Arkansas, Fort Smith: Fires Won't Stop Family Togetherness

It was really great for Kyle to get back to Arkansas to see his family for Thanksgiving, especially with the tragedy at Leon and Linda's house
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Kyle had to leave Dan for about a week in order to return to Arkansas and spend some necessary time with his family. If you have read the previous journal entry, you will know why; if you haven't had time to check it out, you should click back to the previous entry and catch up.

Once Kyle arrived in Fort Smith, Arkansas with his sister (Kelli), brother-in-law (Clay) and niece (Samantha), they visited his grandmother (Ruth) for a few minutes and dropped off Sassy and Leila at her house. Sassy and Leila were two beagles belonging to Kelli, Clay and Samantha, and the doggy plans included a stay in Ruth's backyard whilst Thanksgiving lunch was being prepared and eaten.

By the time everything was prepared and set out on a couple of tables inside the restaurant, people's appetites had grown massively

Kyle's stepmum, Linda, and his sister, Kelli, were helping out in the kitchen of the restaurant where Danielle works part-time; we were fortunately able to use the restaurant for our turkey dinner
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Lunch was not at Leon and Linda's house, as it had been in the past. Since it wasn't possible to have lunch there until the house was rebuilt (a terrible fire destroyed the house and many belongings inside), Kyle's stepsister (Danielle) had arranged for everyone to prepare their food and eat at a Cajun restaurant where she worked part-time when she wasn't teaching.

The restaurant worked out really well for the day, everyone had a wonderful time during lunch. Kelli had brought some delicious dishes with her and most other people also brought some food to eat. By the time everything was prepared and set out on a couple of tables inside the restaurant, people's appetites had grown massively.

Kyle's grandmother, Ruth, was very pleased that so many people were able to make it to Thanksgiving lunch this year
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You can see some of the great dishes when you look at the photos for this journal entry. There was a super turnout and the following people made it to dinner: Kyle's dad and stepmum (Leon and Linda), his uncle and his uncle's wife (Paul and Debbie), his cousin and her boyfriend (Rachael and Levi), his grandmother (Ruth), his sister and her family (Kelli, Clay and Samantha), Debbie's two daughters (whose names cannot be remembered by Kyle at the time of writing this journal entry), his stepsister (Danielle) and his brother (Craig). A couple of Leon and Linda's friends also popped by after everyone had eaten lunch.

You can see here that there were many dishes laid out on the table for everyone to dig into once we started eating
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Kyle hadn't seen Leon and Linda's house yet, so it was hard for him to imagine how bad it was after the fire. As the afternoon wore on, he was able to comprehend the magnitude of the destruction and how it was affecting Leon and Linda, and how difficult the past week had been for them.

He was reassured that they both seemed to be trying to put the awfulness of the tragedy behind them, so they could look forward to somewhat of a new beginning, and Kyle was happy to be able to provide some joy in their lives by returning home for Thanksgiving. In fact, Kyle hadn't been to a Thanksgiving lunch in many years because he traditionally spends Thanksgiving in London with Brady, a great friend of his who lives in Austin, Texas.

Many of the family members were excited to see photos and videos from our around-the-world trip this year
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When Kyle was finishing up his trip in New Zealand, Dan helped him choose a traditional hand-carved Maori mask made of wood to be given to Leon and Linda. Some of the possessions that they had in their house were destroyed in the fire, and the mask was a gesture to say that Kyle was so happy they were not harmed, and that material things could easily be replaced over time.

They both really appreciated the mask and Kyle was pleased. After several hours of eating and chatting, people started going their separate ways, and since Clay had left to go see some of his friends who also lived in Fort Smith, Kyle, Kelli and Samantha helped Linda, Danielle and Debbie tidy up the restaurant so they wouldn't have to do it all on her own.

Kelli, Clay and Samantha brought their two dogs, Sassy and Layla, with them for Thanksgiving and here you can see Sam with Layla
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By the time everything in the restaurant was cleaned up and Danielle was happy with the state of the place, we said goodbye to Leon and Linda, went to pick up Clay from his friend's house, and headed to Ruth's house to pick up the dogs.

Ruth was happy to have seen everyone that day and we all gave her a big hug before leaving for Russellville, Arkansas, our next destination, the home of Clay's parents (Margo and Rick), where we would be spending more time with family and having another large and delicious lunch the following day.