I'M SO THANKFUL

This Thanksgiving was one of the best I've ever had.  We had so much fun, the food turned out great, and everyone pitched in, and made it very special.

Since we had a crowd, we set up a couple of fold up tables so that we could all sit together.  My little helper, Maddie came over the day before and set this table for us.

The next day, she brought little pumpkin place settings, made with felt and a cinnamon stick.  They were so fragrant.  Making the place settings is her tradition, and I have several from year's past.

 

My plan was to take a group photo like we did last year, and came up with the idea to have each family hold one of these snowmen who say "Families are Forever, because Love Never Melts.

 

 

So happy the photo turned out so well.  Reesie wasn't too thrilled about getting his picture taken, but that made it all the cuter.

 

 

Such a little boy---he would rather play with lizards and alligators.

 

 

But, our girls are never camera shy.  They are each beautiful inside and out.

 

 

Scott and Adam got to carve the turkeys, and from the looks of it, had a ball doing it. 

 

 

Maddie also helped with the Thanksgiving Thankful Tree that we made.  Each person designed a leaf for the tree and wrote on the back what they were thankful for.  It was so inspirational!  I truly am blessed, and I'm so Thankful for such a wonderful day!

 

 

 

 

 

Anniversary Weekend

"Fairy tales can come true....."  It happened to us on November 4, 2000 when we got married.

Yes, it's been twelve years, and seems like yesterday.  We usually don't do anything special for our anniversary, we are just happy to be together.  However, this year, we thought it was time to celebrate once again.

 

So, we headed to Santa Barbara for some fun in the sun.  Duane took this photo of me at Stearn's Wharf, a long pier with gorgeous views, trendy restaurants, and lots of wind.

 

 

Duane on the pier, with picturesque mountains in the background.

 

Our good friends Paul and Jeannie joined us a few hours later, and we had dinner at a great beach restaurant called the Fish House.  The seafood was delicious.

 

How can you beat lobster, oysters, and crab?

 

One of the highlights of our trip was dinner at the Coldsprings Tavern off of San Marcos Pass.  This is a four star restaurant (believe it or not) and extremely rustic.  It used to be an old stagecoach stop.

 

 

We had unusual entrees such as venison, elk and ravioli with chocolate cream sauce, all simply delicious.  The crowd you see at Coldsprings is eclectic, to say the least, with hippies from the 60's, motorcyclists, and there was even a bachelorette party going on.

 

 

Of course we had to visit the Santa Barbara Mission.  Paul and Duane got into the swing of it.

 

 

We spent the last morning on the beach.  Look at that gorgeous blue sky!  Happy Anniversary Honey, it's been a great 12 years!