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By Dave and Mary
Honoring Veterans
and Making Thanksgiving Memories
Front Porch Appeal Newsletter - Issue #96
It's finally fall here in Tennessee.
Just today, Dave and I sat on our side porch in the balmy weather and watched golden leaves and hickory nuts fall from the trees in the woods next to us.
What a gift. To have the eyes to see the autumn beauty and all the senses that allow us to listen, smell and touch Mother Nature's gifts.
And one more thing, friends. This month we are honored to celebrate the Veterans in our lives.
If you're like us, you have Veterans in your family or friends who have served.
We are a military family. Dave's grandfather and father served in the U.S. Army.
Dave served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and our son is currently serving in the Air Force - 19 plus years already.
My brother Mike is a Vietnam veteran.
We understand the sacrifices, commitment and passion of our military members.
Veterans Day is November 11th
Veterans' Day is close to our hearts
We've put together a wonderful page speaking about the meaning of Veterans Day and why it is important.
Dave and I are most appreciative to all the men and women who have served our country and all the sacrifices they and their families have made.
Please stop by our Veterans Day page to see.
Send Our Free Veterans Day Card
We updated our free Veterans Day card which is easily downloadable so that you can print it at home.
A Veteran in your life will truly appreciate your thoughtfulness to send them a card in the mail. Or hand deliver it.
We are super appreciative of the men and women who have served our country.
Dave and I enjoy sending cards to the special Veterans in our life too.
Instructions:
Just click to download, print on regular paper and fold.
Don't worry that part of the card will look upside down when you print it.
When you fold it, it will turn out just right!
You will make a Veteran happy.
Pictures of Patriotic Porches
Video: Veterans Day Tribute
Beautiful tribute to Veterans
Scarecrow Festival in Granville TN
We hadn't even heard of this little town until recently, but Granville is just about an hour east (and a bit north) of Nashville TN.
The population is a mere 300 something residents, but the spirit and enthusiasm is high there!
We truly enjoyed their scarecrow festival - which we think is held annually during the month of October.
But best to check their website as things are not in full operation every day of the week there.
Wednesdays through Saturdays are your best bet, especially for their quaint Sutton General Store.
Video: See the Scarecrows!
Please watch our video
Music: Avacado Street (Wes Hutchinson) provided royalty-free by YouTube
Scarecrow Memories from Granville
A lady scarecrow dressed in a blue dress
Of course, a classic scarecrow
We love this cute scarecrow couple
Isn't she adorable in her pink bathrobe?
If you'd like to see how a scarecrow is built - and more pictures of unique scarecrows, please visit our scarecrow page here.
Thanksgiving: Making Memories
Dave and I embrace the family-centered holiday of Thanksgiving, a day to be grateful for our many blessings.
And of course, we love the delicious food and time spent with our family.
When we lived in Alaska, many years ago as a military family, we celebrated Thanksgiving with our fellow neighbors who lived on Elmendorf Air Force Base near us.
Since flying home to visit family was so expensive back then, our neighbors became our family and we created traditions like sharing holidays with one another..
Thanksgivings were very special during our time in Alaska.
Several families, including ours, would go in together to rent a large rustic cabin at the base lake for the Thanksgiving holiday.
We enjoyed a crackling fire in the fireplace and each family brought their favorite dishes to share.
This was a big deal with days of fun planning.
Kids brought ice skates and many of us brought fishing poles to go ice fishing.
Thanksgivings were cold but the warmth of our friends and the memories we created there have stayed with us for many years.
Our sons remembered these "cabin Thanksgivings" so much that we started a similar tradition within our own family years later.
No longer do we live in Alaska, but we do rent cabins at a State Park and all come together to enjoy several days of family time and Thanksgiving.
Hiking, fishing, campfires, playing games and art contests are just a few of the nice things we do together in addition to our Thanksgiving meal.
Not every year do we get to be together like this, but it's a tradition we love and hope to continue for a long time.
It's a lot of work bringing all the "stuff" to the cabin, but it's so very well worth it.
One year the weather was so nice on Thanksgiving Day that we decided we'd spend that day playing outside instead of cooking indoors.
So we postponed our big dinner until the next day and just went to Taco Bell on Thanksgiving Day.
Now that's something we hadn't done before.
Here are pictures from our Thanksgiving a few years back. Our family has grown since then and the kids are much bigger now.
But the memories are ever so sweet.
Our wish for you is that you too are abundantly blessed. The best blessings are the priceless ones: time together, good health and laughter.
Our lakeview - like a postcard
Really it's amazing every year we go to the cabins and gaze out at the view.
Canoeing is a favorite pasttime
Many hours are spent in Papa's "yacht", as he calls it. Our simple canoe has made many a memory with the grandchildren.
Fishing with Papa
Grandkids gathering sticks to build a hut
There's some friendly competition among the grands for building teepees.
Playing together - yes, that's Dave upside down
If you mention the word fun, Dave is in!
We bring this airplane every year
Grands relaxing
Everybody needs the chance to relax, right?
Our grands love helping build a campfire
Time for roasting marshmallows, singing songs and simply watching the sparks fly.
The kitchen is very small, but it works
Our Thanksgiving table - notice the artwork we created above the fireplace
We keep it simple and use paper products. No time for dishes. We just want to enjoy each other!
Thanksgiving Ideas for Your Porch
Our Thanksgiving turkey craft idea
This was one of the most fun projects we ever made for our porch and every year we love bringing out this cute turkey on our porch.
May you enjoy making it as well.
Make this "Thankful" garland for your porch
Like these Thanksgiving decoration ideas from Christine's porch?
Before You Go
If you are a Veteran, we salute you and thank you for your service. Really it means a great deal.
Treasure time with your families this time of year, especially for Thanksgiving.
We hope our newsletter gave you some inspiration for Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.
Thank you so much for inviting us into your in-box periodically.
We truly appreciate you subscribing to our newsletter and we'll see you next time, porch friend.
We value our sponsors and the products and services they provide.
They are like family to us!
You're invited to be part of our Facebook community.
We share ideas with one another for decorating and using our porches.
We are blessed with over 17,000 followers and would love to count you among them.
Please enjoy browsing past issues of our newsletters right here.
Take a few moments of chill time.
Happy porch sitting from your friends,
Mary and Dave
Life is short. Enjoy your porch.
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