Thanksgiving 2014 (with Halloween thrown in also!)

Hi all! Oy vey! November was a whirlwind month. So sorry I didn't post more, but our external hard drive with ALL of our photos on it decided to die.....insert mommy panic attack. It's still being repaired but I hope to get back all of the photos, especially the ones from the hospital and our baby's first moments. Although my photo Christmas ideas now have to be rethought since we wont be getting our data back until after the new year.....SOBS!

Anyways, I thought that I would do a little recapping of Emma's first Thanksgiving and a teeny recap of her Halloween as well....since I missed it! Oopsies! Let's start with TG since it was the most recent. It was a very low key holiday at my parent's house. We arrived Tuesday evening late and grandma played with Emma while we unloaded the car. The crazies dogs decided that 10pm was bark and playtime since they hadn't seen each other in so long.

Wednesday morning, Emma had playtime with her G.G. and daddy, then I helped my grandmother make pies, six in total for 13 people.....a bit excessive. We made cranberry sauce, sweet potato's, and various other things. I helped my mom hang artwork, and clean as well. Thanksgiving day Emma woke we all awoke at 730 to finish prepping, cleaning and cooking. Lil miss protested her naps like usual and we entertained her on her jumper, bouncer, with toys....just to keep her happy. She managed to get an hour in before the commotion started but that was pretty much it. She didn't want to miss any excitement. My aunts and cousins arrived in the midst of the craziness and were put to work setting the table, which I had to finish! I guess I can do a cornucopia like nobody's business. Emma was entertained by all her aunties and had a marvelous time laughing and munching on anything she could get in her mouth, that tooth coming in is really bugging her.

The rest of the weekend was filled with relaxing, my grandfather taught Darin and I how to play cribbage....and now D is obsessed. We ate leftover turkey sandwiches, pie and turkey soup. We also managed to get my mom's Christmas decor up before she was struck with the stomach flu. Poor thing. We headed home early Sunday and just chilled out on our couch catching up on some snoozing. It was a warm and fun filled weekend. And now a photo dump:

Halloween was just as fun, but I have far less photo's to share. If you remember my mom and I made Emma's Halloween costume. I was so excited to parade her around in it too! We realized that afternoon that it was going to be a wet Halloween, a first in California in many years. D brought little miss into my work for our office party dressed in her Sleeping Beauty costume from Grandma L and everyone oohed and ahhed her cuteness. We even won some prizes! Pup got a bath at the groomer next door also. Once I got home from work we tried to get her to nap, but she wasn't having it.

We dressed her up, got pup ready and loaded in the car to T.O.T. in D's parents neighborhood. We hit up about 5 houses, but most were still getting ready. Grandma had a grab bag with teething goodies for Emma and full sized candies for mommy and daddy! SCORE! We hung around for a little bit before heading off to our little party.

Our good friend lives in a neighborhood that goes all out for Halloween. It was the perfect place to take Emma for her first Halloween. We took her around to about 6 houses, just to hear people say how cute she is, I mean she was! Then went and relaxed by the firepit and passed out candy.....we went through 10+ bags of candy, just at our house alone! That's how many kids were around. We had great conversations and Emma enjoyed just people watching....her favorite thing. Around 9pm we headed home, just as the rain started coming down. It was a great holiday!

Me as the Cheshire Cat

Getting ready to T.O.T.

Doesn't she look thrilled?!

Stay tuned I have a lot to update you on with regards to moving and getting our own place, a sneak peek into Emma's nursery and much more!

A post about our Thanksgiving (Late...I know)

You guys.....its five days into December and I haven't posted anything about Thanksgiving!!!! :-/ Its been quite a busy last couple of weeks and I have been left in the house dealing with an injured pup. It's really a long story, and one that I have no idea where to begin with it either! Let's just say she spent 12 hours at the 24 hour emergency vet, went to our vet and has been bandaged up for two weeks. She's healing...but has to wear the cone of shame.

I started Thanksgiving week making our cranberry pear sauce. I also made a cherry pie and two pumpkin pies for the first time ever! Granted I bought the dough, but it still tasted pretty yummy if I do say so myself.

