Well, Thanksgiving is finally upon us and I am thrilled!!! Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday of mine and this year it is no different. This is the first year since Dan was in Iraq that we will be able to spend this holiday with my family which is also super exciting. My family really knows how to cook! This year we are having an oven roasted turkey and a deep fried turkey - mmm mmmm mmmmmm!! I am going to brave an Apple Pie I think and Dan's favorite Festive Potatoes - if we can't be with his family I will ALWAYS make him festive potatoes so that he can feel the love. I am also making my favorite - Frog-eye Salad!! YUM YUM!! Anyone that does not know what it is always gets a little squeamish at the name, but then they try it and they can't help themselves - its delicious. Of course my ultimate favorite part of Thanksgiving is putting away all the fall/pumpkin decor and busting out the Christmas stuff!! I love hanging the lights on the house (we always try to be the brightest house on the block! - yeah we are those people!) and getting out my various nativity collections. I try to buy or make a new nativity every year and I have quite a cool little collection, although I don't have enough shelf space to set them on so I will have to get creative this year. Another reason I love the Christmas season is CHEX MIX!! Our family has this tradition of making Chex Mix during the holidays - and homemade chex mix blows the bagged stuff out of the water. There is no comparison. I can remember my grandmother making chex mix when I was a little girl (probably younger than 7) and the smell of her house as it was cooking---drool.... I miss those days - now I am the one that makes it. But it is a great tradition in our family and my kids and Dan all look forward to it every year! I love this time of year.
Well, we had our annual family pictures taken yesterday and despite my enormous belly and ever-widening face, they didn't turn out too bad. The kids did pretty good. Surprisingly, Ryleigh was the one with the issues. She started randomly crying and saying that she just hates to take pictures! What girl hates to take pictures?
We were really fortunate to have pretty great weather also, living in Oregon the weather generally does not cooperate in the fall, winter and spring but it was a beautiful sunny afternoon - it was freezing (about 45 degrees!) but the sunshine was warm.
These were all taken along the Willamette River in Albany. We actually live about 1/4 mile away from the location. That is probably the best part of Oregon. The scenery is absolutely beautiful!
Dan likes to play helicopter with the two boys, it is quite funny to watch.