Catching up...

Goodness grief! I have no good excuse for being absent so long, so I will not give you any. I came her and started a new post at least four different times, to no avail. So much goings on this time of year! Its just plain lovely. I LOVE the holidays!

As many couples do, we have decided to do holidays every-other. Meaning, last year we had Thanksgiving here with the Garcia's, and Christmas was at the Hallimore's. This year was flipped. We enjoyed a very nice Thanksgiving holiday at my parents home in Nor Cal along with a few cousins and my grandma. I would like to share with you a few of my favorite things from Thanksgiving, in no particular order.

Every Thanksgiving my dad has us go around the table and say what we are thankful for this year. I offered up gratitude for not only the material things that God has blessed me with, but also the non-material blessings. I am loved well, and I feel it. That is a great blessing that I hope to never take for granted.

Another great blessing is food. We had a spectacular feast on Thanksgiving afternoon, and then another feast at my grandma's on Saturday. Grandma Barlow is a great hostess with the mostess! After the family took a hike up to a pretty waterfall (grandma included--she is amazing!), she cooked us a bigfat Greek dinner! It was delicious!

My side of the family has a "thing" for Japanese maple trees, me included. I just love their variety of color! This trip my parents offered us a pretty, dark red maple that was potted. We were all impressed that it actually fit in the car. Good thing this one wasn't very tall. I imagine that we looked very organic on our drive home to So Cal because the maple was accompanied by a large spikey houseplant that I love. The pic below is not the actual tree, I just nabbed one off of google for the visual...


Ok, the cranberry sauce... !! Oh. my. word. That stuff... Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I have never ever been a fan of the kind that people refer to as "cranberry sauce with lines in it," ... you know that stuff that comes out of the can? Just not my thing. But oh! The glory that is homemade cranberry sauce goodness! My cousin Angie, sweet lady from Texas (married to my cousin David), was the cooker and she added a bit of orange juice or something to boiled cranberries. I must figure out how to do this myself. The morning after the holiday, I poured this stuff all over my breakfast. And then I gobbled it down. (Again, the pic below is not my own, grabbed from google).


Onto the entertainment... After discovering the magic that is Redbox, we decided to rent Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas movie. Mom and I got a real kick out of it. The animation was great--those chipmunks were adorable--and we loved the songs and all the mischief those lil characters got into.



Last, but certainly not least... The Le Creuset. Yes, dear friends, you heard it... THE LE CREUSET! As we are not spending Christmas with my family, my parents gifted us with two great gifts. The first being a hand held electrical sander. The second, this beauty below, which by thoughtful consideration, matches my dear Kitchenaid mixer, is mine, all mine. And well, Joaquin will most certainly benefit. :) I can't wait to cook in it! I have already printed off a yummy looking peach cobbler recipe from Paula Deen.