We awoke early on TG to get ready. We needed to drop off all the sweets and the pup at my in-laws before heading out Thousand Oaks to visit my grandfather, who got to spend the holiday in the hospital because of heart complications....all is well now with him thank goodness. We swung by my grandmother's house on the way back to give a quick squeeze to all the family there as well. Once back to my in-laws....the grazing began. We watched football and Christmas movies all afternoon, in between naps, and enjoyed the small but cozy Thanksgiving with D's family and grandparents. After all the yumminess was eaten we called it a night because D had to work the craziness over the weekend.

Black Friday I shopped the sales from my phone and babysat our little fur invalid. We watched television and cuddled on the couch under my electric blanket all day. Saturday was more of the same. Sunday D's grandparents and mom came over to asses the crate situation. My mom swung by on her way home and we all chatted for a bit. It was a really nice afternoon. After a quick visit to hell Costco, D pulled down all the decor while I made french toast. We put up the tree and started to decorate the apartment. More on our festive decor later!

I hope you all had some wonderful food and family and all were thankful for the many things that life brings! Happy December!

Turkey, Crafting and Outlets

On Tday we awoke bright and early.....mostly because neither of us turned off our work alarms....GR! I got up and made us breakfast and we lounged on the couch for a bit. I got antsy and decided to head to the garage to start working on my chalk board. About a month ago I was walking our pup and I noticed a vacant garage with a beat up and broken mirror sitting alone in it. I went to our leasing office to make sure it was abandoned before I claimed it. The frame itself had a lot of potential once spruced up, and repainted from the dirty gold color that it was. I pulled out our table and put a coat of teal paint on the front. It still needs another coat, then to make the chalkboard back and re-assemble but I think its looking better already!

Ugly Gold before!

1 Coat of teal paint!

Afterwards we got dressed up and headed to my grandmother's house for all the yummy fall foods, family and good times! We of course ate ourselves into mini coma's, enjoyed good conversation and of course photos with my fam bam!

My and my dad

Of course my mom

Sister from another mister!

LOVE!

Pies, Pumpkins and Leaves!

Of course when we got home we were tempted to hit the sales that started on Thanksgiving, but we didn't give into the temptation and watched some television before heading to bed early. Friday I awoke with every intention of going shopping. I took a shower and our faucet wouldn't turn off! I had to deal with that, but then managed to hit the stores a bit in the afternoon. Got some deals and checked some people off my list. I found some yarn on sale and started some crochet projects as well! In the evening we went to Mr. L's house for a Black Friday get together. Beer and games (of course since D and I are NOT gamers, we of course lost!) and enjoyed more conversation. We love going over and having fun with our second families!

Pretty yarn!

Saturday I got up and ready to head to the Camarillo outlets with my M.I.L. to shop until we drop. And that's exactly what we did. We hit up a local craft fair and then made our way out to the coast. After a MapQuest error we finally hit the mall. Packed to the gills, but manageable. We power walked that entire mall in 4 hours and that was a feat. My bootay hurt pretty bad when we finally got to sit in the car again. Linda managed to get some checks completed off her list, as did I. We had a good time people watching and window shopping for ourselves as well.

Sunday D and I just rested. After that weekend we needed some alone time. It was a whirlwind weekend and I can say that I am ALMOST done with my shopping! I just need to finish up D's gift (HELP!) and some little things to finish up others! Whew! Next weekend task: Put up Xmas Decor.

Happy "THANKS" giving

Source

As we head into this wonderful holiday I have to take a moment and say what I am thankful for. Every year on Thanksgiving, my family gathers in a circle, grasps one anothers hands and states a prayer "Bless us thy Lord and these thy gifts, which we are about to recieve. And from thy bounty through Christ, Our Lord. Amen" Then we all go in a circle and say what we are thankful for that year.

Since 2011 and 2012 have been rather hard years for D and I and our families it may sometimes be hard to think of the positive, but in all honesty I have a lot to be thankful for. So I will start the day off with a list of things I am thankful for this holiday season:

1. I have a loving, caring husband who is always there for me. In the good times we laugh, smile and enjoy life. In the bad times he helps to pick me up and move forward. He is my rock, my best friend and I could never ask for anyone better. I love you SO MUCH!

2. I have the best fur baby on the planet. Our little Shelby is my light and my happiness on a daily basis. Even when she is bad, its really hard to stay mad at such an adorable and loving pup. I love my Shelbydoo soooo much!

