Our family spent Thanksgiving week at a great house in Central California in order to have an early celebration of our upcoming December 50th anniversary. What a great week we had, warm, sunny weather, and the perfect place for a large group to gather. Lots of privacy and space where the kids and Miley (Suzie's dog) could be as loud and as frisky as they wanted to be. We cooked, did lots of crafts, spent lots of time outside both on the property or at the nearby beaches, and thoroughly enjoyed family time. Papa and I can't remember a better Thanksgiving! Well worth the effort! We experienced a beautiful sunset every night and sometimes by the time we ran for the camera it had changed so quickly. I thought this evening was particularly lovely!
We packed lots of activities and craft items just in case we had rainy weather. Not the case at all, but the kids still had plenty of time to do some fun things inside the house.
Chris playing with Lincoln logs that belonged to his daddy and Uncle Superman when they were young. The second picture shows a project that Mike helped with.
A later log project....
The girls and Paula starting on some beading work...lots of necklaces and lovely jewelry were made....
The beading projects filled the week...
We took lots of walks around the property and up and down the driveway that led to the ocean.
The first few days the ocean had huge waves and pounding surf. It splashed up over the road and surprised some cars and they were driving by. It was beautiful and the sound was fabulous. The bedroom where Papa and I (and Chris) slept was a full wall of windows and we could not only see the ocean but hear the ocean sounds so clearly. We also could see the most beautiful skies at night. Norm saw a large falling star one night as he was awake for a while.
An ongoing project for the week was our 'thankful trees'. Each member of the family had a tree and each day we would add a leaf with something that we were thankful for written on it. I loved some of the things the three C's came up with. Here they are at the beginning of the week with only one leaf or so on them.
A clay project the kids are starting....
Aunt Suzie and Claire and Chloe. Yes, that is lipstick you see...Aunt Suzie let them wear some while they were at the house but it had to come off if they left.... Claire and Chloe shared a room with Aunt Suzie and Miley and had a great time. We would hear them talking and laughing in the late, late, evening.
Chris drinking a smoothie that he made.....
More outdoor time....
Clowning around after licking the batter from the brownie bowl ...didn't take long for that sugar to kick in.....
We took the old family butter churn along to make butter. The first grade class had enjoyed it so much when we did it a couple of months ago. Wow, what fun it was, even the adults enjoyed it. I wouldn't have needed to even bring purchased butter it made so much. We will do it again I'm sure and it tastes so fresh and good.
The following morning Aunt Suzie made waffles with the buttermilk poured off the butter. Pretty cool.....
Sweet Miley...helping in the kitchen... or maybe waiting for something to drop on the floor!
A welcome visitor that we saw several times....
The evenings brought lots of fun things, mostly instigated by Uncle Superman.... a little TV...
A little dancing.....
Some snuggling....
Some kid activities like hanging on to Uncle Superman while he walks around the room....
Hanging from the rafters....all three kids did that....YIKES!!!
Watching Charlie Brown in Papa and Grandma's room....
Mornings were slow...everyone at their own pace.
Jon decided to return to a shaved head...with a little help from Lisa. Chris wanted a Mohawk but Daddy said "no"!
The cooking was done by all of us working together. Paula and Jon made most of the traditional Thanksgiving feast. Mike and Paula made delicious BBQ hamburgers one evening and yummy salmon another night... so rare to get a photo of the two of them....
Lisa and Jon made a great taco dinner...
Suzie and Miley....
Suzie's good friend Tasha came a couple of days with her daughter Sani...the girls had a super time chatting, beading, and playing outside.
Papa and Claire finishing up a pot holder project.
Right next to the property a herd of black cattle had a lone zebra running with them. Down the road a few miles there was a large herd of zebras. This picture isn't great but in the middle is a light colored animal and that, my friends, is a zebra!
Our last evening together.
I can't even describe how thankful I am for the time we had together as a family. We are blessed beyond measure. Looking forward to a season of celebrating Jesus!
A little side note. A couple or more weeks ago Claire was chosen student of the week for displaying the virtue of service. Her response when interviewed after the award was so sweet and typical of her.
"My family likes to give gifts
all the time. I help my mom bake & we give what we make to people. It makes
people happy when you give them something.”
1st grade-Claire T.
Love, love, love, my grandchildren!
