Thanksgiving Weekend with The Blairs

We had THE BEST weekend with my sister's family. After a yummy Thanksgiving dinner, we visited the beach, took pictures and watch football. Visiting and spending time with them has be the best gift.

Thanksgiving Day

The Blairs arrived this morning to share Thanksgiving with us. We were so happy to have them here. Our holidays have always been about family and spending time with our loved ones, and it has been hard for all of us not to have family closer. We are so, so thankful to have a crowd this year. Love you Blairs!

Christmas Time at Disneyland

Thanksgiving break gave us the chance to enjoy Christmas time at Disneyland. We made a stop by the Tower of Terror in CA Adventure. They have taken the outside sign off, and they are not playing the Twilight Zone clip anymore. But they're keeping it going these last weeks with a cute photo op outside. The picture is blurry, but we're keeping it for posterity. We talked the girls into our traditional Small World ride and a visit to Santa. I miss when they were little so, this was pretty sweet that they agreed. The decorations are just so beautiful and really put us in the spirit of the season.

Harry Potter World

Can we live in Harry Potter world? We love hanging out here. It's Thanksgiving break week, and today the older girls wore their warm and cozy Quidditch sweaters, and Jenna bought a house scarf. We rode the rides, had dinner at The Three Broomsticks, ran into my friend, Sarah, and picked up some yummy candy-- chocolate frogs, chocolate wands and peppermint candy--at Honeydukes. Can't wait to come back! Oh, and yes, that's Jenna setting a Quidditch ball so she can get her setting reps in.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Prep

11• 26 Thanksgiving dinner! I tried two pies (pumpkin and apple) which turned out pretty well. We had grandpa and Jim, a man from church, for our guests. Jim plays the banjo and treated us to a song before he headed home. Jim lives in the senior park behind us and was not invited to join his family for Thanksgiving this year. It was nice to have more at our table.

We got a jump on our Christmas card photos by snapping a photo on Thanksgiving. Turned out pretty cute (Thanks MacKenzie!)

11•29 Jenna also painted her nails a few days later to get ready for the coming month. Isn't she so talented?

Decorating for Fall

As I packed up the Halloween things there wasn't enough room to keep everything. I decided that the girls' Kindergarten items probably needed to go since they were starting to disintegrate. Before tossing them, I took a photo so I could remember their cuteness.  The spiders were from Kindergarten in Mrs. Crandall's class, and the pumpkins were from Ms. Dillon's class (2nd grade for Jenna, 3rd grade for Heather). I then piled the Thanksgiving decor on the fireplace which looked quite festive. I'm getting slower at decorating, but not sure why. I used to love it, but now the getting boxes out and putting them away seems daunting. I'll probably be purging more in the season to come so that there isn't quite so much stuff to deal with.

Thanksgiving!

Heather helped Kelly with the stuffing prep this year. The bird turned out lovely as usual, and the table was set for a feast. Grandpa Ron was with us this year which is always a treat.

Our neighbor, Tammy, invited us down for dessert. What a treat! The spread was amazing. We watched a little football and visited with her family. We're so blessed to have had such great neighbors move in.

Beach Day in November

The weather has been so warm, and Jenna has been dying to go to the beach with friends, so we did. It was great to make this happen for her with all that has been going on with Heather's health. Hannah D. and Sarah were Jenna's companions, and they had a blast.  The beach was beautiful and warm and although I took a book, I couldn't help sitting in my chair marveling at the beauty of the place where we live.  I took photos and observed. It was truly a beautiful day for reflecting.

Thanksgiving

We had a quiet Thanksgiving day which is just how we like them.  Kelly made another excellent turkey, Grandpa was here to visit, and we watched football games and played with the puppy.  We're thankful to have our grandpa around to celebrate with us while we're missing our other family members in other states.  We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Last Day with Family

Our last day spent together was spent with the kids on Minecraft (see Jenna's desk turned computer station), Michelle and I making Carmelitas (I forgot some of the butter, but they were still good), playing Apples to Apples with everyone, and saying good-bye.  The Blairs left early Sunday morning as did Grandpa.  What a great few days together!  We are always, always so thankful for our family and the time we get to share.