3. I have a steady full time job, with a company that is so wonderful to work with. It's a rarity to find such wonderful people that truly become like a second family. In this economy it's hard for a lot of people to say this. I am also thankful that D's job has become so much better for him! The stress is gone!

4. I am thankful for my close and loving friends. Those of you who have always been there, 12 plus years, to the re-kindled friendships and the close ones that are still blossoming. You truly are my light. Thank you for being there when I need to talk, laugh, drink, or just a hug. Please know that if you ever need a shoulder mine is available! I love you!

5. To my mom. My other rock and best friend. Thank you for always being my best and most important girlfriend. I love you!

6. And finally....last but no where near in the least. To my loving, caring family....every last one of you. Thank you for your support through all the hard times. I know things can be rough at times for everyone and I am glad to know that I have so much support in my corner. I love you all!

Go Carts and Turkey

Ok...I am very behind in my Turkey Day recap. But all good things come to those who wait right?

As you know, the past 4 years my husband and I have spent Thanksgiving in Florida with my father and step mom. Due to my father being Catholic and my step mother being Jewish, the Christmas season wasn't too big in their house, so Thanksgiving is the important holiday to them. Even with my dad's passing we decided that we wanted to keep that tradition alive. Unfortunately due to some scheduling conflicts with the hubbs' work, we could not make the annual pilgrimage (pun intended) to Florida. While this pained me in the heart we decided to make due with this unforeseen circumstance and made plans to spend the food coma holiday with my family at my Aunt's home.

Our holiday started the evening before on Wednesday. A good friend from college had come back into town from Portland with her husband and new baby boy for a meet and greet. We met up at a local bowling alley and had some great conversation and met their adorable babe. (who is the spitting image of daddy!) It was great to see them and catch up. We have made tentative plans to travel to Portland within the year to visit. Wine tasting and sailing sound like a blast to me. Afterwards, Mr. P. had invited us out to a "bar crawl" in our local city. Not a bar hop because there really aren't too many places to go, but we still went out. We met up and had some good drinks and food. Met some wonderful new people and decided to people watch. The local young crowd (yes I still fall into that category) was quite interesting that evening and it seemed like the entire valley was out celebrating the holiday with their friends, before the split to spend with families. We walked into our local TGI Friday's and walked right back out. Standing room only! There was no way I was dealing with that mess! Once we made it to our final stop of the night we all got to talking about what Thanksgiving is to our families. Mr. P said that he and his family always go to a local electric go cart place and race before the big meal. He invited us to tag along for this little adventure.

When we pulled into the parking lot I was amped! I wanted to kick the hubbs' butt. However after watching this ridiculous safety video I got all paranoid that they were gonna kick me off the track for aggressive driving, so I held back both races and fell into last place. The hubbs ended up in second the last race and was super excited about it. We said our goodbye's and made plans for next year. Mr. P's family was super nice and inviting! Although, I think my super conservative driving might have been annoying! Hehe. 

Afterwards, we left to drive to Simi for our first family Thanksgiving in 4 years. It was a strange feeling to me. I mean I am used to my giant family and having everyone around, but to have it on Thanksgiving was surreal. I kept myself busy by helping cook, and just hanging out in the kitchen while the hubs talked cars and football with my cousins and uncles. Once dinner was ready we all stood in a circle and said what we were grateful for that year. This was where my emotions stood out and the tears could not be left at bay (three glasses of wine didn't help that either.) We said grace and then stuffed our faces. Turkey, mashed potato's, salad, pie you name it....I indulged! Afterwards all the men retreated to the living room while the ladies did dishes. I did get a peek inside, and saw all of them on the couch about to pass out. It truly was a sight and I asked my dad Jon who was going to be the big spoon? We said our goodbyes and made our way to my in-laws for a bit as well.

Then came dreaded Black Friday. I tossed around the idea of heading out into the sales, but my senses kicked back in and I stayed home and cleaned until it was time to go over to our good friends for a second Turkey Day. It was a wonderful time spent with good friends, minus a little venting mishap. We ate and ate until we were sore! Told great stories and laughed. All in all it was a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with all the ones I love, and it made it that much easier to take.

Hope yours was as eventful as mine was and you got to spend it with those you love. I only have a couple of photos because we didn't have our camera! Gasp!