supper. 

As we rode through Jelly Stone Park we saw Christmas lights dancing to Christmas songs.

The cost was $25.00 a carload. 

It was late when we arrived home. 

Day 2: Thursday, December 12, 2013

Thursday Lora and I went to town where she bought her kids Christmas presents. 

We ate lunch at Chick-fil-A.

I bought two dozen donuts at Krispy Cream Donuts for our Christmas Party on Friday.

My husband, Lora, Marcus, Jr., Madison, Sierra, Nevada, Montana, and I went to the Florence Christmas Parade on Court Street in downtown Florence. 

We were running late and most of the spots were filled so we walked up N. Court Street where the parade began. 

The kids got three sacks full of candy.

It was a bitter cold and the store behind us was giving away hot chocolate so all the kids went inside to get some hot chocolate.

My husband and I stayed outside watching the parade and I took lots of pictures.

Watching the Christmas Parade

Day 3: Friday, December 13, 2013

Friday, Lora and I went to the Florence Courthouse to meet with Lora’s and Marcus' lawyers and a meditator. 

They agreed that Lora could claim one of the kids on her taxes and that the court would decide the amount of child support she should pay. 

Marcus did not bring his W’2 as requested. 

Friday night we celebrated our family Christmas Party at Mike’s House.

Hannah could not stay late because she had to work at Texas Road House that night, so Lora and I went early to spend some time with Hannah.

Everyone else came later and we had a great meal of Turkey Dressing, Mac and cheese, Cream Potatoes, Green Beans, Cakes, Pies, and donuts. 

After the meal, everyone opened his or her presents and then we all played board games. 

Christmas Party at Mike’s House

Christmas Party at Mike’s House

Christmas Party at Mike’s House

Day 4: Saturday, December 14, 2013

Saturday my husband took a vacation day and we took Lora, Marcus, Jr. Madison, and Montana to Franklin Tennessee to see a Dickens of a Christmas. 

It was a bitter cold day and we were all bundled up in our warmest coats. 

We saw many characters from A Christmas Carol walking in the streets of Franklin. 

We saw Ebenezer Scrooge the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future; we saw Bob Cratchit's family, Jacob Marley, and many Christmas Carolers. 

Dickens of a Christmas. 

Dickens of a Christmas. 

There was a petting zoo, sword dancers, fiddlers, and a carriage ride. 

We could smell the food cooking and see all the vendor's booths.

We had enough of the bitter cold and rode to Cool Springs Mall in Franklin. 

Lora took the kids Christmas shopping.

My husband and I bought a cup of pretzels, and a drink and sat down to rest and watch the shoppers.

We stopped at Jack-n-the-Box for supper. 

The kids all played on their electronic devices or watched one of the three channels on the TV in our van. 

Day 5:  Sunday, December 15, 2013

Sunday we took Lora back to Nashville International Airport.

She was on flight 3862, scheduled to leave at 2:20 PM so she had to be there around 1:20 P.M. 

We dropped her off at the Nashville International Airport. We stopped in Cool Springs at Logan's for lunch and rode home.