Thanksgiving WEEKEND

The coolest shot of Boots I've ever taken!

I can hardly believe how quickly the last few days sped by!  I was so determined to keep up on my blog posts, but somehow -----pweeesh----- the week went by, and here I'm sitting staring at hundreds of photos, thinking of myriads of funny stories, and wondering how in the world to condense so much entertainment into one concise, easy to read little blog...not sure I can.

I'm thinking I'll just reset and just summarize the last few days by saying, "They were great!" Here are a a ton of photos to give a quick shot of our Thanksgiving festivities:

Ed and Jeffrey watching the games while they...

munched on all the goodies!

Mom waiting...

This guy and I? Unbeatable in the kitchen

After two bottles of champagne, it seemed like the best way to mash potatoes!

The bird

the Acorn Squash with Goat cheese

The gravy - the one thing Jake and I argued over!

Cutting the bird

Helping cut

FINALLY served (can you believe I didn't get a table shot?!?!)

I love, love, love, love this photo

I was DONE!!!!

Friday we went to the Oregon Zoo to meet up with our friends Tim and Pilar and to see all of the millions of lights the Zoo puts up for the holidays. It really was magnificent.  While we didn't get photos of the actual lights, we did get some of the cuteness of our toddlers!  We met the Tragessers in our birthing class. Because Jeffrey was traveling for all but the first class, Tim and Pilar were my "support" throughout the few weeks of learning how to breathe and what to expect throughout the journey to parenthood!  Their son Jaden was born only 5 days before Ellie Graye, so they're almost EXACTLY the same age.   Ya gotta love fate!

why do we have the same expression?!?!

I love this family!

The ONE shot of lights - and, of course, it's EG's favorite: DUCKS!

Ok, time to move on to today - which was spent with our family friends Sufia, David, their two kiddos and Sufia's dad Hal.  I hadn't seen Hal in decades, and I was sooooo excited to have him come over.  I have so many childhood memories with him - our families were extremely close, and we were always between their house and ours. Both my dad and Hal were into the outdoors and went on LOOOOOONG backpacking trips pretty frequently.  Once they even let Sufia and I join them - which I loved, and which cured Sufia of ever wanting to backpack again: Mt. Whitney's Mountaineer's route.  We made it - and have plenty of amazing memories of sprained ankles, shared sleeping bags, Australian boys, and - if I remember correctly - lots of snoring.

Anyway, it really was great to see him, and hang out with "Fia" with a nice mellow family day.  I made a stuffed pork with a balsamic-cherry reduction sauce and paired it with a wild rice pilaf.  It was absolutely delish!

We went to feed the horses after our late, late lunch (yes, I'm in rubber mud boots and sweats, I know - it's the FARM!!!!)

Somehow over the last two days, I did manage to put together the Levin's Christmas Gift basket.  I so enjoy giving gifts that I've made - it feels so personal and meaningful to me.  I love creating something specifically for my individual friends - imagining what they'd like, and what would make it more meaningful to them!  In reality, I think it just might be a situation where the scripture, "It is better to give than to receive" might apply!

their own little piece of DPF

Something for each of the kiddos

And something to give away!

PHEW! I think that catches all of you up on my whirlwind weekend.  I hope that your holiday was as magnificent as mine!!!!!

RANDOM PHOTOS OF THE (last few) DAY(s)

Ellie dresses Jax up

posing with Cassie

cuddle time for Boots and Jax

From another angle

she LOVES Yovani

Playing with Granma Lene

"Who are you talking about????"

Silly Face

Dolly and Ellie looking for geese

Dolly needed her blanket