Thanksgiving Break

With the family meal over, our Thanksgiving Day was very restful. Stace, Violet and I went for a nice hike at Golden Valley Ranch Open Space in the afternoon. 

It was a beautiful day, as you can see.

We stopped at the video store - yes, we still have a video store in Newhall! - and picked up Planes, Trains and Automobiles. We watched it that night as a family. 
 

On Friday, we did a bit of shopping in the afternoon, and managed to get both girls to come with us. At Best Buy, we (finally) bought a new printer, and got Violet a new gaming headset since hers was broken. We dropped Cora off at home and then did a little more shopping with Violet.

On Saturday, we worked in the yard and Cora and Violet went to Teacision and archery. In the evening, Stace and I went out for a drink at Chili's.

A week ago, Stace and I did a favor for Uncle Bill, and went to check out a car he was bidding on, on an online auction site. The car was in La Crescenta, about a half hour from us. Stace gave it a good lookover, and we even got to have a drive in it, with the owner behind the wheel. 

We then got coffee at a nearby shop where Stace wrote up his notes and talked to Uncle Bill.

Unfortunately, the price went far above what Bill was willing to spend, but it was a fun experience for us.

My mom sent me a healthy recipe reel on peanut butter blueberry muffins, with no flour. They came out OK, weird consistency, but a good way to use up bananas and blueberries. 

Thanksgiving, Observed

With funny work schedules for my mom and sister, we decided to have our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, instead of Thursday. 

 

As has become our routine, Melanie brought half the meal, as she loves cooking. I did the turkey and roast potatoes and desserts. 

This year, I decided to spatchcock the turkey, which Aunt Patty has recommended for years. With this method, you cut out the turkey's backbone and splay it out, so the turkey cooks evenly and much faster.

Ellie helped with basting it with herbed butter.

It came out very yummy.

The roast potatoes looked perfect! I think they could have used a little more salt. I'll remember that at Christmas.

Ellie made place cards for everyone.

I made pumpkin crunch cake, and baked a frozen storebought apple pie.

It was a lovely day! 

Thanksgiving Weekend

It's beginning to look a lot like...Thanksgiving! 

We were very late to decorating this year - no autumn or Halloween decor - but we got this done a week prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.

We hosted, and I combined a couple of recipes in producing this tasty bird. Forgot to get an "after" pic but it turned out great.

Another success - Stace's Yorkshire puds! Look at that rise! And Melanie's side dishes were delicious, too. 
 

Cora, skulking around...

Grandma had to work Thursday, so we celebrated the holiday on Friday with the family. It was a lovely afternoon/evening together.

On Sunday, we saw A Christmas Carol at the Canyon Theatre Guild with my parents, and got a drink together after. It was a great show.

Thanksgiving: Mrs. Claus and Dinner

 Grandma had to work Thanksgiving, so we all went to visit her at Magic Mountain as she portrayed Mrs. Claus.

Grandpa took this family shot, and then we tried to recreate a classic Christmas photo I enjoy each year. 

It didn't quite turn into an exact replica, as Violet refused, so Cora took on the disgruntled role.

Then, home to cook the turkey and enjoy a fabulous meal. I had brined the turkey over 24 hours, and used herb butter under the skin, and it was so yummy! I actually wished I'd bought a bigger bird, for additional leftovers.

Melanie made most of the sides, and all was delicious.

Redmond Thanksgiving

Celebrating Thanksgiving with family is such a blessing.

Only missing the photographer here, Uncle Bill. 

Stace contributed the Yorkshire puddings, which turned out great. I made English roast potatoes, and everyone wanted the recipe. Everything else was delicious, too!

Here's Cora's beautiful apple pie. She learned from the best!

After dinner, we played some games - Anna and I played the very old Navy game of cribbage, which I learned from my grandparents.

Tyler set out to best Cora (and Alison and William) in a game of Splendor - but Cora STILL won! This kid can't be beat in strategy games. 

I love this pic of Uncle Stace with the babies! Miles on the left, Lupin on the right.

Stace was impressed with the very festive (and huge) holly bush out back, so we had Anna take a few photos of us out there.

My mom sent these Russian dolls for Alison - they have sentimental value for her - and Lupin enjoyed them.

Spending time with everyone was so sweet! Until next time, Washington family.

Redmond Trip

Cora's show ended Saturday night, and on Sunday my family came over for an early Thanksgiving celebration. 

On Monday, we flew to Washington, to spend the week with Aunt Patty and Uncle Bill. 

We got to see my cousins and their new babies, as well. Always great meeting new family members!

We enjoyed several days of relaxation, cooking, baking, playing games, taking walks and very yummy food.

Here, we're playing an interesting game where you consider "worst case scenarios" and decide, with your teammate, which of several answer options is correct.

It brought some laughter and some interesting discussions.

We had a couple of beautiful wintry days... 

...and a couple of beautiful wet days. 

Aunt Patty taught us how to make biscotti. This is Uncle Bill's face when he's told that Violet was supposed to be learning how to slice them, as he'd finished slicing the first loaf.

Cora learned how to make apple pie, and here she's making crepes for breakfast while Patty makes dinner rolls.

Oh, did we eat well! It would have been worth it to photograph the meals - homemade pizza, huge salmon filets, roast lamb and of course Thanksgiving dinner. 

Thanksgiving Break

The girls were off for Thanksgiving week, and we started the first weekend by going to the Christmas Tree Lighting festivities in Newhall. To be perfectly honest, neither girl wanted to go, and it wasn't exactly a "fun time had by all." 

We had more fun the next night, when we went out to try a new ice cream place. All the ingredients are fresh and organic, and we enjoyed trying four flavors.

On Monday, we helped paint and decorate Cora's set for her upcoming Great Gatsby play. Stace installed molding and chair rail.

Cora finally trimmed her hair!

On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with this lovely turkey. I forgot to take more photos!

We did a little shopping on Black Friday.

We also visited with Colleen and Rigo and the kids. Not a great photo but I was sneaking a shot of them all cracking up at the video game they were playing.

The girls helped get the Christmas lights up.

I was sitting on the couch on Sunday evening, and Spencer raced into the house from the side yard, through the hole in the screen door he uses as a cat flap. (Why fix it, when it's so useful?)

Anyway, he raced in with this huge RAT in his mouth! He put it down, and thankfully it was dead, so it didn't race under the TV stand or couch. Seb jumped off the couch to have a closer look.

 

Thankfully Sebby normally has more fun with his catnip felt pizza, and doeesn't catch many rats.