Ken & Pam came over to relieve us for a few hours. While they cared for grandma, we took a little adventure to Victoria Gardens (aka VG).
The family shot. We are still trying to get a good family photo for our Christmas cards!? This one almost made it! What do you think?
Shellie got captured by Jasen with these extra large stuft animals at Macy's.
Jasen found the Christmas decorations! He loves that stuff!
Steve & Jasen in front of the famous and huge Christmas tree.
Steve & Shellie in one of those romantic settings with millions of twinkly lights and thousands of passer-byers.
Prestin & Deron found the message chairs at Macy's, and we had to pry them off just to move on to the next place!
The family shot. We are still trying to get a good family photo for our Christmas cards!? This one almost made it! What do you think?Shellie got captured by Jasen with these extra large stuft animals at Macy's.Jasen found the Christmas decorations! He loves that stuff!Steve & Jasen in front of the famous and huge Christmas tree.
Steve & Shellie in one of those romantic settings with millions of twinkly lights and thousands of passer-byers.Prestin & Deron found the message chairs at Macy's, and we had to pry them off just to move on to the next place!Deron turning Prestin's on full blast. Just in case you were wondering, these photos were taken by Jasen!
Jasen & Shellie posing for a impromptu photo.
Contrary to popular belief, Chris & Curtis really do not live at VG. They are just there quite a bit! And of course, we caught up with them at the Christmas tree.
Jasen & Shellie posing for a impromptu photo.Contrary to popular belief, Chris & Curtis really do not live at VG. They are just there quite a bit! And of course, we caught up with them at the Christmas tree.
The nativity set squeezed in. 
Close up and personal...
Preparation is all part of the Christmas joy of giving presents.
Even our bedroom was not exempt from Christmas deco.
By the way, the black & white framed photos are baby shots of Deron, Jasen & Prestin. Can you guess which belongs to each of them? 
Even our dresser got deco-nized!
All the deco is a simple reminder that Jesus is the reason for this season!!! "God so loved the world that He gave His one & only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
The family portrait! 
The table just waiting for people and the yummy things to be loaded onto our plates! Pam (& Shellie) did such a lovely job preparing for this feast.
Shellie carving up the turkey.
Hungry Thanksgivers delay gratifying the cries from their tummies just long enough to snap a few more photos!
Happy campers totally enjoying the goods!
Grandma enjoyed her day. In the front is the partially eaten Turtle Cheesecake (or as Deron called "Turtleneck" Cheesecake). It was cooked cheesecake with chocolate, caramel and pecans. Served with vanilla ice cream... Yummy!
Georgia is stunningly beautiful! We arrived as the trees turned from green to yellow, to red to brown and then fall to the ground leaving skeletons reaching for the sky!
On our first day we got out driving around, checking out the area and looking at homes. 
Jimmy, Stef, Hunter and Jonah joined us on this quest.
Deron & Prestin took lots of pictures, not just of each other!
Like I said, they took lots of pictures, even ones through each others camera!
Stef getting out at just one of the houses we explored.
Prestin inside of one of those homes. And by the way, the homes are big, spacious, beautiful and are about half the price they are in California!
Just more color!
Here is a typical neighborhood.
Steve met with several pastors while there. Here is Scott, the pastor of a Vineyard church in Buford. 
We ate out quite a bit, experiencing the local cuisine. Here is one of our meals at The Waffle House. They are like on every corner. We had waffles and hash browns.
We went into Atlanta one of the days. Deron did all our driving, and did a fantastic drive navigating, inspite of the erroneous GPS device, affectionately called Bob.
One of our stops... Georgia Tech. Deron looks out onto the football field - our should I say, their sanctuary. Georgians are really into their High School and College football.
The mascot of Georgia Tech is the Yellow Jacket, hence the name of their team - the Yellow Jackets. 
Prestin picked up a hat with the logo! By the way, Prestin really liked GT!
Back in the car, navigating through Atlanta to our next stop.
Hot tip... "Everybody's Pizza" is amazing!!! They are located just across the street from Emory University. I hear the Thai Chicken Salad Pizza is out of this world. But we settled for a Barbecue Chicken and Jalepeno Pizza instead. And it was sooooo yummy!
We crossed the street and took a quick look at Emory, a top school for medical type stuff.
It is also a very beautiful campus!
Driving back from Emory (in Atlanta).
One day we did the manly bonding sort of thing. We went to gun shops and even tried them out at an underground shooting range.
Scott shooting a Glock.
Steve aiming, relaxing and squeezing the trigger...
and he even hit the target!!!
Prestin showing off his guns before shooting the revolver.
Aiming...
Squeezing...
Deron fixing his sites on the target, like a zillion feet away!
And he hit the rings! Not bad at all!!!
This was Jimmy's first time, ever, to shoot a gun. And he did fantastic, and had lots of fun!!! He's a natural!
Another meal out with the guys, Johnny's BBQ. Simple but amazing. Tender pork barbecued and shredded, then served on a bun, with some BBQ sauce. That's it!!!
Deron chowing into his tasty treat. Oh ya, don't tell him there is a sesame seed on his lip.
Scott & Jenny allowed us to use the Honda CRV. Thanks guys! Here it is.
I was wondering why we had so much chicken! We didn't get a picture of it (believe it or not) but there is a huge statue of a chicken in Gainesville. We heard that it is actually illegal to eat chicken with a fork on Sundays. Just some silly law that no one heeds. It is also illegal to put an ice cream in your back pocket! 
Another pastor that Steve connected with is Kyle, from Athens Vineyard.
Downtown Athens is quaint and very gorgeous! Down at the end of this street is the University of Georgia (UGA).
Deron & Prestin checking out the map, trying to figure out where we got to go for our info meeting at UGA. 
UGA's mascot and name is the Bulldogs, but we could not find a statue so we settled for the famous logo. 
Steve had to get a picture in front of their football stadium.
Back at the Vandegrifts. They have a lovely home and they so graciously allowed us to stay. Thanks guys!!! Here Stef is raking part of their front lawn and drive way. As you can imagine, it is a nearly endless task this time of year!
Jimmy chose to stay inside, where it was warm and watch Stef do the never ending raking.
The roads are tree lined, curvy and hilly. And did I mention... beautiful?
We visited the Mall of Georgia, which allegedly is one of the largest mall in the USA. We got to try on some of the Bulldog fan wear.
Rainbow. Need I say more? Well I will... God is faithful to His promises!
We shared an evening at Rodger & Pam's place. Rodger is the cousin of Pam Smith (not the Pam pictured here). Oh yeah, Sydney is their dog also pictured!
Downstairs in their basement - the windowless recreation room, we played some ping pong and watched manly shows like Man and the Wild. The host had just killed a yak with his knife and was eating it raw! Yikes...
The next day on our way to visit a church we saw this truck with a deer sleeping in the back... like permanently sleeping. Hunting is very popular in Georgia.
Lake Lanier is very close. 
We checked it out. The water level is way down because of the "drought". Actually Georgia gets plenty of rain but gives away their water to a neighboring state. Such generosity!!! Just kidding, it is a very contentious topic! Here is Jimmy as his kids. Moments after this Hunter got stuck in some serious mud.
I forgot to mention it was cold.
We really enjoyed hanging out with Scott & Jenny and all the Vandegrifts.
Stef & Jonah waving good bye to us as we headed off to the airport. It stayed in the 40's that day in Georgia, but when we arrived back in California we walked into the hottest day since 1945 (for that date) - in the 90's! What a contrast!
Having returned from this whirlwind trip, we still fill like this leaf in the wind. At least it is the wind of the Holy Spirit and we will end up right where God wants us!